Sawa-i-Lau Island - The Yasawa Group
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sat 17 Jul 2010 06:36
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16:50.852S 177:27.975E
Saturday 17th July
We were up first thing this morning as we
had a 70 mile trip ahead of us so Paul and Paul picked up the anchor at 06:20.
At first we were worried that we'd have to motor as the wind wasn't enough to
maintain the right speed but then suddenly we had 20-25 knots on the beam and we
were zipping along doing between 8 and 9 knots. The seas seemed to increase in
size quite rapidly and before we knew it we were having one wave after another
over the boat so the life-jackets were out. Amy was most disappointed as today
is her birthday! Big seas, no sun, life-jackets and 10 hours sailing - I don't
think that's what she had in mind for her birthday in Fiji!
  Paul and Linda on their
holidays!.....................Approaching land
Instead of making our way down the coast of
the south island Viti Levu as most of the other boats have done, we've come
across to the Yasawa Group of islands and we'll make a few stops on our way down
to Malololailai Island where Musket Cove is. The Yasawa Group is a group
of 20 islands dotted across 90km of reef. They are grand in stature with
empty beaches and rugged landscapes. Technology is an enigma and supposedly
any stay longer than a day will nudge you surreptitiously into the true meaning
of 'Fiji time'. When approaching the islands we were heading for what
we believed was the pass through the reef into when suddenly the depth dropped
to 5 metres and waves were breaking in front of us. Paul turned the boat round
very quickly to get back out to deep water - we almost hit a reef! The boat on
the chart plotter wasn't where we actually were so we were heading towards a
reef instead of the pass. Thankfully we got out just in time and made our
way through the actual pass with no problem. Once in the pass we turned the
corner to a fantastic anhorage just off Sawa-i-Lau Island, I'd say it's one of
the prettiest places we have anchored.
  The pictures don't really do it
justice, it's difficult to get an idea of it
  A guide greeted us and offered to take us to
the caves on the island, so within 20 minutes of anchoring we were on our way.
Underwater limestone rocks are thought to have formed a few hundred metres below
the surface and then uplifted over time. Shafts of daylight enter the great dome
shaped cave (looming 15m above the water surface), where you can swim in the
natural pool. Once in the main cave John, the guide, showed us an underwater
tunnel we could swim through to get into an adjoining chamber. This chamber had
no daylight shining through so it was very eerie! The limestone walls have
mysterious indecipherable carvings, paintings and inscriptions. We made our way
back into the main cave ready for the next bit of the tour. We had to climb up
the rock face and slide sideways through a very narrow hole - then we
were in a cave high up above the water. We had to climb down a steep drop
into another pool and then swim underneath the rocks back into the main pool. It
was all good fun! John then climbed about 40 feet up to the top of the cave and
jumped down into the pool - he was crazy!
Natibou were aleady anchored when we arrived
and they had arranged to go ashore in the evening and eat with John and the
other villagers so we mustled in and decided to join them for Amy's
birthday meal. There was so much confusion about what was going on, such as what
food to take and when to turn up that we weren't too sure how it would turn out
but it was a fantastic evening. We had a welcome ceremony where the men drank
some kava, as well as the 'Birthday Girl', as they called Amy for the evening,
and any women who wanted any. Then it was outside to cook the food on the BBQ on
the beach while the men stayed inside and drank some more kava!
  Sat in a circle to be welcomed
to the house..............The lobster was sat in the centre teasing
us
  Amy drinking her first cup of
kava then the men formed their own private circle
  The BBQ
 Me and Linda
  A busy room whilst we all
ate............John the guide and host
  Amy about to blow out the
candle on her cake.................The cheeky little boys in the corner with
their cake
 The villagers gave her a
bracelet and two necklaces as presents - how nice of them!
  Paul and Brian had to present
kava root to the chief of the village at the 'Sevu sevu'. The chief however was
working on Vanua Levu so Abraham, one of the elders, took his place
  Shacks in Nabukeru
Village
 The house where we ate our
meal
  The village by day
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