Savusavu

Posting By Dennis and Barb:

16 46.666S 179 19.959E

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2046.666S%20179%2019.959E

Landfall at anchorage. It would be the white little yacht.
Landfall at anchorage. It would be the white little yacht.

We spent a week in Savusavu tied to a mooring belonging to the Copra Shed. Most of the boats arriving as well as the boats already there were from New Zealand. DSC_5730Savusavu seemed to be a winter getaway for many NZ yachties, probably much the same as the Bahamas is for Americans. We had no problem obtaining a great mooring close to the Copra Shed. A week later there was a waiting list for moorings! During our stay we made many trips down the quarter mile bustling strip of downtown Savusavu to get our Vodaphone internet and replenish our boat supplies. Not far from the marina is a great farmer’s market where we bought most of our fresh vegetables for the next leg of our trip. We also bought our ‘ Kava’ root which we will need for our ‘Sevusevu’ customary ceremonies once we start cruising through Fiji.

 

  Kava comes from the root of the pepper plant, which is ground to a powder using an old fashioned pestle and mortar and then poured through a sieve to certain strength. It is supposed to look like muddy water and taste like it too but it has numbing effect and it is supposed to make one very relaxed!! Luckily this is more a male thing so Denny will have to endure this tradition although women do participate but are supposed to remain quiet! ( I am sure that Barb will not be able to do that). 

 

Eating out in Savusavu is fairly inexpensive so we have done little cooking while here. We have enjoyed meals at the local Chinese restaurant, the more upscale Surf and Turf, a Fijian buffet dinner at the Waitui Marina, and the Copra Shed café and the Copra shed Captain’s table as well as the Copra shed Sunday BBQ. Needless to say we both gained back the weight we lost during our NZ to Fiji passage.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe rented a car for the day and drove to Lambasa, the big town. It was just a bustling, dirty town with quite a few stores and a huge fresh market. We passed by the Sugar factory were trucks laden with sugar cane were lined up for processing in a line that spanned a mile.

We had a few ‘Happy hours’ with another American couple that had made the trip from NZ to Fiji (Steve and Nona from Corvidae). We also met a wonderful and interesting foursome from Port Fairy, Australia. Rob, Pam, Ken and Robyn seemed to be at all the same restaurants that we were in so at the Copra Shed Marina we finally made eye contact and Dennis jokingly suggested that they should forward us their future dining itinerary. We spent a couple of entertaining nights with them. We will try and visit them in their home town of Port Fairy, Southern Australia (Southern latitudes that Dennis likes to sail in).

As far as our diesel leak it seems to have stopped, so that is a great relief.  We are thinking that it was operator error because Dennis left the fuel polisher valve open. So that is a good thing all in all.

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2 Responses to Savusavu

  1. Bartholic says:

    Hi barb and Dennis.

    We are in the coffee shop in Grand Marais. Traveling around the lake without the kids for a change. It has been “Dennis weather” on the north shore. Cool and breezy. It is good to be here and remember our trips here. Sounds like things are good there. I love reading of your adventures. We are well and enjoying almost a month on the boat. Everyone in our house is well.
    Fair winds
    Gay and Dan

  2. Loved the update! So happy fuel leak was not something worse! Miss you guys tons xo

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