A Few Days at Navadra

Navadra is the northern-most island in the Mamanucas, or maybe it’s the southern-most in the Yasawas, I was never quite sure. Anyway, it was right in between the two island groups, and it’s not really just one island, but two islands close together forming a large bay. The other island, which is actually larger than Nevadra, is called Vanua Levu, but that can be confusing since that’s also the name of the second largest island in Fiji where Savusavu is located, so most cruisers just refer to this spot as simply “Navadra.” Neither island is inhabited, and there didn’t seem to be a village or any nearby island to do sevusevu with, so we just enjoyed ourselves in this peaceful, remote place.

It’s an absolutely beautiful anchorage. The weather wasn’t great while we were there with strong gusty winds, but at least the sun was shining. The water was a few degrees warmer here, so even mom and I did some swimming. There was some swell that comes through the anchorage, but it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable or anything. The boys loved it because it made some small waves on the beach at high tide, and they could surf on the stand-up paddle boards. Brenden is even small enough he could ride the small waves on a surfboard. Being fun size has its advantages sometimes! I tried to boogie board, but no success. Later, when I saw that Brenden couldn’t even catch a wave on the boogie board, I didn’t feel so bad. The surf made the dinghy landings a bit of a challenge and mom and I got in the habit of swimming into shore, so it was manageable.

Two boys on a paddle board

Tim and Brenden spearfished a couple times but didn’t have any luck. Although that didn’t mean we went without fish…Tim put his good neighbor skills to work and helped some people on a fishing boat try to find their paddle board paddle that had fallen overboard. They didn’t find the paddle, but for his efforts, Tim was rewarded with a small bag of fresh caught Mahi Mahi, so we savored that for dinner, and we were at least able to have a little bit of fish while Mom was visiting.

While Tim and Brenden spearfished Alex did his part in providing for the crew by getting coconuts. Grandma was admittedly a bit nervous when she first saw Alex scamper up a coconut tree and then wield a machete to get to the nut inside the husk, but we sure did appreciate his efforts.

Alex collecting coconuts for Grandma