23/10/12-26/10/12 Passage to Vanuatu 

27/10/12- 28/10/12 Anatom, Vanuatu 

With light winds, its takes three days to sail, of which we motor half the time, to the most Southern island in the Vanuatu island group - Anatom. 

Vanuatu is one of the poorer islands in the South Pacific. The locals typically live in coconut leaf and bamboo houses.

Like other South Pacific islands, Vanuatu has a history of cannibalism. Anybody for Dennis soup?

Vanuatu are volcanic islands and so generally its beaches are black sands. This white sand beach is supposedly the only one in Vanuatu - which is why this island is called Mystery island. 

A swim around the boat reveals that we are surrounded by Batfish. 

29/10/12 - 1/11/12 Tanna, Vanuatu 

There is just no wind at the moment, so we have to motor 8 hours (46 Nm) to Port Resolution, Tanna. 

Tanna has an active volcano. We were enjoying cocktails until the volcano became a bit too active for comfort - molten lava was being thrown out by the volcano and over our heads. 

Port Resolution is a lovely traditional village with friendly locals. 

A lady sewing in front of her house.

Nikki is giving away some chewing gum to this family. They are so pleased! As is the Vanuatu tradition, they always like to return the favour, the mum gives us a homemade straw basket in return

Roadside fruit and vegetable market.

We have to go over to the other side of the island to do our necessary checkout procedures. All along the ride, locals pile into and out of the back of the Ute for a joyride. 

With the cyclone season approaching, we have no more time to head up north and explore the bigger islands of Vanuatu. We will have to put that on the list for next time! 

2/11/12- 4/11/12 Onwards to New Caledonia 

Light wind sailing to New Caledonia. It would have been very easy had the autopilot not failed - "No Power!" Helming 24 hours a day is not for the faint hearted, it is intensely boring and fatigue sets in. Thankfully we are able to reduce our sail so that our boat becomes nicely balanced. We strap down the tiller and hey presto, you are sailing towards your destination with no hands! Although this is fine in light upwind passages, this autopilot malfunction is a big concern for us, especially as our next leg homeward bound is big and scary. Dennis spends the next day, successfully rewiring the autopilot. 

Time for more fishing! We catch our first Wahoo - 6ft pelagic.

Then soon after, just around one of the outer islands of New Caledonia, Mare islands. Fishing frenzy - We find a massive school of fish, we catch 3 more Walloo and 4 yellow fin tuna in 1 hour. With our freezers full, we stop fishing and continue our sail into New Caldeonia. 

16/9/12-19/9/12   Fiji 

435 Nm sail to Fiji from Tonga- Usual passage of strong winds, rough seas and mahi mahi. As we enter Fiji, we cross the international date line, and the longitude now reads east. The wind dies and we motor into port, Savusavu, just in time for a cheap and cheerful Fijian Buffet! 

Bula! Fijians know how to make visitors feel welcome. They are full of smiles and waves. Fiji is a large country comprised of two major islands and hundreds of little islands. To do it justice you would need to spend 2 years travelling around, we have only one month! 

20/9/12-24/9/12 Savusavu, Vanu Levu 

Savusavu is a small pretty town, on the smaller major island, and a great place to get some "R&R". Most exciting is the fact this place has well stocked and very cheap fruit and vegetable market - a talking point for all cruisers who have been deprived of such simple pleasures during their earlier travels through the South Pacific. 

Dennis cooking dinner on the Hot springs!

25/9/12 - 26/9/12 Namena Reef 

Good 25 Nm beam sail to Namena reef, Fiji's finest marine park renowned for its excellent marine life. It's a deep anchorage and relatively unprotected with winds funnelling around the island. Unfortunately we were trapped on the boat during our entire stay by bad weather (despite the weather grib predicting no winds!). We had to move our anchor at one point as marked wind changes, our yacht swang within a boat length of a neighbouring yacht - not fun!' 

27/9/12- 10/10/12 Viani Bay, Vanu Levu - a magical spot 

We cut our losses at Namena Reef, and move on to the more protected anhcorage of Viani Bay. Viani Bay is home to the Fisher family, a wonderfully welcome traditonal Fijian family. Jack Fisher, the head of the family, is an awesome bloke and an ideal tour guide. With Jack, we spent a week diving some world  famous spots.

Hello Little Nemo! 

Crown of Thorns - destroying coral at a fast rate.  But having a few of these guys around is normal.

Dozens of False Moorish idols.

Our favourites were the Great White and Purple Wall - impressive 40m deep wall covered in white and purple soft corals, and the Zoo - as it names implies, full of marine life. Totally gutted that we misplace the underwater camera charger and miss out on some awesome Kodak moments.

School bus!

Picking wild pumpkins for some tasty soup.

Jack arranges a day trip to Taveuni island.  

Swimming in the waterfalls.

Good example of a traditional Fijian village.

When we aren't diving we are drinking kava with the locals.  Kava, also called Grog, is a plant root that is ground up and drunk for its sedative effects. We had a few relaxing evenings. 

Dennis becomes ill - too much kava! (the water was probably contaminated). Fortunately Dennis was well looked after at Viani Bay with daily delicious home cooked meals from Jack's nephew, Albert's and Pa's, home. 

A must do and a place we hope to see again.

11/10/12 - 14/10/12 Koro island 

A day sail takes us to the relaxing island of Koro. 

Python - chilling out.

Fun bare back horse riding to be had.

More kava - because we obviously haven't had enough.

15/10/12 - 17/10/12 Makogai island 

A short 4 hour sail to Makogai. 

We still find plenty of time to fish.  Mahi Mahi'a are believed to be life-long mates and swim in pairs. Its therefore always a little sad to catch one, but we are just fishing for dinner. This time both, the male and female, bite at the same time. 

Makogai is an old leper colony. 

It is now a turtle and giant clam reserve. 

Plenty of coconuts to be had. 

18/10/12 - 21/10/12Musket cove 

An overnight sail to Musket Cove.

Plenty of yachties gather here in wait for a good weather window for their next passage. Plenty of drinking to be had at the beachside bar and DIY barbecue  Looking for toilet roll, we discover 10L of spirits in our bilges! We are only allowed to bring 4.5L of alcohol into Australia and so its big party time!

Hangovers aren't too bad when you spend your days swimming, snorkeling and surfing. 

22/10/12-23/10/12 Lautoka 

Over to Lautoka, a busy port on the main island of Vanu Levu, to do our check out procedures. Unfortunately with the Cyclone season coming, it's time for us to move on.

24/10/12 - 26/10/12 Passage west to Fiji 

Unpredictable shifting winds have us spending 24 hours beating into the wind, motoring for 24 hours and nice downwind sailing for about 1 hour.   336Nm Av speed 4.7 Kn