This time the dive site was as ordered and was excellent. Great visibility. Lots of canyons and tunnels to swim through. Great sea life. I opted for a second dive which ended up being just me and the dive instructor. This was at a site called the Pinnacle and Wall. The water was a little more murky but had lots more sea life than the first. Another great dive. I’ll let the pictures say the rest.
The only downside to the dive was my credit card being declined. Turns out it’s been used fraudulently and now we have to go through the process of renewal.
In the early afternoon a boat from the village on the other side of the channel came by. On it was the chief of the village, Selema, who was waiting for his wife to return on the ferry. We invited him aboard and chatted for a while. He invited us to visit the village later which we did. When we went over we took cava for sevusevu but didn’t stay too long. There we learned he had a problem with a handheld VHF radio. After some investigation I discovered the rechargable batteries were worn out. That should be easy to fix. We’re coming back this way later and should be able to find some for him.
In the evening we invited Doug and Angela over from Soltice. We’ve seen them around and shared a few anchorages with them recently so it was time to get to know them. It was one of those evenings where started with drinks and nibbles and it went on til way, way after cruisers midnight. Doug is in the process of recuperating from nearly losing a thumb and finger in a horrific accident with his wind gen. Turns out the private hospital in Suva did a fantastic job saving them but the experience is still very fresh in their minds. They’ll be here in Fiji for the rest of the season and heading down to NZ too so we expect to see them around some more.
Today we’re ready to move on. The plan is to move to the village of Nabukeru 8nm to our north east where there are some nice caves to explore on the small island of Sawa-I-Lau. According to Selema, these are the caves which featured in the Blue Lagoon so that will make it more interesting.