Fun in the sun

We have made Malolo island our home base and have found loads of things to do around here. At low tide all the reefs are exposed and you can go fill, to your hearts content, a bucket of sea grapes. They are a delicacy here and treated like caviar. We walked over to a local village and met a Fijian named Maria. We started chatting with her and before we knew it we toured her land, learned all the things you can do with a coconut, told us how to make a few dishes with her fruits and veggies in her garden and left with two full palm baskets of provisions. That night Paul made us coconut rum punches, we cooked the red snapper from the sea, cassava in fresh squeezed coconut milk that Maria gave us from her garden and baked two big Paw-Paw (Papaya) breads. Can it get any more traditional than this?

Last night we had a girls night out. They were having a local "Meke" dance at the Plantation resort so we loaded up in the dingy (Paul's Porche, LOL) and headed out for a night on the island.

All is well on Free Spirit

Unperfect Weather

When my mom and sister landed in Fiji, I have only wish for everything to be close to perfect... So far the first few days were and still are but the weather decided not to cooperate with my plans. A big Low pressure was on it's way and will be heading right over us with winds steady at 35 knots with higher gust. Our main concern is to find a decent anchorage, which is not easy around this neck of the woods. We high tailed it to Naviti which had a nice bay to tuck into. As we "tucked" into our bay we played and went on a wonderful hike only to come back, pull up a new weather file and find out the wind might not be in the favorable direction. We pulled anchor and went near a village for a slightly better shelter from the wind. That night as we sipped our first Margarita the wind started to pick up. The wind was coming in gust and jerking the boat around. Needless to say we were happy the anchor was set nice but none of us got a lick of sleep. The next day was rainy, windy and gusty. We hibernated on the boat and played with new toys, painted our nails (except Paul ;), and commented on the gust. They came down the mountain at around 45 knots+. It was another sleepless night but in the morning you could see the sun peeking in through the clouds and the blue sky trying to say hello. We all believed it would be a good day and put on our bathing suits. And, you know what, it was!!! We sailed down to Waya (downwind) and then tacked into the bay of Waya and found a beautiful anchorage in front of the village with the most incredible view of the steep cliffs and peeks. I am proud of my girls for weathering the storm. It was quite the scene as we all were inside eating crabs that were delivered earlier by a villager and sipping margaritas while the wind was making the most horrendous sounds outside and the boat was being pulled around like a little toy. As I type, Paul is just finishing cleaning a huge red snapper he just caught off the back of the boat and it's pitch black outside (9pm).

Happy Father day to all you dad's out there.

Sacred Islands, Fiji

Since picking up my mom and sister two days ago, we have had an incredible trip. We motored to Malolo island and had some incredible water views. We enjoyed Mojito's with fresh local mint and crashed. The next day we decided to keep moving and head out to the less travel (touristy) islands. We are now on a deserted island in the Sacred island chain. These islands are movie stars (Survivor Fiji). Today we cruised by the island that Castaway was filmed. We are headed to Waya island and will go visit a traditional village and do sevusevu. Gatta have these girls drink some Kava ;). Today we anchored in a huge patch of sand and the stern of the boat in over the most incredible coral garden we have ever seen. Nice playground for the day!!!! We met some local fisherman and traded some tobacco, bananas and water for a few Lobster. Yum! The bartender just called out that the margaritas are ready. Bye!

17.27S
177.02E

Suva and over to Yanuka Island

June 10th, 2009

Although Suva was not the most favorable places to be for my birthday, I ended up having a wonderful time. Clearing in here is the pits and even when you have to check in with your cruising permits, it can take up to 3 hours of waiting time. Most boats we spoke to had to wait two days just to officially clear in and be allowed off the boats. In Savusavu, we completed everything within 4 hours and they all came to us. Afterwards, we went and bought ourselves a few "birthday gifts", walked around town and found a Gloria Jeans coffee shop. It's not starbucks but it's good coffee and we were thrilled. That night we feasted on some awesome Korean food.

We set sail for the island of Yanuka. It's a small island inside the reef near Beqa island. We rounded the bend and found ourselves a beautiful coconut lined beach. Just what the kids needed. It is an exclusive resort that only had three guest. We befriended a French couple with a little girl who is 5. Then, another boat with three kids from New Zealand ages 6, 5 and 8 months. Made for a fun afternoon frolicking on the beach and the parents drinking cold Fiji beers under the palms. We ended up staying with every one and had dinner at the resort. This was the best birthday ever!

We are now on our way to the island of Vatulele. I am hoping to be able to do some trading for their tapa cloths. They are known for their bold colors and designs and we would love a few for our future house...

18.29S
177.38 E

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Makogai, Ovalau, and Suva

We ended up spending a few extra, unexpected, days in Makogai and discovered that the more time you spend with the locals the more you get out of your adventure. Being at the right place at the right time and going with the flow also helps... A dive boat comes in twice a month for a traditional savusavu ceremony, dancing, and a feast cooked in the underground ovens and we were invited to stay. The next day we walked for over 5 hours in the jungles with Chief Watson. We learned countless amounts of survival skills to live off the island, we picked tons of wild hot peppers, and we ate coconuts and drank coconut water along the way. Maybe I should put Paul's name in for the show Survivor??? What do you think? Chief Watson came with us on our 3 hour trip to the next island, Levuka. HOLY COW, what a trip! I didn't want this trip to end up like 'Gilligans island' but, the wind was cranking for the past few days so the seas built up. When we got in between the two islands there was a "stream". The 10 foot waves and wind were fighting a counter current for about a mile which made the waves bigger and coming from every direction. So much water crashed on the boat that it even ripped off our window covers. By the time I started to panic we were out of the "stream". AHHHH! We spent one rocky night in Levuka and made an early departure for Suva. A 6:30 am departure, one big Mahi Mahi, another huge BULL Mahi, and 10 hours later we landed in Suva. So far, from what I see, it's a busy port and civilized. Will let you know more tomorrow. A glass of wine, good music and the thoughts of picking up my sister and Mom soon...ah, makes for a great evening. Good night.

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