8-2018 Savusavu, Fiji

Hi from Clare,        8-2018 Savusavu, Fiji                                        8^th September 2018

We left Tonga 1^st September and sailed to Fiji in near perfect conditions. It is a three and a half day trip and we had the spinnaker up for the last thirty hours. We rarely experience a trip as good as this and to top it off we caught an 110cm Mahi Mahi along the way.

Oops no time to get dressed

A PRETTY SPOT

We are on a mooring ball in the Nakama creek alongside the township of Savusavu which is known as the hidden paradise of Fiji. This is because Savusavu, nestled in amongst the mountains, cannot be seen either by land or sea until you are in the creek. We are at the old Copra Shed Marina, built in the 19^th Century and renovated in recent years to house the Savusavu Yacht Club. It is a very pretty spot in perfectly flat conditions. The marina staff are very pleasant and we are enjoying the facilities of the Yacht Club. It is nice to have hot showers available, a laundry, shops, coffee lounge and a bar area where we gather every night to catch up with friends for happy hour and to enjoy the sunset.

The mooring field at Savusavu

GOOD TO HEAR

The Check In process to the country was a very pleasant experience. The Health and Customs Officials were helpful and interesting. The Health Official talked about how to stay healthy whilst in Fiji taking into account the local water, mosquito bites, eating out and generally the things that might cause us some concern and what action to take if necessary. In our fourteen years of cruising this is the first time a Health Official has mentioned such things. The Customs guys talked about the most recent and powerful cyclone Winston, other lesser cyclones and which boats survived the cyclones and why. They also told personal stories about families crowded into a bathroom or toilet to gain maximum protection. They mentioned how the children were terrified and crying and how one family came out of their bathroom after Winston to find that the bathroom was the only room in the house left standing. I don’t blame the kids for crying, under these circumstances I think I would be crying too.

WHAT A TREAT

We are mostly in company with ‘Acapella’ and ‘Jonas’ but we have sailed with and have friends on some of the other boats located here. I am particularly enjoying the air conditioned IGA supermarket with many Australian and New Zealand products available. It’s quite a treat to see reasonably priced Australian wines, Vegemite and Tim Tams. The local fruit and vegetable market is huge with high quality local produce at very inexpensive prices. In addition IGA imports fruits and vegetables not grown locally. Last night we went out to The Wok Restaurant with ‘Acapella’ and ‘Jonas’ and shared seven different dishes with rice. The food was delicious and after splitting the bill three ways, our meal cost us AUD $28.

THE BEST MADE PLANS ….

Yesterday we had this great idea of taking the local bus to the island’s capital Labasa. We heard via the Cruisers Net that the bus left at 10am. Acapella, Jonas and Eye Candy arrived at 9.35 only to find that we had missed the bus by five minutes. So after confirming the correct departure time with a bus driver we planned to be on the bus the following morning. However the driver failed to tell us that as today is a public holiday the buses are not running. Oh well we don’t feel too bad about it as we have now spoken to some cruisers who did catch the bus yesterday. They said the trip took two and a half hours each way, there wasn’t much to see when they got to Labasa, the bus didn’t have air con, the seats were hard and the bus was crowded, particularly on the way home with people packed along the centre isle. So maybe missing the bus was a blessing in disguise:)

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

We have booked in for a Seminar on Sunday about cruising Fiji presented by a colourful expat called “Curlie”. There are many islands to explore and some of the charting for the area is under developed. Curlie has lived and cruised here for a number of years. He provides a lot of information along with chart overlays with way points he has established. We will be very happy to receive this information as we certainly don’t want to run into any uncharted reefs.

SO WHAT’S NEXT

Fiji is our final destination for this season. So now we can just relax and enjoy the area before leaving the boat here and flying home in November.

For now we are looking forward to moving away from the town and exploring what Fiji has to offer. We have read and heard that the diving and snorkelling is good. The weather is a little warmer than Tonga and the water temperature is a lovely 27 degrees. We have a nice feeling about Fiji and we are very excited about the coming weeks.

Love Candy xx

6-2018 Vava’u and Ha’apai Group, Tonga

Hi from Clare,         6-2018 Vava’u and Ha’apai Group, Tonga        18^th August 2018

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Since we last wrote we have slowed down considerably and after talking to some local people we now understand a little more about Tonga time; basically nothing happens in a hurry. For example the Inter Island Ferries don’t work to a schedule, they just arrive when they get here. The Postal system isn’t speedy either. One of our cruising friends posted a letter in Vava’u to his wife in San Fransciso and it took forty five days to arrive. We have posted some birthday cards from Vava’u to Australia but after hearing that story we just hope our mail arrives before we fly home later this year:)

Neiafu Harbour

We talked to a New Zealand woman who has owned a resort here for ten years, she claims to achieve anything here one needs patience and persistence. Most of the businesses are run by Ex pats and almost all the little supermarkets are run by Chinese. We mentioned to one of the Ex pats how disappointing it is to see that the Tongans don’t run the shops and she explained that it is not in their culture. She said their culture is to share everything. So if a Tongan owned a shop, relatives and friends would expect to just get things from the shop without paying. The Tongans who have moved to New Zealand and Australia to work, send money home to the family as their wages are considered to be family money. The Tongan people are proud of their Kingdom but exposure to the western world has caused some confusion. It appears that half the people want what western society has to offer and the other half want nothing to change.

Main street Neiafu

Village homes on nearby island in Vava'u

GOING SOUTH

We sailed seventy odd miles south to the Ha’apai Group of islands. Unfortunately for us we did not get the timing right. This destination has no anchorages with protection from the west. So in a westerly breeze the water is choppy and in calm conditions the boat rolls in the ocean swell. There is a very small harbour at the main town of Pangai which offers good protection. We spent eight of our ten days in the Ha’apai Group in this little harbour sheltering from westerly winds. As you can imagine we got to know the township of Pangai pretty well. It has a small population but there is at least seven or eight Chinese general stores, all selling the same thing. There is also about the same number of churches. Some a quite big, and we doubt if there is enough people on the island to fill them. The township has a lot of Chinese sponsorship and they have paid for new concrete footpaths. The funny part is that the footpath is only wide enough for one person so we had to walk in single file. It would have looked hilarious if there were six of us. However we had the footpaths to ourselves as the Tongans all drive cars which they rent from the Chinese. One Ex pat commented that the Tongans in Pangai have forgotten how to walk.

Pangai village main street

Long beaches in the Haapai group

Whilst in the Ha’apai, we did get two days of easterly breeze and spent a very enjoyable time walking along magnificent sandy beaches, swimming in gin clear water and watching the numerous whales frolicking with their calves. Our early morning entertainment was a coffee in the cockpit watching the whales breaching and slapping the water. Some were only fifty metres from the boat with their babies close by.

PERFECT SUNNY CODITIONS

We sailed back to Vava’u under spinnaker last Thursday in time to catch up with Aussie friends Ian and Helen Potter whom we know from our days at the CYCA in Sydney. We have cruised with Helen and Ian in the Med and the Caribbean. They sailed their boat Sun Dancer 11 back to Oz in 2015. This trip they are helping with a delivery with the Aussie owner from Hobart to Sydney via Tonga and Fiji. The boat is a beautifully renovated ex Tasmanian Cray Fishing boat and just superb inside with many luxuries. We spent a few very enjoyable hours aboard socialising with sundowners on the large foredeck.

Hunga Lagoon

A PERFECT LOCATION

We are now anchored in Hunga Lagoon in Vava’u. The lagoon is an old crater and is protected all round by wooded hills. The birds are magnificent and we are in glassy water. It is so calm and peaceful, I could stay here for a long time. We know five other boats here and so we have plenty of company. Yesterday morning we went for a walk with Dutch friends Ellen and Martin on ‘Acapella’ up to a plantation. Then a second walk from another little beach to climb the hill to a lookout over the lagoon. In the afternoon the crews from ‘Eye Candy’ and ‘Acapella’ joined Dutch friends Agnus and Baz on ‘Tisento’ and went for another walk up over the hill to the other side of the lagoon. Here we met German couple Elke and Werner who retired from sailing in 2010 after twenty two years and settled here. Werner who was an Architect in his working life built a wonderfully solid and unique home from scratch. The house is made of concrete which he mixed by hand. He embedded coloured glass bottles in the concrete walls in decorative patterns. He made all the interior cupboards and furniture. A big feature window in the living area invites the surrounding tropical paradise into the house. It is all extremely well done and Werner and his wife Elke are living off the grid in their relaxing environment. We walked down to the water front where they keep their power boat which Werner has converted into a floating camper van so they can still enjoyed life on the water. Before leaving we all enjoyed coffee on the patio and Werner played Waltzing Matilda and the Dutch National Anthem on his harmonica. At eighty years of age he is an inspiration. He initially met us on the beach and walked us up over the hill and down the other side to his home and then back again when we left. I’m pretty sure he found the hills less challenging than the rest of us. It was inspirational to meet Werner and Elke who are obviously enjoying life to the full.

Werner and Elke's home

Garden at Werner and Elke's house

The explorer gloup
Ellen, Martin, Agnes, Baz, Clare and Andrew

SOME MENTAL EXERCISE

Andrew is earning himself quite a reputation within the cruising community as the radio fix it man. There are no repair places here and so Andrew has been pretty busy. He has helped countless cruisers with their radio problems and is now thrashing himself because he has encountered a radio he couldn’t fix – you can’t win them all! He has established a new Radio Net called the South Pacific Cruising Net which will take us through to Australia. We had ten check ins this morning which is pretty good considering it has only just started. Andrew loves the radio and spends a lot of time listening to various nets. I have jokingly asked him for a two way radio for Christmas, so I can get to talk to him. Let’s hope he doesn’t take me seriously:)

SO WHAT’S NEXT

We are now off for a snorkel as there is an area here inside the lagoon which has a lot of fish. We will stay here till Monday and then sadly go back into town for supplies. We will be looking for an opportunity to sail to Fiji within the next few weeks.

Love Candy xx

PS It is now Sunday and we just felt an earthquake from inside the boat. We could feel it through the floor and noticed that the curtains were shaking slightly. We have just heard that the centre was near Fiji and measured 8.2 on the Richter scale. We have also spoken to cruisers located in Fiji and surprisingly they didn’t feel a thing.

Love Candy xx