Nasau Bay

On Sunday, October 2 there was no wind so we decided to motor along to Nasau Bay. It was a beautiful quiet bay with a small village and a resort. We anchored in a nice spot then decided to check out the snorkelling. It was absolutely incredible probably the best snorkelling that we had ever done. We couldn’t believe the water clarity and the colours and varieties of corals. We stayed out that long that we all managed to get sunburnt as well. After snorkelling we had an afternoon snooze then took a dinghy ride to the beach and went for a fossick along a secluded beach. In the evening I cooked up a nice curry and we played dominoes until 10pm. The next morning we were up early and Flynn had a lesson from Ian on coconut opening with a large machette. The coconut was delicious once we got the husk off. We then went snorkelling again on the other side of the bay. The reef was just as beautiful and I managed to spot 2 turtles underwater that disappeared pretty quickly. After a couple of hours we headed back to Faraway and got her ready for the sail back to Taveuni. Luckily the wind had picked up so we were able to show Graham and Flynn how Faraway actually sails instead of motoring. We arrived at the anchorage off the pizza place in Taveuni around 3pm and all went to shore.

Navolau Point

We woke up to a leisurely 7am start on Saturday, October 1. There was no wind in the bay and the sea over the reef was calm and mirror clear. I made pancakes for breakfast while we planned the activities for the day. We decided to go snorkelling again and it was excellent. Graham and Flynn really enjoyed exploring the reefs and saw lobsters and all kinds of reef fish. Interestingly we noticed a lot of crown of thorns starfish on the reef. You could clearly see the areas on reef where they had devastated the corals. We went to shore and collected coconuts and papaya from trees that were growing wild. Graham discovered some wild orchids growing and some other strange kind of nut that we haven’t identified yet. We had lunch onboard Faraway to escape the midday heat then Ian discovered that our generator had broken down again. Graham, Flynn and I went to shore for a fossick while Ian spoke nicely to the generator. Luckily he got it working again and came over in the dinghy to collect us. We had a lovely sundowners and Graham took over the BBQ duties from Ian. Unfortunately I lost my tooth crown to the last bite of my pork chop. It’s a bit of a shame really as I now have a missing tooth until we get to Australia. It did make Flynn laugh though when the tooth fell out on my plate! We played dominoes again and had an early night. We were glad about the decision to stay in this beautiful anchorage another night.

Rainbow Reef Diving

On Friday, September 30 Graham and I went diving for the morning on the Rainbow Reef with Taveuni Divers. They were an excellent dive company and we had a great morning. The weather couldn’t have been any better and the visibility was great. We saw a lot of soft corals, nudibranchs, dove a beautiful swim through, and saw a large variety of reef fish. At one point Graham managed to have a crinoid attach itself to his leg. We weren’t sure how he picked it up but it was quite amusing as he had no idea that he had a hitchhiker on his leg. The divemaster carefully removed the crinoid and placed it back on the reef. While we were diving Ian and Flynn stayed on board Faraway and went on a bit of a journey into the local village to source ice creams and pick up a few more supplies. After diving we got back on board Faraway and headed over to Navolau Point. We all went snorkelling and Flynn remarked that it was much better than snorkelling in Portsea (no doubt). We watched another lovely sunset and Ian cooked a BBQ dinner. We all played a few games of Dominoes into the evening and Flynn managed to beat us all that night.

Graham and Flynn's Visit

My brother Graham and his son Flynn were due to arrive in Tavenui on the Sun Pacific flight at 4:30pm. It was Thursday morning and we had plans to have an easy morning of snorkelling and tea and cake at the cafe on the beach. Unfortunately when Ian woke up to turn the generator on it decided not to start. This wasn't good timing especially with relatives arriving in the afternoon. Ian got all his tools out and set to work while I took the dinghy ashore to do some shopping and I also managed to go for tea and cake which was nice. We had an agreement with the lady from Audreys Cafe who owned the land where we parked our dinghy that we would buy tea and cake so luckily I had to honour that part of the agreement. She made lovely cake and also gave out a free glass of home made Baileys. Not so good for the head at 11am in the morning but delicious. When I got back to Faraway at noon Ian had fixed the generator but it took us nearly 3 hours to clean up all the diesel and get the boat ready for our visitors. We made it ashore by 3:45pm in time to do some quick shopping and walk up to the airport. Graham and Flynn stepped off the plane a bit tired and shaken from the long and bumpy final section of the flight. They were keen to get on board Faraway and have a nap. We all squeezed into the dinghy with the luggage and pottered out across the reef. We had some welcome drinks in the cockpit and they got to see their first beautiful red sunset in Fiji. I made spaghetti for dinner and we all got an early night. We had to get up at 5:30am the next morning because I have booked diving for Graham and I on the Rainbow Reef.

Taveuni and Coconut Grove

On Tuesday, September 27 we motored and sailed to an anchorage on the East Coast of Taveuni. The anchorage was near a river and the water was quite dark so we didn’t do any snorkelling or swimming. We had to be very careful navigating through all the fringing reefs and also there was a lot of debris in the water to avoid. The plan was to sail back to the northern tip of Matei the next day and anchor outside Coconut Grove. We had stayed at these cottages 3 years ago and wanted to surprise the owner called Ronna. We booked dinner for 2 on the satellite phone for Wednesday night then slowly sailed back around the point. We dropped anchor carefully on the sand between the reef which was about 1 mile off shore. Dinner didn’t start until 6:30pm so we went over in the late afternoon and had a memorable walk around town. Ronna remembered us and we had a nice time catching up on all the news. We had rescued 2 kittens on our previous visit and Ronna had found good homes for them. Ironically she had recently adopted 2 kittens so we played with them before dinner. Her dog was also eager to get in on the action with the kittens. After dinner we had a very scary ride in the dark on the dinghy back to Faraway. There was no moonlight and we had one torch that didn’t really help in lighting up the bommies on the reef. We made it back safely though to the boat.

Taveuni

On Monday, September 26 we got up early and had another walk on the beach and snorkel before packing up Faraway and heading up towards the northern point of Taveuni. We planned to anchor overnight in the bay that we had pizza in 3 years ago and reflect on our last visit. Unfortunately we arrived when the sun was low and the sky was cloudy. It was difficult to anchor and by the time we had settled the boat it was nearly 5pm. We quickly showered and rushed to shore before the next rainstorm. We took up the same seats as we had done years ago on the open verandah of the pizza place with the million dollar view and watched the sun set. We chatted to some of the customers and were entertained by a very friendly and interestingly marked female cat that had a kitten that was a mirror image of her. Unfortunately we couldn’t take either of them back to Faraway. Ian sneezed all night confirming his latest fear that he may indeed be allergic to cats. We rolled out of the pizza place around 9pm and tried to find our dinghy and make our way across the bay to Faraway in the dark. We got back okay but had one of the most rolly nights on board ever resulting in us both only having a few hours sleep. The next morning we took the anchor up early and sailed around the northern point of Taveuni towards an anchorage that we had in mind on the east coast.

Viani Bay to Navolau Point

We woke up on Sunday, September 25 to a beautifully calm anchorage in Viani Bay. The tall green mountains reflected across the bay that was as smooth as glass. We went ashore in the dinghy and had to carefully navigate our way through coral heads to get there. The shore was quite muddy but we had a leisurely walk in our dive booties. We went back to Faraway and had breakfast then decided to motor around the corner to a smaller anchorage off Navolau Point. This was a small but beautiful anchorage nestled in between 2 coral reefs. I had to stand on the bow to make sure we didn’t hit any coral bommies and then choose a suitable place to drop the anchor. It’s a relatively easy task when the tide is low and the sun high to see the reefs but when the tide is high and the sky is cloudy you really can’t make good judgement on where to drop the anchor. We anchored safely then went snorkelling. Our location was about a mile behind the rainbow reef and we weren’t disappointed with the snorkelling. It was beautiful and teaming with fish life. We found 3 lobsters in fairly shallow water but left them to live another day. The variety and colours of the coral and fish life were stunning. I found a couple of crown of thorns starfish but these creatures were the only signs of destruction to the corals that were obvious. The water was quite chilly but Ian managed to find a warm patch close to shore to bathe in. We went for a walk along the sandy white beach and retired to Faraway for lunch. It then started to pour down with rain so we waited for an hour or so then took a dinghy ride back to the beach to go fossicking. The sun had disappeared for the day but it was so peaceful and quiet on the beach that we spent a couple of hours just wandering. In the evening we had a BBQ and an early night after all the activity.