Into town for the last day. Stella and Tony getting their last bits and pieces before departing, Andrew and Sue getting a few fruit n veg.
The businesses in SavuSavu don’t put all their eggs in one basket. The diversification is wonderful. The furniture shop sells seafood as well. The barber shop is also a pawn shop that sells icecream and repairs phones and tablets. The fish shop is also the pool parlour. This evening we have just said goodbye to Tony and Stella who have caught the ferry to Suva.
This morning we went to immigration to sign Stella and Tony off the boat. We then split up and Tony and Stella headed off to Labasa on the 9:30 bus. Andrew had things to do in Savusavu then joined Sue on the 11:30 bus to Labasa. Labasa is the capital of this island, the big city. Sue was a bit concerned when two guys got on the bus with machetes in their hands. The carrying of machetes is quite common here.
Everyone met up for the interesting ride back. The bus driver was on a hurry to get home as he was going rather fast. Unlike Samoa where the buses were interesting to look at, here it’s the taxi’s.
This evening Tony and Stella took us out for dinner as it was our last dinner together before they depart on the ferry tomorrow.
Due to weather condition predictions and to ensure Tony catches his flight back to NZ in time and Stella her flight to Tonga, Stella and Tony have booked a ferry ticket from SavuSavu to Suva departing on Tuesday. They’ll then have 1 or 2 days in Suva before catching the bus to Nadi.
Ferry tickets were booked this morning whilst Andrew organised for a fuel top up tomorrow. After a bit of shopping at the market and wandering around town, Stella and Tony are currently at the Captain’s bar at the Copra Shed Marina enjoying some cold beers, some bar food and watching a few rugby games – the last one being All Blacks vs South Africa. Tomorrow will be a catch up day for all of us and then we have to take Imagine over to the jetty by the marina so we can get the fuel.
We made it! Arrived at 1:00pm and were guided to a mooring ball outside the marina. 16 pages and many $$$ later, Customs, Immigration, Health and Bio security cleared us into Fiji by 4:00pm.
A quick trip into town turned into a long trip into town, as we discovered we had a can of bad petrol and the outboard wouldn’t run. We then rowed ashore to find the shops closed at 5:00, guess what it was now 5:30. So tomorrow is a trip to get a new fuel filter, internet sim card, food supplies, etc.
We left Wallis yesterday morning with Sue at the helm guiding Imagine through the gap in the reef. I think all of us are sorry to leave Wallis and wish we’d had more time there.
It was a beautiful day with light winds and little swell. As the day went on the winds increased to 20 knots by evening. As usual we reefed the sails for the night.
Today has been overcast but pleasant. Not much more to report.
The day started out with Stella and Tony heading off to the motu next to the reef entrance, for a few hours snorkelling. Andrew flew the drone for a few more stunning shots of the outer islands of Wallis.
The afternoon was spent preparing for the trip to Fiji. With everything stowed away and the dinghy strapped to the deck we took photos of our last Wallis sunset. We set sail for Fiji in the morning. Depending on the wind it will take 3 to 5 days to reach SavuSavu, Fiji
We officially booked out of Wallis, although not leaving till Monday morning (before the offices open). We had lunch at a nice restaurant, frequented by locals. There are no public buses on Wallis so there is a lot of walking in the heat or hitching a ride with one of the friendly locals. Then we spent the afternoon under the sunshade on the foredeck pacing ourselves for some more snorkelling tomorrow
Another day in paradise. This morning all four of us headed off to snorkel the hole in the reef. One of the best places yet. The hole was over 15m deep so clear you could see three stingrays hiding in the sand below us. The hole was an oval shape, about 50m by 200m.
There is not much more to say about it just wow … see the photos.
Still at Wallis, waiting for enough wind to make it all the way to Fiji.
An exciting day today, we went shopping. Tony stayed aboard while Sue Stella and Andrew headed into town. Stella needed internet to finalise her trip to Tonga to swim with the whales. Andrew and Sue headed to the supermarket for supplies. Overcast but still hot, Sue decided to test out her thumb and within minutes Karl (a local) pulled over to give us a ride. We don’t speak French and Karl doesn’t speak English, but we were able to let him know we wanted to go to the supermarket. After a downpour while in the shops, Sue and Andrew headed back to the boat with shopping bags on hand. It was only a few 100 meters when a lady took pity on us and offered a ride.
Back at the jetty you could see another downpour coming, so Sue and Andrew rushed the food back to Imagine. Andrew then returned ashore to wait for Stella who had found the only cafe with internet to shelter from the rain. Unfortunately we didn’t make it back to Imagine without getting wet.
Tony had prepared dinner while we were away.
After lunch it was still overcast with a few showers, so it was read a book or siesta time. You can’t go snorkelling in the rain, you will get wet (it doesn’t look as pretty).
The wind had dropped by this morning, so we headed off to explore a motu on the outer part of the reef. Andrew sent up the drone and we found a hole in the reef a local had told Tony about. We will be back tomorrow with the dive and snorkel gear. On the way back we checked out another couple of motu’s.
We got back to the boat to find the harbour was getting crowded. Another boat had arrived. After lunch we went for another swim and spent the afternoon sitting on the foredeck under the sun shade and thought about you lot hard at work ? It must be time for a coconut and pineapple drink laced with vodka while we watch the sunset.
