6-2019 Fun in the Yasawa Islands Fiji

Hi from Clare      6-2019 Fun in the Yasawa Islands Fiji            Monday 22^nd July 2019

WE FOUND THEM

So we spent a few days in Manta-ray Bay in the Yasawa Islands Fiji enjoying the calm anchorage with good snorkelling and yes we got to see the elusive Mantas. It took three morning trips in the dinghy before we found two manta-rays cruising back and forth feeding on plankton. Some cruisers jump in the water and swim with them, but we are content to just see these graceful creatures from afar, leaving them in peace to feed.

The Manta Rays

TWO WORLDS COLLIDE

Our next stop was Octopus Bay as we wanted to have a look at the Octopus Resort. However, being exposed to the southerly swell, we rolled badly all night. The next morning we found a protected bay around the headland and discovered that we could get to the resort via a walking track over the saddle of the island. We anchored outside the small village and went ashore to meet the people. There are four hundred people living in the village and more than one hundred of them work in the Octopus resort which is a twenty five minute walk over the hill. Not the easiest walk to work, but you would definitely be fit doing this twice a day on a regular basis. There is no lighting on the walk and at 10 pm when the afternoon shift finishes, we could see from the yacht the village people coming home making their way through the bush using the light on their iphone to see the way. The employment at the resort has a tremendous impact on traditional village life. The people seem to hover between two worlds. Basic village existence with few amenities or comforts with pig pens nearby and chickens running everywhere, to working in an upmarket holiday resort in a well laid out tropical paradise. We asked the village people if life is better now, or before the Octopus Resort was established, they all agreed it is better now. So after our walk over the hill and the sixty nine steps down to the resort, we spent some time at the bar. We caught up with the other cruisers from our bay who were also enjoying the bar and the pool. Typical of cruisers, we all found the most comfortable place to be:)

Andrew on the track to Octopus Resort

View on the track from the top of the hill with Eye Candy

The beach at Octopus Resort.

We then sailed for three hours into the wind to get to the Blue Lagoon. We met up with our British friends John and Stella on Exocet Strike and joined them with four of their friends for dinner in the Blue Lagoon Resort Restaurant. It was a beautiful warm night and so we dined outside enjoying good food, stimulating company whilst listening to a very talented Fijian trio playing western music. It was a treat to be waited on and lovely to have a break from meal preparation.

 Out to dinner, Blue Lagoon Resort

They can smile and sing at the same time

Last time we were in Blue Lagoon it was very windy, but this time it was flat calm, sunny blue sky and a light breeze. By this time we were running out of fresh produce and there was absolutely nothing available at the shop in the resort. I was very disappointed and even a little distressed until one of the other cruisers said there is plenty of fruit and vege. Just talk to the guy in the shop and he will have it brought down from their organic farm. Well for goodness sake, how about a sign in the shop saying fruit and vege available. Anyhow I restocked with lettuce, tomatoes, celery, carrots, buck choy, red capsicum, pineapple, papaya, bananas and limes - quite pricey but perfect organic quality and we were glad to have it.

We spent our days walking the beach and snorkelling the various spots. One area is known as cabbage patch. It has a huge piece or coral about 10 metres in diameter which looks just like a giant cabbage. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo as by this time I had given up underwater photography due to bad visibility, maybe next time.

Clare enjoying the beach

So we are now about five miles north of Blue Lagoon anchored off the village of Malataki.

We are in company with Canadian friends Brett and Teresa on Seismic Wave so we have someone to share our experience with. We went into the village, met the chief, presented him with some Kava and did the official Sevusevu welcome. Milly who is the grand daughter of the chief was given the job of showing us around the village and looking after us. The village of Malataki is very tidy with mowed lawns and flowering shrubs, the houses are well maintained and nicely painted. The chief, who has been chief for twenty four years, has a new house replacing the last bure blown away in a cyclone. It is a traditional Fijian design with a large airy room and hand woven mats on the floor. A curtain at one end closes off the sleeping area. The kitchen, as in all the other homes, is a separate building.

The Chief’s new house

Inside the Chief’s house

The photo below is taken inside Milly’s mother house. As you can see they have proper beds and the curtains are quite decorative. Milly’s mum also has a twin tub washing machine powered by one of two generators in the village and some drawers and cupboards for clothes etc. They have pigs and chickens in the village, but they are well out of sight. The only pig we saw was on a roasting pole.

Inside Milly’s mum’s house

The Methodist church is the most prominent building in the village and religion is central to village life. We were invited to Sunday church with lunch after. The service was in Fijian so we didn’t understand much. Except we did understand that they read out parishioner’s name and how much money they had donated to the church – not pressure here. During the service the choir sang, then all the men came forward and sang, followed by the women and then the children sang. The children do not sit with their families they all sit together up the front of the church. There is a man with a long stick who keeps the kids in line. Any fidgeting child gets a tap on the head, any slouching on the seat in front gets a prod in the back. The man with the stick is very vigilant. However he missed the kid in the photo below who was busy with the nail clippers given the girl in the seat behind him a very thorough pedicure.

The Holy pedicure

The Church bell, Fijian style

Church is a big deal and all the villagers including the children were dressed in their best. The men wore the tradition sulu (skirt) with a shirt and tie and some with a suit jacket. The women mostly in long dresses and the kids well groomed with boys as young as one year old wearing the sulu and girls in pretty dresses. There are several services throughout the day and on Monday the minister goes from houses to house for prayer meetings.

The Methodist Church

The kids assembling for the service

We went to Milly’s house for a lunch of fish soup, followed by fish and crayfish. As quests we were given a knife, fork and serviette, but the villagers eat with their hands and have a bowl to wash in after the meal.

Milly has three children under five years and her husband at present is living-in at a resort working twenty one days straight and then has eight days off back in the village. Every time we see Milly she is busy breast feeding a rather chubby one year old. I asked her how long in village life do you breast feed the children and she said for one, two or three years. Now I’m doubly glad not to live in a Fijian village:)

Village kids helping Andrew

The youngest child has a very large knife

SO WHAT’S NEXT

We will stay here for a few more days as this is a great bay with thick sand all the way to the beach. The beach is great to walk on as the sand is quite firm underfoot. The water is warm and there is some snorkelling to do. We will then make our way slowly down the island chain back to Musket Cove.

Love Candy xx

5-2019 Blue Lagoon to Muscot Cove Fiji

 Hi from Clare,                    5-2019 Blue Lagoon to Muscot Cove Fiji         8^th July 2019

The Track across island

Back packer huts

NOT QUITE WHAT I IMAGINED

We were looking forward to spending a week of relaxation and fun in The Blue Lagoon, Yasawa Islands in western Fiji. The Blue Lagoon is a lovely calm anchorage with sandy beaches, snorkelling, a small resort and good walking tracks. When we arrived a visiting small cruise ship was busy ferrying their guests ashore to The Blue Lagoon Resort for meals, drinks and a walk on the beach. They also took their gusts by dinghies to the other side of the island to the well published attraction, Lo’s Tea House. It was a lovely sunny day and so we walked the three kilometres across the island on a well used track taking in the views and enjoying the exercise. Lo’s Tea House (Fijian Style), despite its rather grand name, is just a shed but it has a reputation for great doughnuts. I was quite looking forward to a juicy hot doughnut, but not to be, the day we went, the menu was lemon sponge or lemon sponge. The cruise ship people arrived and we chatted to two ladies over (you guessed it) ‘lemon sponge’ only to discover that one came from Shellharbour, which is about a fifteen minute drive from Kiama, NSW where we live. So any romantic notions I had about dining in a quaint ‘Tea House on a Tropical Island with a magnificent vista’ were shattered when we found ourselves sitting in a shed, having lemonade and lemon sponge whilst chatting to a local lady from home.

Lo’s Tea House

Inside Lo’s Tea House

THE BEST MADE PLANS

We had been watching the weather for a few days as a trough was forming which would bring thunder storms, torrential rain and cyclonic winds. By the following morning it was apparent that the worst of the weather would pass over The Blue Lagoon in two days time. We decided to sail fifty miles south to Musket Cove to get away from the thunder storm. So, our planned one week in The Blue Lagoon became one day. As we travelled south the weather became very calm and we had to motor most of the way. We caught a nice Mahi Mahi which is always a welcomed treat. We had one fine day in Musket Cove before the rain started. We used the time to shop, do laundry and have a few drinks at the Sailors Bar with Aussie friends Annie, Liam and family on ‘Gone with the Wind’. The trough came through the following day bringing torrential rain and 50 knots of wind through the anchorage but fortunately no lightning, so the plan worked. A few boats dragged their anchor but no damage was done.

Andrew with his Mahi Mahi

 Liam and Annie from Gone With the wind

FIND OF THE DAY

We had a very social week in Musket Cove having dinners out, fish on the BBQ at the sailors bar, morning coffees at the resort restaurant, catching up with friends and celebrating Canada Day with the Canadian cruisers.

Fish BBQ with Andrew, David ‘Anahata’ Scott ‘Muskoka’

Celebrating Canada Day with cake and sparklers

The weather was very changeable, overcast with heavy rain to brilliant sunshine. So we just seized every opportunity and did day trips to small sand islands or to the nearby floating pontoon for snorkelling. It was very pleasing to see lots of very healthy coral and many tropical fish. But one day, that’s not all we saw. We anchored the dinghy and snorkelled over to the floating pontoon. Andrew found a brand new pair of swimming goggles on the sea floor. They still had the protective plastic on the lenses. Then when we pulled the dinghy anchor up, attached to the anchor was a new pair of Tusa diving goggles - quite a haul, a profitable day!

 Beautiful unspoilt coral

Lots of tropical fish (we hope this works)

Andrew with his Go Pro

PLAIN SAILING NOW

So now all the nasty weather has passed, we are heading back north up the Yasawa chain. We want to visit all the spots we sailed passed on our dash down to the safety of Musket Cove. We spent the last two nights with a New Zealand couple Ailsa and Hamish on ‘Halo’ who are here for a month as they time share their catamaran with another couple from NZ. They had too much NZ meat in the freezer after the last change over so they gave us lamb chops and some beef steak. This is the first red meat we have had since we left Oz. We are looking forward to lamb chops tonight.

We are currently twenty five miles north of Musket Cove and we have been in some rolling anchorages recently but today we have relocated to a lovely calm bay. The sun is shinning, the washing is out and the breeze is gentle. The weather is perfect with temperatures in the high twenties, a warm breeze day and night. We sleep with the hatch open above us and only a sheet over us. In the daytime it is all sunshine and blue skies. It doesn’t get any better than this.

A beautiful sunset

We are planning to spend a bit of time here catching up with boat chores. Andrew wants to work on the water maker and the engine. I have some cooking to do. These are the jobs that get pushed aside for more enjoyable pastimes like snorkelling, walks on the beach and fun in general.

SO WHAT’S NEXT

Hopefully we will slowly head back to The Blue Lagoon, stopping off at Mantaray Bay on the way. The Mantas feed here on the plankton, but they have been very scarce lately. So, until next time, all is well on Eye Candy and we are having a lovely time.

Love Candy xx