new years day race

new years day race

Friday, July 10, 2015

July 10, 2015 Suva

Wow time has really flown while here in Suva. We spent the first few days enjoying access to unlimited food and eating lots of salad. I have done a lot of shopping over the past 10 days, so we are loaded and ready to go out for another month or so. Although I expect that we will have significantly more access to stores for the rest of our visit to Fiji. 

We are anchored off the Royal Suva Yacht Club, where we have a temporary membership. Happy hour, hot showers and the playground have been big hits with the Nirvana crew.



The kids playing on the lawn at the Royal Suva Yacht Club

While in Suva we have celebrated Canada Day with Fluenta by enjoying a BBQ followed by Nanaimo bars. A couple of days later we had all the adults from 5 boats over for drinks to celebrate July 4th.

One night Gigi and Axel hosted all the kids for a sleep over on Nirvana. We had 10 kids plus Gary and me. It was definitely a little tight, especially since it was raining, but they had a blast. In the morning Gigi and Victoria, with Gary's help, made super yummy waffles for everyone.





We visited the Suva fair where we sampled lots of delicious foods. All the rides are old, with questionable maintenance, made from under spec tubing, and they pack as many people as they can into each seat. We rode on the ferris wheel, but Gigi had to get off early as it was way too scary for her. Of course once Gigi and Victoria got off they stacked 2 local girls in with us, ensuring there were still 5 snuggly packing into each seat. The scariest part was how fast it went around and how much each car swung. It was definitely not designed for the service it was doing. Although Axel loved it. After that Axel and Johnny rode a spinning ride, and Johnny complained he felt sea sick when he got off. So that was the end of rides for us.


The engine for the over-packed ferris wheel.





We visited the Fiji history museum, Gigi really didn't like the cannibalism exhibit. The handicraft market is full of so many beautiful items, that we have gone back many times just to take it all in. The main market is full of wonderful fruits and vegetables and exotic spices, plus a big kava area.

Suva has the most polluting busses I have ever smelled. So by the time you are done your shopping you need a beer at the yacht club to cleanse your throat and calm your nerves from nearly getting run over from all the drivers. The harbor is very industrial and has the most polluted water I have seen anywhere. Yesterday the fuel dock spilt so much diesel that there was a 2 inch thick layer over the water in the harbor. Not to mention all the garbage floating by. Plus there are enormous raft-ups of confiscated foreign fishing boats tied precariously to commercial mooring buoys.





We had planned to leave Suva a couple of days ago, but Gary got sick. He has a cold that has really knocked him out. We will probably leave on Sunday for Kandavu if the wind becomes favorable. We are all ready to leave the pollution and the nonstop rain behind.

Moce,

Julie

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