This is a big tourist center with a marina and shopping mall. We stayed on the dock for two nights, mainly to drop mom off to catch her flight home but we took advantage of the shopping and happy hours.
Logbook – August 13, 2015 (Navadra to Port Denarau)
Passage Log Highlights
0817 Engines on
0845 P Engine off + Main
1352 P Engine on
1407 Engines off Denarau
Daily Notes
Motorsail to Denarau. TBV and Koa here
Dinner w/ Mom at Lulu’s
Bye to Mom 😦
Navadra to Port DenarauPort Denarau (Exodus at the dock)Last night of mom’s visit. Dinner at Lulu’s.If you try you can see Exodus tied to the dock.
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.
The two small uninhabited islands of Navadra and Vanua Levu (not that Vanua Levu) made for a great anchorage for several days.
Logbook – August 8, 2015 (Mana to Navadra)
Passage Log Highlights
1004 Engines on
1036 P engine off. Genniker
1148 SB engine + genniker + genoa
1339 P engine on
1355 Engines off Navadra
Daily Notes
Dinghy surf landing at Navadra
Hang out on beach, boys ride the surf on the paddleboard
Drinks on Et Voila
From Mana up to NavadraAnchored at NavadraThe tiny waves provided a fair amount of fun
Drinks with Et Voila
Logbook – August 9 (Navadra)
Daily Notes
No school – T/B spearfish with Et Voila
Alex to shore, brought back coconuts
Met m/v Domino, granddaughters on board
Tim helped another m/v look for their lost paddle – received a bag of mahi mahi
Tim and Brenden heading out to spear some fish (no fish here!)At least Brenden was prepared
Logbook – August 10, 2015 (Navadra)
Passage Log Highlights
1020 Engines on to reanchor
1040 Engines off
Daily Notes
Surf day! Mom swam to the beach, D tried to boogie board
Email to Family and Friends
Subject: Exodus – Navadra
It’s beautiful here at the anchorage at the island of Navadra, between the mamanuca and yasawa island groups. The weather hasn’t been great with strong gusty winds, but at least the sun is shining. The water is a few degrees warmer here, so even mom and I have been doing some swimming. There is some swell that comes through the anchorage, but it’s not terribly uncomfortable or anything. The boys love it because it makes some small waves on the beach at high tide, and they can surf on the stand-up paddle boards. Brenden is even small enough he can 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 dinghy landings have been interesting, but mom’s been a good sport. Yesterday I even dropped her off a little way from the beach and she had to swim in while I went back to Exodus and took a paddle board in. Like I said, she’s been a very good sport! Spear fishing on this side of Fiji hasn’t been so great, so mom isn’t getting to experience all the great fish we normally have, but Tim’s managed to get a couple small coral trout so she’s at least tasted our beer batter recipe. Yesterday, 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 found its way 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 last night. The first couple days we were here with our friends on Et Voila, who have a lagoon 450 catamaran, so it’s just like Exodus only bigger and nicer! We also met a nice couple from California on a cruising power boat who had their granddaughters with them, so Tim forced the boys to go over one evening to socialize. They never want to make new friends, but they are always glad when they do! We will stay here a couple more days and then go to the marina at Port Denarau to drop mom off. Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – August 11, 2015 (Navadra)
Daily Notes
T – spearfish, no fish
Boys clean hull
Floated for 2 hours! (This refers to the health of the batteries)
The boys cleaned the hull…… and after cleaning the hull they had a little fun
Logbook – August 12, 2015 (Navadra)
Daily Notes
Games with Gramma
Play at the beach
Tim works on anchor windlass
Tim still hasn’t given up on our windlass chain counterSpoiler alter: when we return in a few weeks we will climb this
We returned to Mana a second time when mom was with us (read about the first time here). We enjoyed walks on the beach and even a lunch out at the restaurant. The restaurant was nothing special, but it was right on the beach, so obviously had a great view (no better than the view from Exodus though, I might add.) As we were eating one of the groups of tourists from the backpacker resort were gathering for their ride back to the mainland, and they were serenaded with some Fijian singing, so that was something to be enjoyed. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the people who were ending their vacations and heading back to work or wherever.
Nautilus was with us this second time in Mana, and one afternoon Tim, Hans, and Brenden went out spearfishing, but they weren’t having any luck finding any fish, but Brenden was determined to get a fish for Grandma, and he didn’t want to come back empty handed, so he shot a little fish for her. I don’t remember if we ate it or not.
Brenden couldn’t home empty handed, he just needed to bring Grandma a fish
The boys with their Grandma at Mana
Enjoying lunch at Mana
It was here at Mana where we said the first of a string of very painful good-byes to our fleet of kid boats we had been so fortunate to cruise Fiji with. Nautilus left us to head west to Vanuatu, The Solomons, and eventually Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. We tried and tried to convince them to come with us to Marshalls. Even after they left, and they were in Vanatu Tim was still sending them emails trying to convince them. But their path was to be different than ours, although I know we will visit them again someday; maybe they will come see us in California or maybe we will go see them in Belgium (spoiler alert: they will come to California).
After Nautilus left us, we had that empty feeling that we would be alone again for some time. But that very afternoon we were reunited with two of our other long-lost friends… Novae and Et Voila, both of whom we hadn’t seen since Savusavu.
So sad saying good-bye to this dear family, our friends on Nautilus
For Alex’s actually birthday on August 4th, we were back at Mana, and mom was with us. She brought both boys birthday presents… Alex got some noise cancelling headphones (since he fell in love with Andrew’s when he was here) and Brenden got, well, Legos of course! He may be almost 13, but he still loves to play with legos.
We took the day off from school and mom and I made the traditional homemade oreo cookies and the kids spent the afternoon dinghy surfing, one of Alex’s favorite things to do. In the evening we had Nautilus and Nirvana over for oreos, ice cream, and fun.
Gramma Nay frosting the home made oreos for Alex’s birthday
Mana is a small island not too far north from Musket Cove. There is a narrow, shallow pass, but with good visibility it’s really no problem. The weather wasn’t going to make it easy to move around a lot during mom’s visit, so we thought this would be a good place to say for a few days since it is a flat anchorage, and it has a beach and a village.
Logbook – August 3, 2015 (Musket Cove to Mana)
Passage Log Highlights
1123 Engines on
1142 SB engine off. Genoa.
1242 SB engine on
1325 Arrive Mana
Daily Notes
Move to Mana, 1.5 kts current in the pass
T/B/Hans spearfish, B shoots tiny fish for Gramma
Boys are enjoying Gramma Nay being hereThese are the kinds of photos grandmas take, right?Alex on the anchorCan you say “lee shore”?Spearfishing on this side of Fiji has been pretty dismal. Brenden just HAD to shoot something for grandma, though
Dinghy surfing, oreos (homemade), cake & ice cream, party w/ Nautilus and Nirvana
Making something yummy for Alex’s BirthdayThe annual tradition – homemade oreo cookiesDinghy surfing on Alex’s birthdayAlex and his new headphones that grandma brought him – just like Andrew’scake, cookies, and ice cream with Nautilus and NirvanaAlex and Fien are in some serious TV lala land!
Logbook – August 5, 2015 (Mana)
Daily Notes
T/Hans spearfish – not fish
D/Mom/Katrien – walk to the village and beach
Nautilus over after dinner
More dinghy surfing! Alex really enjoyed using Nirvana’s surfboardBrenden got his birthday presents early from grandma
Logbook – August 6, 2016 (Mana)
Daily Notes
First “writer’s workshop.” Not a huge success, but OK
almost 13, but playful as everSay it isn’t so! Nautilus is leaving us to go to Vanuatu. It’s a sad, sad day.Bye, kavakava!
Logbook – August 7, 2016 (Mana)
Daily Notes
Lunch on shore
T – spearfishing with Et Voila
Novae here
We weren’t alone for long… Mana became the cat corner when we were joined by Et Voila and Novae
As the cruising season progressed, the kids figured out that several of them have September birthdays and that it was possible if not likely that we would not all be together for all of them. So, they got the idea to have a “September Birthday Party” in July. They ended up pulling it together while we were in Musket Cove (the second time), and they had the party on Nautilus. Victoria made a cake (of course!) and Alex and Brenden made snickerdoodle cookies to take over, and the kids all made presents for each other. The birthday kids were Brenden, Gigi (Nivana), Victoria (Fluenta), and Seppe (Nautilus). Since it was only a couple days before Alex’s August birthday, they decided it would be OK to include him to, so I guess technically it was an August/September birthday party. I wasn’t there for all of the fun and shenanigans, but luckily Nautilus shared some photos:
Yes, that’s my son grabbing the sharp end of the knife
During our second stop at Musket Cove, we were there with Fluenta, Nirvana, and a new kid boat called Honey. Julie from Nirvana had the California physical fitness standards, so we arranged a day for all the kids to participate in testing themselves against the standards. They were amazing! They ran a mile, did push ups, sit ups, and a few other things. Bottom line is that even without regular sports participation they are all well above the “healthy” threshold, and Brenden and Gigi (12 year old girl from Nirvana, she and Brenden were actually born on the same day) actually scored presidential level in all categories.
One of the most impressive things to see was how they all simultaneously competed with and encouraged each other. During the mile they each seemed to have their nemesis they were chasing… Brenden was chasing Alex, Jonathan was chasing Brenden, etc., but it was a healthy level of competition and they all tried their hardest without getting too wrapped up in the competition. During the pushups and situps they sat near each other, and cheered each other to “keep going!” and “you can do it!”
And of course, when they were all done they climbed a tree. They are cruising kids, after all.
(For posterity, I record the boys’ mile times here. Alex: 6:58. B: 7:04)
Lined up to run the mile (OK, this photo is actually a reenactment, we forgot to take the real photo)
Alex and Brenden catching their breath after running the mile
Relax by pool with Nautilus (after Exodus cleaning day)
Gary (Nirvana) birthday celebration
Physical fitness day (lining up to run the mile). OK, this was a reenactment because I forgot to take the photo the first time.Alex and Brenden in the home stretchTotally wiped outMonkey-ing around after physical fitness day (Photo by Fluenta – http://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/Playing on the beach
T – spearfish at pass, no fish. Took our dinghy behind Nirvana
Boys play on shore with Johnnie, Axle, Seppe
I took the ferry from Musket Cove over to Port Denarau to meet mom
Email to Family and Friends
Subject: Exodus – Mom comes today!
We are back at Musket Cove and later this morning I will take the ferry over to the mainland to meet my mom. We are so excited she’s here to cruise with us. Unfortunately, there is actually a tropical low-pressure system to the NW of Fiji and it’s going to dump some rain on us over the next couple days. But mom’s coming from hot, hot El Centro, so hopefully it won’t be so bad for her. Here at musket cove, we are back with a few other kid boats, and one of the other ones is also from California, and they had the physical fitness standards with them. So, we had all the kids participate! They were amazing! They ran a mile, did pushups, sit ups, and a few other things. Bottom line is that even without regular sports participation they are all well above the “healthy” threshold, and Brenden and Gigi (12-year-old girl from Nirvana, she and Brenden were actually born on the same day) scored presidential level in all categories. Tim is back with his spearfishing buddy, Hans from Nautilus, so they are going to go out fishing today while I go pick up mom, so it will be up to the boys to finish their schoolwork and chores without reminders. We’ll see how that goes… Love and miss you all, -D.
The kids organized a “September birthday party” because they may not be together on their actual birthdays. (Photo by Nautilus – http://nautilusatsea.blogspot.com/)They included Alex in the party even though his birthday isn’t in september, and here he is sporting his gift (Photo by Nautilus – http://nautilusatsea.blogspot.com/)
Our time so far in Fiji has been very special. We have had the opportunity to be in some wildly remote places where people still lead somewhat traditional lives, and the friendliness and hospitality of the Fijians never ceases to amaze me. It seems to me that their lives are at the proper pace, where neighbors are people, not blurs you barely notice as you rush around assuming your busy, self-important life. One Fijian tradition is that a visitor to any village offers “sevusevu,” and the ritual itself is quite simple. You offer to the village chief (or his spokesman if he’s not available) a bundle of Yaqona, which is dried pepper tree root. A short solemn ceremony in Fijian ensues, and after that it’s all smiles. You are now one of them. Part of their village. They welcome you into their community and into their homes, and if you’re lucky and your timing was right they will invite you immediately for a grog, that is the drinking of the kava, which is made from grinding up the yaqona. Each village we visited was different, but in each you still had that genuine sense of warmth and welcoming.
My son playing rugby with the boys on Fulaga
However, now we find ourselves in Bizarro Fiji where modest villages and friendly people have been replaced by mega resorts and parasailing. We are now in the islands west of the main island of Viti Levu, which is the dry, sunny side of Fiji. And where the sun always shines, you can bet that’s where the resorts will be. Our first stop was Musket Cove, a cruiser friendly resort that even has a small marina. For a small fee, cruisers can join their yacht club and then have full access to all resort amenities. Our first afternoon ashore while we were going about the business of joining the yacht club, I was observing all of the Fijian resort employees. They were all business and few smiles. The lady who runs the yacht club handed me some forms to fill out and then turned her back on me and went back to her business. I was reeling. I wanted everything to slow down, and I wanted to go back to Fiji. It was clear to me that this side of Fiji had been infected and I felt myself mourning that fact. But it was as if Tim read my thoughts, and he did the obvious thing, that is, he struck up a conversation with her. He gave her a big smile, asked how her day was going, and asked where she’s originally from in Fiji. It was as if everything came to a grinding halt and a switch was flipped, and she gave him a big smile back. Turns out she’s from Kadavu, one of the islands we’ve visited, so it gave us a little connection, and she was immensely friendlier to me after that moment. So, now I’m thinking that it’s not necessarily that the Fijians have been totally adopted our impersonal western ways, maybe it’s just that most of their western patrons are too busy to notice or care that there’s any other way. That there’s a Fijian way, and that it might be better.
The Musket Cove Resort
In our current anchorage, it’s gotten even more bizarre. We are anchored in the small lagoon of the small island of Mana, just north of Musket Cove. I had read that there are two backpacker’s hostels, a luxury resort, and a village here but today is the first day we went ashore. We had arrived on Saturday late afternoon so without doing a sevusevu, we basically stayed on the boat until this morning. Sundays are important days to Fijians, and we think that it’s somewhat disrespectful to show up in their village for the first time on a Sunday. Anyway, we figured that the village was the spot on the beach where all the fishing boats were, but Tim got out the binoculars and was surprised to notice that the two backpacker hostels are basically on the beach right at the village. Basically, part of the village. And there were people in bikinis — on the beach — right there at the village. Shocking. We usually wear our traditional Fijian outfits when we go ashore for sevusevu, but Tim was questioning the need to do that here. Clearly, it won’t be expected or even appreciated is what he was thinking. For some reason I clung to it, though. For some reason I felt that here, more than anywhere else, it was important to demonstrate that we appreciate and respect their traditions. I wore my full chumba and proudly walked down the beach in it amongst all the other scantily clad tourists. I’m pretty sure that no fewer than four different Fijian women said to me, “Nice chumba!” We asked a woman just off the beach who was selling handicrafts where we could find the Toraga ni Koro of the village, who is like the appointed village headman. In some villages you do the sevusevu with him if the chief is unavailable and, in some villages, he will take you to the chief and be your spokesman. Today, the woman we asked was with a little boy of about 4 years old and she said, “This is the Toraga ni Koro’s son, so he’ll take you to him.” So, the little boy took us further down the beach to his house where we were warmly greeted by his father, Dan. We said our polite hellos and he thanked us for stopping by and told us we were welcome anywhere on the island. That’s when I pulled out the yaqona and told him we would like to present sevusevu. He was slightly surprised but didn’t hesitate. There was a little tidying up to be done inside and then we were welcomed in for a seat on the woven mat. During the short ceremony his son played with the yaqona bundle like it was a big truck, and you could tell he’s been through these before because he clapped at just the right moment. Afterwards we had a short chat, and Dan explained that the chief was in another village and that he himself is quite young to be a village headman. He is one of the younger generation, but he appreciates that we came and respected their traditions. I wish I could remember all of his exact words because it was quite heartfelt, and I was happy to hear all of it.
I told him in response that we have continually been touched by the warmth of the Fijians and therefore we have grown to appreciate these traditions for ourselves too. But the truth is that because we were here in the middle of all this tourism, we WERE tempted to skip the sevusevu altogether, and then we WERE tempted to just go ashore in shorts and t-shirts. We had already been numbed by the resort scene and had forgotten about the value of making personal connections. Today was a very nice wake-up call.
I don’t know how long we will stay on the Bizarro side of Fiji, but while we are here, we are going to try to make a point of seeking out the villages among all the resorts.
Gresham Family Exodus 