Forgive us our lengthy radio silence on social media. We’ve been busy fixing things, climbing volcanos, hiking, kite foiling, running, schooling and fixing more things. We have a few days at sea now, so I will endeavour to bring you up to date with the most recent exploits of the Mowzer Crew.
Bula Bula! August 2023
Following our incredible whale encounters in Tonga, we took the next decent weather window to continue our travels westwards. . It was a mostly gentle, down-wind sail, over 400nm/ 3 days to the clearance port of Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji. We arrived at dawn and tied up on the quarantine dock at Nawi Marina. We were greeted by super friendly, sulu wearing immigration, customs, and biosecurity officials and were soon cleared into the country.
Nawi marina had opened 6 weeks previously and offers luxury resort-like facilities at a bargain rate of £9/ night. We’re generally not marina dwellers, our last night alongside being in Panama 6 months previously, but with some dodgy weather expected, we took a berth for a week and exploited the access to power, water, laundry facilities and luxury, open air showers which even the boys were enthusiastic about.
Notable among the fleet of boats in the marina, was the 73m superyacht Dragonfly owned by Google co-founder, Sergey Brin. Purportedly the world’s fastest superyacht and worth $80 million, Dragonfly has 16 crew, one of whom happened to be ex-boat kid. The boys and their chums managed to ingratiate themselves with her crew by carrying their bin bags ashore, and by selling the crew homemade cookies (boat kids are ruthless and inventive entrepreneurs!), bagging themselves a tour of Dragonfly (disappointingly, parents were not invited aboard).
From the marina, we explored ashore, along with our good friends on fellow kid boats, Miles Away and Cinnamon.
Favourite days out on Vanua Levu included a day trip on a very rickety local bus, to the town of Labasa on the north of the island. Labasa has a population largely descended from indentured labourers brought to Fiji from India by British colonial rulers over 100 years ago. Here we explored the market, toured the Sangam Hindu Temple and had an awesome thali.
We also had a memorable day out at the Vuadomo Waterfall. We hiked along a dusty track in lush vegetation to reach the nearby village where we were granted permission to visit the falls. Post-swim, we were invited back to the village where our mob of boat kids joined the local kids playing football and long jump, whilst the adults were invited to partake in a kava ceremony. Kava, banned in most European countries, is the traditional national drink of Fiji. It is made from the crushed roots of the yaqona plant and once processed resembles muddy water. It tastes ‘unusual’ and has a mild numbing effect on the mouth. It is served in a large communal bowl from where it is dished out to each of us in turn in a half coconut shell. After a few rounds, we were serenaded by the community, culminating in the mournful, ‘nisa lei’, or goodbye song. Like many of our subsequent encounters in Fiji, we were humbled and moved by the generosity and warmth of our new Fijian friends.
Sailing Mowzer 