Savu-Savu
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Thu 15 Aug 2013 06:10
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16:46.68S
179:19.79E Savu Savu,
FIJI
We arrived in Fiji last Friday, having crossed 180deg lat .. we are now
back in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Fiji is made up of around 300 islands, with the capital, Suva is on
the main island, of Vita Levu. However, our first port of call is
Savu-Savu, the biggest town on the second biggest island, Vanua
Levu. It is It is very easy to get your Suva's and Savu-Savu's mixed
up ... and then there is the Sevu Sevu ceremony!!! (but this is for another blog
entry)
Fiji has been independent since 1970 and is quite unique in that about 50%
of the population are of Indian decent. The Indians came in the late 1800's/
early 1900's to work on the sugar cane plantations, and stayed. This gives
the country a very different feel to the more traditional Polynesian islands we
have visited so far. They also seem to have had quite a lot of political strife
over the last few years. Most people are very friendly and although
everyone seems to speak English, the standard greeting is however a
hearty BULA!
 We are heading to the east of Vanua
Levu for a few days, will then move south to Makogai. We will then sail across
the north of the main island, stopping along the way - and end up in
the west (the most touristy part of Fiji). There are beautiful
islands in the Mamanuca and Yasawa chains, where we plan on spending a longer
time.
But back to Savu Savu ... our check in
procedure was fairly painless for a change, although it now seems that we are
still missing one document !! We took a mooring ball off the town and
enjoyed hanging out there for a few days and eating a lot of cheap & good
Chinese style food. We also got the boat polished, which was an "adventure" in
itself - we used a local guy called Sam, and although we were warned that he was
a bit of a scoundrel, decided that we could manage him. However, he drove us
insane with his continuous nagging for money and stuff , and then the 1.5hour
lunches, so eventually we had to fire him. Luckily the top-sides are
all done, and I guess Mike and I can finish the stainless
steel.
The fresh fruit & vegi market is one
of the better ones we have encountered - they even sell lettuce! The town is a
bit of a dive, but we have managed to get most of what we need , including a lot
of new TV shows (like Trinidad, Fiji does not give much care to
copyright)
 Downtown Savu
Savu
  Outside the Vegi
market Passing
the Copra Shed marina ..too small for Time2
It has also been great to hook up with
Andrew (ex FBYC) and Kerri on s/v Mariposa - whom we last saw in The Grenadines
in 2008. They now live in New Zealand, spending the winter on their yacht in
Fiji. We celebrated Andrew's birthday with them last week and on Monday will
celebrate Mike's birthday with them in Vianni Bay.
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