FIJI, OCTOBER,2013

We flew into Fiji from the UK via Hong Kong, with jet lag, the yacht looked well cared for whilst we were away, decks scrubbed, hull and stainless steel polished and my little herb garden just about surviving, but lacking food and a little more watering, Apii was kind enough to keep it going for me.  Sadly below decks we had an invasion of cockroaches........ so jet lagged, hot and steamy we emptied all the cupboards, underfloor lockers of everything into the cockpit making sure there were no lurking roaches there.  Then the only way to get rid of them on a permanent basis was to 'bomb' the inside of the yacht with insecticide. Rentokil came down the next morning to do this.  We took all linen and towels off the yacht as well as we did not want to sleep in sheets impregnated with strong insecticide.  We had to spend 5 hours off the yacht whilst smoke inside got into every nook and cranny.  I took myself off for a much deserved massage.  That done, into the yacht opened all the hatches to let the smell out and then the business of cleaning up all the dead roaches and their droppings and scrubbing.  Repacked all the lockers, made up the bunks, luckily I had vacu packed all the perishable food such as flour and sugar before leaving the yacht.

Later that day David D'Kantzow arrived to join us from Australia and then later that day Bart Ross and Bianca Matheson old friends from Whistler. Next day the BIG shop for food to last the next few weeks as we were due to sail to the Lau group of islands where there are no shops just small villages who sustain themselves by fishing, keeping chickens, ducks and growing their own vegetables.

Because of the wind in the wrong direction we called into Suvasuva for a night and also to celebrate Bianca's birthday at the Copra Shed Yacht Club, the market in retrospect was much better there than in Nuie, the vegetables were fresher. Diwali was being celebrated so lots of fireworks and firecrackers going off all the time.  We left Suvasuva at 4 p.m. for an overnight sail to Vanu Baluva in the northern Lau group of islands having obtained a special license to go there. We needed to arrive in daylight to make our way through the reefs to the island.  The raymarine electronic charts were half a mile out so we used the way points downloaded from a variety of yachts pilotage in the 'Soggy Paws' compendium.  So following the way points we, according to our Raymarine electronic chart, were crossing shallow reefs just goes to show you should not rely on electronic charts alone it was useful to put in the way points though.

We arrived at Vanua Balavu after a mixed crossing of squalls, no winds, some wind at about midday.  We were called up on the VHF 16 by the island village asking us when were coming ashore to present 'Sevusevu' This is a small ceremony when you go ashore to the village which owns the whole area and ask the Village Chief for permission to be there, explore the island, snorkel, dive and take photos.  You give the Chief a gift of Kava Root (which in some cases they ask you to join in the Kava drinking, but not this time)  I also presented a gift of lots of crayons, pencils, rubbers and sharpeners for the school. The men have to have their legs covered with a sarong or Sula skirt, the females must wear long skirts or sarongs and have their shoulders covered.  You must not carry a handbag on your shoulder, wear hats or sunglasses it is considered Tabu (very rude) to do so.  You go into the chiefs house having taken off your shoes, and you must keep your head (which is sacred) below that of the chief and elders. You then sit cross legged on pandanas grass mats, do not show your feet or have them pointed towards other people. The Sevusevu ceremony begins with a greeting and blessing (in Fiian) of the gifts and three claps after saying Vanuka (thank you) this goes on for awhile with chanting. Then we chat a little about where we are from and about ourselves.  Having done this we are shown around the village by the 'tourist host' she is a lovely lady called Lako.  It is a very pretty, clean village although full of Land crabs which dig holes everywhere in the grass so you have to watch your step, they are hoping to build a cement path so that a) they don't get muddy in the rains and B) it is safer for the elder villagers to walk.  We discovered Lako's son is in the British Army in the Green Howards and was posted in Wales where she visited him and his wife, she had also been to Blackpool to the see the lights.  Her son is now posted in Cyprus so she hopes to visit him there.  It must be quite a culture shock after the very simple life of the the village where a diesel generator provides electricity for two hours a day for those that are able to pay $4 Fijian dollars a week, so that they can dine in light and the children can do their homework.  Interestingly enough they had a huge satellite disk and Solar panels.  

We spent the night at anchor, went snorkelling on the reef in the afternoon.  Up anchor this morning now that we are their welcome guests to explore their beautiful islands and reefs.