We had an uneventful trip back from Venua Levu to Viti Levu at the end of August, with a unplanned night sail across the Bligh Waters. We had been waiting all day for the forecast wind to arrive from the direction it was supposed to, and it didn’t so we anchored for a few hours, and just on sunset low and behold it came in, so we figured we could get through the last pass in the reef before dark and get to the reef at the other end after dawn so away we went. We had to slow ourselves down a bit to start with, then of course the wind died during the early hours but we got to where we needed to be safe and sound.
After picking up Mum and Dad from the airport and subjecting them to local taxi drivers we had a night in Denarau checking out how the other half cruise in their mini ships before heading North West to the Yasawa Island group. Dad managed to get the hang of the wheel pretty quick and clocked the fastest speed for the day at 13.5 knots. We also managed to catch a fish on the replacement luers they had bought for us.
We spent the night on the Western side of Waya, then heading further North to the top of Naviti Island the following day. Our first plan was to stop at Manta Ray resort but there were already a couple of boats in there and the wind was quite strong so we wouldn’t have been able to get our dingy into the pass anyway, so Naviti it was. We introduced Dad to coconut hunting and all enjoyed relaxing in the warm water and tried out the snorkelling. The next morning people from the local village had come around the corner to collect seaweed, but the extra people in the boat had used up all their fuel so they brought us prepared coconuts and pawpaw in exchange for a few litres of fuel. After another snorkel on another reef we again moved on North in the afternoon with no set plan and ended up on the North Western side of Yaqeta for a couple of nights, again chilling on the beach, exploring around the rocks and swimming. On the Thursday we met a local family who were tending their plantation at the end of the bay we had anchored and they were so welcoming, sharing their lunch of yams with us and showing us their plantation and collecting more pawpaw for us. On their recommendation we moved further up the bay into a gap in the reef, which was slightly more settled, and they came out to the boat for a visit to see what life for us was like. They couldn’t believe you could fit all the things in a house onto the boat! We arranged to meet them on shore the following morning to do Sevusevu and have a tour of the village. This had to be one of the highlights of the week for us with a tour of the school, watching the parents helping with clean up for the new school term and having a group of the children sing for us. I think we all left very touched by experience.
We had already planned a trip up to Blue Lagoon for that afternoon, but due to anchoring restrictions, both from reefs and private “No Landing” beaches we didn’t see much of this area before again moving on back south to Manta Ray resort again. Unfortunately the Manta Rays didn’t come to play for the two days we were there, but four dolphins did and we had a great time watching them seemingly waiting for the fast ferry to arrive and take off with it leaping high out of the water in front of it. They came back later in the afternoon, just on sunset as and the three kids paddled out with them on the paddle board and had a great time waiting for them to surface around them.
We enjoyed snorkelling at Manta Ray last year and again had a good time looking at all the coral and fish on the edge of the reef there. Father’s Day was during our stay there, so we had a day of food, bacon and eggs for breakfast, fruit salad cake during the day, and a full silverside, mashed potato, carrot, pea and mustard sauce dinner!
Monday we headed south and again anchored on the West side of Waya, with a small time in the afternoon for a trip to the beach and a snorkel before a long day on the Tuesday getting to Malolo Lai Lai and Musket Cove for a couple of nights. We tried flying the spinnaker on the way, but every time we got it up and out the wind would die away completely, so even it wouldn’t fill. We went between some of the Islands to show off some of the resort accommodation available, and how the majority of tourists experience Fiji.
The aim for Muskett Cove was to snorkel and feed the fish off of the sandy cay there, a marine reserve where they feed the fish bread. This was another great highlight for us and the fish are really plentiful and literally swim all around you so it is like being in an aquarium. There were also fish there that we haven’t seen anywhere else. We took great advantage of the facilities Musket Cove has to offer and swam in the pool, shopped in the Gallery and boutique, sampled the cocktails and used the free BBQs to have tea.
Then alas the last day so back to the Main Land in shifty wind conditions and squally rain showers. For a while there we were sailing downwind towards a boat which was also sailing downwind! In the end Dan, Dad and I were all soaked, trying to keep look out, watch out for local speed boats, big and small who like to play chicken with the sailing vessels, trying to see the reefs and where the wind was coming from. I ended up coming into Denarau with a dive mask on and a towel over my head just so I could see, and being overtaken with not much room to spare by two local fast ferries!
Our holiday with them finished all too soon, with a great meal out to celebrate Dad’s birthday on the last night, and a special morning tea before they left for Paige and Pop with all the party favourites! Some of the local food we made them try was Casava – made into chips, pawpaw, pineapple, local bananas, fish (Mahimahi, and Waloo), yams and coconut in varying stages of growth/age. We also made pawpaw cocktails and discovered Midori and Coconut Juice is really good! Dan’s home brew went down well after a hard day at the beach as well!
We are now once again in deciding mode, but think we will head south east for a bit and explore some of the Coral Coast before starting to look for a weather window to home, so once again will keep you posted.
