There is much I want to say about the whole selling process in Australia and [...]]]>
There is much I want to say about the whole selling process in Australia and much I shouldn’t. I need to think carefully. I will compose myself and say more at later date.
But for now I want to thank, publicly, those that helped us get to this point.
First, middle and last has to be for Sarah and Russ who looked after us through the dark days, weeks and months last year. It’s hard, even now, to think back to those days. They were truly difficult and you guys were so good to us.
Big thanks have to go to Trish and Peter Cronk for all the support they gave to Helen, working out what to do with the boat when it was stuck in Fiji and Peter for your support during the sale.
Huge thanks and admiration to Peter (and supporting wife Christina) for getting Dignity and especially our son Sam to Australia despite the dis-masting along the way.
Thanks again to Brian and Janine for all your help and friendship.
And thanks to all our cruising friends who helped look after Dignity and get her to sale. Special thanks go to Bert and Ingi (Boree) and March and Pam on Passages.
There’s a saying that the two happiest days of a boat owners life are the day they buy their boat and the day they sell it. There may be a big relief today but the phrase is not true. Our happiest days were all those we spent with our family and friends along the way. The exotic places, the sundowners, all of that helped of course but when we look back, it was always the people that mattered the most and brought the greatest happiness.
This was the third and final pending announcement, if you hadn’t already figured it out. Ben and Amy’s engagement has brought us by far the most joy. My hair, it continues to grow along with my health, strength and optimism for our future.
]]>On Saturday Bert and Ingi popped by to say Hello / Goodbye. Just like when we’re out cruising we often say goodbye to people many times and sometimes never get to say goodbye. The former [...]]]>
On Saturday Bert and Ingi popped by to say Hello / Goodbye. Just like when we’re out cruising we often say goodbye to people many times and sometimes never get to say goodbye. The former is always better. But as the French say, it’s always Au Revoir as we really hope to see our friends again in some future time and place.
We had another viewing in the afternoon. Seemed to go pretty well but there are so many factors for each party to consider we will have to let this play itself out as far as it goes, if indeed, it goes any further. One thing both Helen and I agreed on was the professionalism of our new broker was orders of magnitude better than the last.
In the evening we had drinks, nibbles and conversations with Jack & Jan from Anthem and Don and Marie from Freezing Rain. A lot of very interesting discussions were had including some about the devastating news unfolding surrounding the tragedy in Connecticut.
Sam visited us on Sunday. It was great to spend most of the day with him, chewing the cud, giving parental advice (hard to avoid), etc. With his work with Greenpeace getting more and more interesting and involved (he is now coaching the next batch of workers) and our random movements between here and Melbourne, we always wonder if each visit we have together may be our last in Australia. We had a nice walk together along the Esplanade to Wynnum and back treating ourselves to ice cream in the park on the way back. I have to be honest, I still find the 30c ice creams at MacDonalds the best.
This was a really good weekend. And there is still some excitement to share. Ben let me know that he has received notification that the Nexus 4 I ordered has been delivered to his office. Assuming he confirms physical delivery I can cancel my order here in Australia. Then all I have to do is wait two and a half months (argggghhhhh) until we meet up with Ben and his partner, Amy, in South Africa i. But getting to see Ben and Amy and giving them big hugs is what I’m really excited about.
Healthwise I still feel like I’m on an upward bounce from the last chemo. I have had a few bouts of extreme tiredness over the last few days. I think the sail we went on knocked a bit more out of me than I imagined but I look at this only in a positive light. Today we’re heading back to Melbourne where tomorrow we have an appointment with Michael MacManus at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Lot’s to talk about and hopefully we can take a few more steps towards building a bridge to the UK health services.
]]>So a quick recap of what’s happened since last time.
Every day on the boat was filled with more work. Minor fixes, cleaning the boat/cupboards/surfaces/anything, head in bilges cleaning pump valves (to prevent water backfilling bilges), packing the last of our stuff to take to the UK, etc. Helen did far more than I as the Queensland heat and RT side effects would knock me out and I’d have to rest for a while. While not active I was often still busy setting up new brokers and the endless follow up on all the stuff going on in our lives right now. One of the things now behind us is the sale of the NJ rental property that all started just before we set sail in 2008. The whole thing has been a bit of a disaster financially but we’ve had some astounding help. If anyone is looking for a first class property manager in the Cranford area, contact us.
We did have some fun times too.
On Saturday we met up with Steve and Vickie from True Companions and Bert and Ingi from Boree. Steve and Vickie were interested in our lessons learned selling a boat here in Australia. Bert and Ingi have graciously agreed to keep an eye on Dignity while we’re out of Brisbane as they’re staying in the bay for some time. We all ended up going out for a Chinese meal together in the evening.
On Sunday Sam came over to pick up some of his stuff. We took him to his digs in Brisbane and then went out to watch the latest Bond movie. Afterwards we ate dinner together then sat chatting in the park by the South Bank. It all seemed familiar in a way to us and we wondered if it was the site of Expo ’88 which we visited when we were last in Australia nearly 25 years ago. Later research showed it was.
Monday was a bit frantic as we mistook our flight departure time for our leave the boat time. We realized this when waking up but had to cram a lot into the morning with 2-3 hours less than we’d planned for. In amongst all this we had the gas inspector round to certify our appliances. We are now fully certified – Yay.
Jack and Jan came over from Anthem to say goodbye. We were all quite sweaty as we were all working in the heat but it didn’t stop the hugs goodbye.
We returned our hire car and made it to the airport in good time arriving in Melbourne without delay. With good traffic we were back around 7pm local time in time to celebrate Russ’s birthday with their first BBQ of the summer.
Dignity, in a lot of ways, is now no longer our home. We still have a couple of options to return to her and take her out for a final sail. We haven’t done so, so far, due to lack of time mostly, but it would be nice to take the old girl out for a final spin sometime. We’ll see.
Back here in Melbourne life goes on. Yesterday I had a blood test to make sure I’m ok for the next chemo beating which starts midday today. The next two (and final two) sessions should be chemo lite. I imagine the treatment as rubbing down the gelcoat. We’re now on the final fine grained sandpaper hopefully leaving a nice smooth finish. Final MRI is now booked as our our final meetings with consultants from Monash and Peter Mac. The end, no sorry, the beginning of the rest of our lives is in sight.
]]>Back on the boat we both got back to work. Helen focused on [...]]]>
After a gentle morning rise we had a light breakfast, last chats with Ella and a last, for now, conjunction with Bao. The drive back down to Brisbane was fairly easy but we took turns as we were both quite tired.
Back on the boat we both got back to work. Helen focused on replacing all shower hoses/heads/supports and cleaning up the boat while I got back to admin. There are a few minor things to do with the new rigging which I followed up on. We inspected the work the gas man had done. It looks pretty good except for the fact it looks like some gas oil was spilled onto the teak. It all came out with soap but it would have been better if he hadn’t caused the spills in the first place. I have now booked the gas inspector to come on Monday to certify the appliances.
Sadly our relationship with the broker who recently nearly sold Dignity has broken up. She had been truly helpful to us in the early phases to the point we had recommended her to friends of ours. She had given both Helen and I assurances that during the pre-sale sea trial Dignity would be handled professionally and would be covered for any damage. When we returned to Dignity last week we found evidence of dock collision and poor tying to the dock resulting in further minor damage to the boat. In the scheme of things this is trivial. Expecting her to step up to her prior assurances we have since experienced total denial of responsibility and ridiculous assertions of blame elsewhere. We have patiently given her a few opportunities to step up but she’s chosen to leave her reputation in the dirt. This was not about the money, it was about professionalism and trust. We have totally lost trust in her and requested the relationship be terminated.
More admin around chasing quotes for the boat sides to be cleaned / buffed and getting on board with another broker.
We’re building a list of minor things to fix. It’s all kind of business as usual for a boat but it will all help when we get another buyer in the door.
The day ended in style with a visit from Bert and Inge from Boree. We chewed the cud on the back deck with the usual lubricants before heading over to the clubhouse to eat dinner. I left the memory card out of the camera again!!! so we have no pics. We’ll just have to see them again before we go.
The day ended with another beautiful conjunction – the Moon passing by Jupiter.
]]>The bus was the typical open window (ie, no window) kind which offered a cool breeze and fantastic views of the coast and the villages we passed through. After an hour or so we reached the village of Lavena where we paid to enter the Bouma National Heritage Park and for a couple of guides to take us on the trail.
The trail took about hour and a half to reach the waterfalls at the end. The pace was slow to allow chances to listen to the guide tell us about a few of the things we could see and to take photos. The final section of the path took us up to a shaded spot on a river where we stopped for a swim and to eat lunch. From this spot we could see one of two waterfalls a little way up the river. We swam up to the bowl beneath this waterfall where we were able to see a second waterfall pouring into the same bowl which was not previously visible. Of our group I was the only one to climb the slippery rocks behind our guide and slide down the slick chute created by the second waterfall.
After our swim we rested and had a bite to eat before following the trail back to the starting point. Our return was a quite a bit quicker as we had no need to stop so often. By now school was out and we were greeted by happy, smiling children. It’s wonderful to see the innocence of small kids not having had to be scared off by the boogeyman of strangers.
We headed back to Matei in two minivans and decided to eat at one of the local restaurants. The food turned out to be delicious. Helen and I ended up on Kilkea after the meal where we were plied with beverages that are still working their way out of my head.
On the maintenance front we progress slowly. Permissions have been sought and now fully granted to have the Lagoon techs perform the work in the Norsand yard. We’re close to knowing if/when/where the replacement charger will be sent and we should soon have the details of the sex-change worked out.
Having made the decision to slow down and spend the whole season here in Fiji there is no stress involved in staying put for a while in one place. We’re really enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Taveuni as well as this breezy anchorage. Sharing time with our friends here makes the experience priceless. So all is good.
Even better, we’ve received confirmation from our good friends, Anne and John, that they will be with us early August. Much to look forward to.
]]>While there, six local officials/policemen came out in a fishing skiff to inspect the paperwork of the boats here. We came to the conclusion they were bored and wanted to see the boat show in the anchorage. Only one fellow did any paperwork / inspection and all were very friendly and keen to look around.
After this unexpected interlude Helen and I went out to snorkel one of the nearby coral patches. On the outside of the reef the water was fairly clear and the coral diverse and abundant. The fish were small but colourful and we managed to see a beautiful but dangerous (to the reef) crown of thorns starfish.
After our swim we went over to the lobster pot. The only thing in it was the extremely stinky fish frame which had now collapsed and got stuck in pieces in the netting. It was a disgustingly smelly job to clean it all up. It took me a while to get the awful smell off my fingers.
In the evening we had our public anniversary party. Along came the Borees, Callistos, Dreamtimes, Gerimars, Jaranas, Kilkeas, Tahinas and True Companions for a fun evening. Bert from Boree made us all smile with a bit of a speech presenting Helen and I with hats they’d made earlier in the day appropriate for the celebration.
Quite a few of us are interested in going down the coast to the Bouma National Park, some to see the falls we’ve already seen and some to do the coastal trail. So it looks like today a crowd of us will go down on the public bus returning by taxi. Should be fun.
]]>The weather was none too brilliant at first but by around 8am the light rains had eased. Frank from Tahina was keen to go ashore so he picked us up in his higher powered dinghy and the five of us went ashore. As the tide was going out we left his dinghy about half way up the mangrove tunnel and waded the rest of the way before climbing the muddy track to the ‘main’ road.
We climbed up to Arthur and Sandra’s house and we introduced the newcomers to them. Again we were invited in for tea and biscuits and a long chat with our hosts. As we already knew the way to the hot spring we were allowed to head off there ourselves. Arthur offered to share some cava with us on our return which we accepted.
As a result of the previous nights rains the river was a little deeper than before and the trail certainly more muddy. We reached the hot springs and all found our spots alternating between hot and cold as we did before. On the way back we first went down to the dinghy to move it further out as we could see the area already drying out. We then climbed back up to Arthur’s and were treated to a sharing of cava. We sat around a mat and Arthur prepared the cava in front of us and then shared it with us. A single coconut cup was used, filled then passed to each of us in turn. As each of us drank we’d clap three times. Not quite sure if we were doing it right it was still fun to do. The cava in Fiji tastes a lot better than that in Tonga which tastes a lot more like mud. After each round we’d pause for a few minutes before another round was handed out.
Soon we all had tingling lips and tongues and were feeling somewhat relaxed. Concerned about the tide we bade our farewells. I’d offered to share some music with them as they used their phones for listening. I took a memory chip from one of their phones with me back to the boat. Unfortunately it was of a kind I could not access despite all the electronic junk I had aboard.
After lunch Judy and Colin took the dinghy out to the pass to snorkel. They had a good time seeing a lot of fish. Through the afternoon three more boats came in including True Companions and Boree. I went over to each and shared what I’d learned of the place. As I was planning to go back ashore one final time to return the memory chip I offered to show them the way.
This resulted in the five of us heading ashore around 4pm. I’d warned them about the mud but I think there was some surprise as to the actual amount. We made our way up to the house and I introduced the next set of cruisers. They all headed inside while I returned the memory chip. It turned out their other phone had a chip I could access and as Bert and Ingi were definitely coming back I took this chip back to the boat. I was able to put a few songs on it. I also had a similar memory chip spare so I filled that with similar music and bagged that up with the original.
Bert and Ingi showed up later to pick them up and we invited them aboard for beer and wine. We shared their company up until dinner. They’d had a good time ashore. They’d learned one thing from Arthur which is worth knowing if you’re reading this blog and intend to come to the bay and visit the hot spring. Quite a few cruisers in the past have gone into the village of Bagasau and given sevusevu there then walked over Arthur’s land without permission to visit the hot spring. Arthur won’t do anything about it as he doesn’t want to confront folks but we all feel that if you’re coming to visit something on someone’s land they should be formally asked and permission obtained via the local custom of sevusevu.
Once dinner was ready we turfed Bert and Ingi off the boat. By now the skies were totally clear, the stars were out – a fine evening was had.
The current plan for today is to head east to Viani Bay. That thinking is based on yesterday’s weather forecast. This may all change following today’s which I’ll get when sending this blog entry out.
]]>As you can see from the pics above the sea life was [...]]]>
As you can see from the pics above the sea life was abundant. A great swim.
Back on the boat, while eating lunch, we were visited by the Borees who were escaping town for a swim. They were looking for directions. While we were chatting, crewman Paul who had been visiting the nearby resort, swam out to say hello and borrow a facemask and snorkel. He ended up going snorkeling with the Borees.
I finally managed to finish reading Nobel House. This has taken me over a month. I’ve enjoyed it but it was a long book and until recently I haven’t had large chunks of time to really get stuck in.
We’re now about to set sail for Fawn Harbour. Moving on.
]]>Next, Paul and I went ashore to do our various chores. I took an empty propane tank via Taxi to the Fiji Gas station out of town. It took a while for them to figure out how to fill our tank as their primary delivery device couldn’t fit past the plastic handles on our can. However, a means to cross fill from one of their other tanks and we were sorted. I took details of the taxi driver as we have a soon to be needed ride from Fawn Harbour to the east of us back into town.
Meeting up again with Paul we officially disembarked him from the boat and I paid our customs overtime fees. Paul was now officially, though not yet physically off the boat. Paul had sorted out his PADI course and had his books and DVDs to study. We went back to the boat to relax. At least Helen and I did. Paul got busy packing, cleaning his room then studying.
Just before 1pm I received a call from Albert from the Courts store in town who had a tech guy coming. He asked me to be at the Copra Shed in 10 minutes to sort out our internet connection as the tech guy was in town. I quickly packed my laptop and bit n pieces and was off. In the bar I met the Kilkeas who were also waiting for him. It turns out Albert had brought the tech guy over on his day off. Can’t imagine that ever happening at home. We soon had our USB stick working on the internet via the telecoms service. The main problem is that right now the data service is only GPRS which is incredibly slow. In a months time it should go 3G and we’ll see an immediate improvement. It’s incredibly painful using the internet at these speeds and everything takes time. But we’re rich in time right now so that’s less of an issue.
After testing the service by downloading my emails and a quick scan of the news (end of the world postponed and all that) I bought a chip off the guy there and then with the promise to do the official registration paperwork at the store today.
It was now time to take Paul ashore. I returned to the boat and dropped off my gear. Back ashore we walked with Paul to his hotel on the side of the hill as we wanted to explore a nearby path. From the hotel public balcony over the bay we had a great view of the anchorage. At this point Helen spotted something awry. Tahina was adrift and heading out of the channel. We could see folks going to the rescue. I was prepared to run down the hill and join in but it looked like I’d be too late to make a difference so instead I tried to contact Frank to let him know of the problem. It turns out he was in town trying to sort out his phone and had the chip out or something so he couldn’t be contacted. All was well in the end but apparently it was a close shave with a near miss on the reef. It was a fine example of the cruising community in action. We took some pictures from our vantage point which we’ll give to Frank and Karen later today.
After saying goodbye to Paul we set off to find the alleged path up to a viewpoint. We succeeded in wading through lots of long grass but didn’t get anywhere in particular so headed back into town.
Heading back to Dignity we ended up on Kilkea instead and were plied with G&Ts. By now the news of Tahina was spreading and was much the topic of discussion. We understood that the Borees were very much involved with the rescue. John and Pam from Passages soon joined us but eventually we had to tear ourselves away as we needed to shower then go ashore to eat.
Our plan for the evening was to eat at a nearby Chinese on our own. The Borees soon turned up with the same idea and we shared the table with them. The food turned out to be mediocre and the service lousy but the company great. Bert and Ingi persuaded us to come back to their boat for a while. We did not get back till very late.
Back on the boat we were tired but I could not resist catching up on some of our emails. We’d received a great message from Ben about his new job and wanted to reply to that. I’d also learned that our google ads account had been suspended due to inappropriate clicking. No details were provided and seeing as this happened on the day we arrived in Fiji it couldn’t have been anything we did as we were not connected. I filed an appeal.
In the mountain of email was some other rubbish crashing into our world which I need to sort out. It’ll get done but it was nice to be ignorant of all this for a while.
When we first arrived we were told by a few friends of a local salon who did a terrific massage for a very low cost. We’re both booked in on this for this morning. Looking forward to that.
]]>Helen and I went to the Copra Shed office to announce ourselves and order our Fiji cruising permit. We then made our way down the high street (the only one of consequence) to explore Savusavu and find the various places we had to pay our bills. Helen, as usual, visited most of the Supermarkets to case out what foods are available and the prices. Most items are available at a very good price so once we’ve depleted our vast New Zealand stores we know we have plenty here.
We bought a SIM card for our phone so now we can make local calls. My phone is discharging it’s battery rather quickly so I may have to do something about that but for now it will do. Sorting out an internet connection became somewhat more awkward. The Fiji Vodafone website claims they have 3G services in a lot of places and 2G for a lot of the rest but this is not the case in Savusavu. I can’t use my phone to bridge data services and need a data card for the USB stick given to us in New Zealand. However, the store that sells the data cards wasn’t sure if the stick would work and asked us to wait for their tech guy who will be here Tuesday or Wednesday. No rush on getting connected is ok.
We bumped into Frank on Tahina who was also on similar errands to us and we walked together to the hospital to pay for the health inspection. We parted company with Frank when we reached town as we had different ideas about where to eat. Helen and I ended up eating at a restaurant quite close to the Copra Shed which served an excellent chicken curry. During lunch the heavens opened. May is usually the onset of the dry season and that hasn’t happened yet.
After lunch we explored the high street in the opposite direction before returning to the boat for the afternoon. Not long after, Paul was dropped off at the boat by John and Pam from Passages and we invited them aboard for a beer and a chat. Paul has now worked out his plans for the rest of his stay in Fiji. He’ll be leaving us on Wednesday to start a very well priced Scuba Certification course here in Savusavu before heading to the mainland on the Sunday night ferry. He’s going to sort out his flight today and once those details are ironed out we can officially disembark him from the boat.
Later in the afternoon I went back ashore with Paul to drop off some laundry. The services here are very cheap and we have many loads to do so we’re splitting the effort. It turned out our cruising permit was already prepared (we had been told it could take days) so I collected that and set about obtaining a permit to visit the Lau group to the east. As we were heading back to the dinghy I bumped into Bert from Boree who was not looking overly happy. He mentioned he was having trouble connecting his PC to his TV again (I’ve already helped him out once before with this) and I said I’d be happy to help out again. The real reason for his discontent is he’d just been given an outrageous price for a ventilation fan for his engine room to replace the one that had failed in passage. I looked at the spec sheet he had in his hand and gave him the good news. Ages ago I’d erroneously ordered a wrong sized fan for a spare and had exactly the part he needed. What a coincidence. He dinghied over to our boat to check it out and it was just the right thing. We did a deal which was good for both of us then headed over to Boree to fix his TV. It took about 10 seconds to find the problem.
By the time I was back at the boat it was time to head back to the Copra Shed to hang out. Brian and Jodon from El Regalo were there having just arrived and soon more piled in. After a couple of beers we all headed to the restaurant over the road where Helen and I had eaten earlier. We ended up joining all the tables in one section of the restaurant. Apart from us, we had the True Companions, El Regalos, Tahinas, Garimas, Jacksters and Kilkeas at the table.
The evening turned out cool and dry. Did we just witness the start of the dry season?
We’ll be here in Savusavu for a few more days to sort things out and recuperate from our passage. We need to fill a propane tank and there’s our internet to sort out. We also need to disembark Paul. If we stay too long we’ll get fat, particularly if we keep on eating two meals per day. If the weather stays good we’ll probably hike to the top of a nearby hill where there is supposed to be a good look out.
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