Fiji
Catacaos
Graham Shaw
Wed 26 Oct 2011 19:51
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The following pics I missed from the Tonga
blog. I thought they are worth sharing.
 Photos from Evita, lovely shot of the whale
fluking.
 Just to give you an idea how huge these humpbacks
are, the dinghy in the background is about 3 metres (10 feet) long.
 Party time in the Spanish restuarant in Tonga, our
last night there.
 The goat really wandered around the restuarant, and
joined in on the singing on stage.!!!
 OsKar being mauled by Lucas, yet
again.
We had a beautiful sail to Fiji, perfect spinnaker
flying weather, it is a pity I ripped it the first day out. And when retreiving
the other spinnaker, there was a seam split out on that one. No spinnaker
tape on board so a job for when we reach dry land.
Suva, the capital of Fiji is a large city by the
sea, the biggest we have been near since Panama. The place is very
diverse, with many different cultures. Some of the info in the cruising
guide leads you to believe the place is very hostile, with numerous troubled
waters within it's boundaries. Hence this was why I was not particulary
excited about visiting Fiji. To my surprise the place was lovely, very
virbrant, and beyond friendly, in fact I would say the most friendly place we
have visited to date.
Everyone is very helpful in many ways, not just
because they are trying to sell you something, but because they want to help
you. There are three main cultures, the indigenous Fijians, the Indians
and Chinese. All these cultures work side by side in all business,
but definitely more of the business side is Indian, the food industry
is Chinese and the Fiji industry is the culture and tourism.
The area of Fiji is huge, with numerous islands to
visit, we clearly cannot do this place any justice. The outer islands
are the most beautiful, but you are not allowed to visit these until you have
cleared in, then you would end up going back wards - against the wind. We
spent the whole time in one anchorage, which was the port of Suva, not a pretty
place the water is filthy from the illegal fishing boats which have been
confiscated, with oil and diesel pouring into the harbour. On a daily
basis you will have diesel filled sea water surounding your boat. To make
up for the poor harbour there is a wonderful yacht club, The Royal
Suva Yacht Club, which will cater for your every need - including showing
of the rugby - yehhippii. Lovely freindly atmostphere, many fun nights
were had here.
We met up again with Papillion, and Evita, which
makes Lucas very happy - three children to terrorise. We managed a number
of evenings out trying the local cusine (local meaning the local Indian and
Chinese restuarants. Beautiful food, at a steal. One thing about
Fiji is how very cheap it is here, the food especially, it is so cheap you
cannot afford not to eat out. There are some beautiful crafts, which I
could not resist buying - I will be devastated if we cannot get these into
Oz.
 Sunset over Suva.
 Rusting fishing vessels, confiscated for illegal
fishing.
 A curious Chinese hydrographic or research
ship.
 Some beer we found in Suva. This beer for all those
who do not know is brewed in Guernsey, this is the first time we have ever seen
it outside of the Channel Islands! The crazy thing is that
it was cheaper than you could get it in Guernsey or Jersey!
I feel we need to revisit this place when we have a
number of months in hand - too short of a time in such a huge
place.
Next stop Vanuatu - a short hop, just four nights
at sea. We were flying along, in fact we ended up going too fast so we had to
slow right down so we made landfall at first light.
About sixteen miles from Tanna (the island where we
are now), I could see a light from the island. It looked like a fire, I
was a little confused thinking why someone would have such a large fire
burning. Then it dawned on me, the fire was the active volcano. Yes,
how blonde??? I realised on the island of Tanna was a volcano, but I just
didn't appreciate it was an active one - where did I miss that info?
Anyway more on that later.
We arrived in the dawn hours, watching the volcano
erupting in the dark. A few other boats were in the anchorage, some
we had not seen in a while - Connect 4 and Karinya. Karinya we had seen in Suva,
but Connect 4 was last time met in Taihiti. Our arrival was timed
just perfectly - they were going out to see a traditional village. The
previous night they had a feast on the beach, with some chewing of
kava. This is the local (local everywhere in the Pacific
islands) numbing natural drug, they have this in many islands. It is
made from the root of the kava tree which is ground up and added to water. It looks like dirty dish
water, and taste about the same. It gives a numbing effect to your mouth,
and is a kind of relaxant. But when chewed, you whole mouth and
throat go numb. The only problem with this chewing of kava, is the local
guy chews it for you, then spits it out into the water, then you drink it -
glad I missed that tasting. Also when they eat the chicken nothing goes to
waste, instead of deboning the chichen, the chicken is just smashed in its
entirety, and mixed in. I am very glad someone passed on these bits of
information before I was invited to a feast!!
The traditional village was very nice, a little bit
put on for the tourists - i.e us. The men dressed in tradional costumes
and put a few dances on for us. The village is up kept just for the
tourist to look at, but saying all this they still live in straw huts, and live
very much off the land, they just wear normal clothes. This place is very
remote, and they do not access the main islands of Vanuatu, so they are very
welcome of anything you can spare from your boat, the basics that we take for
granted, eg flour, rice etc.
 Approach to Port Resolution, with the sun
rising behind us.
 The family pig, she ran up to you just like a dog
and lay down for her belly to be scratched!
  Traditional tree house, yes you can stay
there.
 Traditional dancing with a lot of
cheek!
  How to light a fire when you do not have a
Bic.
 I feel a little over dressed?
 We finished the first night with a get together
with Karinya and Connect 4, which of course ended up in lots of party games, and
big hangovers.
As there is no internet connection here we will
probably be in Noumea in New Caledonia by the time you are reading this.
After that there is only one more passage (of about 800 nautical miles) and we
will be in Australia! |