[password] TwinkY6433
[position] 16 46.631S 179 20.084E
[weather] E 1 knot, 1014 baro.
[speed] On a mooring outside the Copra Shed Marina.
[status] Had a great sleep, although there were a few mosquitoes hanging around that woke me up. The medical officer who did our quarantine clearance said they don?t have dengue, malaria or zika viruses here. So basically the mosquitos are just an annoyance, but don?t have any nasty diseases. There are ?no see em?s? here as well though. They are a tiny tiny little sandfly type thing with teeth the size of your leg, and are ferocious! Little buggars! Once again, not nasty, but you just get little bites everywhere unless you put some spray on. The price we pay to be in paradise!

This morning we visited the markets again (had a look yesterday but didn?t buy anything). The Fijians are a lot friendlier than the Tongans, and the prices are cheaper. In Tonga we got the feeling the prices doubled because we are ?Palangi? (white). Here the prices are cheaper, the stall owners friendlier, there?s more variety, and there?s an obvious Indian influence with lots of yummy smelling spices. As a result we bought more, and got some veggies, eggs, and (just for you Doug) pineapple! Yum! We got one to try, but will definitely be back for another one tomorrow.

We also used our SIM card from last year and got it topped up with some data. We then spent an hour or two catching up on things, but it seems to have gone down tonight - oh well, hopefully just temporarily. We?ll just wait til tomorrow to upload photos etc. Speaking of which, I must apologise for not posting as many photos on Facebook as we did last year. I?m not sure if it?s just cos we?re use to it this year, or maybe there?s only so many photos of tropical islands covered in coconut trees that you can take? Maybe I don?t want to bore you all! :D ;)

We caught up with new friends on Muritai who managed their first passage (Tonga to Fiji) with just the two of them. They did the NZ to Tonga passage 3 up, but I think it?s really cool when a husband and wife do the passage together without outside help. Maybe it?s cos we never have crew (aka no friends! ;). I know it?s not everyone?s cup of tea, and there?s lots of boats who get crew to help, but as we do it all two up, we think it?s cool that they overcome their fears and accomplish it. Also big thumbs up to Varekai who also did it without extra crew this year - which on top of organising the rally and working very hard to get everyone cleared and fueled up on Friday, to then do a 2.5 day passage two up with very little sleep to recover is pretty awesome.

I?d better wrap this up as I?ve waffled enough already! We had a few beers on shore at the Copra Shed Yacht Club, and now back on Seaforth for dinner. Might try to find somewhere tomorrow night to have a real Fijian Indian curry ? ?

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