After a day resting from the passage we did a short hike to one of
the other villages on the island. Our guide, Jesse, climbed really high in a
mandarin tree to get us fruit. He clambered out on spindly branches that seemed
like they should not hold him and tossed down an amazing amount of fruit that
we shared amongst the 5 boats in the anchorage. He also got us papaya.
The next day Jesse led our whole gang, 19 of us, up to the highest
peak on the island. It was quite a climb through the jungle without a real path,
culminating in a very steep narrow ridge to the peak. Liz had Benjamin on her
back and decided not to summit, which was a good idea. She had the biggest
challenge getting down the steep area, but the kids loved it and slide on their
butts or swung from the trees like monkeys at a rapid pace. At the bottom of
the steepest section was a massive banyon tree that they climbed super high.
That night in the village of Matuka they had a fundraiser dinner
for the church and invited all the yachties to join. This was smart of them as
we doubled the number of families. They were excited to raise so much money so
quickly. In return they put on a fantastic feast. There were at least 5
different types of fish, cooked in different styles. There was also crab cooked
2 ways, clams, papaya salad, cassava, taro, bread,… A delicious feast.
The next day Gary joined Mike and Devala on Sea Rover to take a
few of the villagers out fishing. They caught a huge barracuda. The kids and I
stayed back to do some school work. All the kids prepared presentations, which
they shared with the other children on Exodus. They all did a great job.
Nautilus and Exodus left to go to Kadavu, but Fluenta remained
with us. 2 days later we enjoyed an easy sail to Suva together.
The Suva waterfront is very industrial. We are anchored downwind
from the commercial ship yard, so we get to listen to welding and hammering
most of the day and night. The good thing is that the city has most everything
you could want to buy. Our first night we enjoyed a massive salad with the mahi
mahi that we caught on the sail over. Even Axel was excited about salad and ate
a ton of it.
As today is July 1st, Canada Day, we are making Nanaimo bars and
celebrating with our Canadian friends from Fluenta.
Cheers,
Julie
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