Another 30 days in Fiji

Savusavu is a sleepy little town, although it ranks as Fiji's second biggest with a population of 2000. We arrived here from Nananu-i-ra where we had spent a few days enjoying the sunny weather and wonderful anchorage. The town is based on the banks of a deep channel which then rises to from a small offshore island. It is fairly well protected from most winds and weather and the anchorage although a little narrow is very scenic. Along the waters edge can be seen the local ladies cooking Yam, Taro and Kumara in the Hot Springs that deposit their Sulphur rich waters into the sea.

A little further up is the modest marina which houses a few curio stores, the yacht club, the laundry, the restaurant (with the best pizzas in Fiji) and a few chandleries and travel outlets! This was to be the communal meeting point and also the place to find out anything you needed to find out!

We walked into town and enjoyed the strip mall atmosphere of the small bustling town. It ran on for a good few miles before becoming residential area. The Chinese stores lined the roads and were interspersed with local kava houses, an odd police point and a few banks. Also in the area was the wonderful local market which housed a large selection of any and all available fruits and fish!

Whilst in Savusavu Dylan met up with many Fijian friends and also a South African or two and enjoyed the Tri- Nations test Rugby between the nations. It was a great ice breaker. Also he accompanied some friends he met out at the rugby to a community church fundraiser. The concept of the fundraiser is loosely based around making money and primarily focused on having fun. The ladies in the community all work together to whip up steaming concoctions of fish broths, potato salads, chicken curries, ground provisions and more. Then the men who are paramount in the social structure do there part by drinking kava around a huge ceremonial bowl. This is the money collection area as to entitle one self to a drink or to pledge a drink to another person one must donate a dollar or more. This is wholeheartedly accepted by the chief who is also the town crier, and goes on to announce the donation, in nothing short of a shout, to the general populace. A loud cheer following by ceremonial clapping and shrieks ensues and then one downs his kava from the coconut bowl. And so it goes from 11 am till way past bedtime. During these festivities the main aim is on the communal grassed area between two sides of the community that have been haphazardly selected prior to the celebrations. On this stretch of lawn is where the day’s most important event takes place. The Dancing. All throughout the day as the DJ selects music and then the teams try to outdo the other team, by dancing as best as they can. The panel of judges determines the winner in the end and that team wins the money. Of course it all goes to the church but everyone has a fine time on this fantastic day.

We stayed briefly in Savusavu and then went on to the Lau group during which time Dylan went back to NZ for a short family visit. Vicki and Jim lazed about in the many vcant anchorages among bizarre mini-islands shaped like giant pine cones.

When Dylan returned with the repaired inverter Firebird sailed down to Suva via Gua and were welcomed with open arms into the capital city of Fiji. For the duration of our two week stay in this port we were drenched with rain an innumerable number of days and nights but also managed to attend to all of our problems and provisioning requirements. We had all our Fire extinguishers checked, our Yamaha outboard repaired and most frighteningly we had our Life raft armed! It started as a routine check and an annual packing and repacking of the raft, with inspections on the various commodities therein. As it turns out we had been traveling since St. Thomas with a disconnected firing pin. This meant that the CO2 cylinder would not have been triggered to inflate the raft in the incident that it was required. A rather unnerving thought. Together with the experts in Fiji we re-assembled the raft and are 100% happy that it will work should the unfortunate circumstances arise!

We had the usual fun of trying to free packages from the iron grasp of the Customs officials but all said and done it was achieved and soon after David (Dylan's Dad) joined us we departed for Vanuatu. Good by Fiji and we will see you again. Thanks for your hospitality.