Sunday turned out to be a pretty nice day. It rained a little bit, but then cleared up. We went and listened to the music at the bar - was good. Dennis was a bit disappointed that they didn't play any local music, but I guess they play what the majority want to hear. And they played quite a range of US music. I had a good laugh at all the men. It is good to know that the country and the sport may change, but men are men. There we were, beautiful setting, nice music, inexpensive drinks......But it was Sunday and there was a big screen TV with rugby.... so where do you think the men were gathered?? You got it, in front of the TV. I took a picture, cuz it was so, I don't know US I suppose.
We had yummy steaks on the boat for dinner, then I remembered I needed to do laundry, so I got 3 loads washed and partially dry. So I prayed for a dry night so it wouldn't get a second rinse. Luckily it was dry, and the laundry was all dry by the next afternoon. Surprisingly, you are able to do your own laundry here. The machines take tokens - 6FJD (roughly 3 US) per load wash or dry. A little more expensive than it has been, but still not on the scale of French Polynesia where it worked out to 10US per load.
Monday was provisioning day, and also when I realized we had both totally space our anniversary. Not sure what that says about us, and not sure I want to know.... So after breakfast we were off to the bus stop. We were able to hitch a ride to the main road, skipping one bus and a 30 min. wait. After a short wait at the main road we caught the bus to Namaka, our destination - New World Foods. OMG I think the driver has aspirations of driving for NASCAR. That had to have been one of the scariest rides I have ever been on. At one point he took a turn wide a missed a truck carrying sugar cane by millimeters. It was my side too - I ducked, sure that I was going to get poked by a sugar cane stick. We survived it though and managed to get off not too far past our stop. Mr Nascar bus driver forgot that we had asked to get off at New World Foods, and it wasn't as if we knew where we were going.
First thing was to explore the non food store next door. They had everything from dishes to high end sound systems, furniture and cool sewing machines, ipods, computers and sporting equipment. Dennis bought Josh a rugby ball. Then on to the food store. It is a nice store, has many US type foods, but not as good as Cost u less. Sadly, that is in Suva. Bummer, cuz i wanted to go there but it is 5 hours by bus, so we will just have to make do. We took a taxi back, and stopped at a fresh fruit and veggie stand. So provisioned for the next little while. As we were unloading the taxi at the boat, Dennis realised the rugby ball was still at New World (you know leave you packages etc before going in - only no claim check.) So, off he went back to Namaka - major bummer. After stowing the food, Paul and I did boat chores - washing down decks, cleaning the cockpit, and cleaning the grill. Then I went in search of a place for Dennis and i to have an anniversary dinner. Turns out that the Marina is right next door to First landing resort (yes Colleen I finally figured it out LOL). Marina guests are allowed over there at the pool etc. So, I made a reservation for dinner. When I told Paul (our waiter for the evening) that it was our anniversary, he showed me a really nice private table that we could reserve, so i did. From there I went to hang out by the pool. Which is where Dennis found me. We chilled for a while, then back to the boat for a drink and clean up for dinner.
Dinner was excellent! Pretty darn romantic too. They also had live music going. After we finished eating the musicians came over and sang to us and Paul brought us a yummy chocolate dessert with "Happy Anniversary" written on the plate (pictures to follow). All in all a fantastic evening and although a day late Fiji time - on time US time.
We had decided on Monday to go ahead and leave Tuesday. Lots of reasons. As much as I like the amenities of a marina, the noise and the heat eventually overshadow the good stuff. We will return there to prepare for the crossing to NZ, so was time to explore what we can in our remaining time here.
For folks not in a rush, we were payed up, out of our "slip", fueled up and under sail by 1030. Not too bad. We were headed for Musket Cove, but Dennis got tired of bashing into the wind, so we stopped on the northeast (ish) side of the island. It reminds me a bit of Isla San Francisco in the Sea of Cortez. You can see the anchorage at Musket Cove from here. The isthmus here dries out at low tide. And the tidal range is big. We dinghied in around 1500, and had to walk the dinghy over the reef and haul it over sand to finally tie off on mooring ball that was high and dry. yes we forgot the anchor (eye roll). Dennis and Paul walked the boat over the reef, lucky me I got a ride. Sadly it was very uneven and Paul stepped into a hole and cut his foot on some coral. Lots of blood. Once the little piece of coral came out it slowed down and stopped, so we decided to press on.
The walk to Musket Cove really isn't that far, so yes I am so out of shape. I was beat by the time we went there, walked around and walked back. We will head over there this morning. There are mooring balls and think we will stay at least until Friday as Thursday is Fiji Day (their independence day) and will be interesting to see the festivities.
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