17.26S 178.56E Wednesday 2nd July we started our journey at
daybreak round to Musket Cove – the next supported BWR stop, also in Fiji.
We had all had in mind a short two day trip but Curly, the local island
guru who broadcasts on VHF every morning for the yachtie community: news and
views, items wanted or for sale, weather forecasts etc, gave us a special
seminar highlighting the hazards on route – which would frighten the
willies out of the most experienced sailors. Curly has a real presence:
loud voice, twinkly eyes and a hyena laugh with a long white beard rivalling
Keith on Baccus; he has been sailing and living in Fiji for over 30 years and
when the statistics and percentages rolled off his tongue of the 800 groundings
a year with an average of 12 yachts lost annually, most of them on our route,
inaccurate paper charts and useless electronic ones we all paid rather close
attention! Two main routes are possible – south with notoriously heavy
seas, high winds and busy shipping lanes or north, slipping between tricky
reefs with incredibly exacting waypoints to follow. The Rally was split in two
– half deciding on the former and the rest, including us, the latter
route. It literally took hours and hours to put all Curly’s
waypoints (which we all bought for 25 Fiji Dollars - 3 to the pound) into the
system - and so far they are spot on.
You cannot please all of the people all of the time and for some Savu
Savu, with its welcoming yacht club and hospitable people, was the highlight of
the entire journey. There were activities laid on each day – the
rainforest tour, the village tour, the pearl farm tour and numerous group
barbeques and other gatherings in the evenings. There was TV football and rugby
coverage, darts and a pub-like atmosphere. The Indian culinary influence in the
adjoining ‘Surf and Turf’ Restaurant was fantastic – the best
curries we have had since we left Gibraltar……
But for me personally I couldn’t wait to get going again – to get
off the beaten track and explore some of the places not so frequently
visited. However, a combination of foul weather and a persistent
virus/bug kept us anchored to our buoy for no less than eight days!
Miles and miles of thick impenetrable rain forest
With orderly plantations
And sandy/muddy shorelines……..
We didn’t see many birds or animals – just lots of Fijian
ground frogs!
First light, 5.30am on Wednesday we detached our umbilical chord and
sailed in the company of Zippy, Moonshadow, Rascal, Pelle V and Stargazer
to Makongai (we had been informed this island since1969 was a deserted leper
colony) – around eight hours sail away. The reefs and passes are
extremely tricky all through these areas and 1500 hrs is the deadline for entry
before the sun’s rays no longer deflect light in the right direction to
detect coral heads. We spoke to Neva and
Paramour on the VHF who had already arrived and contrary to our information
there was a thriving village with 85 villagers living there, with an elder
named ‘Watson’, who were very much looking forward to greeting us
all with our customary gift of Kava root! Oh dear – here was I
thinking the whole ceremony was a rather tourist oriented ‘show’
put on for visitors, but I stand corrected……..without a bunch of
roots we really would not be welcome! Neva
and Paramour had bought enough in the market in Savu Savu to share with us all
thank goodness and Watson had told them we could barbecue on their beach.
This presented another problem as we had nothing suitable to cook and we knew
there would be numerous hungry locals expecting a share – so we fished
for the first time in months and almost to order caught an enormous mahi mahi!
Paul landing his mahi mahi……
Pretty island with well kept gardens and homes……..
Our Kava offering…….donated to us by Neva….
Our passport to the island…
And the Zippies with theirs…….(note the fancy bound tail!)
We all arrived within an hour of each other and plodded ashore to meet
Watson and offer our gifts – he took the whole procedure very seriously
and blessed the roots before welcoming us all into their
community………and a ‘poor’ community it is too although
everyone looked extremely well with many happy healthy children and babies. The
island is very picturesque and really who are we to judge the meaning of poor?
Watson, deeply religious, has English blood in his ancestry and is very
pro British…..
There is some subsistence farming and fishing here but their main
source of income is a government sponsored giant clam project whereby when the
clams are grown they get distributed over the (resort) reefs of neighbouring
islands.
Baby giant clams……..
Giant clam shell
Empty clam tanks……
Long ago ‘tropical sheep’ were raised here (for their meat
not wool) and the story goes that so valuable did they become that a breeding
pair could be sold for 30,000 Fijian dollars. Apparently, after one year left
on the island to multiply, their numbers were checked to find there were only
7% remaining as the rest had all been eaten!
There is a school, over a mile’s walk away, which the children,
when questioned, were highly enthusiastic about. Their older brothers are
in the British army and this is also their ambition and their goal for the
future. Many of us took writing books, pens, pencils, balloons and lolly pops
as gifts and whilst these were obviously appreciated – when pressed they
admitted that what they would have really loved was reading books and cds! Some
boats donated diesel and we gave Watson a large solar light.
The island owns one diesel generator – a Lister invented by Dr.
Diesel - apparently dating from 1911? Did they make diesel engines in
1911? This one is run every morning for two hours, and then again in the
evening for three, and still sounds as sweet as a nut – they get a
government diesel allowance and buy it over on Ovalau
Island in Levuka town (which used to
be the capital of Fiji
until 1881). They cross the twenty miles of sometimes boisterous
interconnecting sea in an open boat, often filled with women and children going
for a medical check up at the same time. Two days ago a wave capsized the
boat – all the passengers were in the water - some for up to four hours
and they not only lost their diesel but also the life of one of their
children….. the funeral had been the day before we arrived so there was a
sombre mood amongst the villagers.
However, the barbecue was still welcomed and the fish was an enormous
success with the whole impromptu event evolving into a symbiotic masterpiece
– Moonshadow’s deluxe barbecue, Zippy’s instant lighting
Sainsbury’s coals (which fascinated the local fishermen), Dorothy’s
amazing fish filleting technique – learnt from her local fishmongers -
and Peter’s dextrous cooking skills! Everyone brought side dishes
– baked potatoes, garlic bread, salsa, coleslaw, chocolate
brownies, fruit salad and thankfully there was more than enough to share with
Watson and many villagers who all lined up very graciously to be fed. It
wasn’t really because they were hungry – more to share what we had
to offer as they were sharing their village with us………
Dorothy’s super fish filleting skills………
And Peter……..super chef…….
The most moving Kava ceremony took place afterwards with beautiful
guitar playing and plaintive singing with everyone sitting cross legged in a
big shed. James, a softly spoken thirteen year old, had pummelled all the
roots we had brought to powder in an old log…... the children are
not allowed to taste it until they are twenty one.
James crushing the kava root to powder outside the communal shed
Today we are sailing to Ovalau, some twenty miles
away………….
