We had a wonderful day on Qamea Island ( these Islands are all due east of the Northern end of Taveuni )Marg, Rob & Lisa visited the local village and looked at the school etc, very lively, then we did a Tiki tour up the coast of Qamea, stopped and had a snorkel in a lovely bay, big pillars of fan corals and lots of fish. Both Rob & Lisa are getting much better & more comfortable snorkelling.
We then went on to an Island called Luacala which is owned by the Red Bull guy. Amazing houses, A frames on the ridge, stone houses on the cliff top above the reef, all bizzarre and a bit too much like Hollywood for us. Marg said " Hard to Port, lets get out of here " we negotiated the reef passage well and sailed into a lovely island just NW called Matagi. It is a true volcano top & we anchored right inside the crater, a very deep caldera with the North side blown out, steep walls, heavily wooded. Nobody else there, apparently yet another fancy resort hanging on the Western side but no sign, a lovely starry night & sheltered. I got up early and rowed ashore & climbed out of the caldera. I had to climb hand over hand up vines and roots of large trees but was rewarded with a lot of lovely vegetation & some large frogs along the way. Large buttressed trees, epiphites and all kinds of ferns and flowers, the place felt untouched really. I got on top of the hill to enjoy a pair of large red headed parrots playing around. After walking around the crater rim, I dropped back down to the bay via a stream bed, lots of vines and roots to hang on to, a lovely start.
We all snorkelled behind the boat, saw giant clams, many colourful corals and abundant fish life, Another lovely bay with big fan & tree type corals including anenomies and their protective fish, great colours there. Saw a large turtle as we were leaving.
We sailed around the top of Taveuni & caught two fish along the way ( Rob ) and are now only about 30 miles from Savusavu, our first real bit of civilisation for some time. We meet Kath & Gildo their on Monday so have some tidying up & re-provisioning to do. Well have a four day overlap which will be a hoot I'm sure. Three Wilson women together ? might need my earplugs !

My first time I've worn anything on my feet for nearly a month was today, don't care for it much. I'll try and stick with the Fijian way, barefoot.

Thanks all of you for your updates and on going support, we are nearly 3000 miles into this Pacific adventure so far & it's fabulous.