Fiji
We left the island of Vanua Levu for the main island of Viti Levu. Again the weather had been terrible so with a small weather window we did an overnight run, through the reefs non-stop to Vuda Point Marina. Caught a nice Mahi on the way so that was nice! When we arrived at the marina they had no space but were waiting on a few boats to leave so we anchored outside. The winds were up, the sea was choppy and we were completely exposed. A few hours passed and finally the marina called us on the radio to let us know the only space was on a concrete wall. Anything was better than getting beat up in the open sea so we gladly took it.
Viti Levu in the distance, quite a change from the lush green of Vanua Levu:
This was the only space available and we were so happy to have it, the weather deteriorated quite rapidly after we arrived. This was also the only time I ever had to parallel park our 42 foot boat! I wish I had it on video! I even got a couple of compliments later that afternoon!
Getting on and off the boat reminded me of the obstacle course in boot camp:
Vuda Point also has a boat yard and because of the cyclones that come through from time to time they put the boats in the ground:
Beautiful flowers fall like rain everywhere:
Enjoying the waterfront restaurant at Vuda Point:
Although the restaurant at VP is nice the service is not so nice, so we went next door to First Landing Resort:
Good service, good food = smiles:
Super nice staff:
These musicians were great, we’ll see them again:
We took a ride into the main city of Lautoka to check out the market, it was awesome and cheap:
We spent an afternoon with Claudia, Tibby and family (SY Quo Vadis) learning how to make crepes. I made these and they were awesome:
We spent another afternoon learning how to make Ratatouille, which was insanely delicious!
We walked through the countryside as well. The island is crisscrossed with this narrow gauge railroad which is used to transport sugar cane to Lautoka for processing. Fiji sugar is a huge thing:
Back to First Landing for dinner and a show. Although we were not staying at the resort, they treated us like so. Dinner on the beach:
Front row for music and the show:
Mandatory audience participation after the show. I conveniently needed to use the restroom while Tanya enjoyed dancing in the sand:
The weather during our stay in Fiji was less than ideal so we stuck to land based activity. BBQ night up on that hill at the boat yard with SY Quo Vadis:
No trip to Fiji would be complete without boat maintenance:
We finally had a weather window to move on to New Caledonia but when we called the marina to depart they wanted us to wait until the staff were available to assist. I thought I was capable enough to untie some lines and move our boat out of a marina but I decided to comply with their request. The staff at Vuda Point Marina are very friendly (the people of Fiji in general are very friendly) and you can not leave for good without a song. Marina staff bidding us farewell, it was awesome (we had to wait because they were singing to the boat that departed just before us):
Even though the weather has been uncooperative we still had a great time in Fiji. After departing the marina we headed for New Caledonia, our perfect weather window turning into 25 knots of wind right on the nose with three foot seas. Making almost zero progress we anchored for the night about 10 miles south and departed in the morning.