Another travel odyssey begins….not as much boating involved as on the wonderful Salanjo last year, but it does include a very big boat and a much smaller boat than the catamaran…..watch this space!

This has been the most wonderful 9-month Odyssey for me.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined myself doing such a trip

off we went, leaving the lights of Fiji behind us as we sailed into the night. 

Jo and Earl have left us to return to New Zealand and we are now starting preparations for our departure to Auckland as well, which looks like it might now be as early as this Friday!

We left Malakati and the children “wowing” over all the wonderful additions Jo and Earl had purchased for their classroom and headed off to Nanuya and the Blue Lagoon, so we could drop Rattue off to catch the South Seas ferry back to the mainland.

We’re back in Malakati Bay, Yasawairara and as soon as we anchored, Rattue came out with his army of strong men to get the solar panel and battery for Miriayana’s house. 

We’re back in Denarau Marina and managed to get here just before dark to get berthed.  The last night for Nick and family so it’s a pack up of all their big toys ie the foiling board, drone, flippers, snorkelling gear etc.  

A lazy day for me, the others all went in to have a snorkel and we also sailed back to the beach between Yasawairara and Yawini Islands for the afternoon as the beach there is so lovely and has a little channel running through it. 

Geoff, Nick and Mike finished their golf and arranged to meet us at the Sheraton for lunch. Have to say we were a little bit sneaky and got out of the taxi and just walked in to the hotel and found ourselves a set of sun loungers around the pool

Vegetable life on the motus is dominated by the coconut palm, whose tolerance for the salty environment and poor sandy soil is beyond belief.

We sailed right up to the top of the Yasawas and have anchored in the most beautiful bay. Once again, we made our way onto the beach to pay our respects to the Chief who was sitting under a tree with some of the other local gentleman.

A lovely sunny day to welcome Geoff’s son Mike and his family, and his friend Sam and family,  who arrived early afternoon.  We picked them up from Denarau Port and set off immediately

We left Levuka, had a lovely sail and spent two nights anchored around Voli Voli just us, not a soul or boat in sight, so peaceful. 

Before the British took over Fiji as a colony, the Fijian government was headquartered at the village of Levuka, on the island of Ovalau.

We sailed into Savusavu at 12.30pm and found a mooring in Nakama Creek. Savusavu is on the island of Vanua Levu and is an area of old plantations, a whaling station from years back and Fiji’s newest Port of Entry.

We had decided to leave so Geoff and I went to the Gendarmerie to get our clearance papers, usually an easy formality…

Huahine (the authentic island), Raiatea (the sacred island), Bora Bora (pearls of the Pacific), Tahaa (the vanilla island), Maupitip[p (the nature island)

We arrived in Raiatea and retrieved all our baggage, Geoff ran out and flagged down the only taxi before it became a free for all.

We arrived in Papeete at the ungodly hour of 2.00am with a lot of baggage – and all sorts of boat parts.

Blogs will resume this week!