Author: Seth
Picture: Our hosts at the Plantation and the tea they prepared for us. I offered to print this picture out for them and they asked if I could take several more. Imagine having barely any pictures of your life. Such is the way things are in the Lou Group, Fiji.


Our Passage to Fiji was a relatively easy one. The winds were at our back in a perfect broad reach and we hooked up four fish along the way. Unfortunately two we threw back and a third was a swordfish that laughed at our 90 lbs test line. The fourth was a beautiful mahi mahi that somehow managed to jump from our gaff and back into the water. So without any fish but some good stories to tell, we pulled into the northern part of the Lau Group of islands on the east coast of Fiji.

When entering Fiji we were supposed to check into one of the four main ports before cruising elsewhere, but this would have meant passing the Lou Group altogether. We decided to risk a quick stay. We have been following the rules closely and have finally learned that there are very few people who actually care if you follow them. In this instance, following the rules would have added another overnight to our passage and it would have meant by-passing the extremely beautiful Lou Group, so we decided to stop. So with a bit of risk, we made our first stop at Vanua Balavu (or in the English name: the "Exploring Isles") and were not quite sure how the locals would accept us.

Upon anchoring in the large and completely empty Bavatu Harbor we were approached by a small boat with five local men. It is always a strange encounter - us on a comparatively expensive yacht being approached by locals with holes in their clothing. Having read about several incidences where yachts had been scammed for "check-in money" or robbed when away from their boat, we were naturally on the defensive and could only hope they were just coming to say hello. It was an awkward first encounter with the young man in charge shaking my hand and not letting go. But it went well enough as they spoke pretty good English and he asked us to come up to the nearby plantation at 4:30 before leaving.

As 4:30 rolled around we put away our fishing rods, locked all of our hatches and turned on our motion sensing alarm inside the main cabin. We were probably being over cautious, but theft does occur on yachts and when you are the only boat in the harbor it is smart to act like you are in a big city and lock up. Although in hindsight the locals had only the best of intentions.

We hiked up the hill to the Nabavatu Plantation and after walking through their cow and horse pasture we encountered a small, six building village. As we entered their village the young man we met earlier was waiting for us outside his front door with two cups of tea already poured and a new package of crackers opened for our benefit. Here we had planned for the worst and could not have been more kindly welcomed.

At the end of our 45-minute tea visit we were asked to sign a visitors book which gave us an indication of how many cruisers they must receive. The book had maybe 50 entries in it but had been started in 1992! And we were also surprised to see an entry in 2006 from a boat we met in Norfolk called "Aquila." By the time we left we felt indebted to our new friends, Iliesa and Fane Tuiloma and vowed to return the next day with some things from our boat that we knew they could use. And in return Iliesa offered to show us how they make coconut oil by hand and gave us a bottle of their product.

When we returned the next day with flour, salt, Tupperware containers, some fishing equipment and a few notebooks and crayons for the kids they in turn offered to take us to the look-out point and to a cave with human remains still inside! Although we passed on the cave tour we did take them up on the look-out hike. But first we went back to the boat and made Iliesa his first ever peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a brought him a cold coke (he has no refrigerator in the village). It was a great hike and an impressive view of our next anchorage, the Bay of Islands, but more importantly it was a wonderful experience meeting Iliesa and his family. What started as a meeting we would have rather avoided altogether, ended in an increasingly friendly exchange of offerings with both of us left feeling indebted to one another. We were sad to leave later that afternoon but will never forget our new friends on Vanua Balavu Island in the Exploring Isles.