Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu, which was formerly the New Hebrides. The British and the French both had a presence here and at one time there were two systems of government, the French would follow their laws and the English would follow theirs. Independence was declared in 1980 and Vanuatu just celebrated their 30 year anniversary at the end of July. There are over 100 local languages being spoken in Vanuatu at the moment as well as Bislama which is a pidgin English, it is written as it would have sounded coming from an upper crust English man. Here is ea, thank you, is tank you tumas, of is blong, or belong, ex. The Vanuatu Ministry of Culture would be Vanuatu Ministry Blong Culture, it is very interesting to try and decipher the signs that are written in Bislama. Vanuatu is an island nation with over 23 islands, but it seems each area on an island has developed their own language, we were making an effort to learn some of the language on Tanna but once I figured out they only spoke it there, I gave up. The children are taught French and English at school, so once they are done primary school they should have a working knowledge of 4 languages. Each island has there own culture and dances so we are looking forward to learning about each as we explore further north.
Port Vila is the seat of government so we took a walking tour and saw the parliament buildings, the residence of the President, which was surprisingly humble, the court house, the national bank, the big Catholic church, etc. The bank building was huge, it had better be because the exchange rate is a 100 to 1, so you walk around with 1000 vatu bills in your pocket as well as 5000, and they don’t go very far here. We figure it is rather like Yellowknife prices here, good thing we stocked up the boat before leaving Fiji.
We went to the museum on a Sat. morning and were lucky to come upon a cultural demonstration. A fellow was teaching cultural arts to school children and he explained how the sand drawings were done and how a story accompanied each one. Then he had some of the kids’ show us their drawings, the kids had been chosen to attend cultural expositions in other countries. As well as the stories and drawings he played the pan flute and sang and then he played the Vanuatu national anthem on these very cool bamboo instruments that were liked a percussion swinging xylophone, I guess you had to be there. It was fascinating.
There a big high weather system that has been causing high winds since we arrived. We are planning on leaving Port Vila today to go to a quieter spot for the evening and then heading further north tomorrow. Both Barry and I have infected cuts in our legs, I got a scrape when we were walking up the volcano and did not care for it right away. Barry cut his leg in Fiji and it never healed and then started to become inflamed awhile ago. I have managed to clean mine up and get it under control, but Barry’s did not respond as well so he is on antibiotics now. It just reminds you of how careful you have to be with even the smallest cut.

I posted 2 blogs on the same day, you should go back and check out the blog on the volcano!

We spent almost a week on the island of Tanna, where the volcano was. We also took a walking tour of the hot springs around the anchorage. A 15 year old boy was our guide and he was very informative. At one spot where the vents occur, he reached down and found some very soft clay which he painted his face with. There was red, white and a bluish colour that he could use to decorate his body. The water in places was hot enough to cook with. At one spot he explained that during the rainy season the other vents were covered up with water so all the hot water in the area would fill up this cut in the rocks and come spilling over, mother nature at her finest.
We sailed all day to come to an anchorage called Dillon’s Bay on the island of Erromango, which means, land of the mangoes. All the trees are in bloom now and you could tell that when the fruit ripens there will be mangoes everywhere, to bad we will have to move on before that.
Yesterday we were treated to a lesson on how to prepare laplap. I had seen it mentioned and thought it was a doughy substance that was cooked over a fire. I was wrong. First they prepare the insides of the dish, there were three different laplaps. The first was mashed up bananas, with rosettes of spinach type leaves inserted in the banana goop. The second was a mixture of yams and sweet potatoes, the third was pumpkin and taro. The women put down vines in a criss cross manner, then they lay banana leaves on top, they sprinkle the banana leaves with coconut milk and then add the fillings. Then they add more coconut leaves and then they fold up the edges of the leaves and tie the vines making a big banana leaf package. The package is about .75 meters square and weighs up to 7 kg.
While the women are preparing this the men have built up a fire rocks are piled in the fire and super heated. Once the laplap is ready the men scatter the stones, put two of the banana leaf packages on the fire and cover them with stones then add the third laplap on top. Then the place banana leaves and other vegetation on top of everything to keep the heat in finishing off with a woven pandanas mat which was weighted down with stones and firewood. The food is then left for over an hour to cook. We were invited to stay and sample the wares. It was a long wait, well after our normal eating time but it was worth it. Everything was delicious, the spinach leaves in the banana goop was scrumptious.

It was wonderful to experience this, sharing in the Ni-vanuatu’s lives was a privilege. That is what keeps me cruising.

These guys are using pronged sticks to move around the red hot rocks, they put on their flip flops for the job, normally they are barefoot.

We also took a walk up to see the sandalwood groves and the swimming hole up the valley. We had to ford a stream, Mike and I took off our shoes and gingerly made our way across. We both wore them on the way back, it was very slippery. I seem to remember doing the same sort of thing when we lived in Tungsten, the water was a lot colder then!

We walked up to see the volcano, what an experience! It was quite a hike, we tromped through the Vanuatu rainforest. Our guide led us up a winding path which led from the anchorage to the rim of the volcano’s crater. It seemed like we were climbing forever, we went past where the villagers have their gardens. They grow bananas, grapefruit, cassava, taro, manioc and coconuts. It was about an hours walk just to get there. We asked why it was so far away from the village and were told it was because the soil is better higher up and there is more water. The rain forest was very thick and luscious with several layers, the undergrowth and then the canopy. If we did not keep up to the person in front of us we soon lost sight of each other, having to call out when we came to a crossroads to figure out which way to go.
We emerged from the forest onto the ash plains of the volcano. The ash has suppressed plant growth immediately around the volcano and it is like being on a moonscape. There are old lava flows with jagged boulders sticking up and a thick layer of black ash that covers everything else. As we clambered up the steep side of the volcano you could hear it rumbling and then a large round plume of smoke would emerge from the top. Once we reached the top it was AMAZING. I think being there has to rate as one of the most wondrous things to experience.

Both hot spots of the volcano erupting at once

This is an ACTIVE VOLCANO, you are standing on the edge and you see a shock wave coming and it hits you, then there is an eruption, molten lava, red hot, shoots up into the air. The lava comes in blobs that change shape in the air as they go through their trajectory. Immediately following the lava is a billowing plume of ash and dust, it shoots straight up and then spread out as it ascends forming a huge cloud of every increasing size. You smell the sulfur that is spewing out, you feel the ground shake, you hear the volcano rumble and roar and you see the pyrotechnics of the lava. Then the mountain rests and you wait, and then boom, another eruption happens and this time the molten boulders are shot up over the rim of the volcano, it was absolutely fantastic. We watched in awe for over two hours. We arrived late in the afternoon and stayed until night fell; leaving only when the wind switched and our guide said it was not safe to remain.

Watching that volcano made me realize the power of nature and how fragile our planet really is. The thin layer of the earth’s crust is all that is protecting us from the molten center, we had better take care of it.

Hi Everyone,
Ann's modem is out of commission at the moment so she called and let us know that they have arrived in Vanuatu and all is well. They plan to go up a volcano tonight and I am sure we will get to enjoy some photos when she had a good internet connection.
Trish

Ann phoned. Currently their modem is not working so they are unable to send their location to Yotreps.
at 2240 GMT they were at 19 degrees 20 min South, 170 degrees 43 min East. Winds have dropped and they are moving slowly.

AT SEA, 18, 37`South, 174, 13`East

Wedged into the corner of the cockpit, I realize why I love sailing. A feeling of contentment and bliss comes over me as I watch the water rush by. The boat swooshes along; the sound of the waves breaking around the hull is calming, lulling me into a sense of peace. The moon is almost full and I watch as it peeps in and out of the clouds. A tendril of wispy white floats across the moon, I think it will dim the moonlight but the shimmering light breaks through. The sail casts a dark shadow and as the boat yaws and rolls it flits back and forth across the cockpit. The rest of the world sleeps and we sail on, rushing headlong into the night.

We are on our way to Vanuatu. We left yesterday, leaving the safety of protected waters at 1730. It was Barry's birthday so for a present I said I would give him a whole day on non-argument about sail set. I think I did pretty well; there may have been one or two half-hearted protests, particularly when he wanted me to put up the staysail after sunset in rolly seas with the wind blowing 15-20 knots. Up it went without a problem, I was pretty leery about going up on deck but once I was up there it was a piece of cake. Speaking of sunset I saw a green flash again, it was beautiful, Barry was busy and missed it, too bad, I think that was nature's birthday present to him.
I had bought a cake to cook for him, but when he said that I should save it for 2 birthdays at the end of the month I decided that was a good idea. I think Mike on Argonaut has his birthday only 4 days after mine, besides there would only have been the two of us to eat it and making it when the boat was healed over and all shut up to keep the spray out was not my idea of a good time. I also gave Barry a pedicure as we were sailing towards the pass, he really enjoys those, so now his feet don't stink and his toenails are clean!!
At the moment we are enjoying terrific sailing conditions. Wind is on our beam at about 12-15 knots and we are making 7 knots and our faithful windvane, Bob, is doing all the work without a word of complaint. We have 357 nm to go, at this rate we will arrive on Aug. 21 but more likely will have to slow down and have another night at see because it would be amazing if we maintained this speed the entire way.

Ann has indicated she will do a position report, Check it out:
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VE8BL

I wanted to do a blog on the island of Makogai. It was one of the highlights of our stay in Fiji. The island was a former leper colony. It was opened in 1911 and closed in about 1960. There were about 5000 lepers on the island at one time. Apparently lepers from all over the Pacific were sent here. One fellow told us that the patients would choose areas to live according to where they were from; the Fijians, the Samoans, the Tongans, etc. would have a separate area on the island where they would stay. A lot of the structures on the island are made out of cement, they must have had good sand on the island because we saw cement jails, cement hospitals, cement houses, cement bridges as well as a cement cinema with
matching cement screen, even the crosses in the graveyard were made out of cement. The names I could read in the graveyard were mostly of the French nuns and priests who cared for the lepers. There are a lot of houses still standing on the island, so in the 1980's, I think, the government opened up the island for people to come and live there. It was explained to us that the village that existed there is quite different than most villages as the people are from all over Fiji, rather than the usual traditional village where people have lived for generations.
The first day we went ashore and walked the 5 km to the village. We were greeted very warmly, we did sevusevu and got to meet the school teachers, husband and wife, as well as their daughter. It was lunch time and they invited us in for a cup of lemon tea, the leaves are picked from the tree and then just steeped, delicious. The teacher explained that the next day there was going to be a big feast because the students would be writing the class 8 exams, they wanted us to come back. It was quite a trek over there but we decided that we would go to the feast because this was an opportunity few would have, to be included in a real Fijian event.
The next day I went snorkeling in the morning and found some of the best snorkeling we experienced in Fiji.
Then we set off over the hills to the village. We thought we were going to be late so we set a brisk pace and boogied the 5 km in 50 minutes. If there was ever proof that Barry is back in shape that walk was it, he made sure to let me know that he carried a 15 pound pack as well, that is about 7.3 kg for you younguns. We had an absolutely wonderful time. We were treated like honoured guests and the school master said to let you know that we were at the very last writing of standardized exams for year 8 in the Republic of Fiji. If they pass the four children that were writing the exams would have to leave the village and attend school in a city of their choice, some stay with extended family and some board at the schools. It must be a big step for those children. The feast was really spectacular, the students, guests, the men and the elders all ate first. The women who prepared the feast fed their children if they had little ones but they did not eat until all the men were done. You sat on a woven mat on the floor and the tablecloth was laid down the middle of the mat and everyone sat and ate with their fingers, using taro and casava to sop up the good stuff. There were curries, a venison dish, roast pork, crab, chop suey and some traditional Fijian vegetables cooked in coconut. We ate to our hearts content and then had a nice visit. Then the village pastor, a Methodist, walked back with us, he strode along the path through the jungle with bare feet. I told him I wanted to have Fiji Feet and asked how long it would take me to develop them. He said if I walked that path everyday for an hour it probably would take me a month.
Another use for the island is to raise giant clams. They were amazing, we gave the fellow in charge, 20 liters of diesel because the gov't had made a mistake and sent 2 barrels of gasoline instead of one of gas and one of diesel and so the poor huge giant clams were going to suffer because they could not pump the water to change it so they would have the nutrients they needed. We were happy to contribute to such a worthy cause.

The big day finally arrived. We got the new cushions. They are a hit, we both think they did a great job and we are happy with the colours we have chosen. It makes the boat look so much better.
We are back a Vuda Point Marina, we had a fairly uneventful trip back, just a couple of minor, gut wrenching moments. One of them came making our way through a pass and I almost had us going through the middle of a reef. Barry was smart enough to say that it didn't look good and we got turned around without any damage. The other time we were going to stop at a resort and do one last dive in Fiji. Barry wasn't too keen on the idea because it was really windy. As I was pulling down the main sail as we were close to dropping the anchor Barry said, you know there is no water coming out of the engine. I asked what I was supposed to do about it and the reply was, just so you know. A moment later Barry yelled to roll out the jib, the engine temp was climbing, so we turned around and sailed off into the sun. Barry thought it was an impeller problem and sure enough when he checked it had chaffed in half. He popped it out and put one of the 6 or 7 spares we have on board in and then turned on the engine to make sure the repair worked. It did, by this time we were a couple of nautical miles away and I didn't even ask it we could turn around and beat back into the 30 knot wind to make a last Fijian dive. That night we anchored in a spot we had been in before and I thought we were far enough to one side, it was a small anchorage. Barry put out a lot of chain for the 3 meters of water we were in and just before we retired for the night we heard a grating sound, yup we scrapping the bottom, we upped anchor and set it again and I actually slept pretty well that night, although I am not so sure about Barry, he was in a big hurry to leave in the morning.
We have been working really hard making repairs before we set off for Vanuatu. The weather looks good to leave this week and we are hoping to get away on Wed. Today we got the new cushions, re caulked the toe rail, went up the mast to see if we could fix the non-functioning, expensive new wireless wind instrument, Barry installed a new fresh water pump for the galley, we topped up our diesel in the boat and bought more, and we filled up a propane tank. Tomorrow we head to Latoka to check out of the country, provision, hopefully fill my prescription and check out malaria medication, oh yeah, I also need to repaint the anchor chain so we can tell how much chain we have out, the paint we put on in NZ in wearing off and Barry needs to make a new snubber line for the anchor. The snubber line takes all the weight of the anchor and distributes the weight evenly on both sides of the boat instead of just one spot.
We are planning on crossing with Mike and Liz on Argonaut, the same couple that we went to the Yasawas with. Mike really knows his weather so it will great to have him close by. Also it will be nice to have another boat to talk with on and off during the day to compare notes and give a hand to if help is needed.

Having tea with the ladies.


Trying very unsuccessfully to straighten out a pandana leaf.



Anchorage at Viani Bay where we anchored at 25 meters.



A flower we found on the beach, interesting effect with sand ripples underneath.








Searching for shells at low tide amongst the mangroves.

Bobbing gently at anchor at Makogai Island in the middle of the night, I can't sleep. It has been a pattern the last couple of days, we are moving almost every day and I know it is a combination of worry and going to bed early that finds me tossing and turning about 0300. As a consequence of my lack of sleep I am crabby and find the stress of finding our way through reefs just makes me worse, today coming in here my stomach began to act up, it is so tied in knots it objected. Poor Barry, I did apologize and we are going to stay here 2 nights, so although we are grating on coral hopefully we will be able to pull the anchor up when we leave without too much trouble and we can relax and enjoy our stay here.
We headed east from Savusavu and made it to a bay in Somosomo Straight just opposite Taveuni Island. The entrance into that bay was pretty easy, we had way points but we anchored in 25 meters of water, which is too much and Barry was worried about snagging on coral and/or dragging. Fortunately it was a very protected spot and there was little wind so Barry's worries came to naught. We went ashore and did sevusevu at a village and then the village chief, Thomas, led us up the hill we wanted to climb. When we got back to the village the ladies had arranged tea and scones for us. It was very pleasant sitting in the shade drinking tea and chatting with them. Barry had told Thomas that he would take some pictures and have them printed and sent to him. Everyone wanted in on the action.
The ladies were straightening out the pandana leaves to make them ready for weaving mats. The leaves are picked when they are green and then boiled to make them soft and then hung to dry outside on a wooden rack, much like people in the NWT hang fish to dry. The foliage is about a meter long and once it has been dried the ladies use a shell (it looked like a big oyster shell, it had mother of pearl on the inside) to flatten it. They run the shell up and down the leaves until they are flat and then they roll them on two fingers into a tight bundle, first rolling one way and then switching hands and directions until it the bundle is tight and flat. I have a woven fan that has black pieces in it so I asked how they dyed the leaves. I think they said they use soil to colour them and then when they boil them they add a leaf which would stain them black. I had a go at making a frond flat but was not much good at it. I would have liked to try rolling it up once it was flat because I think I may have been better at that, it looked rather like winding wool.
Later on this morning, hopefully after I have gone back to sleep, we are going to explore this island. It is the location of a former leper colony, which has been converted to an aquaculture station. Maybe I will stop here and add more after we have been ashore.

We are still in Savusavu in Fiji. Savusavu is on the windward side of the island and we have been experiencing tropical rain everyday since our arrival. This is not like Canadian rain, well prairie rain; it is more like heavy mist. The clouds come up over the mountains and then the wind blows and the skies open, and this fine warm moisture falls out. Sometimes it only last for a few minutes and if you get caught in it, you get slightly damp, but it is not cold, so not to worry. At other times the wind just howls and the mist becomes sheets of rain, the drops are still not very big but you get wet in a hurry. We have felt quite boat bound, you don’t open the hatches or portholes and we have been down below quite a bit and we still don’t have our cushions.
We did find project here, a company manufactures LED light fixtures for boats, so we have converted most of the lights on board to LED, they will use a lot less amperage than the ones we had before, so I am hoping I will be able to read using boat electricity after dark instead of a headlamp. We should use a lot less triple A batteries that way!

Yesterday we arranged with two other boats to do a road trip to the sunny side of the island. We rented a van with a driver,one of the couples were Dutch and the other was an Australian family from Tasmania. I was a little worried about travelling with children in a small vehicle for most of the day but the kids, Zeke, 11 and Nina, 8 were marvelous. It was a pleasure to make their acquaintance and we all had a great time. We went over the mountains, about 570 meters in elevation according to Barry’s fancy new watch. We saw a sugar mill, visiting the town of Labaso,(pronounced Lambaso, apparently here in Fiji when there is a b you say mb, just as when there is a d you say nd, so Vuda Point is pronounced Vunda Point and when there is a g you pronounce ng so Sigatoka would be pronounced Singatoka), saw a Hindu shrine and stopped at a resort that was built by 2 former cruisers.
The most impressive thing was the scenery and the difference between the windward and the leeward side of the islands. Here in Savusavu, it is very green, with climbing vines everywhere and lush undergrowth. On the leeward side the hills are brown, and the vegetation is a lot sparser. There is more sugar cane grown over there as well as forestry operations as indicated by the straight rows of tall pine trees.
The hindu shrine was a bit of an eye opener. There is a big rock that is shaped like a cobra and it is holy to the Hindus. While we were there, a group was worshipping, they offered bananas and apples as well as flowers and they poured milk on a stone that they had covered with leaves, incense was burning, the priest was chanting, someone was playing a drum and they would walk around the 5 meter high rock ringing a bell as they went by it. Apparently they believe that the rock is growing, I don’t know much about the Hindu religion but it was all rather strange to my western eyes. They had a staircase that was 108 steps, no doubt a very significant number, to the top. The steps had a very small rise to them, to fit all 108 in the distance to the top, so to be comfortable you would step 2 at a time. I guess I should have asked more question in order to understand but our driver was a Muslim so I am not sure how far that would have got me. The driver did tell us about his prayer schedule, 5 times a day, in the morning, at noon, at 4 in the afternoon, just at sunset and at 7:30 P.M. that is a lot of prayers.
The sugar pipeline
We saw a factory where they refine the sugar, apparently the sugar is shipped from the vats it is stored in tubes which ran under the road and then just poured into the ships when they load it. One of the vats announced it could hold 10,000 tons of molasses that is a whole lot of sticky gooey black stuff. Imagine all the gingerbread houses you could make out of that many tons of molasses. There were a couple of very aptly named hills, one was the sleeping giant, and the other was the panther. The driver spotted several birds I would never have noticed, a kingfisher and a hawk. They were perched on the telephone wires, he said at night he often see owls there. When we came back over the mountains the sun disappeared and the clouds began to close in, as we got back in our dinghy it began to sprinkle once again.
Everyone is waiting for the winds to become more favourable before leaving so there are over 50 boats here at the moment. The weather is supposed to lift on Thursday, so we will head a little further east and then sail back to the Latoka area to get our cushions and prepare for our passage to Vanuatu.

The Sleeping Giant

We spent all day yesterday doing the bureaucratic shuffle. We applied for our Australian Visa’s online and were conditionally accepted. BUT to be totally approved we had to provide the Aus. Gov’t with proof that we could finance ourselves while we were visiting their county, God forbid that they let any indigents in! So they wanted a copy of our bank statement showing our income, it couldn’t be off the internet I guess that would be too convenient for us poor slobs that want to visit. It had to be an original bank statement. Well I guess if we actually received bank statements anymore that would have been easy, but we do all our banking online these days, so what can we do. Well we have a wonderful contact at our bank in Yellowknife, we’ll just contact her and Bob’s your Uncle she can fix us up.
WELL, Brenda is on holidays, she won’t be back for 2 weeks, that’s allowed people do go on holidays, we contact her replacement. Could she possibly get us a copy of our bank statement. Oh no, that would not be possible, she does not have access to our account, only Brenda, so we wait, the Aus gov’t is waiting, 2 weeks are up. We finally get a hold of Brenda, who is relaxed and rested and ready to tackle our problem. Well, no, she says she can’t e-mail us a PDF copy of our statement that the Aus gov’t requires, the bank is not set up to do that. What she can do is fax us a copy, but we have to be at the other end of the fax line when she faxes us. So now we are in the middle of sailing from one place to another, faxes are hard to come by when you are surrounded 360 degrees by water. A week later after we have slowly sailed several hundred miles we finally arrange a time and a place and a fax number, the Aus gov’t is waiting. We call Brenda on our trusty satellite phone to let her know that we will be there at the end of the fax line, to comply with Canadian banking privacy laws to get OUR information. Okay, good Brenda faxes, we receive, we have our bank statement. Now we need to fax it to the Aus. Government. We have the fax number and we ask the girl at the marina office in Fiji to fax it, off it goes, relief, but no wait, it didn’t go through, shit, try again, and again and again, it won’t go through.
We go back to the boat, we check online to make sure we have the correct number, it’s right. I drag out our printer, scanner, copier from the very back of the boat behind the medical kit, the ditch bag, the life jackets and the cockpit table, and scan in all the pages Brenda from Yellowknife has sent us. Barry tries to access our online Aus visa application so we can send them the documents online, he can’t access his application, his password won’t work. We head back to the marina and try a different office to fax the info, after several tries the girl says that it had worked, we pay $7 for the first page and $1 a page after that, mission accomplished, but no, there is no confirmation that is actually worked, the Aus gov’t is waiting.
Barry is not satisfied so we head down to the post office where he sends the information away , FIRST CLASS, this cost $35 dollars, it is now 3 P.M, we got the fax from Brenda at 9 AM. We have spent all day doing the bureaucratic shuffle and we still do not know if the Aus Gov’t will accept our letter that we posted, online that was not one of the options of how you could submit your information. Perhaps the fax went through, perhaps tomorrow the internet will work well enough to attach the documents and we could send them online if Barry remembers his password, I must not have listened very well when they were teaching the bureaucratic shuffle, I don’t think I am very good at it.

We have left the main Fijian island of Viti Levu and are anchored on the southwest shore of Vanau Levu, we are on our way to Savusavu. This was our original destination when we left New Zealand but we had to divert to get our lower fixed. We our on the third day of our passage here. The first 2 days consisted of motoring into the wind inside the reef. We purchased a real chart and had some very good way points, so the 2 days of motoring were uneventful. Barry would put on his navigators hat every afternoon and enter all the way points in a route and the next day we would just point the boat in the direction the GPS told us to go. Having reliable way points have made this journey much easier than our trip to the Yasawas. Today we negotiated a pass through the reef around Viti Levu and then sailed for 5 hours in about 15 knots, hard on the wind, of course. Cat’s-Paw IV was grateful for a chance to show her stuff and romped along at between 6 ½ and 7 knots, just flying! We will take 2 more days to get to Savusavu and then decide what else we want to do over on this side of Fiji.
While we were in the marina where we let Bruce off, Linda from Toketie and I discovered an upholstery shop. I found some fabric I quite liked and the shop sent someone out to measure the inside cushions and give us a quote. The fabric is only $10 Fijian a meter about $6 Canadian and labour is really cheap here. It was definitely getting to be time to replace them. The cushions had buttons on to give them shape, but the buttons had steel fastening and they had started rusting., 2 or 3 had rusted off, one of zippers would not do up and the wear was beginning to show.. Once we got the very reasonable quote we stripped all the cushions off the boat and stuffed them in a taxi and headed into the upholstery shop. They have to keep the cushions for 2 weeks, so we are currently cushion less., the inside of the boat looks a lot bigger without them. I guess if we want to do any entertaining on Vanua Levu it will have to be in the cockpit.

Before we left we had to go to Immigration and check out of the Latoka area and into Savusavu. We saw another “Glorious” ship at the dock, if you remember when we arrived the Glorious Maple was there, here is the Glorious Peony, I wonder what the other “Glorious” names are?? The possibilities are endless, Glorious Rose, Glorious Tulip, Glorious Orchid, I don’t think Glorious Fireweed would make the list but it is one of my favourite flowers. ANYWAY, sugar cane is a huge part of the Fijian economy, this picture shows a truck load full, it just drove into the yard. In the next picture I am standing beside the sugar cane train. Our grandson Quinn would be fascinated by this train. The cars were miniature compared to a Canadian train, you can see how small they are, they are flat with sticks stuck up in each corner to hold in the sugar cane when it is loaded. This particular train must have been about a kilometer long. It was very tempting to hop on and ride down the tracks a ways, but I resisted, I must be getting old! The shot below is a huge pile of saw dust, it is massive. They actually have bull dozers that run around on the top of the pile and push the saw dust around, William our other three year old grandson would have loved that.

Suva has a huge seaport, here is the Japanese fishing fleet tied up together in port.
We took the bus to Suva, Fiji’s capital city. Suva is on the other side of the main island, Viti Levu, from where our boat is located. The main roads on this island run around the outside because the centre of the island is mountainous. On the way too Suva we took a mini-van. All the upholstery in the van is covered in plastic as well as the ceiling, it is pretty weird, but I guess it makes the upholstery last longer. We went to catch the bus at the station and you just wait until the mini-van has a full load and then you go, when I say full, I mean FULL. Every seat was taken and everyone’s belongings were stuffed in so any spot that was not taken The bus station in Suva up with bodies was piled with boxes, bags and produce, one guy had a huge bag of rice. We felt like sardines, and we did not have a window near us that we could open so when the other passengers chose to shut the window you just suffered with the smell of perspiring bodies and the heat. That ride was direct, only 2 stops and it took us 3 ½ hours. On the way back we wanted to see the other part of the island so went around the north side and we had to take a bus. Road repairs, the same in any country.

This bus stopped at every little village where someone wanted to get on and off. We had more leg room and a window that we could control but it took us 8 ½ hours to get back to the boat. That was a truly marathon bus ride, we did not get back until after dark and had to change buses 3 times ending up with another little mini-van ride at the end.
Suva was an interesting city of contrasts. It has a lot of government buildings, including embassies from a lot of the Pacific Rim countries; we did not see a Canadian embassy. There are modern office buildings as well as a large 3 story shopping mall much like any you might find in the downtown of a city in Canada.

Then there is the market, a huge open air affair that just absolutely teemed with people on a Saturday morning. Here fresh produce is sold as well as fish, clams and edible sea weed. There is the covered section where there are tables in a big square the merchant works in the middle as well as other vendors that set up on the ground outside in the sun and sell whatever they have. There is also a handicraft market that I managed to peruse, one vendor was particularly persuasive, and I think I have my Christmas gifts purchased for this year. We also managed a visit to the Cost U Less a large no frills grocery store. I stocked up on items I had not seen anywhere else in Fiji, such as dried apricots, pine nuts (only 100 grams) and pumpkin seeds as well as the all important zip lock bags.
The Fijian population is made up of native Fijians and the descendants of the East Indian indentured workers that were brought here in the late 1800’s to work the sugar cane fields. Many of the indentured workers chose to stay here when there time of service was finished, they had much more freedom here than in the strict caste system that existed in India. They became the merchant class so as a result most of the businesses in Fiji are owned by Indians. We got into one taxi and had a good chat with the driver; he was of Indian descent and he was a 6th generation Fijian. We visited the museum in Suva and learned all these facts as well as more of the history of Fiji. That alone was worth the long rattling bus ride.
We plan to head to the other large Fijian Island, Vanua Levu in a few days , we will visit Savu Savu and perhaps head to the island of Rabi which we have been told has some wonderful diving spots.
This fellow was running around from bus to bus transporting luggage from the bus to a taxi or car. He decided to have a rest!!


The typical outfit of a Fijian woman, shoulders are covered as are the legs in bright boldly printed fabrics. In a coffee shop in Suva we saw the modern woman wearing a tight skirt, just at the knees with a blouse and suit jacket and 3 inch heels. I don't think it was an improvement.

Bruce has left the country after a wonderful visit. I think we all really enjoyed it. Before he left we managed to get him out fishing twice, so I think we made him really happy, unfortunately all he was able to catch was a weed, although he insists he had several bites. I could not convince Barry to take him out to the land of the big fish, outside the reef and it was probably just as well because the storm that went through caused a big swell and it would have been quite uncomfortable and Barry would have had a fit trying to get out the pass.
The day he left was a bit trying because we had reserved a berth in a marina and we had planned to get there about noon and then go into Nadi so we could have a look around. Well some Frenchman was in the spot we had reserved and would not leave so we had to anchor and then waited around thinking the guy might leave but he never did and we spent the night at anchor, not a problem except that some silly American anchored on top of us and when we went to haul anchor the next morning Barry had to fend off the boat so we would not hit it.
We got Bruce to the plane with plenty of time to spare, and I got a lovely book about coral reefs and the sea life you will encounter around them so I was happy. I went into Nadi yesterday and got parts for the sink and I think I have found some upholstery I like so we can see about getting the cushions recovered. It will be a big expense but the material is really reasonable and labour is cheap here AND, the upholstery is looking really old and buttons on it are all rusting and falling off and one of the zippers is gone so it is time.

Bruce, on lookout duty
Yesterday was a day of adventure. Bruce tried a discovery dive, he had to do some pool work in the morning and then we all went on the same boat in the afternoon and roared out to the reef. It was so windy and choppy on the way out it was a good thing we had our wet suits on. He really enjoyed himself, looking a googly eyed fish in the eyes for several minutes, as well as exploring around the reef. The experience of looking up from the bottom and seeing divers at different levels, some 5 meters above him and some nearly on the surface caught his eye. Barry and I as the only “certified” divers on the boat took off in a different direction. We were in a passage between the reefs and we saw several sting rays as well as quite a large turtle, Barry says at least 2 meters across.!!!!! The turtles are so graceful under the water, one small flap of the flipper and off he went. The coral was different from anything else we had seen so fun was had by all.
For dinner we went into the Island Bar to cook our tuna fillets and a baked potato, and the case of the missing potato was born. Barry was standing at the BBQ after the potatoes had been roasting for almost an hour and he was tending to the yellow fin fillets. Some guy came along and TOOK one of our potatoes, the nerve. Barry says he didn’t even have any other potatoes so it was not a case of mistaken identity, he actually stole one of our potatoes. Barry noticed the missing vegetable as the fellow was walking away and was so astonished he could not bring himself to mention the fact that one of he had filched one of our food items. When I reported our loss to the other members of our table, non of whom were eating potatoes, one Swedish fellow cried out “POTATO WAR”. Barry suggested from now on if we should carve Cat’s Paw IV into every potato that we wrap in foil.
The anchorage at low tide
Then, the storm. What a drama, the wind came up, the lightning flashed, the thundered roared, the skies opened and we had as much fresh water as we wanted. It howled all night, there were boats dragging through the anchorage, someone pulled up anchor and tried to take a mooring ball in the middle of the night, dinghies were puttering around to help, people were flashing lights to try and figure out what was going on. We had pulled up our dinghy out of the water and it was filling with water and the boat was reacting in a decidedly unusual manner. I went out dropped it and retied it at the back of the boat.
PLUS one of our sinks in the galley has given up the ghost. The thingy at the bottom of the sink that the drain hose is attached to, rusted so for several days all the water that we have been putting down that sink has been emptying into the boat, OH Joy. One of the lockers flooded, it had to be the one with all the paper towels and toilet paper in, and you all know how attached Barry is to his paper towel, it is major crisis time. PLUS the bilge was flooded and the bilge pump has several things wrong with it, the float was stuck so it did not rise therefore felt no need to work, AND, the screen for the pump was blocked so nothing would go through so there is poor Bruce in the cockpit pumping out the bilge by hand. I told him it was a good bicep workout and he was happy! AND LIFE GOES ON.