After saying our farewells to friends on Tonga we set sail on Tuesday and set course for Fiji. When we were being assigned our watches some people requested to be on watch with me, which was nice and we,Red watch were up first after dinner from 20:00 -00:00 There were only 5 guest crew from the last leg still onboard with lots of new crewmates to get to know. We set lots of sails including the BMF (Big Mother Fucker) :-).
Normally whilst at sea there is no phone connection however, on this Darwin voyage we had a starlink so I was able to call my daughter back home, she was struggling with ill health and feeling very low. It made me feel so helpless being so far away.
On Friday 13th we sighted Vanua Levu, the second largest island in the Fijian group. We are aiming to drop anchor off Savusavu, the largest town on the island which has a beautiful, huge natural bay. After clearing customs the next day we were free to go ashore. Eike, Ute, Herma and I hired a car for 24 hrs and headed off to explore some of the island. On our last day exploring around the island we found what we thought was an abandoned resort Naqaqa, which we later discovered was the private estate of the millionaire Gavin de Becker. It was completely deserted and looked like no one had stayed in a long time. After dropping the car off we took the short ferry ride over to Nawi island, before being picked up to go back to the ship.
On Monday we motored out of Suvasavu bay on a flat windless sea. Rather optimistically we raised sails but barely made 2 knots, so the engine was back on and we motored through the night. Thankfully the next day we had a bit more wind accompanied by rain, so were able to set most of the sails and turn the engine off.
On Wednesday we arrived in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Our original berth was to be near the yacht club so I had booked accommodation nearby for our three day stay on the island. Unfortunately we had to moor much farther away which meant I had a very long walk to my rooms. After trying several car hire agents I finally managed to locate a car at a reasonable price from Raj’s cars, but ended up waiting for two hours at their office before someone arrived to give me the keys.. I picked up Ute, Eike and Herma from their hotels later that evening and we had dinner at the yacht club.
Next day I drove over to Eike and Ute’s hotel and managed to blag a free breakfast then we headed off along the Queen’s road to explore. Along the coastal road we stopped at Navua, for a wander round the market. Whilst waiting in the car I checked online to see if there was anything interesting nearby and came across River Tubing Fiji further up the Navua river. We headed off up the track but when we got there we stumbled upon something far more interesting than ‘tubing’, a small Fijian village connected to John Humphrey Danford, an English sailor who jumped ship in 1828, who’s descendant Lionel Rock Danford started a tourist business there called Jewel of Fiji. We realised this would be a fantastic experience so we booked the river rafting and village tour for the next day.
We left early next morning for the drive to Navua then onto Jewel of Fiji. The trip started by motor canoeing up river through the rapids periodically going ashore where the water was too shallow for a fully laden canoe. Our guide, Nem was quite character, very knowledgeable and entertaining. After leaving the canoes there was a short hike to a beautiful waterfall pool for a welcome swim. Heading back we transferred to a bamboo raft to drift back downriver with Nem steering us through the rapids and keeping us entertained as we made our way through the dramatic scenery. Back in the village we were treated to a buffet lunch followed by a traditional ‘kava ceremony‘, ceremonial dancing and island craft demonstrations ending what was a fantastic memorable day.
We spent our last day on the island walking around town with a visit to the museum which contained some amazing exhibits, including a piece to the rudder from the Bounty. And finally heading back to the ship for the next leg of the voyage onto Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Voyage stats: 9 days onboard, 12 night hours, 617 nautical miles