Saweni Bay, Viti Levu Island, Fiji

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 4 Aug 2009 23:41
17:38.512S  177:23.628E
 
On July 27 we left the uninspiring anchorage at Gana Point and continued on in our quest for civilization in the form of the city of Lautoka.  We arrived at the Lautoka port later that morning after motoring another 18 or so miles and anchored in the designated area just off the commercial wharf.  The group of ten or fifteen boats anchored there were almost all familiar to us.  The Pacific sailing world is so small that almost every boat we see is one we've seen before - either it's someone we've just met, someone we sailed up from New Zealand with or a boat we recognize from our travels throughout the area last year.  Windchase (of big wind fame at Yadua Island) was floating quietly at anchor in Lautoka, as was Jungle (a boat we met in Tonga, full of crazy Kiwi sailors who were headed to Hawaii to deliver Jungle to its new owners) and so on.
 
Feeling at home with boats we recognized in a port we visited last year, we put the dinghies in the water and buzzed into shore with Jackie and Michael.  No sooner had we set foot on land and looked up the crumbling concrete wharf steps to the port road, did we see none other than Ravin, our Indo-Fijian taxi driver from last year, waiting for us.
'Bula!' we yelled to Ravin, 'Do you remember us?'
He thought for a moment and took a closer look at the four of us.
'Yes!  I remember!  I took you for shopping to the market and the supermarket.'
'Yes and you picked us up on Saweni Beach and took us to a resort for dinner.'
'I remember!  It was First Landing Resort.  And I took you to the office to get cruising permits and he (he points to Michael) forgot his passport so I took him back to the dinghy to get it.'
Wow, we were impressed with the clarity of Ravin's memory. 
'Don't we all look the same?'  we asked him, 'All of us yachties with our hats and our crocs and our bags and our dinghies?  How can you remember us?'  
'I remember.' was all he said with a chuckle.
 
Ravin waited for us as we (Don and Michael) completed the obligatory three forms in triplicate to inform the Fijian government that we were now checking into and out of the port of Lautoka.  The young customs officer asked Don and Michael where they were going next.  They both answered, 'Saweni Bay, then Denarau Island, then Musket Cove and then leaving from there to Vanuatu with the ICA rally.'  None of this could have been a surprise given that ten ICA rally boats had checked in to and out of the Lautoka port about a week earlier.  Regardless, the customs officer was confused.  He discussed the issue with a fellow officer, then he asked Michael and Don what our plans were again.  He was given the same answer.  He went away for a short while and came back and asked Don and Michael what our plans were again.  They gave him the same answer.  This went on for about five more rounds of question, answer and confusion.  Finally the customs officer relented and gave us the piece of paper we needed to move on.  Fijian customs never ceases to amaze us.  We often wonder what exactly they do with all those forms filled out painfully in triplicate with one very well used piece of carbon paper.
 
From there we did the usual round of clothes shop, pharmacy, market, grocery store and wine store.  In the end, Ravin's smallish taxi could barely fit the four of us, our cases of wine, cases of beer, heaps of tomatoes and bags of groceries (not to mention Ravin's own rather large body).  Lautoka was just as we remembered it.  Busy, with its mix of Indian an Fijian people walking purposefully through the streets.  The grocery store wasn't as well stocked as we remembered, but it did seem to have very few cockroaches this year, which made us happy.  The market was as large, dark and filled with as many Indian spice smells as it was last year.  This time we recognized almost all the fruits/vegetables/spices on display whereas last year we wandered around gawking at everything, not knowing what most of it was.  Take lemons, limes and oranges for example.  There are the usual limes, that are green on the outside and green on the inside.  Then there are what look like limes that are green on the outside, but yellow on the inside and taste more like lemons.  Then there are the round green things that look like green oranges, but taste like a combination of orange and lemon.  It's all very confusing.  Sometimes you just have to buy now and allow yourself to be surprised later.
 
Back at the dinghies, we struggled to load everything, and us, in.  Once done, with stuff piled high and barely room for our feet, we set off toward the boats.  Unfortunately in Lautoka, which is a busy commercial port, private boats are not allowed to anchor near the shore, so the distance to dinghy is rather far.  This is especially true when dinghying into the wind and small waves with a teetering tower of stuff.  If the dinghy tipped over we would have been fine, but the loss of all the stuff would have caused more than a few tears.  Needless to say, we made it through fine (although a bit soggy) and spent the next hour or two unloading the stuff and putting it away (always a challenge).  As soon as that was done, we pulled up anchor and motored the short four miles to Saweni Bay (scene of Lady Kay's reef grounding last year) for the night.
 
Picture 1 - The Lautoka market - big, dark and full of an incredible array of spices, kava, hot peppers and five different versions of limes as well as all the other usual stuff.
 
Picture 2 - Lady Kay at anchor at sunset in Saweni Bay - this time happily at anchor well away from the reefs.
Anne

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