Savusavu is a very convenient harbour town for yachties. It is not a tourist town as such. So it is not full of resorts and people trying to sell you something. It is a town full of normal everyday people going to work and school and doing their shopping. It also has a very protected harbour, so popular with yachties. We were kept company by a few other boats from NZ, plus a few Dutch boats, a Japanese, a couple from Germany, a few Canadian boats and several from the USA. The result is, that everybody in town knows, when they see us walking around, that we are from a yacht. They don't seem to get many other visitors. And they make us feel very welcome, with big smiles and "Bula!" The produce market, supermarkets, hardware stores and fuel stations are an short walk from the dinghy dock, making it easy to stock up on supplies. Most grocery items are about half the price or less of what we paid in Tonga and many items are cheaper than we can get in NZ. So for a few days we could be seen making trip after trip into town, coming back each time laden with provisions in back packs and carry bags - as much as we could carry without causing our arms to fall off or our knuckles to drag on the ground. It is not that we had run out of everything, we were well provisioned when we left NZ. But our next shopping stop will be in New Caledonia, where we will pay more than twice the price! This is where the combination of Dutch and Scottish heritage kicks in - we decided to stock up here rather that wait until later in the trip! We did manage to get most of the things on our list, but this is, after all still small island country. The total population of Fiji is less than 1 million and Savusavu is quite a small town. So there were a few things that went awry. We wanted cabbages - but were told that was last week - not this week! We wanted a bush knife, but all 6 hardware stores are out of stock until who knows when. Nobody knows. We wanted to get an extra solar panel, but the solar shop is out of stock until the end of the month. On Tuesday we decided to treat ourselves to an icecream and were dismayed to learn that the icecream shop was out of stock until Friday! Ahh well, we can't have it all. We have clean laundry, full LPG and diesel tanks, a full freezer and full food lockers, we are well rested and ready to carry on to our next adventure. We are enjoying fresh papayas, passionfruit and bananas - all three mixed together with a bit of yoghurt makes a fabulous dessert! The days are warm but not too hot, the nights cool off a little which is nice for sleeping but still warm enough that no blankets required.
During our week in Savusavu we also enjoyed the social interaction with fellow boaties. Sundowners together, chatting on the dock, sharing a meal and sharing stories of places we have been and places yet to see. So you see, it gets hard to leave Savusavu, where life is easy and the people are friendly. We have done our share of walking on land in the last week, which makes a nice change from sitting on our behinds while at sea. But now we are looking forward to swimming and snorkelling and diving and exploring new places. So we have dragged ourselves away - before we forget how to put up our sails!