Waya Island

After two nights in the beautiful anchorage at Navadra, we headed north just ten miles or so to neighbouring Waya, the southern-most island in the Yasawas. It's impressively rocky but, less impressively, the underwater rocks and reefs on its western coast were not marked at all on our electronic chart plotter. Luckily we saw the change in colour of the water that indicates shallows so made an emergency detour.

Waya's mountainous coastline

Nalauwaki Village

We anchored in a wide bay to the north of the island, sheltered from the gentle south-easterly breeze and in just 6m of crystal clear water over a sandy bottom . A gentle swell running into the bay threatened to make it a rolly anchorage so we set a stern anchor as well to keep Maunie's bow pointing into the swell and it's been a comfortable spot for two nights.

Yesterday we joined the crews of Pacific Highway and Chakti to present our Sevusevu to the village chief and were then taken on a tour of the village by one of the women, Anna. It's quite a big place, with around 400 inhabitants, and, compared to Fulaga, it's pretty well developed: most of the houses are built from breeze blocks and there's a central generator, water standpipes and showers outside most houses and a good fleet of 'fibres' (GRP fishing boats) on the beach.

Anna took us to the kindergarten where the children were delighted to recite songs and nursery rhymes in both English and Fijian (they learn two Fijian dialects as well as English) with huge enthusiasm and plenty of volume.

A spirited rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

The kindergarten was very smart building with a white picket fence just off the beach and it transpired that that a wealthy Australian who had visited the village in 2009 from the nearby Octopus tourist resort had returned the following year with a chartered transport boat, materials purchased in Lautoka and five tradesmen to build it. Indeed the children's confidence in performing in front of us foreigners is also a by-product of the proximity of the resort as we were told by Anna that every Monday afternoon a group of resort guests come over the hill for a 'cultural tour' that includes a visit to the kindergarten and then a Meke (a dance and singing display). Since we'd arrived on a Monday morning we were invited to return for a cup of tea in Anna's house and then to watch the Meke, which was hugely entertaining.

Great singing

... and spirited dancing

Followed by the obligatory craft fair

The relationship between the village and the resort seems to be pretty positive - the resort offers employment and purchases fish and lobster from the village fishermen and the weekly visits brings welcome income. The arrival of 40 or so (mostly Australian) tourists seems to be a source of entertainment for the villagers - lots of good-natured teasing - so the Meke fell just on the right side of the dividing line between the genuine and the pastiche.

Today we head north again to Naviti where we hope to find a pass where there are Manta Rays to be seen.

Photos from Navadra

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days:

Amy has a go at Stand Up Paddleboarding in Musket Cove, thanks to our friends Brian and Sue on Darramy. The inflatable SUP is now the toy of choice for many cruisers.

Landing on a desert island at the Navadra anchorage

A pristine beach with plenty of shells to collect

Amy enjoying her first island

Returning from a beach walk

Navadra Island

We've spent two nights in a slightly rolly anchorage at the uninhabited island of Navadra (17 degrees, 27.2 mins south, 177 degrees 3 minutes east). The rolling has been more than compensated for by the beautiful beaches and wonderful reef snorkelling. This was Amy's first snorkelling in tropical waters (apparently Scottish waters are a bit chillier) so she loved the variety of corals and the many species of fish.

 

The line-of-sight to a mobile phone tower on a neighbouring island is blocked by the rocky hillside of Navadra so we aren't able to post photos but we're heading north today, leaving the Mamanuca Islands and heading into the Yasawas. Next stop will be Waya where we hope we'll have internet access to be able to add some photos.

 

As ever, the extended family of cruising yachts that we know through the SSB radio net means that we are never far away from a friendly face; last night we were invited aboard 'Pacific Highway' for drinks by Bruce and Laura (originally from the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean) whom we first met in Vava'u last September. They spent time in Faluga this year, before we got there, so we shared stories about the place and chatted about plans for the coming season. Bruce has kindly lent us some additional paper charts for the Yasawa Islands so we've taken photos on the iPad of some of the key anchorages that we hope to visit in the next few days – this kind of boat-to-boat help makes cruising unknown waters so much less stressful.

 

Speaking of boat-to-boat help, late in the afternoon another yacht we've spoken to on the SSB came into the bay and headed in towards the shore looking for a shallow anchorage (we're anchored in a nice sansy patch but it's quite deep at 20m). Amy and Graham realised that they were heading right for the place they'd been snorkelling earlier, where coral pinnacles suddenly rise up out of the depths and the water was only a metre deep. Graham gave them an urgent call and we saw a big puff of exhaust smoke as reverse gear was hurriedly selected. We think they missed the reef by only a few seconds.

And then there were three

We're delighted that Goddaughter (and Bridesmaid) Amy has joined the Maunie crew. We picked her up from Nadi International Airport after a slight delay waiting for the narrow-gauge railway train to haul a vast load of sugar cane past the main entrance:

We treated Amy to the experience of the windowless bus to Nadi town where we had to change to the Denarau bus; we used the time to visit the vast indoor fruit and veg market for some wonderfully fresh provisions

In the yangona (kava root) section of the market, Amy was introduced to her first taste of 'grog'

We left Denarau after topping up our water and diesel tanks and headed across to an island called Malolo and the Musket Cove Marina. We've anchored outside the marina but have become lifetime members of the Musket Cove Yacht Club (whose annual regatta - mostly partying with a couple of races thrown in - finished a couple of days ago). There are several boats that we know still here so it's been good to catch up with old friends.

We'll be heading north into the Yasawa islands over the next few days.

A culture shock

As we suspected, Port Denarau has proved to be a culture shock, and not a good one. Denerau was one a swampy island but is now home to dozens of hotels, hundreds of expensive holiday homes with boat docks at the back door, a marina and a shopping mall selling tourist-oriented tat (including poor copies of the kinds of carvings we saw in Faluga at about four times the price).

The view from our mooring

..and at night. Unfortunately the noise of two competing cover bands travels across water all too well.

The place is full of pale, newly-arrived English and Australian tourists who, looking slightly bewildered, sign up for expensive boat trips to nearby islands after a burger meal in the Hard Rock Cafe or one of its dozen or so alternatives.

Who could resist a ride? Us!

Sadly, after meeting so many genuinely friendly Fijians on our travels, it's sad to find the people here operating in a 'have a nice day' autopilot mode and it's really hard to engage with them, even when we use some Fijian phrases and make eye contact. It's a clear illustration of what happens when mass-tourism arrives and the locals are reduced to low-paid waiters and shop keepers. Ugh! We can't wait to get out of here.

We have been kept busy, though. There are a few boat chandlers here so we managed to find a replacement VHF radio as our Icom IC-411, which failed last year and was repaired in New Zealand, had started to have off days again when it would broadcast messages but not receive them. We've also ordered a new masthead block for the spinnaker halyard as the old one has collapsed due to old age and the old enemy, UV degradation. Getting parts to fit a normal-sized boat is a bit of a challenge, as the main marina pontoon is home to some very large and polished super yachts.

And the prize for the shiniest anchor goes to...

Big boats and helicopters

Maunie (far left) in 'paupers' corner', a set of 14 moorings. Notice the gathering clouds - the forecast looks damp for the next few days

This morning we took the locals' bus ($1 each, we were the only tourists aboard as most don't leave the island resorts) to a reasonably well-stocked supermarket in Nadi and an excellent butchers so we're ready to head out into the less populated islands once more.

Our time here only goes to reinforce what a special place was Fulaga - our friends on Bravo have just posted an update on their blog with a well-told story of the scary beast in the cave - you can read it here

Intricate pilotage around the north of Viti Levu

We're now on day 2 of some very intricate navigation along a passage that zig-zags inside the reef along the northern shore of Viti Levu. Actually, it's the sort of sailing that Graham's Mum would enjoy (she isn't a keen sailor, unlike Dad, and will only countenance a trip in a sailing boat if the mast remains vertical and the water's like a millpond); we've had a good 15 knot wind behind us but the reef has kept the water perfectly calm.

Stay in the white bits! The brown is hilly island and the green patches are reefs. Before you get too impressed with the annotation on the chart, we should admit that we borrowed it from Warren and Wendy in NZ and the track marked is theirs from several years ago. The paper chart is a nice back-up to our chart plotter.

At low tide, the reefs appear, looking like mud banks. Very crunchy mud, though. There are a few markers on the extremities of some , though many charted marks are missing so we don't rely on them.

After the lush green forests of the south and east sides of the islands, the north side is decidedly parched. In the flatter areas it's prime sugar cane growing land and we can see the plumes of smoke as the fields are burnt off after harvest. 

Looking back at our wake - it's hard to believe that there are reefs either side of it (this was at high tide) 

We're aiming for Port Denarau tonight on the west side of Viti Levu, just south of the town of Lautoka. It'll be something of a culture shock to us as it's a new, purpose-built marina with several hotels and restaurants around it. It's very much designed to attract super-yachts so Maunie should feel at home! We're here to meet Graham's Goddaughter Amy who is flying out from mid-Wales (via Hong Kong for a few days) to join us for 10 days. Amy was one of our bridesmaids and is a keen sailor so we're hoping for some fun sailing up in the Yasawa Islands to the north west of Viti Levu. This is normally the dry and sunny side of Fiji but it looks as though she'll be bringing rain with her for the first couple of days; being from Wales she should feel at home, though it'll be a tad warmer than she's used to.

Visiting the Leper Colony in Makogai

Having left Savusavu we sailed south west to the island of Makogai. We had a very good sail in gentle conditions so, for a change, flew the Irish Flag.

Makogai is an island with an fascinating history which makes is slightly eerie to visit today. In 1911 it was requisitioned by the (British-run) government to built a Leprosy isolation hospital. In those days the disease had no known cure and the threat of its transmission meant that isolation was the accepted practice. The hospital was staffed, to a large degree, by European nuns and it became a substantial operation; those patients in the early stages of Leprosy would farm the land to feed the substantial population of the island and there was a dairy, producing butter and milk, a cinema and large dormitories as well as the hospital beds for the really ill.

In the late 1940's a new drug was at last found which promised a cure for the dreadful disease and, as trials progressed, a new (non-isolation) hospital was built in Suva. The last patients left Makogai in 1969 and the site was abandoned, with most of the buildings destroyed for their materials to be used on neighbouring islands. During its 58 years, the hospital treated 4185 people from across the Pacific, of whom  1241 died. We were shown around by Kameli, who works for the Department of Fisheries in the island's new role (more of that later). Here are a few photos:

A map of the island at its busiest time

The hospital buildings - the semicircles in the water were fish traps

The 'main street' with men's dormitories on one side, women's on the other

These steps once led to one of the biggest accommodation buildings

One of the hospital wards, used as a workshop now, with the foundations of a dormitory beside it

The projection room of the cinema, built in the 1940's

The cinema during construction

The very eerie cemetery - stone crosses were for the nurses and other staff, patients were usually only given a wooden cross so their graves are now long lost. 

Some of the wooden buildings won't last much longer

After 20 years of abandonment, the island has a new role and new life. It's a Department of Fisheries research centre and a breeding centre for turtles and giant clams. Clams had been all but fished to extinction in Fijian waters but are now a protected species and are being introduced to reefs across the country. A 20 year old clam will be about a metre across - just like the ones that trapped divers' feet in James Bond movies (not something they are capable of doing, but they do close up when you touch them, as Graham discovered snorkeling later). The people who operate the centre live with their families so there's once more a school and the younger kids who were out playing during school hours just loved to come and chatter.

Mind your fingers

We're now in an anchorage on the NE corner of Viti Levu and tomorrow with see us attempt the very narrow passage inside the reef westwards around the top of the island.