November 2022
November Month Celebrations

We arrived into Port Denarau 1st November which is the start of cyclone season / summer here in Fiji. So much laundry, fueling and pampering to do before my birthday/ anniversary week. I spent almost an entire day getting hair mask, pedicure and manicure treatments.

John celebrated in his own way buying a big new anchor to replace the one we mangled up North; along with some Tequila and generally made himself at home with our Denarau family. The Port island area is still considered a quarantine zone until at least 11 November or whenever the 90% vaccination rate is achieved for all adults in Fiji. We were devastated to see that the huge Baobab warehouse in the boatyard had burned down which puts many of their wonderful crew out of work at this difficult time. The fire was so hot it cracked the concrete foundation corners. It will take some time to get that up and running again. They were still doing due diligence on the fire investigation so employees are unable to even go in to see if their tools survived.

My birthday coincided with the Australian Melbourne Cup Horse Race so it looked like the busy Port Denarau of old. Music and women dressed in elegant hats and outfits forced me to up my game style. John stuck with good shorts, flip-flops but a nice shirt. I probably should be tired of lobster by now but that's what I ordered.
We really do need to get to Vuda Marina and begin staging ourselves for the cyclone season. So we motored out early the next day less than an hour to Vuda hailing on vhf for permission to enter the basin for the first time in seven months. It had been so long they even sang us the 'welcome' song. The new basin and piers are now open for yacht use and the grounds look spectacular! We heard that staff did many different jobs and were kept busy throughout the lockdown on maintenance projects.

John no sooner had us berthed than he was hauling out all the chains and lines to begin the tie-down process to the concrete basin. All is measured and bundled up ready for Tabu Soro in the cyclone hole. I was thrilled to see all our young pregnant mother's safely delivered and back at Vuda. I joined a women's adventure to the Mud Baths in honor of Jo and Nemo' birth for a delightful play day and lunch. We also celebrated our anniversary at the Boatshed Restaurant here at Vuda and had a gorgeous sunset and specially made flowers and leis to add to the white tablecloth seating.

Weather looks calm and peaceful for the next couple weeks so we are off to the Yasawas to enjoy some more island time!