17:40.826S 177:23.162E
We had hoped to leave towards Vanuatu a week or two
ago but on the morning of our planned departure we discovered a
problem with our satellite phone. Now, I know my hero James Cook survived
up to three years at a time in the Pacific without so much as a postcard
home but we had no intention of heading off without our beloved
e-mail and the ability to download the latest weather maps and
forecasts. Despite our best efforts to solve the problem locally, which
involved letting various Chinese teenagers loose inside our (very expensive!)
phone with a soldering iron and tweezers, the problem remained unsolved.
Eventually we decided that either we stayed in Fiji for the rest of the year
(which Lucy thought was a brilliant idea) or we sourced a
replacement, which DHL have now whisked across the oceans to us in a
matter of days.
The wait gave us a great chance to hire a car to drive right around the main
Fijian Island of Viti Levu and to visit the capital, Suva. This city
is big by Pacific standards (180,000 people) but does not have a huge
amount to recommend it except a good museum (including the rudder from Capt
Bligh's HMS Bounty) and some of the best Indian restaurants this
side of the sub-continent. A large number of Indians were
brought here as indentured workers by the Brits in the 19th century to harvest
the sugar, something the Fijians clearly had the good sense not to get
involved in. Many of them stayed on after their original contract
despite the back-breaking labour, probably because it took a further
five years indenture to earn a passage home. Those of Indian descent have
now grown to become half the total population and to dominate much of the
economy. This in turn has caused a degree of ethnic and political
tension which is the root cause of Fiji's multiple military
coups. There have actually been four since 1986, the most recent
of which was just last December. Fiji is therefore currently controlled by
the military, although as a visitor (and I am told as a local) this has
remarkably little impact on daily life. Anyway....moving on from my little
aside, these Indo Fijians not only do much of the hard work but they
also produce some great chefs and some great golfers (hands up all of those
who always thought Vijay Singh was a surprising name for a Fijian!).
We are now back on the boat with our new working "bat-phone". We are
fuelled up, topped up with water, fully provisioned and ready for
the off but unfortunately now the weather has thwarted us. There is a
nasty little depression just the other side of our destination which we
have no desire to sail towards so it looks like we won't be on our way
until early next week.
