Departed Florida 4 February, arrived Australia 25 September 2019…about this far:
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Noumea
New Caledonia
We had a decent sail from Fiji to New Caledonia, taking just over one week. It was cold in New Caledonia, so cold I had to fix our heater or freeze to death! Crunched for time we were only able to visit Noumea. New Caledonia is surrounded by reef, once inside we motored a few hours to Noumea. Lots of slender pine trees:
Noumea
The anchorage in Noumea was jammed so we opted for the marina, we got one of the last spots:
Like most French territories, things happen slowly and within their abbreviated working hours. We tried to check-in but were only able to get ahold of the quarantine office, customs and immigration would have to wait until Monday. Once we cleared with quarantine we were told we could get off the boat and go ashore, it was carnival that evening!
No carnival celebration would be complete without a storm trooper:
After the parade we headed to the town square, there was tons of food and a sea of people, it was fun!
Nice fish market in town, produce market as well:
Like many island nations in the Pacific, New Caledonia was greatly impacted during World War 2. We visited their WW2 museum most of which is in French, but it was a nice museum:
New cruise ship terminal downtown:
We have been stuck for days and sometimes weeks in almost every stop while crossing the Pacific. Over the weekend we noticed a decent weather window for crossing to Australia so we decided to take it. On Monday morning we visited Customs to complete our check in and at the same time check out. Then onto the Port Captain to get our departure clearance. Port Captain’s office:
Departing New Caledonia:
Through the reef and off to Australia:
We had decent sail to Australia, landed in Coffs Harbour which is a bit south of Brisbane. We checked into Australia at the marina and finding yet another window to head south, we departed for Sydney in the morning.
Fiji
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.
Mud
Sabeto Mud Pool and Hot Springs
We shared a taxi with SY Quo Vadis to go to the mud pool and hot springs, it was really nice.
Reception:
…over there, go over there to the mud:
Really nice foliage:
So here we are, first you change your clothes, wipe mud all over yourself, and cook in the sun until it dries:
Mmmmm mud:
Ta-da:
Me too:
Mud selfies:
Almost “done”. Tibby and Claudia, SY Quo Vadis cooking in the background:
There are four pools…ponds…pool or a pond, pond would be good. So this is pond #1. After your internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F you are “done”, then you get in this pool…pond and wash off as much mud as possible.
After you have removed as much mud as you can, you move to pond #2. These ponds are fed by hot springs:
I guess I didn’t take any pictures of pool #3 but this is pool #4 and you couldn’t tell the difference by looking. Pool number 3 is hot, really hot, so hot that you couldn’t get near the water inlet feeding the pool, but it was really relaxing:
I think Tanya liked pool #4:
Random chicken:
This was pretty interesting:
It was a fun day!
Savusavu Fiji
Savusavu Fiji
Since departing Florida earlier this year we have been dodging bad weather. Officially there was a 50/50 chance of an El Nino in the Pacific Ocean and when we arrived in the Pacific, there was in fact, El Nino. Click this very informative link from NOAA to learn about El Nino or… just watch the Saturday Night Live Video:
Even though NOAA had officially stated that El Nino is over, the weather has been very unsettled and therefore we have shifted from water to land based activities.
NOAA says El Nino is over for 2019
We had a decent sail from Tonga to Savusavu Fiji. We arrived, checked in at Copra Shed Marina Link to Copra Shed Marina and toured around Vanua Levu for a few days. The mooring area in Savusavu is well protected, the people and town are nice and most things are very inexpensive.
Dea Latis, Savusavu:
Surf and Turf Restaurant, the owners are really nice, they have a dinghy dock and the burgers were great:
We walked to the hot springs:
Link to Savusavu and the hot springs
…we were only too happy to comply with this sign:
Very hot:
Got an awesome haircut for $2.50 USD:
We rented a car and drove across Vanua Levu with SY Quo Vadis. We stopped at the Waisali Rainforest, it was fantastic:
Back in the car, on to the city of Labasa:
When we arrived in Labasa most of the roads were blocked and there was something big happening, Miss Fiji was there:
We had a wonderful lunch, checked out the town, bought a few things and headed back enjoying the scenery on the way. Main street downtown Labasa:
Driving back, rainbow in the distance off to the left, it was pretty vivid in person:
Up at a higher elevation we came across another rainbow that seemed close enough to touch, it was amazing:
