Current Position is anchored in Suva Harbour 18:07.21S 178:25.22E

We departed Vuda Marina at 9ish on the 27^th September after stocking up and refuelling and had a lovely overnight passage heading South East down to Kavala Bay on Kadavu Island with light winds mainly on the beam.  Luckily enough we had just enough to sail for most of the way.

We arrived at Kavala mid-morning on the 28^th and had a quiet day on board as were both feeling a bit tired. 

The next morning we were greeted by much activity in the bay as the Lomaiti Princess had arrived so we definitely didn’t get a sleep in.

                                                Lomaviti Princess – Kavala Bay, Kadavu

As the weather for the next week is looking really good with light winds forecast we decided that an explore of the Great Astrolabe Reef is for us so we left Kavala Bay and headed into the lagoon and dropped anchor off Buliya Island for the night and then headed a few more miles north to stop at Yakevelailai Island on the 30^th September.

We ended up spending a couple of nights here and enjoyed some really lovely snorkelling and we also went across to the next island with an equally difficult name to spell and pronounce which has been purchased by Lang Walker where he is in the process of building the very luxurious Kokomo Resort – naturally one of his boats – Kokomo II is parked out the front along with the $10M sea plane that will no doubt bring the somewhat wealthy guests out when the resort is finished early in 2017.

                                                                     Kokomo Resort

Even though the island is pretty small we did manage to get off and go for some nice walks around the island which also seems to be inhabited by two goats.

We also were able to get just enough signal on the HF radio to listen to the AFL Grand Final on Radio Australia – GO DOGGIES!!!

On the 2^nd October we headed up to Dravuni Island and went ashore to meet the chief and do our Sevu Sevu which is a gesture of respect by handing over some kava and in turn the chief welcomes us to the village as one of their own.  On the day we visited the chief was working over at the new resort so we got to meet with the next in line of village elders – luckily as it was early in the day they did not make us drink the stuff. 

                                                                     Sevu Sevu

The people here are really lovely and very welcoming and the village is immaculate.  They are very fortunate as they have regular visits from cruise ships, which no doubt adds to their economy, and the new resort is also providing employment to the both Dravuni and Buliya island locals so all is good in the world in Great Astrolabe – there are many banana or long boats parked out the front which is usually a good sign of the villages wealth.

Dravuni is a very beautiful island with some lovely walks and we found some exceptional snorkelling here especially on the bommies and reefs that surround the bay.  It was so good I think we could have gone back every day for another look and certainly hope to get back out here next season if the weather permits.

After a wonderful five days anchored at Dravuni we figured we should go and check out Suva which doesn’t seem to come with a good reputation but got to go and see it all.  Again we had a lovely sail on our way up to Suva and found it a bit confronting when we arrived and started looking for a spot to drop our anchor near the Royal Suva Yacht Club and somewhere between the sunken wrecks and the rusting hulks of ships that are here – what a contrast!!!

We have spent the last few days exploring the city and found it was not as bad as many of the reports we heard and were even lucky enough to be here to enjoy some of their Independence Day celebrations.  There are even some lovely old colonial buildings in town that are being restored including the Grand Pacific Hotel which is definitely very grand.

                                                                     Independence Day

                                                                                     Grand Pacific Hotel

                                                                                                  Suva Market

Today the weather report is for some nasty windy and wet weather so planning to head Lami Bay which is the cyclone anchorage in Suva Harbour so will be heading up there today to sit out the nastiness.  Apparently the Novotel is located in the same bay and it appears to have a dinghy dock so all is not lost….