We had an enjoyable 410nm passage from Tonga to Fiji with good consistent trade winds. However with a much quicker pace than planned we passed through the Lau Group of reefs at night and arrived at our destination of Savusavu at midnight in pitch darkness - both of which were a little unnerving. The anchorage in Savusavu bay is in a very narrow channel with boats moored everywhere so we gingerly made our way through to find the last available buoy and claim it for the night. All the time oblivious that only an hour earlier the town had experienced their first earthquake tremor in years. Thankfully there was no damage.

The next morning we moved to the Copra Shed moorings (a bargain at AU$5 a night) and they started the clearing in process for us, which proved very simple and well organized. This was actually one of the main reasons we chose to clear-in in Savusavu instead of the capital Suva where we had heard bad reports. We quickly learned the greeting Bula (pronounced buuuuulaaaah J) and went for a walk around town. The one street town was busy with very friendly locals. The Indo-Fijians who were first introduced during British rule to work in the plantations seemed to be more commercial than the ethnic Fijians and tended to own the shops and restaurants. It was heartening to see quite a few staff wanted notices in shop windows, something rare in many other countries these days. To our delight our biggest surprise came when we went to Joseph's Decked Out Cafe for dinner to find they had the fastest internet connection we've experienced since leaving Europe and main courses for only $6 each. Did I mention that we love Fiji!

Before arriving we read in our Fiji Compendium that if we wanted to learn where to go cruising in Fiji we should try to meet the local character, Curly, who is a tall long grey bearded and hair (kinda like Dumbledore) NZ expat living in Fiji for 40 years. By luck we were able to sit in on one of his presentations and wow was it an experience. Hugh mentioned in his last blog that boats in Fiji are ones that have either touched the reef or came close to it. We learned from Curly its no joke. He said approx 100 hit every year and he personally knows of 40 already this season. We paid great attention to his presentation and came away from it with a set of waypoints to follow for every route we intend to take.

Curly also explained the important tradition of Sevusevu to us. To visit many anchorages and villages requires a Sevusevu or offering to the village Chief of kava root. This tradition isn't just for visitors; it is also done by Fijians amongst themselves. The sevusevu should be done as soon as you arrive at the anchorage and before even swimming in the water. Curly explained you go to the village and ask to speak with the Turanga ni Koro who is second in charge and suggest to him that it would be our great pleasure if he would introduce us to the village Chief. If he agrees he will ask you what you want to learn from the experience e.g. about their culture or how they are educated etc. You will then be taken to the Chief and asked to sit in front of him but not to speak directly to him. Then you give the kava root to the Turanga who gives it to the chief's helper (the Turanga and the Chief are not allowed to talk to or touch each other). If the Chief takes the kava root we can breath again as it means we carried out their tradition successfully and will be adopted into their village for the duration of our stay. At this stage we can ask questions and chat directly with the Chief while the kava gets ground up and made into a drink called angona. The angona is poured into half coconut shells and passed around between the Chief, the Turanga and us. Before taking the shell we must clap once then drink in one go and all clap three times. We have to do this at least three times or until it is all gone. Seemingly it can go on and on for hours as they keep refilling the shells so it is recommended to have a good excuse ready to make a quick getaway. Hugh and I bought our kava root at the Savusavu market and hope to visit a village in the next couple of days so we will let you know how we get on!

We're at Namena Barrier Reef now, which is supposedly the fourth best snorkeling and diving site in the world. After spending hours upon hours snorkeling we can definitely say that it's very very good. We even got the opportunity to fulfill a long time wish of ours to swim with whales today. Gosh it was awesome.