Fiji
We just love Fiji and all it has to offer.
From the friendly locals to the beaches and clear waters, it is a place you can
spend forever cruising. There is something for everyone here and a good balance
of diversity. You can have the isolated areas such as the outer Lau Group where
the traditional ways are still in place, the Yasawas where there are many
resorts and Bars etc. Or if you desire, there is the Denerau Marina area which
is very westernised with shopping areas and even a ‘Hard Rock CafĂ©’
We have spent a great deal of our time
around the Mamamanucas and the Yasawas.
Friends Rob and Stu from NZ joined us for a week.
Musket Cove has an annual Regatta which we
got involved in. I happened to walk into the marina office there at the
appropriate time and got accosted by Sophie there into running the Childrens
games and the best dressed dingy event which was hard work but really enjoyable.
We had a blast that Regatta week with a great atmosphere and reduced food and bar
prices. There was a great band on every night and we danced away till the small
hours every night. The body is still trying to catch up!
Below are photos of the various crazy activities.
Below are photos of the various crazy activities.
We entered in the various events and did
really well in the ‘Round Malolo Classic’ race taking out line honours for
Monohulls on Falshator. The prize for this blew us away being a great Trophy,
bottles of wine(4), groceries, a cell phone and sim card with $50 credit, 2
nights Marina berthage at Denerau, a $50 gift card from a Chandlery and $150
worth of diesel for the boat!
We shared the wine with Allan and Steve off
an Ozzie catamaran called ‘Cool Change’ who came on board for the day and gave
the cell phone to one of the locals in the shop there who had helped us out with
our Clothes washing
On our way to taking Line Honours for Monohulls
Victorious Crew!
On our way to taking Line Honours for Monohulls
Victorious Crew!
Due to El Nino, this has been a windy old
season according to everyone up here and you do have to pay attention to the
weather whilst planning your next move. The further you go up the Yasawas the
more out of the lee of the main Island group you get and there is very little
shelter from the strong South easterlies up there.
Another thing to watch out for is the lack
of soundings and accurate chart work around these areas. Going cruising up to
the Yasawas, I found two apps that I used(Pro charts and Google maps) as they
have great Satellite imagery and you can see all the reefs and Bombies(coral
heads) using these. Although they are pretty accurate, we always kept an eye
out as well and Shelly was quite often up the Bow looking out when we were
going into areas where we hadn’t been before. There have been 5 boats that have
hit reefs in this area so far this season so it is problem you have to watch
out for.
We spent some time anchored off the Nanuya
Island resort which is close by to Blue Lagoon. The anchorage here is well
sheltered and has good holding once you have your anchor in.
The resort has a great little bar with
reasonable prices on Food and drinks and to top it off it has two big screen
TVs where we watched the World Cup Rugby games and the NRL final.
Shelly outside the Bar
Just stunning
Good times with Debbie & Steve off 'Simmer Down'
The Trek over the Island to Lo's Tea House
The one and only 'Lo', world famous on Nanuya Island
Shelly outside the Bar
Just stunning
Good times with Debbie & Steve off 'Simmer Down'
The Trek over the Island to Lo's Tea House
The one and only 'Lo', world famous on Nanuya Island
We had a good bunch of Yachties around us
here and there was always something going on, whether that be on shore or on
someone’s boat. The management and staff at the resort are all friendly and the
owner Ivan would bake us fresh bread every day. We could have stayed forever!
Getting involved in the highly competitive games on Fiji Day
How to arrive in style- Fiji Style
The Caves at the bottom of Yasawa Island
Getting involved in the highly competitive games on Fiji Day
How to arrive in style- Fiji Style
The Caves at the bottom of Yasawa Island
We are now back at Denerau Marina taking up
on the two nights free Berthage that we won and then we plan to go back out to
Musket Cove to anchor for a few more days, (get our free diesel also) and then
we are booked into Vuda Marina on the 25th October.
There we will get the boat ready and plan
for our leg down to New Zealand in early November weather pending.
Cyclone season is fast approaching and the
Met service is predicting a busy season of them this year so the first decent
weather window we get, we will take.
Just waiting till after the World Cup Final
on the 31st October-that’s if NZ makes it!! J