Bula from Fiji!
26 July 2010 | Fiji
First Mate Hels
After an enjoyable 2.5 day passage across from Tonga we are now having fun in Fiji. We checked in at Savusavu a delightful little town on the second largest island in the 380 island archipelago, Vanua Levu. Brother Ian (Uncle String) partner Sue and baby William arrived by overnight ship from Nadi having flown in from Melbourne the day before. Great excitement at the dock to witness the ship arriving and to see them walkingoff the gangplank. We enjoyed a lovely meal ashore together followed by breakfast at the marina café the following morning. With the prices some of the cheapest we have seen on the trip and some superb cooking by the loca lIndian population it is an easy place to enjoy some land based treats.
We left there 4 days ago and have been bunny hopping and reef dodging ever since, passing some superb spots. Amazingly we have been the only boat in the past 4 anchorages. Baby William is adapting to boat life well. He has quickly worked out (as have the rest of us) that the most comfortable spot on a boat is in the cockpit on the leeward side with the boat chuffing along with the gennaker up in 10 knots of breeze! Champagne sailing as they say!Even Uncle String, who is more used to battling Bass Strait in a Sydney to Hobart race, has to admit that it is rather pleasant being on a cruising boat and planning one's day around picking a good spot for a sundowner or a snorkel! The kids are absolutely besotted with their baby cousin and spend hours playing and singing to him. It is all very cute!
We are now on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji and are pottering around to Lautoka which is near to Nadi, the international airport. The scenery is beautiful, the weather kind and with a happy crew, life couldn't get much better.
Hot off the press - just had one of those magical moments when a bunch of Fijian boys and one Dad came over to say Bula to us from their little tinnie. The boys aged between 9 and 15 all sang us the most beautiful Fijian song all completely unselfconsciously! We then in return all sang Advance Australia Fair to much applause. We gave them a bag of treats and off they went into the sunset laughing and waving to us. Apparently we are the first yacht they have seen anchored in the bay for 3 months so I guess we are a bit of a novelty!
Well on that note it is over and out from the Nikas.