Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Category: Fiji

  • Boat Day

    Over breakfast we all decided to spend the day relaxing on/around the boat. I, personally, was glad of this as I was feeling a little unwell and spent much of the day lying down sleeping from time to time. I did do some research on flights for next Xmas and progressed nailing down our plans for next cyclone season. By mid-afternoon I was feeling better and decided to replace the blower for our genset compartment. Turned out the old one had water in it, presumably pushed up into the ventilation system during our passage from NZ.

    Colin and Judy fished, snorkeled and went ashore once. In the evening we drank far too much.

    Our guests will be leaving this morning for Viti Levu where they will be attending a wedding later this week. The trades are blowing so we may well head off somewhere later this morning.

  • Bouma National Heritage Park – Waterfalls

    The morning started with a bit of extra work as the genset impeller needed replacing before we could do a planned wash. Colin helped with the job and it was soon done.

    We went ashore around 8:30 which, being high tide, made for an easy run over the shallows. We soon had a taxi flagged down and after a brief stop at the nearby supermarket we headed down the east coast road to Bouma National Heritage Park to walk the Tavoro waterfall trail. The work ‘road’ is somewhat generous as at times the road had the texture of a dry, rocky riverbed which, we imagined, it might well have been after a deluge.

    The park office was located in a very nice garden and we were sold our access permit by the very nice Maria. The path to the first waterfall was well groomed with soft grass underfoot. It was also short, only about 10 minutes. The waterfall we stunning with a deep pool beneath into which we plunged. The flow was strong so approaching the base of the falls took a lot of effort. The water was refreshingly cool lowering our body temperatures in advance of the next section.

    This next section was a steep climb taking us well above the first falls. The effort was more than rewarded by some spectacular views of the coast and the land below. There were two routes to the second falls. We took the left fork which was shorter but involved a slippery river crossing. A rope had been conveniently placed to help us across.

    We reached the second falls and again entered the pool for a swim and a cool down. We then pressed on to the third and final falls. This trail was quite muddy but we had plenty of opportunities to wash the accumulation on our feet and shoes. Again, another swim and this time we stopped for a snack.

    On the way down we took the alternate, longer route, from the second pool down. The earlier views were now even more stunning as the sun had shifted more behind us. Just by the first pool we noticed a table had been set up, perhaps for a romantic honeymoon lunch.

    Back at the office we debated the pros and cons of continuing further on to do the coastal walk which would take us to another couple of waterfalls. It turned out we didn’t have the time to do it justice so we grabbed our sleeping taxi driver for the ride back to Matei.

    We had hoped to stop at ‘Audrey’s’ for a late lunch as all the guides raved about the place. It was, unfortunately, closed until the weekend so we ended up at Coconut Grove. Here we had some heavenly fruit juice/ice cream combination drinks followed by lunch overlooking a magnificent view of the bay.

    When we eventually arrived back at the boat I was too tired to go lobstering and snoozed for an hour or so.

    The evening concluded with a BBQ. Definitely a good day. Enjoy the pics below. The last couple of days have also been uploaded.

  • Wind?

    Having motored against 10 knots of wind and a knot of current on Saturday we had hoped to have a chance to go sailing on Sunday. It wasn’t to happen. There was no wind and the current was again slightly against us. We had a late start to ensure we had the sun high when approaching Taveuni. When we arrived we anchored in 40 feet of water before surveying the area in the dinghy. We picked a better spot nearer in in about half the depth and moved the mothership there.

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    We rested for the early afternoon. Colin and Judy when snorkeling and Colin spotted a lobster. I may have to go out with weapons sometime soon. Our trip ashore was delayed a little when I had the opportunity to chat online with family. Once we were ashore we randomly picked a direction on the one road to walk and went about a mile or so out of ‘town’. We turned around looking for a restaurant or a bar to stop at. All were closed til about 6:30pm. We eventually found an open restaurant (Tramonto) with a fantastic view of the bay and sunset to the west. It was a really nice end to the day. Colin and Judy bought us dinner and drinks which was welcome.

    We walked back to the dinghy in the dark ending up on the boat for a couple of bottles of vino.

    This morning there is still no wind. Not that it matters as we’re not going anywhere in the boat. We’re going to hire a taxi and visit the waterfalls and coastal path to the south. Maybe later we’ll go out lobstering.

  • Matangi Island

    Another day of motoring. At times we had up to 10 knots of wind but mostly it was on our nose. On a couple of occasions we were able to get the headsail out to assist but not by much. Our destination was the old volcanic cone that is Matangi Island. We had mixed luck fishing along the way. Something took the lure on the fishing line and ran away with it. It was exciting for a moment as the line went zinging off but it went limp. Near the tip of Taveuni we caught a smallish mackerel on the pink squiddy. I put the big safety pin through it’s lower jaw so we could spend a moment to identify it. I must have messed that simple operation up as the pin was soon open and fishless. I’m pretty sure it was a mackerel similar to the nasty spanish mackerel prevalent off the coast of South America so maybe it wasn’t a good eater but now we’ll never know.

    Along the way we had a little cheer when we crossed from East to West over the 180 degree longitude meridian. We decided we were all a day younger. We also passed (more specifically were passed by) El Regalo who’d been anchored Somosomo, Taveuni. On arrival in the bay we were treated to the sight of a beautiful bay with turquoise waters, colourful corals and surrounded on three sides by steep, tree covered cliffs.

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    Once anchored Helen and I went out in the dinghy to check depths around the boat and make sure there were no threatening coral heads. There was a little beach with a hut and a couple on it. We dinghied over to see if it was connected to a resort on the other side of the island. We were immediately threatened by the guy who didn’t seem interested in our lack of desire to come ashore but more interested in threatening to call the resort and have us expelled. He pointed out he’d “paid a lot of money the have the place the themselves.” Perhaps he should ask for his money back as all the beaches in Fiji are public up to the high water line. We would have been in our rights to go ashore as it was low tide at the time but despite his rudeness I had no desire to ruin their day.

    Back on the boat we all took off snorkeling from the back steps. The water was a little murky but still allowed us to view some fascinating coral and fish.

    The afternoon was spent relaxing, reading, sleeping and watching the colours change as the sun set. I did a repair job on our VHF mike as the speaker wire was not forming a good connection. Colin helped me with a small repair to the sail slider which had come out of the baton. Helen cooked a great curry for dinner which was complimented with a few bottles of vino.

    I’d lost track of days. We’d planned on two full days anchored off Taveuni to do some land exploration there. I had thought that gave us time for two nights over here but we only have one. So today we’ll head the seven or so miles back to the tip of Taveuni and settle in there.

  • Viani Bay

    Shortly after 7am we were off out of Fawn Harbour. As we made our left turn into the cut we put out two fishing lines and once out of the cut out out two more. The sea was flat and the westerly wind we’d had forecast was there, but it was just one knot. So we motored all the way to Viani Bay. We had one catch, a small Barracuda, just out of Fawn Harbour which we put back. Despite hearing that other boats caught Mahis we did not.

    Viani Bay is famous for it’s encircling reef – Rainbow Reef. Famous for it’s clear water making for excellent diving and snorkeling. As we approached we noticed Jackster exiting the reef so we hailed them. It turned out they had the Tahinas and Garimars aboard and were all off diving with the local guide, Jack Fisher. We asked if we could follow them to their first spot and upon consultation with Jack it was deemed ok.

    We were soon anchored on a shallow patch on the outside of the reef and then into the dinghy with our gear following the divers up the reef. We were in 20-100s+ feet of clear blue water with a health reef below us. We had the company of a lone white tipped reef shark and thousands of other fish. At one point we saw a turtle. We had intended to snorkel the reef so this lucky opportunity got us in and wet without having to sort out a guide.

    Helen and I made the swim all the way back to the boat getting a little stung at the end by jelly fish larvae. A little irritating but ok once you know it calms down fairly quickly. Judy and Colin stayed near our dinghy allowing the current to take them down the reef.

    Back on the boat we headed into Viani Bay and anchored near Stray Kitty where we quickly readied lunch. We shared a bottle of wine with lunch setting the stage for a sleepy afternoon. Later in the afternoon our guests headed off in the kayak. It was funny seeing Judy doing all the paddling for a while while Colin messed with his fishing line. I would never get away with that with Helen.

    In the evening Helen cooked up another portion of the mahi we’d caught on the way to Fiji – quite delicious.

    Now that we’ve snorkeled the reef here we have the opportunity to press eastwards. We like the idea of reaching Matagi to the east of Taveuni and staying there a couple of nights before heading (and perhaps even sailing) back west to the tip of Taveuni and going for some hikes ashore.

    I’ve managed to upload four albums of photos for my regular readers a short trip back through the last few entries will reveal them.