[password]waiknot
[position]17 38.500S 177 23.753E

[status]
In Saweni Bay, doing last preparations for passage to New Caledonia. Have spent the last few days catching up with our good friends on Silver Fox. So good to see them here. We met them on the offshore medical course 3.5 years ago and they have had more than their fair share of trials and tribulations since that time. But they are finally here and enjoying the cruising lifestyle. There are 15 boats in Saweni Bay, a few more from Gulf Harbour that we recognise.
It seems hard to believe that we will be leaving Fiji tomorrow (weather permitting). Time has gone by so fast! Next time we will spend more time in Fiji.
Our trip to Fiji this year was mainly focused on seeing the Lau Group, part of Fiji we had not been to before. We certainly saw many islands in the group, but there are still more to see. We also revisited some places we had been to three years ago and renewed our friendships with people in those villages. Along the way we have discovered new places that we love and we certainly wish to return to those places in the future. A big part of what makes a place great for us, is the people we meet. Some of the villagers we have met along the way have been absolutely wonderful, generous people and we look forward to seeing them again.
The weather has been kind to us and the water has been warm to swim in. Water temperature is 28 degrees where we are now and has been 27 or 26 for most of the trip. As you go towards the southern part of Fiji it does get cooler. But strangely, we still had 26 degrees at the most southern places we went apart from Fulaga where the water was only 24 degrees! Brrrr!
The coral reefs and the marine life here are incredible. We have been privileged to see dolphins, whales, turtles, manta rays, sharks, sea snakes and crayfish, along with all the colourful little tropical fish. In this trip we have seen more soft corals and more colourful reef areas than anywhere else we have been. Good food for the soul.
So we get ready to depart, with a tinge of sadness to leave this place, but with much anticipation for the next part of our journey. We plan to sail to the Loyalty islands which will take about 5.5 days. We have not been to this part of New Caledonia before so this will be another new experience for us. Then, at the beginning of October we have some very special friends from NZ coming to join us on Aradonna for a holiday - we are looking forward to seeing them again and showing them some of the places we love in New Caledonia.
We are very lucky people to have these experiences. Life is good!

[weather]We have had partly cloudy but warm sunny days yesterday and today, though it did rain overnight. Currently 15 knots S, 80 pct cloud, 1010 baro

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