Preparing to leave Fiji

We spent a few more days in Koro. The wind dropped and we spent a few days snorkeling both the inside and the outside of the reef. The coral was lovely and there were a few bigger fish, including a shark, on the outside. We couldn't find the dive spot or rather we think we did but were not happy to leave the dinghy unattended. One of the resort employees said he would take us out but by then we were ready to leave.

A British couple, Stefan and Sue on a boat called Charlotte joined us in Koro. The four of us went on a walk/ hike through bush to a waterfall and we spent a few evenings with them. We were finally driven away from Koro by the birds. There were hundreds of small martin type birds who decided our boat was a good place to rest which was fine, except for the amount of mess they left behind. We had to wash the boat off twice a day and as soon as we did it the decks were covered again! So after a few days, we decided it was time to move islands.

Our next stop was Makongi which was about a 5 hour sail. On the way we caught 3 fish which topped the freezer up nicely. Makongi was the old leper colony for the whole of the pacific. It was closed in 1969 when the cure for leprosy was found but many of the lepers stayed on the island as they would not be accepted back by their home islands despite the cure. There are still a number of the old buildings but most have disappeared just leaving foundations. The island is now used for breeding giant clams and we had to do our sevusevu and present our kava to the manager, Kamle, of the reserve. He gave us a tour of the leper colony and explained about the clam breeding. They have a job for life as catching the clams has not been banned so as soon as they put them into the wild they are harvested and eaten!!

Kamle asked if we had a head torch to help him hunt crabs at night so we gave him one of ours. In return we were invited to Sunday lunch with him and his wife. Friends Stefan and Sue also joined us which made conversation a bit easier. We had crab and fish!

We did some snorkeling in the bay and also dived a coral head right in the anchorage. It was lovely with an amazing variety of fish, lovely coral and giant clams. One evening the village put on a show for a visiting dive boat and we were also invited. The children did traditional dancing and we got to have lots of kava. The kava is very bitter tasting and not very nice though the locals seem to love it.

We left Makongi to head south to Suva so that Mike could go to the dentist and to collect our new pump which we had ordered from the US. We stopped off at a small resort called Leluvia for a few days to avoid some rough weather. It was pretty but it was too windy and choppy to snorkel. As soon as the weather was good we left and had a very pleasant day sail to Suva.

Suva is surrounded by reef which is just littered with lots of wrecked ships from the cyclones. The harbour was full of container and fishing boats and was fairly dirty looking. We moored on the opposite side of the bay to the main docks which was sheltered behind a number of small islands. It was a taxi ride into town but it was much more pleasant. We spent the time shopping, refuelling, visiting the dentist and collecting our parcel and then we left as soon as possible.

While in Suva we met up with friends Chris and Dave on CD and we arranged to leave at the same time for a sail south to Kandavu and the Astrolobe reef. The forecast wasn't great but it was the only day we could leave before the wind went south for a week and we would have been stuck in Suva, so we left. We knew the forecast was for 20 knot winds reducing with a 2-3m swell but part way through the sail the winds increased to 30-40 knots and the seas grew to 4-5m. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride and we were glad it was only a 50 mile sail. We had to hold on as the boat was being thrown around a lot but we it was a really quick passage. CD said it was one of their roughest crossings and wished they hadn't followed us!

We stayed in a bay on the island of Ono to start with and managed to do so some snorkeling but we were driven to move by the swell which started to come straight in the bay making the boat roll and sleeping very difficult. So we moved to a bay at Vatulutu island on the SW corner of Kandavu itself close to a pass in the reef called Nagoro pass. We had been told by other cruisers that there was a dive master near by called Bruce who would take us out for a reasonable cost. Via other boats we organised to do 2 dives with Bruce in the pass.

The morning we were collected there was a wind blowing and in the pass where we got in for the dive, the water was fairly rough. We dived the south side of the pass going out of the pass and saw mainly Grouper which were congregating ready to spawn. It was very cold and we were all shivering by the end of the dive. We surfaced outside of the pass which was also very rough as the boat was sitting very close to the start of the surf zone near the reef. The afternoon dive was much better which was on the north side of the pass, unfortunately I was so cold that I didn't do it and I missed one of the best dives according to Mike. That side of the reef is unfished and has more, and more adult fish than seen anywhere else in Fiji. It is quite a shock to realise that you have mostly seen young fish and juveniles and the difference when most fish are adult is extreme (Mike).

After a few more days we moved to the NW side of Kandavu to a village called Drue which is fringed by the Namalata reef. We did our sevusevu and fortunately, the elder who we presented our kava to said he used to be a dive master and would take us diving for a very reasonable fee. So ourselves, Dave from CD and Sandy and Rankin from Gypsea Heart went diving the following day. The first dive was called the yellow wall and there was lots of beautiful yellow soft corals. The second dive we saw a huge lobster and lots of other invertebrates. The corals were lovely but there were not many fish as the reef has been very heavily fished. We did a very interesting dive the following day with lots of caves and grottos which certainly tested our buoyancy control.

Our third and final days diving was a site further from the village where the sharks used to be fed. We were hoping to see lots of sharks but the first dive we saw none. The second dive we saw one fairly aggressive black tip shark who followed us most of the dive. This meant we all spent all our time bunched together watching the shark and missed lots of lovely corals!

By this time we all needed a rest so had a day off diving. Instead we visited the local town to get a few provisions. The town was a few shops, a bakery and a market that had some green beans. The same day we met up with CD and Gypsea Heart for a BBQ ashore and then we all burnt our rubbish. It was a lovely warm sunny afternoon with a wonderful sunset. Once the sun had set we retired to Gypsea Heart for pudding, brownies and ice cream made by Sandy, a real treat.

Our sail from Kandavu back to Viti levu was very slow. The winds were light and we spent the day playing with the spinnaker. With the swells it kept tying itself around the forestay so by mid afternoon we gave up and motored to a bay on the south side of Viti Levu. The following morning we got up early again and sailed around to the west coast to a resort called Robinson Crusoe. The resort has a show of local dancing and dinner which we went along to. It was a little touristy but very well done and we had a good evening.

It was too windy to snorkel so we left and sailed to Musket Cove which is where we are now. Musket Cove is a big resort and very commercial but it is a meeting place for yachts and a good place to wait for weather to leave. We had a few days here before spending 4 days in Vuda marina getting our sail repaired and then sailed back. We are hoping to meet up with a number of friends that we won't see again once we leave Fiji. We also said goodbye to Chris and Dave from CD in Vuda as they are currently working on their boat there and won't be leaving Fiji for a few weeks. We may catch up with them in New Caledonia later in the season.

We are now ready to leave Fiji and are watching the weather to sail to Vanuatu next week. Its about 450 miles so if we get it right we should get there in 3 days.