Catastrophe! - Albert Cove, Rambi Island, Fiji
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 12 Jul 2009 20:01
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16:26.702S 179:56.227W
Ok, maybe it wasn't as bad as all that, but it at
least qualifies as a calamity. More on this later.
On July 4th we left Jellyfish Bay and motored about
four hours (no wind) to Rambi Island (or Rabi as it is often spelled) where
we joined six other boats in Albert Cove. Albert Cove is on the northwest
side of the island, well out of the path of the prevailing southeast trades and
protected on all sides by an extensive reef. Getting in was a little dicey
given the sad state of our chart's accuracy, but we followed Storyteller who has
an updated version of the Fiji charts, and it was no problem. After
receiving a major evil eye from one of the crew on a French catamaran, we
re-settled our anchor further away from them and took in our surroundings.
It was a gorgeous spot. A crescent shaped sand beach with water as clear
as a swimming pool and what we knew to be excellent snorkeling along the
reefs. The perfect spot to spend the 4th of July weekend.
First a bit about Rambi Island. There are
four villages on the island, all populated by people from the island of Banaba
in Kiribati. These people were relocated to Rambi Island in Fiji after
their island of Banaba was first ruined by phosphate mining and then invaded by
the Japanese in WWII. Following the war, Rambi Island was purchased for
the Banabans by the British (with money from the Banabans) and 2,000 people were
brought here. Today the total population on the island is
4,500.
Given their background, we didn't think the
sevusevu ceremony would be necessary on this island, but we learned
differently. While I prepared for our 4th of July happy hour on board
Harmonie with the Brits, Australians and Kiwis (who needs other Americans
to celebrate the 4th of July with when Brits, Aussies and Kiwis will do?),
Don went ashore with John, Sue, Michael and Sue and Grant (guests of
Storyteller) armed with kava. All reports were that the sevusevu ceremony
went well and we were given permission to anchor in the cove, swim, snorkel,
walk on the beach, and according to Don, pick-up Fiji women (I didn't believe
that last part, but am not really sure since I wasn't there).
Shortly thereafter, our foreign friends arrived for
the 4th of July festivities. Storyteller arrived in their dinghy festooned by
none other than Old Glory - hanging off the stern like it belonged there.
Grant presented us with a card he had designed and Sue a poem she had written
specially for the occasion. Jackie arrived in a party hat with black and
gold balloons in hand. Not quite red, white and blue, but they still
looked festive hanging off our dodger. The foreigners stuck to their
G&T's instead of going for something more American like vodka or Budweiser
beer (not that we had any on board, but no one asked for it either) and did
their best not to say anything that could be remotely interpreted as
America bashing for the entire evening. A good effort was made by all for
sure.
We stayed four nights in Albert Cove and loved
every minute of it until the calamity happened. The weather was perfect,
nice and hot and sunny, the water warm and the snorkeling as good as
advertised.
Pictures 1 and 2 - Some of the coral formations to
be found in the reefs surrounding Albert Cove, along with some of our favorite
blue bubble fish. Bubble fish because they dart in and out of the
coral as a group, which from a distance makes them look like
blue bubbles.
Picture 3 - One of the lovelier sunsets we've seen
in a while.
We caught up on reading, swimming, snorkeling and
laundry while in Albert Cove. Yes, laundry. We had some wet weather
before then and as you can imagine it's impossible to dry clothes outside when
it is either completely soggy with rain or no rain but 100%
humidity. So our washing machine was pushed into overdrive for
several days to make up for lost time. This was up until it up and decided
to give up the ghost, kick the bucket, keel over, bite the dust, conk out
and breathe its last on the morning of our last day in Albert Cove.
Major calamity. A front-loader washing machine whose tub refused
to turn. We can deal with a broken grill, a broken dishwasher, a
faulty engine tachometer and temperamental wind indicator, but a broken washing
machine? Devastating. The funny thing was that the thing would still
spin, it just wouldn't turn during the washing and rinsing cycles. Don
immediately tore into it. Literally. Pieces of washing machine were
strewn about the cabin while Don gave it his best effort for the better
part of four hours. And in the end? Nothing. The miracle
maintenance man was taken down by the washing machine. I was
shocked. How could this be? The man that can fix everything takes on
the washing machine....and loses? Deep depression hit and visions of
bucket washing heaps of clothes started circling around my brain. Jackie
reminded me that they've never had a washing machine on Lady Kay and managed to
survive just fine. True, but what if they had a washing machine for a
couple of years and then it broke when they were on a remote island in
Fiji? Different story then, I think.
On that down note we left our near-paradise in
Albert Cove and headed back to Savusavu to provision for our next planned trip
into the more remote parts of Fiji to the west.
Anne
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