Bula to all. We sailed yesterday morning to Vanua Balavu, the northernmost of the Lau group. It was a breezy 73 miles but the wind was from the south, from our beam, and the seas were reasonably flat. We motored for the first hour but by 10:45 we were at the Qilaqila pass which we entered carefully. The reef was clearly visible and there were many bommies (coral heads) just under the water, which kept all of us on watch at the bow and Larry at the mast. We proceeded to Dilaconi village where we had to do the Sevusevu, the traditional way to enter a Fijian village. The village is very small, only 130 residents, and seemed to be deserted. I guess it was their lunch time siesta. We did our sevusevu and were welcomed to the village by the headman as the chief was absent. From the village we came to anchor at the picturesque Bay of Islands, which is like a giant lagoon with many sculptured rock formations scattered around it. These are being eroded at the base by mother's nature constant cycle of creation and destruction. I wish I had studied geology as I am curious at to the how these amazing formations were created. We paddled around this morning and found small archways that harbor a most colorful colony of soft corals. We came back to take some photos and snorkeled in the peaceful turquoise waters. In the way back we came to a small lagoon where a massive amount of fruit bats live. They hang on the trees like fruit and at the sound of the outboard engine some started flying above us. They were many hundreds of them on the trees and flying above us. One of the most amazing things I have seen. We have almost no internet connection here. Sending this via our trusted SSB radio. My Aloha to all and until next time.