[password]waiknot
[position]18 06.575S 178 23.753E

[status]
Now in Suva, getting ready to head back to NZ. For more info on our travels, check out the blog.

[blog]
After a week or so of patchy weather, we have been enjoying the sunshine in the last couple of days. We have explored more of the Great Astrolabe Reef and snorkeled some of the islands. Nurolevu Island is home to the Manta Rays but we didn't see any on our visit. We spent Saturday night behind Dravuni Island, near the top of the Astrolabe Reef area. When we headed out of our bay at 8am we were surprised to see a large P&O cruise ship parked in front of the village. The cruise liner dwarfed the island and looked a bit surreal against the landscape of tiny islands. Yesterday we hoped to sail back to Suva and we started motor sailing, waiting for some wind to pick up - but the wind died. With only 5 knots of wind from the south, we were going faster than the wind, so we took the sails away and motored for 6 hours, resigned to using up the last of our diesel. In fact, we did use up the last of our diesel - we ran out in the middle of Levu Passage - the main passage into Suva Harbour at 2
.30pm! Luckily the 5 knots southerly and the southerly swell and the incoming tide helped to gently push us through the channel and into the harbour. Heather steered into the harbour as we limped along at 1.4 knots, while Karl emptied the emergency fuel containers into the tanks and bled the air out of the system. Bleeding the air out took quite a bit of time, so Heather dropped anchor when we got to shallow water and we both concentrated on getting the motor up and running again. Just before 4pm we got her going again - with a high five a hug and a cheer! We cleaned up, motored around the corner to Nubulekaleka Bay and had a gin and tonic in hand by 5pm to celebrate. It tasted great! We are anchored in front of the Novotel Lami and have very fond memories of this place from last year. Last year we arrived in Fiji as crew on the yacht "Champagne". By the time we had waited in Opua for the right weather window and sailed from NZ to Suva, we had spent 17 days living on board the 42 ft
"Champagne" with the skipper and another crew member. While we all got along well together, there was a lack of space and no privacy (especially for Heather traveling with 3 men). Our first night off the boat was spent at the Novotel in Lima - and it felt like heaven! Last night, in memory of our last visit to the Novotel, we shouted ourselves to dinner at the hotel restaurant. A lovely evening! The balcony restaurant looks out over the water and we had a great view of Aradonna sitting in the bay. Last year when we were at this restaurant we had no idea we would be here this year gazing at our own floating home. A very special memory for us. So today we will start preparing for the return journey to NZ. A few maintenance jobs, some provisions in Suva town and some serious studies of the upcoming weather.

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