It was with much excitement and anticipation that we set sail from Vava’u in the early afternoon of 10 Aug and had an uneventful three days sailing to Fiji. The only uncomfortable moment was when we changed our bearing in order to miss reefs resulting in a long day of beating into the wind, making the ride a bit bumpy. The best moment of the sail was crossing the International Date Line on my night watch! Although we had crossed the political Date Line when entering Samoan territory a few months back (we lost a day moving from 5 Jul to 7 Jul when we arrived in Samoa), we crossed the geographical 180° meridian crossing from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere on the night of 12 Aug. And we managed to get a short video clip of the GPS changing from W to E! We arrived very early the next morning at the island of Vanua Levu, the smaller of the two biggest islands in Fiji, if that makes sense! We had a hassle free customs and immigration clearance in the town of Savusavu. As soon as we were cleared we all headed to shore, Captain and First Mate to pay the clearance fees and Rob and myself to find the local places to eat! We found a great local eatery which made a fantastic curry and it became the place we frequented during our stay in Savusavu. The town was small, one main drag with the supermarkets, clothing stores, post office, a handful of restaurants and a few roads branching off into the housing areas. It was also clean, with lots of rubbish bins along the road. Definitely not something we saw while in Tonga.
The next morning we went ashore quite early in the hope of renting a scooter to travel around the island, but after a talk with the rental agency, we decided against it. For the cost of the scooter, it wasn’t worth renting it as we were limited to the places we could ride. Majority of the roads were dirt, and with rain the previous evening it would have been a bit treacherous. So instead we explored the town further, heading up into the hills to get some views over the marina and see the suburban areas. The houses were well kept, and we definitely got the same sense of pride we saw in Samoa when it comes to the locals looking after their possessions. We were admiring the scenery from the road in front of one guy’s house and out he comes, introduces himself, finds out we are from South Africa and immediately started talking rugby! After a quick chat we headed back into town and along the coastal road to find some hot springs. A few missed turns, taking the scenic route again, we eventually found them. Nothing spectacular, just a few small pools of water surrounded by rocks, but the amazing thing was the water was literally boiling, bubbling out of the hole in the ground and was scalding hot. A very visual reminder that we were standing on top of an active volcano! Local women brought their pots and cooked their food over the water. That afternoon was spent at a local bar playing Mexican Train dominoes with our English and Aussie mates. The locals in the bar were a bit rowdy and overfriendly after enjoying one too many Friday drinks, but again, as soon as they heard we were from SA, drinks were offered and the rugby talk started! Two things to note about Fijian men: each buys a 750ml bottle of beer with small glasses shared between the group. There is no sipping of the drink to savour the taste of good, cold Fijian Bitter; a little glass is poured, then downed like a shot, refilled and passed along to the next guy. So they became as drunk as skunks in a very short period of time but were still mellow and full of fun, with no signs of aggression! Secondly, mention you are from SA and you have a friend for life, with invitations back to their villages to stay!
That Saturday following our arrival, we caught the local bus to the end of the coastal road to the Jean-Michel Cousteau Dive Resort. Although very exclusive, it had lovely bungalows and gardens. The resort is on the shore of a marine conservancy but the hotel didn’t allow outside snorkelers – we had to book a tour at an exorbitant price, so we gave that a miss. We enquired about the room rate for interest sake – 2400 Fijian Dollars for one night in their cheapest room. Multiply that by six to get South African Rands!
After a quiet couple of days on the boat and around town, Rob and I decided to rent a car and travel around the island for the day. It was a bit drizzly and miserable to start, but as we travelled further north the weather cleared and we had a wonderful day. After travelling part of the beautiful Hibuscus Highway, we turned off onto a dirt track (we had a 4×4) and took a circular route to the island’s capital of Labasa. It was quite a long drive through numerous villages, some big, some small, with friendly residents who often stopped whatever they were doing to give a vigorous two arm wave when we passed! Even a volleyball game was stopped so we could be greeted! The best way we can describe some of the houses is that they were fancy shacks – made with corrugated iron sheets, but well constructed, neatly put together, and often very brightly painted. The schools also looked in very good nick. We found the island to be very diverse in terms of vegetation, moving from tropical rain forest, to what almost looked like dry bushveld, and then to endless plains of sugarcane surrounded by high mountains. Just outside Labasa was a sugar mill with hundreds of trucks lined up on the road, piled high with cut sugar cane waiting to be offloaded. We crossed numerous railway tracks in the area and saw railway carts being loaded in the fields, being pulled along makeshift tracks as the cutting progressed down the line. We didn’t pay much attention to Labasa, being an industrial town and arriving late in the afternoon, we were tired and hungry which meant it was just a lunch stop before we continued on. We travelled back to Savusavu on the intercoastal road, up and over the mountain range separating north from south. It was a day well worth the expense of hiring a car.
While in Savusavu I went to two local yoga classes to try and get some activity in. The instructor was some hippie American who spoke more like a drill sergeant but at least I got some pointers on the more technical aspects of the different poses. The time in Savusavu was also spent setting up our blog which we hope you are enjoying as it gets updated! On the morning of 23 Aug we left Savusavu and motored along the south east coast of the island bound for Taveuni. After anchoring for two nights in two different bays as we made our way along the coast, we motored over to the island of Taveuni, dropped anchor just off the town of Somosomo, and took a quick trip ashore to find a taxi to take us to the International Date Line on land. A great photo opportunity but it was a bit of an anticlimax to straddle the line – we were rushed as Captain wanted to leave quickly for the next island so we didn’t have time to appreciate the site. After that we motored over to the island of Qamea and anchored in a beautiful bay for the night.
After Qamea, we motored into a lovely cove off the island of Matagi and anchored for a couple of nights here as it provided good protection from the wind which had been picking up over the last week. The bay had a few coral bombies which we snorkelled around for a while. We were not sure if the coral was actually diseased in this area as a whole bunch of coral was stained a luminous blue colour. It was quite remarkable to swim over what looked like deer antlers and see the tips glow blue when the sun shone on them. End of the month and we headed to Koro Island to slowly start making our way to Suva, the capital of Fiji. Being a long way down the road, and Stewart tired of overnight sailing, we planned to stop at a couple of islands along the way. First being Koro at which we arrived late at night, so we didn’t go ashore here to explore. The next morning we headed off to Makogai Island, significant in Fiji’s history as being the site of a leper colony which opened in 1911. Over 4000 leprosy patients landed on this island, 1241 of those patients died, and the graves of the deceased are still present, the tombstones littered amongst the trees and extending all the way up the hillside next to the village. Only the stairs to the entranceway of the Leprosarium still remain with the rest of the building demolished. When we went ashore to explore, we wanted to present a courtesy gift of kava root to the village chief but he had gone to the capital. Normally the kava root is ground up and made into a ceremonial drink and shared amongst the village chief, elders and visitors in a sevusevu ceremony, but we missed out on this with the chief being away. Oh well! We read the same had happened to our English and Aussie mates so at least we weren’t the only ones to miss out on this tradition.
On Spring Day we sailed to Ovalau Island, and the old colonial town of Levuka. Levuka is Fiji’s first World Heritage Site, being the former capital of Fiji and the site of the country’s first bank, post office, government and newspaper, the Fiji Times. It was a very pretty town, and with its old colonial buildings (same dating back to the early 1800’s) it contrasted completely to the villages and towns we had already seen. The quaint storefronts and original weatherworn clapboard buildings still remain, and although looking a little shabby at the time of our visit, there were signs of refurbishment. The town is now home to Pacific Fisheries Company Ltd so there was a distinct fishy smell in the air! After a night in Levuka we sailed to Suva and anchored off the Suva Royal Yacht Club, and being in the midst of what looked like a shipping graveyard with wrecks strewn around in the harbour, it definitely didn’t have a royal feel!
So unfortunately after First Mate lost the plot and decided we were no longer welcome on board after letting loose a few choice words in my direction, we left the boat in Suva and found a guesthouse to stay for a couple of days before moving on. We accompanied Captain to Immigration to clear off the boat, and had a bit of a hiccup at this stage. Without going into detail, we managed to get everything resolved after the weekend and said our goodbye’s to Captain. We had a great time in Suva, enjoying the time to recharge and get things ready for the next leg of our trip. We had a good couple of walks around the city, coming across a function in the community park celebrating 160 years of the Chinese in Fiji. Even the Prime Minister was there and we were able to catch sight of him as he did his meet and greet. This was a much better experience than the one in Tonga waiting for the King to pass! We also enjoyed the views from the seafront promenade, walked past the very upmarket Grand Pacific Hotel, and caught the presidential guard on camera as he barred the entrance to the grounds of the presidential palace.
After Suva we caught a bus to the west side of the island to the town of Nadi (pronounced “Nandi”). Although supposed to be a non-stop service, we had to change busses about four times before reaching our destination due to mechanical issues with the first bus. Eventually we arrived at our hotel in Nadi, Aquarius on the Beach, which was a great place to stop for a few days. Very close to the airport, we had the noise of jets landing and taking off, but it wasn’t too bothersome. We were right on the beach, had a swimming pool, and the bus to town stopped right outside our door! We explored the port of Denerau, which is essentially just a marina and shopping complex filled with expensive restaurants, with exclusive hotels surrounding it, and spent some time in Nadi town. The only interesting thing in Nadi was seeing the biggest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere, but we didn’t go in as we were wearing shorts and as such weren’t dressed appropriately. One day we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to an island tour, taking a high speed catamaran to South Sea Island, a smaller island in the lower Mamanuca group. We spent the morning there relaxing on the beach, swimming and even tried our hand at stand up paddle boarding! After a BBQ lunch which was a bit disappointing, we boarded another boat which took us around all the other islands in the group, such as Bounty, Castaway (not the movie island) and Treasure Islands. We also caught a glimpse of the actual island where the movie Castaway was filmed. We enjoyed the day out as we wouldn’t have had another opportunity to visit this part of Fiji. We also caught a bus 25km up the road to the port town of Lautoka. Known as Sugar City it is also home to Fiji’s first sugar mill which is still operational, so there was a pungently sweet smell in the air while we walked around. Being a port, Lautoka was surprisingly clean with a lot of parks dotted around, and it was a pleasant morning exploring.
We loved our time in Fiji, and were made to feel so welcome by the locals. On our travels so far we can definitely say that Fiji has the best scenery, best people and best food in the Pacific! It is one of the few places where Rob and I have said to each other that it is a country we would go back to. We are eternally grateful for the opportunity Captain gave us to join the boat and sail across the Pacific, and despite a few bumps across the way, it was an experience that was totally worth it. From Panama to Fiji, via the Galapagos, French Polynesia, Samoa and Tonga, we can definitely say it was a trip of a lifetime!