Departing from Fiji takes time. This is a country of some 274,000 square miles - 4 times larger than the islands and waters of French Polynesia. 97% of Fiji is ocean with the land made up of 332 islands grouped in various parts of this ocean span and only one third of the islands are inhabited. The two main islands are volcanic and make up about 85% of the total land mass; the other 330 islands are either coral, limestone or atolls. This is a big area which is why departing takes time.

After our ventures in the Yasawa Islands we moved a little further south to Musket Cove on Malolo Island in the Mamanuca group. This afforded us a swinging mooring at the Musket Cove Marina enabling us to get laundry and other domestics done before moving on to Lautoka on Viti Levu where we would get our clearance to leave for Vanuatu. The mooring was very sheltered and gave us a couple of peaceful nights as well as a bar and barbecue where we met some of the other yachties. However, the shopping for food stuffs was poor so we decided to leave early next morning for Lautoka, picking up fuel and water at Vuda Point Marina which was small and charming. This is one of the marinas where a boat can spend the cyclone season half buried in the ground so that if a cyclone strikes the boat cannot be blown away even if the mast and rigging go. Weaving through the reefs and sand bars we negotiated our way east and dropped the hook in the bay which has a reasonable anchorage but mainly copes with ships dealing with the produce of Fiji's main sugar mill.

We went off to find Customs and Immigration where checking out was a lot quicker than checking in although details were recorded on computer, in triplicate using carbon paper and entered into 'the book'. All our clearing in paper work was checked and finally passports were stamped and clearing out paper work signed and issued. The officer apologised for keeping us waiting - we had only waited about 5 minutes.

Next was the market to stock up on fresh fruit and veg, eggs and bread. We walked into town, Lautoka is a big place with lots going on including a lorry stopped amidst a major crossroads as part of its front coachwork had fallen off – it didn't stop the traffic! We found lots of decent shops and the best market we have seen here. The produce was very good and prolific. Gorgeous local avocados aubergines, cucumbers, pak choy, limes and paw paw for next to nothing. Then there were some imported items like carrots, potatoes and grapes much more expensive but still very reasonable. There were masses of okra, chillies, cassava, coconuts and on and on. We stocked up, probably bought too many avocados, never mind.

We moved out of the bay at Lautoka down the coast and into a bowl of deep water surrounded by a circle of reef with a narrow opening which provided a still pool of ocean and a silent night. We left for Vanuatu early next morning and the islands of Fiji kept appearing near and far for hours and hours. Later we looked back and realised that Fiji had gone.

The passage to Vanuatu was trying and tiring, the winds were the lightest we have had for any sustained length of time and we ended up doing 54 hours under engine. This makes a total of 100 engine hours since leaving New Zealand – unprecedented, the engine has only done 1526 hours since new! Ah well..........................life on the ocean wave.

However we did have some wonderful skies.

and some heavy rain!

Finally can anyone out there go and check in their garden to see if the northern hemisphere snails are the opposite twist to this one?