The Lau Group- The Bay of Islands and Vanua Balavu

 Mike and I took off from Paradise-Taveuni after a really fun week with our friend Jerelyn on Pangaea.  We decided to do an overnight passage to the Bay of Islands so that we arrived in the morning with enough light to move through the pass and on to anchor in a safe nook.

The night was incredibly beautiful; we had a planetarium view of the southern hemisphere, and also saw between the two of us 9 shooting stars!  That’s a lot of wishes.  We also had a beautiful display of bioluminescence with every wave displaced by Pangaea.  It was quite magical and I remembered why I like night passages so well.  

We arrived as planned in the morning and it was so quiet!  Quite a difference from the hustle and bustle of a resort.

We arrived at the pass and then went around the Bay to find the right place to tuck in for a while.

   

 

Pangaea in her safe anchorage - Mike tied a line from the back of the boat to a rock to keep us from getting close to nearby coral

We discovered the first night here that there are a ton of Fijian Bats that come out at dusk.  This was a video we took.

We love it here!  

First Mate Kate

Fiji 2.0

 Bula!  We are enjoying our second season in Fiji.  We started our exploration in June from Vuda Marina, and then off to Musket Cove about a week after we both arrived.  Here are some highlights of our trip and our delightful guests who made our time together so much fun!

We had a nice breeze in the west basin!

    Sunset pictures from the hanging chairs

One of my favorite morning walks was to First Landing Resort, down the street from Vuda Marina.  There’s a nice beach and beautiful views.  Also fresh, chilled coconut water right out of the coconut!

Mike turned 60 on 6/16 and Monica who runs the cafe at Vuda made up a plate with a big piece of chocolate cake on it for him.  So SWEET!

Later that night we walked down to Nila Resort with our friends from Cinnabar for the best tasting Indian Food on Viti Levu and they decorated the table with flowers and Happy Birthday and sang Happy Birthday to Mike in the Fijian tradition:

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mike, Happy Birthday to you!

Happy long life to you, Happy long life to you, Happy long life happy long life -happy long life to you!

May God Bless you! May God Bless you! (Repeat)                       

 

They also have amazing sunsets at NILA!

One of the first things one has to do when they arrive back in Fiji is provision for sailing trips.  So, Sylvia, Kellie and I went to the Nadi market and Denarau for all the essentials, including Kava for Sevusevu ceremonies and, of course, food and drink!

We motor-sailed over to Musket Cove, and took a little hike up to the Lookout.  That night we had a stunningly beautiful sunset!

We decided that Mike’s 60th needed to be celebrated again, so we went to Lomani Resort for dinner and an incredible sunset.  It was so delicious and the entire staff came out and sang Mike Happy Birthday at the end of the night.  It was great fun!

Of course, the ladies need their alone time, so we did a morning hike coupled with a cool coconut and mango smoothie back at Lomani. While we were at the Lookout-we saw Leto arriving (with our friend’s son on board!)

                                       

It is soooooo great to be back in Fiji!!  

First Mate Kate