Year Two
Date: 28/8/2009 16:30
Weather: clear but very breezy (strong wind warning)
Location: Naviti Island (17 04.933' S, 177 16.629' E)
Author: Kylie

Hello everyone. As you may have read our sailmail and navigation laptop died last week. What a pain! We have loaded the software onto my laptop and it is working reasonably well. Unfortunately it means we have lost the last message we sent to the blog and have no idea what we wrote.

So I'll start with Eugene and Izolda arrived last Wednesday. On Thursday we hired a car and drove the coast road south past the Coral Coast and around to Suva. The road was not as scenic as Peter would have liked however it was interesting to see the change in landscape as we crossed the mountain range onto the 'wet' side of Viti Levu. In Suva we did the important things such as a museum, gardens and McDonalds for lunch. mmmm cheese burgers

We spent the night in Suva and the next day returned by the same road stopping at an Eco Park. It was a fantastic park by Australian standards and even more surprising to find it in Fiji. We got up close and personal with the rare Fijian Crested Iguana and Peter and Izolda held a small snake.









Peter was surprised by the feeling of the snake, saying it was "not what he expected". They had a great range of native colourful parrots and we also got to feed some hawksbill turtles soon to be released into the wild.

That afternoon we went fruit and vege shopping at the huge Nadi markets. Here was the largest range of vegetables and fruit we have seen since New Zealand. The prices were very cheap and we went crazy purchasing vegetables Peter and I have never tried before eg. ocra.





The grocery stores are remarkably better then Tonga and apart from chocolate we have found everything we like albeit at a price. Small long life cream was $5, but butter was a good price.

With all the food aboard we had a beautiful curry dinner in Nadi. We ordered some mild and some medium dishes however there was little to no spice in either dish and we could have ordered much hotter. The flavour was nice and I had been craving naan bread which i finally got.

From Vuda Point Marina we did a short hop west to Malolo Island and Musket Cove resort. It was quite breezy and the anchorage was very full so we didn't get off the boat. In a few days they are holding a week long regatta and expect over 100 boats, we can not imagine how so many boats could fit in the rather tight anchorage where it is 20 metres deep meaning you should have out 60metres of chain and enough swinging room for each vessel.

The following day we jumped north to the un-inhabited Navadra Island. We went for a walk on the beach and planned to snorkel the next morning. Unfortunately when our lap top died that evening we decided to leave early the next morning and try and catch up to our friends on Twin Image to seek their assistance. We sailed 39miles that day and went through to the famous Blue Lagoon. Tuesday we had beautiful weather and made the most of it ashore. Eugene and Izolda went swimming and snorkeling and Peter and I paddled the kayak around. I had a wade in the water but didn't want to get my hair wet- what a girly thing to do! but I think I have a fair excuse; on the boat we have a shower every few days and therefore only wash my hair about twice a week (at home I'd do it everyday) so that day my hair felt clean and smelt great so I didn't want it dirty again.

We have spent the last few days at Naviti Island. In the anchorage we have had winds up to 20 knots, out in the open water we can see the wind is much stronger. With all the wind we have had no power issues and today we enjoyed watching a dvd before lunch and then everyone joined in for a few rounds of mexican train dominoes- a great game and much more interesting then normal dominoes. Tomorrow we hope the wind has dropped so we can move a little further south again.

Check out the price

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Hi everybody,
We have had a problem with our onboard computer crashing. We think its hard drive has failed. As a result we have lost alot of peoples email addresses. So family and friends can you please send us some form of basic email to our sailmail address so we can update them onto the other laptop.
Sailmail is now loaded onto this laptop and is working with basic functions until we can get to an internet cafe to get the latest version so it works properly with windows vista. So please bear with us until we are fully operational again.

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Year Two
Date: 22/8/2009 16:30
Weather: clear but breezy
Location: Musket Cove (17 46.38' S, 177 10.98' E)
Author: Peter.

A week has now passed and we have a little to catch up on. We left Yadau Island on the 17th having seen none of the rare Fijian iguana's that are special to this island.

Fijian iguana.

We then sailed straight across Bligh Waters to the top of Viti Levu before over-nighting along its north western shores (17 25.215' S, 177 41.174' E). The next morning saw us again on the move however this time we traveled very slowly as the wind was non-existent. The narrow maze of reef channels we sailed through at times felt very close and it was good to know we could turn on the motor at any moment if the need arose. Looking back in time, to when boats did not have this luxury I believe these sailors must have been very skilled and brave to have moved about these waters.

That afternoon we anchored up just off the town of Lautoka (17 35.986' S, 177 26.568' E). This large industrial town boasting a big sugar mill, tall wood chip pile and a thriving port. The port was our first stop ashore as we checked in with customs and updated our cruising sheet. Once our forms were filled out in triplicate with the friendly workers at customs we were off to explore the the thriving dusty town and to pick up some extra provisions for our future guests. The streets were crowded with locals and cars and each shop and street had unique smells, both good and bad. Lautoka was to be our guest meeting point but I felt a change of pickup destination was required. Although the grip in the mud is terrific I made the change because of a number of factors; it was further away from the airport, at times there were some rather nasty smells coming across the water, ash from the sugar cane mill kept falling out of the sky and it was a rather long and unpleasant ride out to the boat for mum. It also meant we could provision at Nadi which had a few more options and choices.

As a result of the change the next day we sailed a further 9nm south to Vuda Point Marina (17 40.854' S, 177 23.821' W) where after another very slow sail we arrived shortly before midday. This marina is somewhat different to any we have stayed at in the past. It must have been some kind of circular pit or mine in the past as once you entered it is lined with concrete like a giant swimming pool. There are also no fingers. You tie one end of your boat to the outside wall while the other is hauled out back toward the centre of the circle by mooring lines. They can fit 95 boats in this way. It is rather interesting to see and seems quite popular as they were almost full the entire time we were there. Also of interest is the long term hard stand. Boats coming up for the cyclone season are first lifted out of the water, their keels and rudders are then lowered into a hole in the ground and the hull of the yacht sat on tires. I assume come that time of year they are also strapped down.

Mum Dad arrived later that afternoon by Taxi at around 15hrs local time, before we spent the rest of the evening getting them squared away.

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Year Two
Date: 15/8/2009 18:30
Weather: Steamy with occasional heavy showers
Location: Yadau Island (16 49.00' S, 178 17.04' E)
Author: Peter.

The waters of Fiji are just teaming with life. We have spent the last two days day-hopping back east and on the way we have seen some interesting sights. We have sailed through small gaps in the coral reefs that at times feel a little too close for comfort. We have anchored off large upturned wrecks. And we have seen some interesting sea life. Yesterday we sailed within six feet of a giant manta ray lolling on the surface his large scopes a cool shade of light blue. We have sailed through large schools of flying fish all launching into the air on mass. My goodness can these small guys fly when there are no waves. They just keep going on and on. Much to my surprise tuna can launch a long way too. I saw a tuna leap vertically out of the water chasing a bait fish, both of them easily reaching 20ft above the water. In the channels we passed our first large turtles making out once again. And today we passed burrowing fish. Back in one of the towns Kylie even got to see her first mud skippers.

You may have noticed the funny title. All our meat has traveled with us for the last few months having been purchased in New Zealand. Given the small size of our freezer that means the majority of meat has been cryo-vacd and stored in our fridge. The longest lasting meat stored this way is beef, so now that we have started the stores in the freezer we once again have some variety. Mmmm chicken.
Photos from Yadua Island

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Year Two
Date: 10/8/2009 16:30
Weather: Warm but with occasional showers
Location: Taveuni Island (16 41.15' S, 179 53.22' W)
Author: Peter and Kylie.

We have been anchored up off the northwest corner of Taveuni in Rabi Channel. It is easy to see why the area is world renowned for its scuba diving and although we have not done any we can comment about the snorkeling. We have two great snorkels in the area. We both agree it is by far the best coral we have seen. Today's snorkel we swum through an intricate maize of corals that you can swim through and around unlike the normal ones you just swim over. There was so much to explore and see with many new soft corals we have not seen before and a wide variety of colours and structures.

Taveuni is called the "garden island" and this is for good reason. During our explore ashore it was great to see the time and care people and resorts took with their gardens. There tropical plants abound in colour and texture. Between these gardens and the natural bush the whole island has the feel of one great luscious tropical paradise

We also got a phone call from Sue Ritchie today which was fantastic. It really brings home the one downside of this lifestyle. How much we miss our friends. Thanks Sue we do really appreciate it. Although it did cost us money, so if anyone else did want to talk to us just email.

Sorry for the interruption but at this exact moment whilst Peter was writing this blog and I was serving up dinner we had an electrical issue. Sparks, burning smell..... not good. It was a chafed wire connecting the instrument panel to the engine shorting out the instrument panel. As a result the engine could not be turned off at the normal switch! Whilst Peter went about trying to cut the fuel from the engine to stop it, I consulted the manual and after reading the troubleshooting section and getting no closer to finding a solution for the problem I flipped to a page where Eugene had written and highlighted "Emergency Stop". Well that soon solved the issue of turning the motor off. Now Peter had to cut and re connect the chafed wires, soldering them together and sealing up with heat shrink. After many hot sweaty minutes squashed up in the engine room the job was done and Peter redirected the wires and hung them from the roof so we would not have to go through this again. A couple of hours after the initial interruption dinner was reheated and we sat down to a very cold lemonade.

We have since had the most wonderful few days. The best of our trip so far. Being a little bit short on time we deliberated long and hard about starting to head west again. There were many places we wanted to see in the Taveuni area and lots of things to do. Since we honeymooned around here 3 years ago we had wanted to see the rain forests and spectacular waterfalls we had heard so much about. Not to mention the amazing diving this area is renowned for. So much to do and so little time to do it! So on Sunday still undecided if we should hang around for a few more days or start sailing we headed into the beach and walked to Beverlys Camp Ground where we asked some New Zealand guys staying there if they had been to the falls and was it worthwhile. (Just a quick side note: this camp ground looked great, it was right on the waters edge with a boat ramp and snorkeling off the beach. The grounds were clean and you pitched your tent amoungst huge poison-fish trees.) They told us the falls were good and to just walk along the road and hail a Taxi as it passed. So the following day we did just that. We were picked up by a nice Fijian man in a rattley old van. We quickly left the sealed road which only really runs from the town of Waiyevo to the airport. Then for the next 3/4hour we bumped and rattled down a dirt road to the Bouma National Heritage Park. We paid our admission fee and started the walk to the falls, leaving the taxi driver to wait for us to return. There were three waterfalls of which we walked to two. The first fall was only 10 minutes walk along a flat path.



The second fall is a further 30 minutes along and has many steps and a river crossing to navigate. Crossing the river you had the assistance of a rope strung across. Although it was an easy crossing in the conditions we had, one lady in the group in front of us made it look decidedly difficult.












Upon return to the first fall, all hot and sweaty we stripped down to our swimmers and with a little trepidation we entered the cool waters at the bottom of the waterfall. To our surprise it was not that cold and we swam, struggling against the current to swim up and under the waterfall. Peter even overcoming his fear of heights walked up in behind the falls and jumped back into the pool below. The whole area was a vibrant green. The tropical rain forest is cool dark and dense thanks to the high rainfall the area receives. The glimpses of the waterfalls peeking out through the thick green foliage are breathtaking. It is a place well worth a visit.

The taxi dropped us back at the dinghy (we have finally given our dinghy a name- everyones dinghy has a name! Our dinghy shall from here on be known as "Weedy").



That afternoon we slowly sailed south down Taveuni Island to the town of Waiyevo. Although the international Dateline officially doglegs Fiji, the 180 degree meridian cuts straight through where we anchored the boat. We anchored off the Garden Island Resort where we went ashore and inquired about doing a dive with them and also arranged to have dinner at the resort to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. Peter ordered a much wanted vanilla milkshake and we relaxed by the pool. The dinner was beautiful; steak and baked vegetables. Probably the best steak either of us has ever had. Followed by a lime mouse dessert and then much to our surprise they produced a huge chocolate cake with "Happy 3rd Anniversary" and beautiful flowers decorating it.





We spoke with the owners of the resort, Nigel and Carol who coincidently have an apartment in Coffs Harbour. Nigel is also the son of the owners of Matangi Island Resort where we honeymooned. Its a small world. They informed us that a bypass of Coffs Harbour has finally been decided on (Dad- where is it going to pass?) and also of the tragic sinking of one of the ferries in Tonga. Having seen these ferries it came as no surprise that one was un-seaworthy. They had a list to one side and were in very poor condition, however with over 130 deaths it is quite tragic. The ferries transport everything from cars, food, livestock and people between the island groups and we imagine this will have a huge impact on the local Tongans.

Today we enjoyed a wonderful experience diving on a reef in the Somosomo Strait. The dive site is called the Fish Factory and we could see where this name came from as soon as we entered the dive. We went to 26 metres deep and viewed the most amazing fish and coral we have ever seen. Among those we saw were angelfish (not just a pair as usual but a whole school!)little purple and orange fish, half yellow half royal blue fish, a lion fish and nudibrach. It was amazing. We can't wait to come back and do more diving in this magical area.

We have now started our trip back to the west towards Nadi.

Pineapple farm


Taro plant - very popular root vegetable amoungst pacific islands

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Year Two
Date: 7/8/2009 16:30
Weather: Warm but with occasional showers
Location: Matangi Island (16 43.83' S, 179 44.64' W)
Author: Peter.

Almost three years ago to the day our sailing journey really started. Although we were building the boat at the time and I had some plans, I was not too sure how Kylie would be with them. 3 years ago at this same island on our honeymoon Kylie and I went for a walk to the lookout and saw a yacht anchored in the horseshoe shaped lagoon below us. A few days later we were having a private lunch in that bay and noticed that the yacht was Australian. Kylie commented "that will be us in a few years time". It was then that a knew we were going to travel a bit further then home waters and it was from this experience that I think Kylie started to make plans.

So here we are back at the beginning. Matangi, as I have said is a horse shoe shaped island, privately owned by a New Zealand couple who run the resort we honeymooned at. It is quite rugged and steep sided, covered in tropical rain forest and is just as perfect now as it was back then. We are out to the far northeast in relation to Fiji waters. It tends to be wet regularly which is why it is so green but it also has some of the best diving in Fiji. Although we don't have time (we will be picking up guests in just over a week back on the complete opposite end of Fiji) to do much diving this time, we have already made plans to come back in the future.

This morning we had eight small goats walking the beach while the local colony of bats were settling back into their roost high up on the top of the mountain. We snorkeled straight from the yacht, Kylie commenting how the coral we snorkeled over was the best she has seen this year.

Tomorrow or the day after we will start making our way back south west. Hopefully finding a good dive on the way. It was great to come back and see this island from a complete new perspective but it is shame we don't have longer to enjoy it.

On a different note our Raymarine C80 plotter, came up with a screen saying navigation malfunction and would not turn off or on. After some time checking it out along with the handbook, we decided to do a restart of the system. It is now working but we have lost all our past tracks and way points. This is a bit of a bummer.

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Year Two
Date: 4/8/2009 16:30
Weather: Warm
Location: Fawn Harbour (16 43.55' S, 179 43.725' E)
Author: Peter.

We set sail back to the east early this morning but thanks to some light and variable winds we have not gotten as far as we would have liked. This however is not a bad thing as we are anchored up in a pretty little spot called Fawn Harbour. The anchorage is perfectly still as we are protected by a major reef to the south blocking out all swell. We are anchored in clear water surrounded by natural wonders. To our north, dark green healthy mangroves meet the water. Straight behind them the heavily wooded mountains rise steeply, reminding me a bit of Coffs. There are a few nice houses scattered low down close to the water otherwise it is clear of human interference. To the west is the coast we have just come along but all we can see are a few small islands. Out to the east we can see the outline of the large island of Taveuni rising up out of the sea shrouded in mist with its peak hidden in the clouds.

Taveuni is the third largest island in Fiji and it was to here almost three years ago to the day that Kylie and I had a wonderful (not) experience in a plane. The island is in stark contrast to its surroundings. The giant monolith stands out as Ayres Rock stands out from the desert. Although much smaller in plan view than Vanua Levu due to its shape and bulk it has a commanding presence. Tomorrow we again make our way further east to Viani Bay the start of the channel between Vanua Levu and Taveuni Island.

It is important in places such as this to get to anchorages during day light hours. Trying to navigate through coral reefs in the dark is rather stupid in our eyes and should only be attempted under extreme circumstances. It is for this reason that we pulled up early into one of our backup anchorages. Although its entrance looks difficult in through the reef, it is not and we would highly recommend this spot to other cruisers.

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Year Two
Date: 3/8/2009 14:30
Weather: Hazy
Location: Lesiaceva Point (16 48.59' S, 179 17.298' E)
Author: Peter.

We left Savusavu this morning and made a short hop around the corner to Lesiaceva Point the eastern most side of Savusavu Bay. We are currently anchored in front of the resort that bears the name of the famous French diver/marine biologist/inventor Jacques (i wont even try to spell his name). This is our start point as we begin to make our way back to the east tomorrow.

On Friday we took a bus ride over to the town of Labasa. The three hour bus trip starts on the south side of Vanua Levu and finishes on the north. Our bus, a rusty relic originally from some Asian country, although a little cramped, did give us an opportunity to see more of inland Fiji. We met our bus at 0930 in the morning and along with a full load of Fijians set out north. We felt bad for the locals who use this service regularly as the windows no longer work -would have been nice to let the wind in when weather is hot, and to close the cool air out when up the top of the mountain but the windows were either stuck open or closed. In addition to the lack of climate control the seats are too small, Kylie and myself only just fit let alone anyone with a big bum, and the seats are too close together. My legs were no where near fitting. This arrangement left plenty of space down the aisle, great back in Asia to pack in a crowd but not so here. From our seat in the front of the bus we got to see a great deal of the country side through the windows, the open door, and the rust holes in the floor.

After rounding the north east corner of Savusavu bay the bus slowly climbs up hill winding its way through some rugged bush up high into the mountains. Every now and then we stop to pick up passengers from the side of the road and the bus slowly starts to become overcrowded. The centre walkway becomes full of produce, kava and personal belongings which makes it hard for anyone wanting to get off to transit this area. The people are however extremely friendly and tolerant as we are greeted with a "bulla" from each new arrival. I would love to explain what the native vegetation looked like but there is not much left and what is still left is covered by some large leafed vine- a weed we presume.

After about 40km we start to descend back down the ridge to the other side where the mountains start to disperse and we begin to enter plantation pine forests before eventually making our way out onto an agricultural plain. We had heard of great crops of sugar cane but these seem to be diminishing. Unlike the big endless fields of sugar cane between Harwood and Ballina back home, we only seemed to pass small pockets of sugar cane some in the process of being cut by hand. As we descended down the last hill towards Labasa it became obvious that the land now looked most suited to some kind of grazing live stock.

We hopped off the bus and received a big shock to the senses. The smells (good and bad), the sight of so many people, and the heat. We had hopped on the bus in the quiet little town of Savusavu and had hopped off in a completely different world. Labasa has a major Indo-Fijian population and because of its influence the whole town takes on the feel of a "Little India". It is crowded, smells of spices and curry, and is full of shops selling the most wonderfully colourful sparkling saris that adorn the many ladies about town. Their clothes are bright, covered with embroidery, sequins and jewels. We had three hours to waste so we went exploring each corner of town before sitting down to lunch. We choose a crowded cafe which proved to be excellent. We ordered two dishes but they were so large one would have been enough. Each dish cost $5 Fijian which equates approx to $3.50 aus.

restaurant we lunched in


After lunch we went back to a few of the shops to get Kylie a sun dress. We thought if we bought one of their clothing sets the top would be great around the boat. The bonus being it came with a stunning scarf and a pair of pants. After many costume changes we decided on a purple top. The girls at the counter also found it funny that a male was helping a female to choose her clothes. We then headed off to a tailor to get some small alterations to the fit which only cost $5. We thought this fantastically cheap but it is only when you read a job advert in one of the windows that you realise why. The advert read "seamstress wanted $1.78 per hour". Our mouths just hung open. Is this normal? Our lunch without tax would have cost almost six hours worth of work.

Our time had come to an end and we had to make our way to the bus terminus. It is hard to describe the chaos present here. Buses, people, dust, fumes, noise, smell, all crowded into a small space. Horns honked, people came from everywhere as work must have finished to join the already overcrowded area of school kids still waiting to go home. We sat on our bus next to an open window to help with some of the heat we were feeling in the bus. Some entrepreneurs walked up and down the bus windows selling peanuts and other snacks for the long ride home. Sitting next to the open window although good in the bus bay was not so good as we made our way back up into the cloud line. When the rest of the bus that had working windows shut them to keep the cold out we could not and froze. We put on everything we had but it still was not enough. Some locals even tried to help us shut the window as they were feeling its effects as well but to no avail. The bus was chockas from start to finish so there was now where for us to move to. At the stop halfway along we picked up so many more people we had people standing in the aisle for a long long time. This plus the boxes and personal belongings all stacked on the floor made for some rather exciting times as people once again tried to hop off.

We arrived home well after dark, and being rather tired and stiff from our long trip promptly hopped into bed and fell asleep.

Labassa bus terminal

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