Vanua Balavu, Northeren Lau, Fiji
10 September 2016 | Vanua Balavu, Northern Lau, Fiji
Pam
It is mid-August, and after weeks of waiting in Savusavu, we finally have favourable weather conditions to sail across to Vanua Balavu - a southerly wind and some expectation of good visibility when we arrive. We plan to spend a month in the Lau Group and my fridge and hammock nets are full to overflowing with fresh produce. Jan and I made a final run to the bakery this morning for bread, buns and meat pies. Four boats will be travelling together - Sequoia, Whistler, Mango Moon and ourselves. We plan to leave about noon and arrive shortly after daybreak.
Dawn found the four boats sitting off Vanua Balavu, waiting for good light to make our way through the reefs and into the Bay of Islands. Sequoia lead the parade through the reef, lining up with the lead marks on shore, then running inside the reef and around to the Bay of Islands. The bay is surrounded by karst limestone islets with eroded bases - they look like mushrooms, and reminded us of photographs we had seen of SE Asia. We could see so many nooks and crannies waiting to be explored by kayak and reefs to snorkel, that we couldn't wait to get started. Sequoia and Roundabout anchored in the main bay and the others found their own secluded places to drop anchor. Two other boats were already there - Free Spirit and Menelik, both friends of ours. Monty and Margy on Whistler soon had their paddle boards in the water and came around to check on everyone. What a paradise - only our six boats surrounded by the beauty of this idyllic spot. We had been told that it was not necessary to do sevusevu immediately upon arrival, and a long boat came by the first day and confirmed this; so we decided to just enjoy exploring the area for a few days. The Bay of Islands is the tropical paradise that cruisers dream about, but so rarely, if ever, find! Days were spent kayaking among the mushroom-shaped limestone islands, swimming in the crystal clear blue water, snorkelling reefs filled with colourful soft corals and tropical fish and snorkelling into caves with narrow entrances below water level, which then opened into cathedrals with stalagmites and stalactites - absolutely spectacular! The colourful soft corals are so close to the waterline, that you can actually float along in the kayak and "snorkel without getting wet"! We had heard about a Cathedral Cave located near the entrance through the reef, so our four boats and Free Spirit headed out on a dinghy expedition to snorkel this cave. The tide needs to be quite low to enter the cave and the route we took to get there was a little challenging, but really beautiful. We donned our full wetsuits and slipped over the rim of the narrow entrance on an incoming wave. Once inside, the cave opened into a towering cathedral, complete with narrow gothic "windows" which let in some light - just magical! After absorbing the peacefulness of the cave, we ventured out and snorkelled along the bases of the surrounding islets. There were lots of fish, including my favourite Picasso triggerfish, but not a lot of coral. Lauri suggested that we have a Raft Happy Hour that evening, as they planned to move around to Bavatu Bay next day. Frank found a location where we could float in the shelter of an island. We tied the dinghies together and passed around the appetizers, drank wine and beer and watched the sun go down - this was such a good idea Lauri!
While kayaking one day, I had discovered the entrance to a cave below the waterline on one of the islets near where we were anchored. The entrance was only visible at low tide. After, our experience at the Cathedral Cave, I wondered if we could safely go inside it. I called it the "Tree of Life" Cave, as it was located behind a perfect tree shaped islet, but everyone else called it "Pam's Cave". There was another cave located in Ship's Cove under "Turret Islet" that was worth exploring. Frank and Monty thought it might possibly go all the way through under the islet. Next day the group set off on a marathon snorkelling session - first to the Turret Islet cave, then Pam's Cave and then on to the outside of the island to snorkel a long reef that Frank and Lisa had discovered. Pam's Cave proved to be even more magical than I had imagined. The entrance was about a meter square, but it opened up inside, to about 20 ft high and 15 feet deep, with stalactites and stalagmites. We cursed the fact that our underwater camera was broken, but Lisa kindly shared some of her wonderful photos with me (see the photo gallery). After soaking up our fill of the cave, we headed to the outside of the island . We were constantly amazed at the beauty of the little bays, the beautiful turquoise colour of the water and the shapes of the islets. We anchored our dinghies inside the reef and headed out. We spent over two hours snorkelling up and back, working our way along both sides of the reef, seeing turtles and a sea snake, amazing soft and hard corals and hundreds of different kinds of fish. When we got back to the boats, Frank and Monty were still determined to swim under Turret Island and they made it!
We could no longer delay going to Daliconi to do our sevusevu, a ceremony where we present kava to the chief in return for permission to cruise the island. It's about a two hour sail around to the village of Daliconi, and Mango Moon, as the largest and fastest of the four boats, offered to take the crews of all four boats. We packed a lunch, our kava and sulus for the men and set off aboard Mango Moon. It was a real treat for us to sail on a catamaran, as we had never done so. Once clear of the bay, the sails went up and we charged along at around 8 kts, absolutely flat, what a concept! When we arrived off Daliconi, the boys donned their sulus and modelled for the cameras - it was all quite hilarious! Then they set off for shore, leaving the girls in charge of the boat. On shore, they were met by a man who escorted them to the chief's house and presented them to the chief. After the ritual chants, the chief accepted the kava and granted permission for us to sail, anchor and go ashore on the lands controlled by the village. Afterwards, the men walked through the village and over the ridge to the school, surveying the damage done by Cyclone Winston. There has been considerable reconstruction, although many families are still living in tents while they rebuild their homes. While in the Chief's house, he proudly pointed out the new tie-down system they are using to try to ensure the roofs will stay on during the next cyclone. Back at the boat, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch, then headed back to the Bay of Islands. Next day we had a surprise birthday party for Lisa aboard Mango Moon. A great time was had by all, although finding our way back through the islets and reefs in the dark was a bit of a challenge.
As wonderful as out time spent in the Bay of Islands had been, it was time to move on to the Plantation at Bavatu Bay on the north side of Vanua Balavu.
"The Plantation", is a coconut plantation which has been in the Philps' family for three generations. We had a letter of introduction from The Copra Shed in Savusavu, also owned by the Philps' family, which gave us permission to hike on the Plantation lands. The Plantation lies high atop the island and it was great to be able to stretch our legs and hike the numerous paths around the Plantation. One trail led to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the
Bay of Islands and the islands to the East and another from the owner's home, overlooked Bavatu Bay and west along the island. All the houses and many of the Palm trees had been damaged by Cyclone Winston. The worker's houses had just been re-built, but it will be several years before the palms are producing well again. There are two owners' homes, sitting side by side overlooking Bavatu Bay; one is of WW II vintage, and is constructed of brick and plaster and the new one using a steel frame. The old house was virtually undamaged by the cyclone and the new house was completely destroyed! We were surprised to see that the Plantation had horses, pigs, chickens, ducks and herds of cattle, sheep and goats, as well as gardens; so they are well supplied with food.
We discovered that Bavatu Bay had some of the best soft corals we had seen anywhere (see the photo gallery). We snorkelled reefs and walls with brilliant soft corals and fish, kayaked, explored pocket beaches and looked for shells - so much to do, but the idyll had to come to an end. The four boats remained together in Bavatu Bay, so we could celebrate my birthday; then Whistler and Mango Moon headed back to Savusavu and Sequoia and ourselves sailed south to the island of Falaga in the southern Lau. It had been an amazing two weeks!