Farewell to Fiji and Friends
19 September 2009 | Vuda Point Marina, Fiji
Jane
We've spent most of the last few days in Vuda Point Marina sheltering from torrential rain from a huge low that passed over Fiji. It's the first serious rain we've had in 9 months and was a bit of a shock. We even had to buy an umbrella. It's now very sunny and hot again and most of the boats look like laundries, with half their stuff strewn around the deck, drying.
We leave tomorrow for Vanautu which is about 460 miles, 3-4 days sailing. We've loved it here and would've liked to stay longer but time is pressing a bit now as we have to be back in Oz by the end of October before the cyclones start. We will definitely come back for a season some time and have a good look round.
A bit of sadness has crept into our lives in Paradise as we are now splitting up from some of the friends we've spent so much time with, as they head off for NZ and we go to Australia. Morag and Flash (real names Anne and Gordon from Edinburgh) on Equinox left on Friday and, when we leave tomorrow, we'll leave behind Ida and Ian on Ishka who we met in Shelter Bay in Panama. We have had so many cracking evenings with these guys, including the night when we had a few too many rums and Ian fell off the boat and Andy tried to drive us home in the dinghy the wrong way with me shrieking at him to turn around! They've enriched our trip, and our lives, and I know we'll always be friends even if we don't know when we'll see them again. Fair winds to them and lots of love.