Travel Hiccups, Acclimation, Prep
24 September 2023
Mark
My approach to any blog post is to try and convey the essence of
the experience. So far, it has been 3 days since we left Corvallis and
thus far we have been getting acclimated, resynced to Fiji time,
provisioned with supplies and trained on Roverâs systems in preparation
for heading out cruising to explore Fiji. Hopefully we will leave
tomorrow, dependent on weather and fuel availability.
I had some challenges with travel paperwork and lost luggage. Fiji
immigration is quite adamant about visitors having proof of how they are
moving on. I suppose non-US citizens have a similar experience when
coming to the USA. As I am sailing to New Zealand, I didnât have a plane
ticket out (and some missing sailing paperwork Eric and I figured out).
They almost didnât let me on the plane in LA. We worked it out, I made
it here, and got my bag the next day. On any adventure such as this, one
has to learn to go with the hiccups and not get overly stressed.
Part of the fun of travel is interacting with the local people and
getting a sense of the culture. Fiji is an old British colony so English
is one of three national languages and communication is easy.
We took the bus into town to buy supplies, had lunch at the food court,
and a taxi back to the boat laden with purchases. During the bus ride we
got a glimpse of the countryside, the vegetation and infrastructure.
Sugar cane is an important commodity and we saw it growing, harvested
and being transported to the sugar factory in Lautoka. The people of
Fiji are very friendly, with greetings of âBulaâ on the street and in
the stores.
The boating culture is similar with some stark differences. The biggest
difference is that in the boatyard, are âhurricane holesâ for boats to
be secured during the November to March hurricane season. Ditches are
dug deep enough for a sailboat keel and rudder. The boat hull is set on
tires on the ground. Thus the boat is much lower and protected and
shouldnât be damaged in a blow.
I stretched my comfort zone and bought a bright âBulaâ shirt (think
Hawaiian shirt) to dress up my drab wardrobe.Looking forward to heading out.
--
Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.
www.ocens.com