[password] forester11
[position] 17 10.739S 179 01.183W
[status] FIJI'S BAY OF ISLANDS
After a welcome and feast ... and relaxing at Daliconi Village, we moved on to the nearby Bay of Islands. It is the most beautiful and amazing series of interconnecting little bays, waterways and tiny mushroom shaped islands.

Having been to church where we enjoyed the singing, we were one of the last boats to arrive ... following Malakite through the scenic route!! When we got here it was amazing to see all the boats nestled into the numerous interconnecting bays. We're not sure what the two super yachts anchored here thought when their idyllic paradise was invaded by 35 ICA yachts.

The Daliconi Village folk took us for a cave tour yesterday in their long boats. Without such local knowledge you'd never know there were big caves beyond the little openings. We swam into all but one, but once you were inside it was easy to walk around in them. Each was quite different in structure and size ... and quite beautiful. Most had small bat colonies in them. We had some lovely snorkeling as part of the experience too.

Today we planned to move to a bay 4nm away but were again beset with a steering issue. Fortunately Ben & Glen put their heads together and resolved it. However we've decided to stay put for another night and get the kayak out for more exploring.

Last night all the boats took their dinghies and rafted them together for sundowners - another new experience for me.

5:00am had us glued to our VHF radios as 2 boats were able to get streamed comnentary from the America's Cup and then relay it through the radio to us. It felt like the old days of listening to the ABs playing in the middle of the night! There was a cacophony of boat horns all over the bay as Team NZ crossed the line!

With NZ having won; bread in the oven; and fruitcake #2 being brought out of its hide hole, all is well on Felix!

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

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