We left the delightful bay opposite Taveuni at dusk, giving ourselves enough time to get through the reef before dark. The distance down to Levuka is about 80 miles so it’s better to sail overnight and go through another pass when the sun is up. Levuka is a world heritage site and the former capital of Fiji. It’s on an island but with a good harbour for supply ships to get in it made sense at the time. The current capital is Suva, just around the corner on the south coast.

 

The town really is a step back in time, with shop fronts that look more like something out of a western than somewhere in the south Pacific. The locals are trying to keep it as it was and are doing a very good job of it. There is a museum, full of everything from photographs of chiefs to bottles and treasure from various shipwrecks. As with all the islands there is also a good display of war clubs.

 

We had lunch in The Whale Tale restaurant along the seafront, then visited the cession stones. These stones are set in a parade ground giving dates when the country was taken over by Queen Victoria and when the Fijians took it back in the 70’s.

 

We carried on around the coast of Fiji the next day. Levika has a canning factory which ensures that you keep moving. The all pervading smell of cooking fish gets a bit much after 24 hours!! On the west coast are two marinas, the biggest one is Denerau which caters for everything from cruise ships to small yachts and thankfully was full as the smaller on is a delight. Vuda point marina has a circular mooring facility, slightly concerning as you have to force your way in to make a space, a good restaurant and a resort next door which has great food also. We stocked up at an Italian deli and a great butchers and with our spare day before we went to Musket Cove we set off to the mud pools for a soak. Penny and Alan Spriggs flew in to Fiji, then left to Musket Cove to await our arrival there.

 

Musket Cove is a fun place, located about 15 miles to the west of Fiji it’s a holiday island destination and has a fine yacht club of which we are now life long members. We enjoyed a fine feast that they put on and then got the boat ready to go to Vanuatu. The weather has started to change as we near Australia and the constant trade winds, though still blowing are starting to be affected by the lows that come through past New Zealand. A big low was developing and planning to be between us and our destination, so we up anchored and left a day early to avoid it.