The island of Taveuni is a large, lush island lying east of Vanua Levu (where Savusavu is located). On the southwest side of Taveuni is a dive resort called Paradise Taveuni, which is quite cruiser friendly. There’s actually a brief write-up about the resort in the Fiji Shores and Marinas 2015 guide, and they have a couple of mooring balls that are free of charge (although I’m sure they expect that you spend some money at the bar and/or restaurant.)
Our main, perhaps only, reason for going there was to see Tim and Fran, who are the parents of Tim’s brother’s wife. Got that? Tim and Fran have always been dear to us, but they have become especially dear since this whole cruising adventure began. Even before we left, they provided one of the few family voices of full and enthusiastic support for what we wanted to do, and since we’ve left, they’ve been some of our biggest followers. They are avid scuba divers. In fact, a couple of years ago when I ran the Cayman Island Marathon on Grand Cayman, they were there on a dive holiday at the same time! And now that we are in Fiji, we’ve had the stars align to once again be in the same place at the same time. They wrote us many months ago letting us know when they would be in Fiji to celebrate their anniversary, and at the time we thought that probably lined up with when we would be there, but it’s always difficult to predict exactly where we’ll be when. And there were so many factors working against us, well, mainly one big factor: the weather. We left NZ later than we thought and then we stayed at Minerva longer than we thought and then we needed a weather window to get from Savusavu to Taveuni. But it all worked out. From Savusavu to Taveuni, the winds went light right when we needed them to, and we were able to motor upwind to get there the last weekend Tim and Fran would be there.
It’s a modest, but extremely comfortable resort with private bures, an open air bar and restaurant, and a pool overlooking the ocean. They cater specifically to divers, and Tim and Fran were doing two dives each day. When we showed up it was as if we were VIPs, since Tim and Fran were staying there. Someone came out to help us pick up the mooring, and we headed to shore straight away for afternoon drinks with Tim and Fran and their friends, Randy and Sue.
(Note about the moorings: at a later date our friends on Chara were moored at Paradise Taveuni with a substantial blow, and they actually dragged one of the moorings. They are a large vessel and the winds were strong, but it’s just a reminder to always check the rating of a mooring when you use it.)
Our first afternoon while Tim and Fran were diving, Tim and Brenden went for some spear fishing, but didn’t have any luck. But we did have some luck in that it was “Fiji Night” at the resort, which included a four course meal, dancing, and kava drinking. Tim and Fran graciously treated us to dinner, and we were happy for the first opportunity to wear our traditional Fijian clothes that we bought in Savusavu. We went ashore for happy hour, and Brenden got the honor of beating the drum to announce the start. Our clothes were a big hit. I think every woman on the staff commented to me, “nice chumba!” Dinner was good, and so was the dancing. After dinner we had a kava ceremony, which was a lot of fun. After leaving Taveuni we would go on to drink kava many times with many different villages, so this night at Paradise Taveuni was our training session. Where they showed what you say, when to clap, and emphasized that in the end it’s all about fellowship and storytelling. When it’s your turn to drink you can ask for “low tide, medium tide, high tide, or even tsunami.” I had several “low tides” and that was enough for me. The kava in Fiji is much better tasting than what I had had in Tonga last year, though, which is good, cosidering how many times I would be drinking it.
The boys kept themselves entertained playing on a hammock and in the trees and also catching frogs. Later we learned that there are poisonous frogs on Taveuni, so either these weren’t the poisonous ones, or we just got really lucky.
The next night we had Tim and Fran out to Exodus for dinner. We cooked up the last of some of our fish, I can’t remember if it was tuna or mahi mahi. It was an enjoyable evening, and Tim brought his dive computer that needed fixing. It had leaked and stopped working, so Tim (Clepper) and Tim (Gresham) took it apart and cleaned it. We had some high percentage rubbing alcohol to use and Tim (Clepper) shared the tip with us that makeup applicators are good for cleaning electronics because they don’t leave behind cotton bits like cotton swabs. I told Tim (Clepper) that he’d fit in just nicely with the cruising community, because this is basically what the guys do. They fix things or talk about fixing things while they drink beer and swap knowledge. And of course Fran fits in too since she can bake, sew, and likes to drink wine. We told them they can crew with us any time!
Our last day at Paradise we went for a day sail with Tim and Fran and their friends Randy and Sue. The kitchen at the resort packed them all sorts of snacks so along with the stuff I had prepared we had quite the spread. We were a regular cruise ship! Sailing on flat seas in the lee of Taveuni was quite enjoyable, but we did sail down past the southern reef and out into open water for a little more realistic sail. Tim even caught a fish, which we ended up giving to someone that works at the resort.
The few days we spent at Paradise Taveuni with Tim and Fran were a lot of fun, but it was time to cut the cord to the resort scene and head south to more remote areas. A reasonable weather window opened up to get all the way down to Fulaga in one shot, so we jumped on it.
Gresham Family Exodus 