On standby in Suva

18:07.393S 178:25.504E

Well – here we are again – back in Suva town – Visa’s extended – patiently waiting to head to NZ.

Sadly we are nearly at the end of this particular adventure, but then again the sail back to NZ is always an “adventure” in itself!  We’re officially “on standby” waiting to get the nod from our weather router and then Navara will be following her nose home. 

Once again we’re enjoying the fresh markets and Indo-Fijian food fusion Suva is reknown for, making a welcome change from our “boat stores”.  However, we’ve got our provisioning from NZ pretty well sussed now.  Shopping for 6 months is quite a daunting task and Navara’s waterline has been steadily rising over the months as we eat our way through the supplies.  The only thing we ran out of was coffee which was about to be declared as a national emergency before we swapped a bag of polenta and some dried onions with a Swiss boat for a tin of kick-arse ground coffee beans from PNG.  The universe does indeed provideJ

A new discovery this time round has been the University of the South Pacific which turns out to have a fabulous bookshop.  We have bought books on indigenous art and sailing canoes that are fascinating to read with everything we’ve experienced in the outer islands.  In practice for our future years as aged back-packers, we travel with the locals on the bus.  From the markets near where we are anchored to the university is 70c – a bargain in anyone’s language!  Despite the obvious “air-conditioning” benefits we have learnt that it is preferable to get a bus with windows if at all possible.  It’s a dusty, noisy trip otherwise (or more accurately – more dusty and more noisy).  These buses are someone’s pride and joy – all named with titles like “The Burning Stone” or “Midnight Rambler” and they seem to be in competition for the loudest stereo.  Rows of buses also try to “psyche each other out” at the lights by revving their engines like boy-racers hoping for a drag – then again – it might be just to keep their engines running!  We’ve caught ourselves giggling like schoolkids as we career along ricocheting off massive potholes with Bollywood music blasting through clouds of dust and exhaust fumes – all good fun but great to get to your destination in one piece J

A further delight of Suva when you’re on standby is the movie theatre – complete with “real” air-conditioning.  The latest movies are around NZ$5 which is a bargain compared to what we pay at home – not that we can remember the last time we actually went to the movies!

Well that’s about it from Fiji – next time you hear from us it’ll be to say that we are finally leaving and heading home.  We’re not quite sure when this will be - It’s been a season to be patient with wind and weather so wait we will……..

Looking forward to seeing you all soon

Linda and Carl

xxoo