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.
