Waiting for weather

We are still in Vuda marina! To be fair, we have been other places in the last three weeks, but we have also spent a large chunk of time tied to the dock. If only it were easier to actually get on the dock – you have to park bow or stern to (we always go bow in, as we have too much gubbins (wind vane, davitts, solar panels) on the back), and then risk life and limb (to the extent that people regularly fall in and strangers offer to lend a hand if they see you struggling on the ropes between boat and dock) to get ashore.

It’s not actually the waiting that’s so bad, it’s the uncertainty and the low level anxiety from constant weather-forecast-Chinese-whispers between crews that’s really rubbish. We’ve been prepped and psyched up ready to go at least three times in the last two weeks, and then a rumour starts in neigbhouring boats and the forecast changes and the various weather routers being used by different crews change their minds and everything gets put on hold again. But, better that than setting off into gales and head winds and huge swells. (The reason everyone is more anxious about this trip than any other is that we’ve all spent months and months in the Trades, which are consistent 20-25kn easterlies. We’re about to head south out of the tropics and into a more varied temperate weather zone, which is characterised by a series of lows heading west to east every week or so. I keep reminding myself that it’s not that different to sailing in Scotland and we have plenty experience of that, and LG is a great boat with a wonderful Captain, so we should be fine – we will certainly need to dig out our cold weather clothes by the end though/)

So, to escape the cabin fever we spent a few days at Musket Cove (70 odd boats in a bay by a resort – not my idea of fun, but the boys got to spend a few days splashing about in a pool with their friends while Charlie and I caught up with book writing/admin/studying (I’m onto my last NZ midwifery course – pharmacology and prescribing – I totally get that it’s important to understand the medicines you prescribe but man, I don’t think I need to know the intricate pharmakinetic/dynamic details of every single drug – well, I hope I don’t need to know as my brain literally switched off during some of the longer biochemistry videos). Then we headed to Mana island which was much quieter, with reefs and clear water in the lagoon, for one last snorkel before we leave the tropics – the fish there were much less curious than elsewhere – they either gave us stern looks, or ran away to hide under rocks.

We’ve also been exploring on Viti Levu – the Hindu shrine in Nadi (bright blues and pinks and yellows, with joyful drawings of Ganesh and Vishnu and all the other Hindu gods – they were all smiling and dancing – nothing like the scenes of crucifixion and general misery you often see in Christian churches), the Garden of the Sleeping Giant (full of orchids of all shapes and sizes and colours), and a hike in the hills of the Koroyanitu national park (I loved the friendly villagers, the stunning views and the thundering waterfall that was so loud you had to shout to be heard at the bottom, but I think the boys’ favourite part of the day was their bumpy ride through mountain roads in the back of a pick up truck! Charlie’s favourite part was where he got invited to join the next wild boar hunt, with horses, and spears and really, really sharp knives!)

And, of course, we spent a day getting inky mementos of our time here. Sunni is Samoan, and his wife Cherri is Indian-Fijian (she said when they argue she shouts in Hindi and he shouts in Samoan and neither of them understands the other) and we spent a whole day (10 am until 10 pm) with them, their grown up kids, another visiting artist who was staying with them, and all their dogs, at their house, where they also work, so every available space is filled with an art project in various stages of completion (Sunni is a wood carver as well as a tatooist and Cherri uses some of the wood carvings to print on sulus (sarongs), tshirts and other materials). We took school books for the boys, they watched films, played with the cat, and Cherri kept us well fed (she even sent us home with doggy bags of delicious food – I think she was worried that I wasn’t feeding Charlie enough as he is a fraction of the size of most Fijian men). The resulting Fijian tattoos are very distinctive – much more geometric than Polynesian swirls and tikis – but they still represent travel, strength, sailing etc… I think it was the first time Roo and Kit have ever seen anyone being tattooed so they were very curious. They are also very clumsy, so it was nerve racking having them wandering around so close to the action!

I’m not sure there’s much more to tell – the rest of the time we have been pottering in the marina, doing jobs and school (today was learning how sewing machines work), and generally getting ready to go – Charlie’s been up the mast to check the rigging, I’ve made a menu and been shopping (good thing we’re nearly in NZ as we are nearly out of sun dried tomatoes (I can’t figure out how to make a hashtag with my Portugeuse keyboard, so you’ll just have to imagine hashtag firstworldproblems)), the boys have downloaded hours of Netflix and a couple of audiobooks (Ian McKellen reading the Wolf Brother series (set 6000 years ago in Scandinavia) is amazing – I mean, Ian McKellen reading the phone directory would be amazing, but the story is awesome too – all about mage craft and stone age medicines and clans – it’s *so* much better than the awful Percy Jackson nonsense the boys have me reading to them at the moment – which is a badly written Harry Potter rip off based very loosely on Greek myths – the silver lining is that they actually seem quite interested in the myths themselves – I do not expect people to be reading about PJ in another 3000 years…)

Not many photos this time I’m afraid (sorry Maggie!) Not really sure why – I think maybe it’s because most of our Fiji experiences have been with people, not places, and I feel a bit awkward taking photos of people as if they were curiosities in a museum rather than real people (speaking of museums – we have been watching Nights at the Museum with the boys – they absolutely love Ben Stiller silliness, and the Steve Coogan/Owen Wilson double act is funny enough to keep the parents from falling asleep, so recommended for family night viewing. Other family night activities include Boggle and Bananagrams (Charlie and the boys are always very amused if they can make rude words) and watching Jeeves and Wooster, now that Blackadder is finished. Bloody marvelous).

If you want to track us, you can do it here: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/LuckyGirl/ NZ here we come!

Doing maths while Daddy gets tattooed (it looks like I’m doing the maths, but I think I’m checking what Roo had done)

Laid back school

The captain’s arm!

Somewhere in the Mamanucas…

Charlie’s spanner role finally disintegrated, so, as there are none to buy, I am trying to make a new one out of old trousers. I keep breaking needles though, and the sewing machine is officially broken too (even Charlie agrees this time…) so I’m not sure how I’m going to finish (which is a small problem as I’ve already thrown the old one out…)

I said I needed a photo to send to our taxi driver, so he’d know who to pick up…and this is what happened. He did actually find us because of Kit’s hair in the end

The boys came back with this catapault/slingshot one day, having been given it, and some sweets/candy, by a retired couple on another boat (!) The next day they came home with cuts and bruises on their tummies, backs and foreheads (!), the catapault/slingshot was confiscated and they were grounded. Kit’s campaign to prove he’s responsible enough to be allowed a penknife is not currently going well.

First solo sails in the Guppy for the boys

The waterfalls are all beginning to blur into one…but this one was in the Koroyanitu national park. Didn’t see another soul on the walk. It was SO loud

He spent hours composing his own song…