[password]8Tarnhows
[position]Port Denarau
[weather]nil wind sea calm sky clear
[status]Good morning good people
Another of our amazing voyages has been completed. We are at rest in the beautiful Port Denarau Marina, on the main island of Viti Levi, Fiji. Very close to the bustling community of Nadi (pro-Nandi) and of course the international airport.
Let me describe the final leg of our journey. Our friends on ?Muse? sailed about 5 nm behind us and on arrival at Volivoli they presented us with another artisan loaf of bread baked by their daughter Hannah.
We had a wonderful night at the Volivoli dive resort on the north coast of Viti Levi. The skipper negotiated our entry and participation in the Fijian cultural show, a night of feasting, singing and dancing. The skipper was of course the feature dancer of the visitors known as Big Jim and The Boatboys.
On Friday morning we up-anchored and departed Volivoli at 06:15am bound for Port Denarau via the inner channel which weaves along the north coast,inside the surrounding coastal reefs, and passes nearby the industrial port of Lautoka.
Port Denarau has been a magnificent ending to our voyage from Tonga to Fiji.
On Saturday we did a walking tour of the Denarau shopping precinct, followed by a bula bus tour of the nearby resorts, then finally we caught a public transport bus into Nadi for a eyeball tour of the provincial capital. All very interesting.
Yesterday, Sunday, Jim and Bill went diving in the vicinity of the world renown surf spot - ?Cloudbreak?. What a great experience; the water was warm, sky clear, sea calm visibility about 30m and fish and corals aplenty. The surfers were out in their numbers rivalling a good day at Seaford or Middleton. Jet skis and tending boats were everywhere. We actually had an incident when one boat infringed our dive area, which was marked by our tender with the appropriate ?danger divers in area? pennant displayed. The captain was a local and our Dive Marshall admonished him, took his details and will notify the authorities.
Apart from that, the diving was fantastic with a swim through tunnel, stingrays, plenty of fish, one small black tip shark and the unusual worm-fish.
Oh, I should mention one dive boat/ship stood out it was the CEO?s of Google! Compete with helicopter and a mass of jet skis.
This morning at 06:30am The Kaiser departed and Jock and Bill will leave about lunchtime. Bill rejoins Ambler on 21 July after the skipper and family have celebrated his significant birthday.
Until then, regards to all,
Jim, Bill(scribe), Kai and The Jockey.
[END]