Aradonna's blog

We really enjoyed visiting Blue Lagoon again on Thursday and Friday. It is a fabulous spot! On Thursday night after cocktails at the resort we were all in the dinghy heading back to Aradonna in the dark when there was a strange clattering noise in the dinghy. Karl thought something had dropped out of the motor, Sarah got a fright and just about jumped overboard. Heather shone the torch around to reveal a Garfish that had jumped into the dinghy and was flapping all about! Pieter was sure it would be good eating, but we decided to return the fish to the bay, happy with the entertainment value of the surprise visit. On Friday we went for a half hour walk to the eastern side of Nanuya-Sewa Island. Coming over the top of the island was spectacular, with views over water and reefs to the north, south and east. About 50 shades of blue! On the eastern shore we visited Lo's tea house and enjoyed some of the banana cake she is famous for. After hiking back to the Blue Lagoon we were ready for a swim. We snorkeled at Savuti Point, where the fish are used to being fed by cruise boat loads of tourists. While it wasn't exactly natural behaviour, it was amazing to see all the colourful reef fish thronging around and being so friendly. One even gave Heather a kiss! It was like swimming in an aquarium, a very special swim. That night we joined our friends from Vegas at the resort for dinner and treated ourselves to Banofi (banana toffee cake) and coconut ice cream for dessert. Delicious! Yesterday we made the trip north to the top of the Yasawas. Long white sandy beaches and crystal clear water over the white sand in the bay, creating a "swimming pool blue" bay. So pretty! We did Sevusevu in the village, we presented some gifts for the kindergarten children and the Chief gave us Papaya and bananas. The chief also gave us his phone number and asked us to call if we come back because he would like to come out fishing on our boat - he will take us to all the right spots! Walking b ack along the beach we had to pinch ourselves again - the bay is so beautiful. We had a swim in the clear water, 27.9 degrees in the water and 32 degrees outside - just perfect. Heather and Karl swam back to the boat and left Sarah and Pieter with the dinghy ride. Sarah made us yummy ginger chicken for dinner, a real treat! Every day seems to have its own magic - we are so very very lucky.

Our friends Pieter and Sarah arrived safely on Monday and we have had fun catching up with them. Tuesday was a special day, flat calm sea for our trip to Waya Is. Stopped at Vomo for a snorkel on the way and soon after we had a pod of dolphins come to play. A great way to welcome our guests to Fiji! We had a guided tour through Yalobi village and met some very friendly locals. We especially liked the school which is extremely well organised and tidy. About 100 children go to the school from year 1 to year 8. School starts at 8.30am and finishes at 3.30pm. Classes end at 3pm and for the last half hour the children do duties, such as beach clean up, picking up rubbish around the school and the village etc. A great idea! Children from two other villages on the island also go to the school - they arrive on Sunday night and board until Friday afternoon to go home to their own village for the weekend. College age children go to the mainland and stay with relatives or attend boarding school . Yesterday we motor sailed in light winds up to Naviti Is, hoping to swim with the Manta rays, but could not see any. Still, the snorkeling was nice in the channel. We took turns at snorkeling while drifting along in the current and getting picked up at the other end in the dinghy. Today on our way to Blue Lagoon we stopped at Spitfire Lagoon. We managed to wiggle our way through the reefs into the lagoon. What a beautiful spot! We snorkeled over the wreck of a small plane which has now become home to puffer fish, anemone fish, blue green chromis and neon blue's. Legend has it that this plane crash landed on the reef many years ago and was then swept into the lagoon by a cyclone. The pilot was missing, presumed dead, until he was discovered a few years later living happily amongst the locals! No one is sure how much of this story is true - but the plane is still in the lagoon for all to see. We are now in the famous Blue lagoon area again and will treat ourselves to a cocktail or t wo at the resort bar tonight. All is well on board - our guests have not stopped smiling since they arrived!

Had an amazing day on Thursday, a lovely sail from Waya Is towards the mainland. A pod of dolphins joined us for a while near Vomo Island. It is always a thrill to see them and these were large ones! Then the wind died and the sea became glassy smooth, so we motored for a while. The water was so inviting on such a calm sunny day that we anchored beside Nukunicakaunituba reef and went for a snorkel in the middle of the sea. Apart from the usual suspects of coral and reef fish we saw an octopus, a crayfish and a grey nurse shark close by. Perfect conditions and a nice reef! We motored the rest of the way to Lautoka and dropped anchor beside Distracted. Enjoyed a yummy roast chicken dinner on board Distracted - what a treat! Friday was shopping day. The Lautoka market is incredibly good value. Four paw paws for $2, a 1kg bag of tomatoes for $1, everything was so cheap - and great quality produce too. We also stocked up on meat from Fiji Meats. A wonderful shop and they vacuum packed all our meal parcels for us too. Moved down to Saweni Bay for the next couple of nights. Caught up with Distracted again last night - great to spend some time with them before they disappear to New Caledonia in a couple of days. Tonight we are back in Lautoka to get an early morning start to the market - time to get some more fresh produce before heading to Denarau to fill up with water and fuel and collect our VIP guests. Fingers crossed for more great weather - the last few days have been warm and sunny - a beautiful 30 degrees.

Spent a few days in the "Blue Lagoon", an area made famous by the movie of the same name. A very special place, a pretty group of islands, white sandy beaches, coral reefs everywhere and a nice resort on the beach. We could happily just plonk ourselves in that area for a week or so and not go anywhere else! Met up with some friends we had not seen since leaving Gulf Harbour in April. We were thrilled to see Gavin and Bindy from Distracted again - our neighbours from D pier who helped us with so much good advice before we set off on this journey. We went diving on a reef known as "The Zoo", an extensive area to explore. There was so much to see that we used a full cylinder each on the dive rather than our usual 1/2 cylinder each. For the first time since arriving in the pacific islands we finally spotted crayfish! They were very shy though and scuttled back into their hole. Not that we would have tried to grab them as they seem so scarce here compared to NZ. We explored several other bays up and down the Yasawa chain of islands, just to get familiar with the area in preparation for coming back here with our VIP guests next week. After a week of lovely settled weather and light winds, we now have a stiff breeze blowing. The forecast does not look great for the next few days. We will head towards the mainland tomorrow to stock up on essential supplies again before picking up our guests, Pieter and Sarah, from Denarau on Monday.