Days 80 & 81 Suva to Beqa Island 18:22.1S 178:08.9E

Five Islands
John & Sue
Sat 11 Aug 2012 21:28
Suva Harbour

 Our anchorage in Suva Harbour

 Moving this old girl by the 'pull me, push you' method

 Bailing rainwater out of the dinghy

We spent another rainy overcast day in Suva on Wednesday and decided we needed to make water on Thursday. The plan was to go out of the harbour, make water, then come back in and anchor at the Novatel (Old Tradewinds), which is further around in Suva Harbour. The weather cleared a little so the decision was made to head to Beqa (pronounced Benga) Island. We motored across and came through Sulphur Passage (Nanuku Reef) on the northern side of the island and made our way around to Malumu Bay. The sun came out for brief periods of time but finding a suitable anchorage took 4 attempts due to the deep water rising up to shallow reef. We finally dropped anchor in front of the Lalati Resort & Spa about 6 hours after leaving Suva. The inlet is protected with hills all around. The amount of reef we saw as we came through the pass promises some great snorkelling as long as the sun comes out. Nigel & Miss Kitty ventured into the resort yesterday afternoon to get the lay of the land and have organised a visit to the chief this afternoon. We bought Kava root in Suva so will take this as our gift to him. 

 Maluma Bay, Beqa Island

 The Lalati Resort

 The sun broke through the clouds occasionally