We ducked out of the marina to nearby Saweni Bay for a breath of fresh air and to get a few jobs done. Sunday’s are total non work days in the islands and Monday turned out to be a public holiday so customs and provisioning would have to wait for Tuesday anyway.
We spent the time testing the water maker again (we suspect another membrane is on its way out), scrubbing off barnacles and checking the rigging. It’s amazing how many barnacles the boat collected whilst sitting in the marina. The water has been like glass since we got here… so much for getting Ro acclimatised to movement of the boat.
Thankfully, Elaine’s health appears to be a bit more stable for a time, so we decided to head back to Vuda Marina to get Mari ready for the passage across to New Caledonia. This time with a new crew member….welcome Rohan!
Our next lot of visitors arrived (Jonathan and Jo) and we set off for the Yasawa Islands. These are a group of islands to the northwest of Viti Levu and are reported to be idyllic cruising, especially for those not used to sailing or who have never sailed before.
The weather however did not play fair to our guests and our first nights anchorage at Waya Island was very windy and roly so we pushed on the next morning to get further north and find a more protected spot. We ended up at an area called the Blue Lagoon in which the movie of the same name was filmed. The anchorage was a lot less roly although still quite windy. We were in good company as a couple of other rally boats were also hiding from the weather there. Cindy and Alan from Pleiades invited us over for sundowners and gave us a chance to have a tour of a Seawind catamaran. Great looking boat.
From the back of Pleiades
Us in the background, from Pleiades
On Saturday it was still too windy to do any kind of water based activities so we walked to Lo’s Tea House on the other side of the island. We drank fresh lemon leaf tea (fresh lemon leaves dunked in hot water) and ate banana cake with runny chocolate icing. After walking back, we had a late lunch at the Nanuya resort. Still windy.
Lo’s tea house
We decided to brave the winds the next day and head further north. On Sawa-I-Lau there is a cave/cave dive that we hoped to visit but the weather was still not cooperating (the wind here was ferocious) so we anchored for lunch to appreciate the view (Sawa-I-Lau is a really pretty anchorage) before continuing on to anchor off Yasawa Island for the night. On the way through the passage between the islands I saw a manta ray swimming past. Yay!
The bay we selected was much better protected from the swell and wind which allowed us to get out and explore the beaches by tender, paddle board and sit-on-top. Getting ashore was tricky with the tender due to the fringing reefs but we found a spot some way down. Thank goodness we have a tough little tender. Paul met a couple on the beach a bit further along that had been dropped off for a “private beach experience” from a nearby exclusive resort. Oops!
Jammed in to Vuda marina. Getting on and off the boat was a challenge, especially at low or high tide.
To make our way to Vuda Point marina on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu we decided to go via the northern end of the island. The first night was spent at Nananu-I-cake island. This was close to a couple of affluent looking islands with modern, posh looking houses, including a private island where the main means of transport seemed to be helicopter. It was a real contrast to the villages we had seen up until now.
The second night was spent off Vatia beach where there was supposed to be an “eco resort”. Hmm, we arrived at low tide and tried to access the beach but to no avail, the shore was shallow and rocky all the way. We had been looking forward to an icy cold beer as advertised, since our beer supply had run out. Oh well….instead we had sundowners on another boat we had been leap frogging along the coast with called Scoots. They were an American couple called Vandy and Eric. It was a very pleasant evening.
We arrived at Vuda Marina the following day where they squeezed us in between a couple of other boats. The marina is arranged in a circle with all the boats around the outside with either bow or stern pointing in to the middle. It is very sheltered (read stifling) inside and is considered to be a bit of a hurricane hole. It had access to lots of services and we were able to arrange for the water maker to be fixed, also the freezer and air con.
Just after setting off at first light for Makogai Island, a large pod of what we think were small whales was sighted. They were larger than dolphins but had heads like whales. Anyway we were excited because this was our first close encounter with any whales since the start of our trip.
Our guide book informed us that “sevusevu” was required on this island so we all covered our knees and shoulders with respectable attire and gave some kava to a man on the island (he said he was the chief) who then showed us around the small research centre with some turtle and clam hatcheries. We think he was an employee of the department of fisheries rather the the village headman though. The island also used to be a leper colony and we were shown around some of the graves and what remained of some of the buildings.
Paul and Holly went snorkelling on a couple of really good bommies and saw some giant clams, real big ones!
