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Fiji!

Our last crossing is complete and our remaining tasks are in preparing to leave the boat. We have many tasks to hire done but finding competent help will be daunting, as usual.

So, the trip is done. The next few legs will see us returning toward the East: Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, then the Line Islands, with a final jump to Hawai'i.

Bill sits at the helm.

These catamarans were anchored just inside the reef at Mololo Pass, using the reef to shelter from seas but not winds.

This is a resort on the island on the south side of Malolo Pass. It looks posh to me, and expensive.

Conni, mixologist, has finished the Tahitian rum in two Rum and Cokes. It's not the best rum ever, but it is spicy and makes a superior cocktail.

Wings at the slip in Vuda Point. There's a sizable tide so one leaps from the tiny platform to the boat. Electricity is 240 VAC and uses a New Zealand 3-prong plug. We didn't have one, so had to scavange parts for our charging, but having unlimited electricity cannot be underestimated. Fans, lights, battery charger, and music. Wonderful! The Fiji water was abundent anough to rinse the boat, the first rinse other than rain in a year.

Lovely Conni stolls into the Vuda Marina office. Showers and laundry are through the doors at right.

The channel into the marina during daylight hours. Channel markers are visible but these are unlighted. The key to entry at night are the range lights.

The Boat Shed Bar, extending out over the water. We saw it the night that we entered the marina but were, ahhhh, a bit too busy to appreciate how lovely it was. Conni's smapping a photo.

Jonathan G, this is for you. This a beautiful bar. The dollars are Fiji dollars, about US$1.80.

A trench sans boat, showing how they're made.

An example of the world-famous Fiji trench storage system. The trench is cut into the ground and a sailboat is set into it, blocked by tires or supports, depending on how deep the keel is. We have reserved a trench for Wings for her 10 month stay.

A Hindu temple in the heart of Lautofa represents the many Indian people brought to Fiji to farm.

Conni and Ali the taxi driver walk to the custom's office to pay our fees.

This is the channel through the reef with low tide. It's 75-feet wide and well marked but very shallow.

My lovley Conni enjoys her Mai Tai and Pacific sunset.

Our drinks: her Mai Tai and my Polynesian Ice Tea at right.

A tiny photo of a Pacific-sized sunset, complete with the soft breeze, island smells, and gentle island sounds. We're looking from our table at the Boat Shed Bar. across the channel.

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