Fiji October 15, 2005 Bula Everyone, We are both well again and have been on the move. We sailed to Yadua Island, a 24 hour sail. We arrived here yesterday morning. Yasawa was beautiful but we are running out of lots of food supplies, and civilization is still a long way off. We were also a little uneasy staying so long and having the sail to Yadua over our heads. It's only a one day sail but directly east into the trade winds across Bligh Waters where the winds funnel between the two big islands :-[ We picked the right time, luckily, and only had about 12 knots of headwind :-} 24 hrs is not fast considering it's only 52 miles but for this crossing we were quite happy to arrive in the morning with the sun overhead and the reefs visible. We caught two Mahi Mahis and restocked the freezer on the way in :-} We dropped the hook in Cukuvou Bay next to our friends Barb and Bjarne on S/V Freya. There are two other boats here, both of whom we had never met but know from the ham radio. As soon as we pulled in the wind kicked up and is still blowing a houlie. Of course they're all blaming us. When it dies down we'll continue toward the town of Labasa on the big island of Venua Levu. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji October 22, 2005 Bula Everyone, Our visit to Yasawa Island gets mixed reviews. Although the rain was short lived, Jim came down with the flu and then as soon as he started feeling better, Barb came down with it. That killed a good week or so. We sailed up the west coast of Yasawa Island to Likuri Bay. An absolutely beautiful anchorage. Crystal clear water for swimming and snorkeling. We've never seen such colorful coral reefs anywhere before. Really alive! Like snorkeling in a huge salt water aquarium. There were white sandy beaches and interesting shells everywhere. Boats from a nearby resort were always coming by. We got to know a few of the guys who worked for the resort and lived in the villages. Gilly, especially, liked to sit on our boat and drink coke. A lot of the Fijians speak pretty good English. One of the first questions they ask is how old you are. Another common question is how much your boat cost. Hah, can you imagine?......We visited the resort one evening and met the owner, Garth, and most of his newlywed guests. They all thought we were adventurous (crazy) and were very interested in our trip. Yasawa Island Resort is an amazingly beautiful setting. Very exclusive and very expensive. After several beers and glasses of wine we found out we didn't have enough money! How embarrassing. Fortunately we had more money onboard and were able to settle up the next day. After a couple of weeks in the Yasawas it was time to move on. We traveled back down the west coast to Sawa-I-Lau Bay. It's on the southeast coast of Yasawa Island and put us close to the pass. We decided not to pump up the dingy or go to shore. It's a beautiful but very touristy location. A favorite stop for all the cruise ships. As a result the local villagers are all out to make a buck. Can't really blame them, but we were turned off by it. We did break down and buy a couple of nice lobsters for our dinner one night. Pricey and Yummy! We stayed one extra day waiting for the winds to die down and then set out through the pass and across Bligh Waters to our next stop, Yadua Island. The trip from Yasawa Island to Yadua Island was 52 miles east, directly into the trade winds. We left before the crack of dawn and followed our gps track back through the pass in the reefs and out into Bligh Water. We had to tack back and forth the entire way, but luckily, had only about 12 knots of headwind. Our forward progress was slow. Took us over 24 hours. Not fast considering it's only 52 miles but for this crossing we were quite happy to arrive in the morning with the sun overhead and the reefs visible..... almost as though we had planned it! We caught two Mahi Mahis and restocked the freezer on the way. We dropped the hook in Cukuvou Bay next to our friends Barb and Bjarne on S/V Freya. What a nice surprise. We hadn't seen them since we checked into Fiji at Savusavu in July. We were able to spend a couple of nights catching up with them before we pulled anchor once again and headed for the big island, Vanua Levu. We are on a mission to get to the very northeast tip of Vanua Levu. We have been listening and participating in a weather radio net called "The Rag" since we were in Bora Bora last year. The guy who runs the net, Jim, cruised to Fiji on his boat the Also II years ago and has since become a permanent fixture. He and his wife, Kyoko, live on an island at the northeast tip of Vanua Levu they call Also Island. They have been working with the local villagers; helping them to improve their lives. We will learn more about what they're doing during our visit. In the meantime we are traveling along the northern coast of Vanua Levu stopping here and there along the way. The weather here in Fiji is really starting to get hot and muggy. One more month until the start of cyclone season. We are going to stay in Fiji through the season. We have reserved a hurricane mooring in Savusavu at the Copra Shed. The stormy weather resulted in a lot of lost and damaged boats during the crossing to New Zealand last November and back up to the tropics this May. We've decided to take our chances here. We've talked to cruisers who have stayed in Fiji during the winter. Aside from a few cyclones, the weather here is settled and good for sailing. There is a good warning system in place and we'll have plenty of time to make sure we're safe. That should add some spice to our lives! (and maybe take some years off?) It is also going to give us an early start on next years cruising. We'll already be here in the tropics! Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji October 28, 2005 Bula Everyone, As we travel along the north coast of Vanua Levu towards Also Island we can only travel about four or five hours a day. The waters are full of reefs and visibility is only good when the sun is overhead between say 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. It also helps if we reach our anchorage at low tide, so that if we do manage to bottom out, we'll float off once the tide rises. If the passage through the reefs is fairly clear and well marked we can travel a little longer. On Tuesday, we got a little carried away. We were doing some great tacking in a fairly clear area but our progress was slow. We wound up slowly and carefully pulling into a bay and dropping the hook after the sun set. We had hoped to make it a few more miles up the coast and weren't sure exactly where we were. We were awakened the next morning by some impressive thunder and lightening and were drenched by rain soon after. Torrential downpour comes to mind. Collected over 20 gallons of water in less than half an hour! Travel was postponed for the day. The storm blew over and we went to bed that night under a full moon and billions of stars. The next morning we were approached by a local fishing boat. Sam and his wife, Miriam, were on their way to collect coconuts and stopped by to say hi. They came on board and joined us for coffee. Sam speaks very good English and asked us to stay until they returned that afternoon so they could take us in to see their village, Navidamu, and join them for dinner. Of course we said yes. With good visibility we were able to move the Spanish Stroll a little closer to the village while they were off gathering. We took our dingy and followed them into the beach by the village that afternoon. As we walked along the beach Sam explained to us that school was still in session and politely asked us to be quiet as we passed the school by. They take schooling very seriously. Sam is the village headman and his father, Henry is the chief. In Fiji they have this custom that when you visit a village the first thing you do is present the chief with a gift (sevusevu) which is traditionally kava. Kava is a pepper plant. It is sold at all the farmer's markets in the larger cities of Fiji. You buy it by the kilo and they wrap it in paper like a bouquet of flowers. It's presentation is all very formal. You give the kava to the headman, who sets it in front of the chief. If the chief accepts it, then he will welcome you into his village and blesses your voyage. The roots of the kava plant are pound to a fine powder and then mixed with water in a big wooden kava bowl. Everyone sits around the bowl yoga style and takes turns drinking the kava from a half coconut shell. It tastes kind of like dirt and numbs your mouth a bit. You clap once before you take the bowl. Drink it down all in one gulp and then clap three times. We have shared many bowls of kava with the local musicians at the various resorts we've visited, but this was our first time to visit a remote village and present kava to a chief. After we presented the kava, we sat on grass mats on the patio and shared tea with Sam and his family. Sam, Miriam, their three children and Sam's father and mother all live together. The house is quite large, airy and very nicely decorated. They have only one chair, a recliner, that appears to be for Sam's father, Henry. It's good to be chief! Even in the dinning room, the table is short and you sit on the floor. The kitchen is a small separate building set off from the house with a wood stove for cooking and no refrigeration. Keeps the smoke out of the house. They do have a small tv, a dvd player and one of three phones in the village. Sam's 12 year old son, Sam Jr., took us on a tour of the village. It is a small village of only a little over 200 people. We were very impressed by how nice all the houses were and the beautiful landscaping. Pride of ownership is very apparent. Sam Jr. took us from house to house and introduced us to everyone. As the tour progressed more and more kids joined us so that by the time we got back to Sam's house there must have been 30 children with us. They were all so curious and friendly, laughing all the time, we had a ball. We took a lot of pictures and they were amazed by our small digital screen. While we were touring, Miriam was cooking. We joined the women and children in the dinning room for dinner. The men were all gathered on the patio with the kava and not interested. We get the impression that kava drinking is not always smiled upon by the women of Fiji. We've noticed that they rarely join in. What a delicious dinner the men missed. We had dalo root (similar to potato), palusami (dalo leaves in coconut milk), baigani curry (egg plant) and yaloka and varasa (scrambled egg with onion). They have a way with spices here. Their curry is delicious and everyone makes it just a little differently. Barb hopes to learn more about their cooking during our stay. We went back into the village in the morning to say our goodbyes and to bring some prints of the pictures we had taken. Pictures always go over big with the villagers. Something they rarely see! Our small HP Printer has been one of our most useful pieces of equipment. It's a scanner and copier too and has come in handy for some of the paperwork we've needed to do, but printing pictures for the villagers throughout the South Pacific has been it's most useful and appreciated function. We promised to try and get back to Navidamu for a visit during our stay here in Fiji. We've since pulled anchor and traveled further along the coast. This part of Fiji is very beautiful and very challenging. We're sure enjoying it! Take care and we'll be in touch soon. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji November 01, 2005 Bula Everyone, After our visit to Navidamu, we continued eastward along the top of Vanua Levu on our journey to Also Island. We stopped for one night at a resort island within the reef called Nukubati. Nukubati Resort is another very exclusive and very expensive vacation destination here in Fiji. We went on shore and had a few cold beers and chatted with their 20 year old bartender Raijeil (Rachel). It was funny, while talking about music, to learn that she knew and liked "Los Lonely Boys" (and so do we) but that she had never heard of the Beatles!!! Is it her age or isolation? October 22nd we were off early for a sail to Malau. It is a very small village on the coast with bus service to one of Fiji's larger towns, called Labasa. Unfortunately we arrived on Saturday afternoon; too late for a trip into Labasa for provisioning. Practically everything in Fiji closes down for Sunday. The buses don't run. We spent the day making repairs to our dingy (for the ten thousandth time) and making a comprehensive list for town. Our last provisioning was in Lautoka before we left Viti Levu almost a month ago. We were out of everything! We enjoyed our trip into Labasa on Monday. It's about a 40 minute bus trip from the boat. There is only one street of stores in Labasa, which ends (or begins) at the bus terminal and open market. All the large cities that we've visited in Fiji are the same; with the bus terminal and open market in the same place. Makes it handy. Our routine when visiting towns has become; scope out the place; a quick visit to the ready teller; lunch (brunch?) at a curry restaurant; shopping at the grocery store(s) on a full belly; back to the bus terminal; find a bench to park with all the bags; take turns shopping at the open market for fresh produce while waiting for the next bus back to the boat. By the time we get back on the bus we can barely manage all our bags. In Labasa we altered our routine with a stop at the Oriental Bar and Grill after lunch for a few cold beers. It was situated upstairs with a view of the thriving bus terminal (and air conditioned!). We are people watchers (and beer drinkers) and could have sat there all day. Provisioning done, we packed up and left Malau on Tuesday morning continuing towards Also Island. As we would be traveling within the reefs for the next day, we left the dingy pumped up and towed it. We stopped to anchor that afternoon at Vunivatu Bay off a white sandy beach. Since our dingy was handy, we explored the beach and had a bonfire (trash burning). We took our lawn chairs over so we could sit with our feet in the water and a drink in our hand while enjoying the sunset. We broke the dingy down the next morning for our journey from Vunivatu Bay to Tiligeke Harbor. That was some of our most challenging reef traveling. Narrow passages and shallow water. Several people we've talked to about the passage have just gone out of the reef and around it. After our research, we decided it would be safe and a more comfortable ride inside the reef. With the sun overhead and good visibility, we, of course, made it safely and caught a nice fish in the process. Our first Trevally, and possibly our new favorite fish. What a delicious dinner! October 27th we sailed outside the reefs for about six miles before going back through the reefs to drop anchor beside the vessel Also II. Our trip outside the reef netted a nice Mahi Mahi. We presented it to the group at Also Island on our arrival (just as we planned :-) After two weeks of traveling up wind....tacking, tacking, tacking, sometimes into heavy seas, sometimes through reef strewn waters.......we finally made it to Also Island! We'll talk to you soon. Take care. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji November 08, 2005 Bula Everyone, We had a great time visiting Also Island. Jim and Kyoko Bandy cruised from Mexico to Fiji on their 42' boat, named Also II back in 2002. While exploring Fiji, they stopped at a little village named Cawaro (pronounced Thawaro), on the northeast coast of Vanua Levu. They were the first cruisers to visit Cawaro in eight years. The village boat was broke down. Jim is a mechanic and was able to repair it. The villagers were so grateful for his help that they gave Jim a small island they owned, right off their coastline. Jim and Kyoko set up shop as a small boat builder to facilitate the red tape they encountered in accepting the island and stayed in Fiji. They employ many of the local Cawaro villagers. One of the first boats they built is named the Lady K and is used as a fishing boat. They not only fish, but they buy fish from many of the local fisherman and take it to the weekly market in Labasa. They have a small, well stocked, grocery store and they sell diesel and premix gasoline to the local boats. They are currently setting up a process to dry and press coconuts for the oil. They'll be buying coconuts from the local villages and employing even more villagers to man the process. They are at least as, if not busier, than before they starting cruising! You can imagine what a positive impact they've made in the area and especially in the village of Cawaro! During our visit we joined everyone on the island for lunch each day. Lepsie is the island cook and also runs the store. She made some delicious dishes with the Mahi Mahi we brought with us. Everyone eats together on the patio outside the shop and lunch starts with a prayer. It was all traditional Fijian foods. Lepsie's mother, Takaso, works a couple days during the week tending the garden. She helps out in the kitchen too. Everyday at 4:00 pm the work day ends with afternoon tea. Once again everyone gathers on the patio for hot tea and cookies, crackers and jam before boarding the small boat (that Jim built) and heading home to Cawaro for the night. Also island is a great place to work! We took kava over to the village on Saturday night and presented it to the chief. Takaso and Lepsie invited us to church on Sunday and we had to present the kava and get the welcome and blessing from the chief before we could go. Sunday morning we left for church just at low tide and wound up parking the boat a mile or so from the village. We had to wash the mud off our feet after the trek through the jungle. We arrived just as the service started. Once again, we couldn't understand a word, but the singing was awesome! The whole congregation harmonizes together and it's quite moving. We were impressed by the children, who were all very calm and quiet sitting in a group near the front of the church. We smiled at each other as one of the church elders reached over everyone and tapped one of the children on the head with a long stick! It was hard not to laugh out loud, but we didn't want to be next! After church we were invited to have lunch at Takaso's home. A cloth was placed on the floor in the main room of the house and only we guests sat and ate a delicious lunch. Lepsie, Takaso's daughter, sat with us, but didn't eat, she just kept the flies off everything with a fan and passed plates and things. After we were done eating, we backed away from the cloth and then Takaso and her family sat down and ate. A strange custom and rather awkward. Afterwards we took a bunch of pictures with them and as always, we all had a ball. We did get together a few times with just Jim and Kyoko on our boat and theirs for dinners and drinks. We had been talking to them off and on for the last year or so on the ham radio and it was nice to actually meet them and get to know them better. They've done an incredible amount of building and planting on the island in just a few short years! They are both very energetic and full of plans and ideas. We could only take five days and then we had to sail away to get some rest and relaxation. No, seriously, we had promised our friend Sam from Navidamu Village that we would try to be back in Labasa for a special celebration involving his village on November 4th. We'll be in touch again soon. Take care of yourselves. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji November 17, 2005 Bula Everyone, Didn't take too long after we left Also Island for Mother Nature to discover that we'd changed direction. She immediately switched the wind around so it would be in it's proper position; RIGHT ON OUR NOSE!! We laugh, not at her, but with her! We did actually get a day or so of good winds coming back down the north coast of Vanua Levu and the water is so calm inside the reefs that it was probably some of our best sailing ever. Jim caught another Walu as we sailed along. Ho Hum..... We arrived back in Malau a day early for the Navidamu Village celebration. We decided to spend the extra day provisioning. Instead of taking the bus to Labasa we took our dingy up the Labasa River. The river winds it's way for about six miles through the jungle. The mud banks are almost solid mangrove trees. Absolutely beautiful! Like an awesome disneyland ride! We tied up the dingy right in town. We had a nice lunch and picked up some supplies at several of the stores. At one store, situated away from the waterfront, this guy had heard that we were in town and introduced himself to us. Word gets around. When we loaded up the dingy and pushed from shore, we had a bunch of people waving goodbye from the banks! We do stand out with our white skin, but it was probably more the novelty of us coming by dingy up the river. The next day we took the bus to Labasa but were unable to find Sam or anyone we recognized from Navidamu Village. We didn't know where the celebration was going to take place so all we could do was stay visible in hopes of them spotting us. We struck out and returned to Malua on the afternoon bus. After traveling two days further along the island we dropped the hook off the beach at Navidamu Village. Much like the U.S., Sunday is a day for church and families here in Fiji. We had just finished anchoring when a boat load of people from the next village over came up to the Spanish Stroll. They had been visiting friends in Navidamu and were on their way home. They introduced themselves and gave us some mangos. One of the ladies said she'd never been inside a yacht before. Barb said "Come on board for a look!" Come they did... all eight or nine of them at once! What a bunch of friendly and happy people. We took a picture of them all together in our cockpit. Great fun! Later that evening, Sam came out from Navidamu and invited us to share morning tea with he and his family. Of course, we always say yes. Tea with scones, yummy. The kids welcomed our addition of store bought peanut butter cookies. Guess they have scones everyday. It turned out that the opening of the building and village celebration had been postponed. We will be going back to Labasa again on the 25th of November. Talking more with Sam we learned that the 12 villages in his area/district all got together and built an office building. They will lease it to the Fiji government and the celebration will be like the grand opening. It will be a good source of income for the villages and boy can they use it. We saw the brand new building when we were in Labasa, so next time we know where to go! After a nice visit and tea we weighed anchor again. Our visas will expire on the 26th of November. We thought we better make tracks back to Savusavu to deal with customs and immigration. Jim caught another Walu on the way around the west end of Vanua Levu. The biggest yet! We had no room in our freezer so we flagged down a local fishing boat. They were happy to take it off our hands. We also caught a huge barracuda and let him off the hook. Fishing is really good here in Fiji! We finally arrived back in Savusavu on Sunday, November 13th. It's the place of our original check in to Fiji, but we only stayed about a week and hadn't been back in over three months. We'd forgotten how beautiful it is. We've seen a lot of the different landscapes that Fiji has to offer and Savusavu is one of the most incredible. So lush and green. It's been about 85F and raining off and on since we arrived. It doesn't seem as muggy, guess we've gotten acclimated. The water is warm, too, and that's what the cyclones like. Don't worry, we'll keep our eye on the weather. Take care and we'll be in touch soon. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji December 03, 2005 Bula Everyone, Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. There were a few American boats in Savusavu for the holiday, but no organizers, so we had a quiet dinner on board, just the two of us. The only turkey we found was out of our price range so we went with chicken. It worked. We stuffed ourselves until it felt like Thanksgiving. We started off our morning with Arlo Guthrie singing Alice's Restaurant and then played Todd's Christmas CD #2 after dinner to give us that homey feeling. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving (of course) in Fiji but they are really into Christmas and the stores reflect that! It'll be interesting as we find out how our traditions compare. We took the bus from Savusavu to Labasa on the 25th for the grand opening celebration. The new building for the village of Navidamu turned out to be a beautiful court house. The ceremony was sort of traditional. The security detail was "dressed" in grass sulas and they all held big clubs. They guarded all the paths and you had to walk between them (with permission) to enter the grounds. All the chiefs from the villages were present, including our friend Sam's father, Henry the chief of Navidamu. They presented a very large pig to the BIG chief of the province along with other gifts. Henry's wife, Akisi, led the chief's wives as they presented beautiful woven mats they'd made. They did use a fairly sophisticated p.a. system to deliver the many, many, many speeches that are typical worldwide in these situations. It's disrespectful to wear hats or use umbrellas in the presence of a chief. The hot sun beating down on our heads made it seem like an awfully long ceremony. Afterwards we took a tour of the building and were very impressed. The air conditioning was especially wonderful. We said our hellos to everyone we know from Navidamu after the tour and then headed to the main street for curry and ice cold beers! The bus trip from Savusavu to Labasa itself was quite an adventure. It takes about three hours to travel through the mountains and valleys from one side of Vanua Levu to the other. What awesome scenery! The bus stops in most villages to pick up people with their goods to sell at the large market in Labasa. At one stop, about midway through the trip, the villagers are all waiting and run up to the bus windows to sell snacks and drinks to the passengers. Peanuts, spicy peas, pineapple, watermelon, cold drinks and even bags of kava. We love this place! We've made friends with a young family here in Savusavu; Viliane (Bill), Sarimi (Sarah) their young son, Isikeli and their nephew, Semi (Sammy), visiting from Labasa. We met Bill at the dingy dock one day. He brought his family down after church a couple of weeks ago to meet us and they brought lunch with them. A whole fish cooked in coconut milk and spices along with breadfruit. We had them back on board last Saturday for a spaghetti dinner. They both speak English (fairly well) and we are enjoying their company. We joined them for church last Sunday and boy were we surprised. Not traditional at all. Guess you could describe them as holy rollers? They have a keyboard, guitars and great singers. The sound system is huge. The whole congregation is singin' and hoppin'. They do that laying on of the hands and swoon to the ground thing. It's a mostly young congregation with bunches of young children. The minister introduced us and did some of the sermon in English on our behalf. Afterwards we joined the congregation in a huge feast of fish, crab, beef, chicken, breadfruit, taro, kasava and more! What a trip! We are driving with their minister, Usa, this Sunday to a more remote village where he will be preaching as part of their ministry. Should be interesting! So far, Savusavu is turning out to be a good choice for our stop this "off" season. Take care and we'll be in touch soon. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Fiji December 11, 2005 Bula Everyone, The holidays are approaching so quickly...we hope everyone's having a good time! Can't believe it'll be the second year that we're away from the states during the holidays. We miss the commercialism ;] As Christmas gets closer there are decorated trees and lights appearing in more of the stores in Savusavu. A special toy "store" opened on the main street and the yacht club had a "fancy" dress party this weekend. We bought a little tiny tree for the boat and it adds a nice touch. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... We'll be spending Christmas day with our Fijian friends, Villiane (Villy) and Sarima (Ima). We met Ima's father, Panapasi, last night and made plans to get together early at his house on Christmas day so we can "help" them start the lovo. The lovo is a traditional Fijian feast prepared in an earth oven over hot rocks. They wrap the food (chicken, lamb, beef etc..) in banana leaves and then cover that with more leaves and then dirt. Ima has a lot of relatives that live on the same property (Panapasi calls it a settlement) where they have their little house. It should be a nice family gathering. We are really thrilled to be invited and look forward to sharing an authentic "Fijian Christmas" with them! We took Villy and his family out for a sail on the boat last Saturday and we hooked up with a nice big Walu. It was the first time Villy had ever used a rod and reel. He was really jazzed! The boys, Isikelli and Sami, were a bit uncomfortable (scared) with the movement of the boat. Barb made some salted popcorn that seemed to help, so it may have been a little sea sickness, too. As a result we didn't stay out very long. Jim was a little disappointed. As though a 25 pound fish isn't enough! When we got back to the harbor we barbecued some beef sausages on the grill and they were all very skeptical. It was a strange meal to them! Once we all got going with bread and mustard and catsup, they seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards Jim and Villy filleted the fish and we kept a small bag for ourselves. They left with the rest, including the head and bones. We later learned that they went home that very night and had friends and relatives over to share the head and bones. They say it's the best part! We went to church with them on Sunday where there's always a big feast after the service and everyone ate Walu cooked in coconut sauce while Bill showed them the pictures we had printed out of him with his fish. We took Villy out fishing, sailing and snorkeling again yesterday. No fish, but a great time. Afterwards we went up to visit his house for the first time. Like most people here they have very little. They were a bit self conscious about it but now that we've been to their home for a visit, they seem relieved. They live in a small house that's about 8' x 10'. It's on the hill overlooking the bay where our boat is moored. They have an awesome view! Villy is working on an addition and Jim plans to help him with it. A lot of the framing is done already. With the new addition, the house will be about 15' or 20' square. They get to and from their house by a footpath through the bush (really it's more like an overgrown, tropical garden). They have no electricity and one kerosene lantern for light. Water comes through a hose from a spring but doesn't come all the way into the house. Ima's kitchen is about the same size as the galley on our boat but with only one gas ring, no refrigeration and no windows. Yet, for dinner last night, she cooked some of the best curry chicken we've ever had! They are, like most Fijians we've met, great people. In spite of what they lack in material things they are very friendly, very funny, and polite to a fault. They all seem so happy it makes you rethink your priorities. Some friends that we met in New Zealand, Ed and Fran on S/V Aka are here in Savusavu after a visit to the states. We've enjoyed hearing about their adventures visiting their daughter in a small town by Reno, Ca. They are leaving in just a few days to head for Hawaii, their home state. We had them over to celebrate Fran's birthday the other night and stayed up past three am!!! Wow, we haven't done that since....uh, can't remember when. A common and very accurate saying out here is; "9 pm is the cruiser's midnight". It's great to meet so many people from so many different places, but our current life style is full of too many good byes. We hope that you're all doing good and looking forward to the holidays! Take care and we'll be in touch soon. Take care, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll