Nananu-I-Ra Island, Fiji

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 4 Aug 2009 21:28
17:18.147S  178:12.949E
 
As mentioned earlier, we set off from our Yadua Island high wind shelter early on July 24th in a very reasonable (given the recent history) twenty knot wind from the east.  The sea was lumpy since it was still recovering from being battered about so badly by the wind for two days.  It felt like we were sailing across Lake Ontario with short, steep waves doing their best to make us uncomfortable.  It was a 32 mile sail due south across Bligh Water, which separates the two main islands of Fiji; Viti Levu to the south and Vanua Levu to the north.  The size of Bligh Water is about two-thirds that of Lake Ontario, so the water dynamics really did look and feel similar to those of the lake.  Not that this was a good thing.  We prefer the longer, larger swells of the open ocean that you can sail up and surf down - this can't be done on short, steep lake-like waves that bash the boat and push it around.  Uncomfortable or no, we arrived at our destination in a jiffy sailing over eight knots the whole way.  No fish were caught, but it wasn't because we were sailing too fast.  It probably had more to do with the fact that we didn't put a line out.  Bumping around in the waves never makes for fun fish cleaning/cutting/gutting, so we opt out when the chief cleaner/gutter/cutter decides it's too rough. 
 
Nananu-I-Ra Island is very small - the kind you can walk around in a matter of five quick hours at low tide - and is 'free-hold' property.  Free hold means it is not owned by native Fijians, but was sold to outsiders at some point in history.  This particular island was purchased by one of the heirs to the Proctor and Gamble fortune.  The island was turned into a cattle ranch and prospered nicely as such until the P&G heir died more than several years ago and the ranch was shut down and some of the property sold.  Now the island is home to about four or five small 'resorts' (a step above some we saw in Tonga, but by no means equivalent to the Ritz) and a few, very nice, newly built vacation homes.  The guide book says there are still some cattle wandering around - quite wild now that there is no one to look after them - but we didn't run into any.
 
The day after we arrived was Jackie's birthday so we spent the afternoon walking around the island and scoping out the resorts for dinner options.  At the first place we stopped to inquire about dinner, a very soft-spoken and diminutive Indian girl patiently explained that the resort already had reservations for six dinner guests and therefore couldn't serve the four of us because they didn't have enough kitchen staff to handle the crowd.  The Fijian woman at the second place indicated that there would be room for us, but only if we placed our order and paid with cash before 4pm. 
'Ok, no problem' we said as we reviewed the short menu.  'What do you recommend?' we asked her. 
'The beef hot pot and the coconut fish.' she answered.
'How is the fish curry?'
'We don't have any fish curry.'
'Oh, ok, what do you have?'
'Beef hot pot and coconut fish.'
She said this with a perfectly straight face.  We giggled.  Then we ordered two beef hot pots and two coconut fish.
 
It wasn't the best meal we've ever had, but it really wasn't bad.  It had been two weeks since the last time any of us had eaten at a restaurant, so we were due.  Overdue, really.  The celebratory bottle of champagne we shared before dinner wasn't bad either (very good, actually) and might have influenced our opinion of the beef hot pot and coconut fish in a positive way.  Beef hot pot, in case you were wondering, is a kind of beef stew with a mashed potato topping.  Not too bad. 
 
Picture 1 -  Our view of a local motorboat and the northern coast of the big island of Viti Levu from our anchorage off the tiny islands of Nananu-I-Ra and Nananu-I-Thake. 
 
Picture 2 -  Looking out over the resorts' beach area from the resort jetty at low tide. 
 
Picture 3 -  Our view of Harmonie (the tiny speck with two masts) as we walked around the island at low tide.  That's Jackie, Michael and Don in front of me.  We ran into a stray American as we walked along this part of the beach.  He claimed to be a dive instructor in Indonesia and was vacationing? looking for work? on this tiny island in Fiji.  After the conversation ended, we were left wondering what his real story was.  The bits that he shared with us didn't seem to hang together in a logical fashion.  Sometimes you can never be too sure about the slightly off-kilter people you meet in these out-of-the-way places. 
Anne
 
 
  

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