5/10/08
Denereau
Island, Fiji
I’ve been back on the boat a few days and am
slowly adjusting to jet lag. The
day I arrived it was raining just to make me feel at home but that only lasted
one day. The Americans pulled one
of my two bags at JFK for inspection so it missed the flight. It arrived a day late and I had to pay
some duty on the boat parts. I
could have gotten it in duty free but the amount was less that the customs agent
would have charged.
The customs officer just wanted to get something
he didn’t seem to care how much.
So we have a new wind transducer, a new starboard
engine throttle control, new fridge parts, new anchor chain counter sensors, new
camera battery charger, proper tinned wire with proper tinned crimps and so
on. It never
ends.
Today we’re off to
Castaway
Island, renamed
in honour of the Tom Hanks film which I haven’t seem. As we are approaching so are the
clouds.
We anchor just as a tourist boat is leaving so we
have it to ourselves. The water is
glorious although the visibility doesn’t let you see the anchor in 20 meters
depth. The sun comes out while I’m snorkelling.
There are hundreds of fish and dozens of
varieties on the reef. There are a
couple of baby goats ashore who keep their distance and disappear into the palm
forest. They must sense we are
defrosting lamb chops for
dinner. The scenery is
magnificent. If you’re going to be
a castaway this must be the place.
There is a big rock on the island a few hundred feet high and I wonder if
there is any fresh water.
There are dozens of islands in this huge lagoon
many of which have their own resorts.
This island appears to be populated only by the goats. I enclose a couple of snaps of some
randem islands in the lagoon. It
will take a day or two to get back in the blog groove.
