Author: kerrizane

Dear F&F, July 22nd-23rd

We upped anchor early in the morning for the short 1 hour run to Mateui Anchorage at Taveuni Island. We were optimistic about getting a taxi to fuel up by Jerry Can, go to the market and find someone with a fax machine to finally get our \”Lau Permit\” sent to us from the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu. We finally had gotten the word that the Lau Council had been issued our permit the night before.

We anchored at Matuei Anchorage on Taveuni (Fiji\’s third largest island) and luckily found a taxi waiting at the \”new wharf\”. He and one of his mates did all the above errands for us and we were off to the north end of the island\’s \”Nasalesale\” anchorage by 2:30 p.m. Before we left however, we had our taxi driver take us to a fairly unique spot on the planet \”Aqua-Marine\” AKA: \”Earth\”.

The actual International Dateline rarely runs through land. However, the 180th meridian of longitude where the Eastern and Western Hemispheres meet, exactly one half way round the world from Greenwich, England runs right through Taveuni Island. Except for the far East Coast of Russia and one of it\’s islands as well as Antarctica, there is nowhere else the the \”true\” dateline runs over land.

We of course took photos as the two different places where it is well marked. They will be put in the Photo Gallery as soon as I\’ve decent internet.

Nasalesale was a lovely spot where we took a taxi and then did the hike to the Tavaroa (if memory serves) waterfalls. There are three falls and the lowest one has been used in many movies over the years and might be quite recognizable. I got lazy and introspective and just hung out at the lowest fall. Sandrine and Anja did the entire hike in a fast two and a half hours.

We were lucky enough to catch the perfect arc of a rainbow with s/v Migration at the anchorage. Photo to be posted soon. We\’ll be off to Matangi Island resort tomorrow with s/v \”Migration\” to do some diving and decide if we will go north or directly to the Northern Lau Group\’s, \”Vanua Balavu\” in the Exploring Islands. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

Dear F&F, July 14th-19th

s/v \”Migration\” came into the anchorage and with they and s/v \”Quickstar\” as neighbors, it was a bit like old home week. We spent the next several days either anchoring out or doing \”live\” boat dives with Jack and our friends. One day we did some diving with Glenn, Cindy and Abbie off m/v \”Mystery Ship\”, including Glenn & Cindy\’s first dive at the White Wall. A very exciting spot.

On our last night at Viani Bay, Jack and local friends had a dinner for we cruisers and we got to sign his visitors book. I looked back over the years and saw many boats and friends. Including s/v \”Lazy Bones\”, Gayle and Jeff from Marina del Rey and s/v \”Quiet One\”, Dawn and her former husband out of the UK who I\’d met in Auckland.

The dinner was great fun and we got to know other boats better; a good time had by all. The next morning, Jack came by and wished us well. We think there\’s a pretty fair chance we might be back this way again. Diving at \”The Zoo\”, \”The Cabbage Patch\”, \”The Purple Wall\”, \”The Ledge\” and of course, \”The White Wall\” were pretty impressive, very close and could all be easily done again and again.

We brought the boat over for the one hour trip to Taveuni Island, Fiji\’s third largest island. That will be the subject of our next \”Ship\’s Log\”…. Stay tuned. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine

Lots of photos to post when I get good internet.

Dear F&F, July 12th – 14th

We decided to do a dive with Koro Sun, the local dive operator in Savusavu. The experience of diving with hammer head sharks was new for Anja, but I also never tire of the wonder of looking at these prehistoric animals up close and personal. Peter came along with us and it was his first \”hammer\” encounter as well. Anja said they looked \”cute\”. We saw a few dozen in the blue water right off the Koro Sun resort. They came within 30 feet of us, it was a memorable day.

We continued to \”wait\” for our permit to go to the Lau Group of Eastern Fiji. It just got more comical as the wait went on.

Having decided we could wait for \”Gudot\” forever, we upped anchor and headed the 40 miles East to Viani Bay. Viani Bay is world famous in the diving world, especially for it\’s signature site on the \”Rainbow Reef\” called \”The White Wall\”.

We knew friends Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” would be arriving soon too, so it all seemed to come together as we left for Viani Bay.

As I changed our itinerary to go to Western Fiji first from New Zealand and then head to Eastern Fiji, the winds of course were against us and yes indeed we motored again, the entire 40 miles.

When we arrived in Viani Bay, Jack Fisher met us and put us on one of his two moorings. Jack is Fijian by way of English descent. He has had six wives and would be happy to have you as his next wife should you be interested. However I am referring to the female population of my readers amongst you!

Jack doesn\’t dive, but makes most of his livelihood by guiding divers to \”his\” sites. There is a local dive shop in the next bay, but at about 25-40.00$ per day US for the whole boat load of divers, it\’s hard to beat this local knowledge with a stick! Jack brought us to our first encounter (there would be six, yes it\’s that good) with the White Wall and wanted us to anchor in a nearby alcove on the outside of the reef. Well, I\’m not sure what Jack expected me to say, but if we had anchored where he wanted us too, I\’m not sure \”Beach House\” would have been beached shortly thereafter. We did \”live boat\” diving with Jack at the helm. He dropped Anja, Peter and me off over the buoy and the fun began!

The White Wall is SPECTACULAR. The surge on top of the reef was pretty exciting (we were just outside the surf line and it was pretty calm!). The dive begins on top of a beautiful reef and from there you go into a \”swim thorough\” from 40 feet down to 70 feet. The swim through is a long wide tunnel with Lion Fish, White Tip reef sharks, black coral, sea fans, purple coral and a plethora of marine life. Once out the lower exit of the swim through, you make a left turn and go down to 95-120 feet and the fun begins. The current starts to push you along a vertical wall that is about 300 feet high. A football size field of densely packed white soft corals is the highlight of this \”drift\” dive. Not lasting too long, it\’s simply spectacular. Everything and anything can be seen on the \”Wall\” and in some cases, large schools of barracuda and other pelagic\’s as well. At the end of the wall, there is a swim through at 65 feet which you can go back up to the top of the reef and do a second lap. Anja and I got familiar enough with the site to be able to do three laps without ever hitting the \”deco\” meter on our dive computers. I did not take any underwater stills as I was being dive guide/instructor as much as \”diver\” at this particular site. I did take some video, but it\’s gee whiz stuff, not gonna make it to the website.

More to follow…. Scott with Anja and Sandrine.