Don has spearheaded great progress on the boat. The day after the last update, he and David managed to get all the through-hulls out, a project that had had Don stressing for weeks. As often is the case, what he stresses over most goes unexpectedly smoothly. It was still a lot of work, and Don was hugely grateful for David's help.

Unfortunately, David is back at work on Jim's boat Flight for the next week or so, so Don has had to make do with me. Together we have gotten the boat emptied out into a trailer our contractor Baobab Marine has lent us, plus we have stripped a lot of hardware off the deck, including the main and staysail boom,the compressor and deck storage box (which has never been off before) and the dinghy. The deck was a mess with the debris of six months of leaves and a blue tarp that had distintegrated into blue threads. Cleaned up she actually looked pretty good; maybe we don't need to paint, said Don! Not quite. Besides the sanders are already hard at work.

We've managed several improvements in the working conditions. We got our big awning from Trinidad out and hoisted over the foredeck as well as the one we had built in Mexico to hang over the aft deck. Also, we did a deal with a departing cruiser for their air conditioner, of which we finally took possession yesterday. After working hard for 24 hours it has cooled the boat down at least fifteen degrees and sucked out a ton of humidity which drains away through a hose shoved down the scupper at a rate approaching a small faucet. With luck T2's doors will close again someday!

Socially, it's also been a lively time. Jim of Flight has had two crew fly in and occupy the last two discounted rooms at the resort. Ruth is an attractive and interesting young woman who grew up in England but who has been living in New Zealand the past four years. She is taking this adventure, her first open water sailing experience, as a break from her career as a geneticist! Bob is a retired fellow from Rochester, NY, who instead of buying his own cruising boat has made a hobby of crewing on other people's boats. This will be his fourth crew passage...the last one being a trip from the Horn to Buenos Aires! The five of us generally dine together and then divide up for the day, although Ruth and I have made several trips to town together.

The biggest distraction of the week began when Don looked up from lunch one day and noticed Joe and Julie (of Palmlea Farm in Vanua Levu where we spent so much time last season) standing at the fuel dock gazing across the basin of the marina. They were, they said, wondering if we might be here. Since Tackless II is poised broadside at the opposite rim (sitting on jackstands, she towers over the other yachts moored or still in pits),, it's hard to imagine how there could be any doubt. Joe and Julie and their farm manager Ravine were in town to meet an Air New Zealand flight coming in from Australia the next evening bringing them 60+ Boer Goats, their latest enterprise for Palmlea. (http://www.fijidailypost.com/news.php?section=2&fijidailynews=15706 as well as other links found under Palmlea Farms!)
Boer goats are larger and meatier than their run-of-the-mill cousins, and this project is a big deal, not just for Joe and Julie (who, in their seventies, might supposed to be retiring!!!), but for Fiji agriculture in general. Joe had a big press kit prepared and the relevant ministers of the Fiji government were all over it. Unfortunately, it was impractical for us all to troop down to the airport to see the goats' actual arrival, but we did all cab to the Lautoka Wharf Thursday to see them transhipped by truck to the Westerland ferry for an overnight ride to Savusavu and thence over the mountains to their new home at Palmlea. They looked hot, tired, uncertain and...well...like goats. Joe and Julie and the Fijian government have an ambitious breeding plan planned. Ravine is proud as punch.

Also in the small world department, our friend Peter of Otama Song sailed in from Tonga for some yard work before sailing home to Australia. In the process of hailing him, I borrowed a radio from a boat in the marina, and then got talking to the owner, who had worked in the liveaboard dive business for a number of years as I did. In his case, he had worked for the Aggressor dive fleet. As we worked through the roster of people we knew in common (most of them former Tropic Bird crew) it turned out that he'd been crew on Lammer Law at the same time as I was on the Aquanaut ships, at which point we realized we'd met! Interestingly, he was closing his sailboat up to return to work as a cruise ship captain with Royal Caribbean! That's the biggest jump I have ever heard of for former dive yachties!

And so it goes here in Paradise. The weather has been consistently hot and sunny, except for a bit off rain and wind night before last which brought us a bit cooler weather this weekend. thenext few weeks will probably be more of same...but never fear! I will keep you updated!

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Labels: 2008 Boatyard Work, Fiji 2008, Palmlea Farms, Vuda Point Marina

Wednesday, Don and Bill took a rental car across the island to Labasa where Don went to the dentist. We'd heard a great deal about this Dr. Kumar, and he lived up to his reputation, rebuilding Don's broken tooth point for F$40 ($25 US!), including the Novocain shot. The boys spent the night at Palmlea, giving Bill a quick look at north-side life (and the fantasy property), before they drove back Thursday. Meanwhile, I spent my time alone on the computer catching up on my Admiral's Angle columns, printing out 100 photos for Sera and Freddy back in Naviqiri, and doing other computer stuff.

On Friday, the boys finally tackled my Force 10 stove. This stove has been a trial to us since we bought it nine years ago. Never have I been able to have something in the oven and then use any of the top burners. Over the years Force 10 has sent us parts ostensibly to fix this problem, but they've never helped. In Central America, when our oven valve failed, it took two tries to get the right part. Trying to put that part in – without any directions provided – was not one of Don's happier endeavors. Since then, one by one the stove-top burners have been failing, so that upon Bill's arrival I was down to one working burner.

Uncle Bill, bless his heart, had taken on ordering all the needed replacement parts from Vancouver. He had even managed to get a printout of instructions. The parts we thought we needed had, of course, been discontinued, and instead he'd to buy three completely redesigned burner kits…which of course cost a bundle. Don, as you might guess, was sure it would have been better to make a dive site of this stove and to put those dollars toward a new one. Without Bill on hand, those new burners might well have slipped away to the spare parts netherworld. But Bill, naive as he was, was game to tackle it and dragged Don with him. It took ALL DAY, because the stove has to be largely dismantled to get access to the insides, and of course, dismantled, the parts and pieces had to be cleaned. But by golly, by sticking to it, the guys got it all reassembled, and get this…it works! I mean works the way it always should have!!!!! And no stray licks of blue flame around the edges, either. I guess there's a reason they redesigned those burners. And not only does it work – lighting promptly even when the oven is on, but it no longer rattles when we motor. For once, money and effort truly well spent! The chef is a happy camper!

Don't get the idea that Uncle Bill's holiday has been all work and no play. There wasn't a happy hour we missed, and we ate out pretty near every night. Savusavu is full now of boats we have come to know, so life has been quite social.

Saturday morning the boys went ashore for a haircut. This they found at a salon upstairs above the Bula Re restaurant. This turned into quite the cultural experience for Uncle Bill as the hairdresser was Reggi/Regina, a flamboyant Fijian version of what would, in French Polynesia, be called a faka leiti (a fake woman!) She/he did a great job with both guys, although she particularly liked rebraiding Uncle Bill's token pigtail.

We also tackled making a little video movie for Kai in return for the great DVDs he and his Mom sent out to us with Bill. Titled "PopZ and Gz on the Boat in Fiji", it's a little closer to sailing with Mr. Rogers" than "Sailing with Elmo!" Steven Spielberg we aint. At least it will give him some idea of what the boat looks like, both at anchor, and, yes, by golly, underway. We dropped the mooring after lunch, raised the sails and the boys and camera chased after me in the dinghy as a brisk breeze sent T2 flying out to the Point.

Yesterday, we finally got Uncle Bill wet with a little scuba refresher class and some exploratory dives along the reef. There are some amazing coral formations on the bottom here, and we were treated to a turtle as we swam through the cleft in Split Rock.

Today, Monday, is the 13th which means it is Captain Don's Birthday. We've started the day with a glutinous pancake breakfast and who knows what lies ahead. We SHOULD have gotten underway this weekend for Lautoka, Vuda and Musket Cove, where we plan to end Bill's visit. However, we ordered from the states a replacement breaker last week for the windlass, and it hasn't come in yet. And, wouldn't you know, the weather report is for a return of strong winds. Oh, well. Never have schedule.

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Savu Savu area

I say "we," but it is the royal "we." Varnishing is not one of my strong suits. Don's has done it all, from stripping to the final coat. He did borrow one of Joe's workers, an extremely shy man named Abeli, for a day of hand sanding help, but other than that it's been a one-man accomplishment. And an accomplishment it is. The cockpit looks gorgeous again.

Banished from getting anywhere near a wet surface, I spent the time below working on the computer writing emails, updating the Blog, and working on my column. The arrangement was productive all around.

Ironically, we also had a steady stream of visitors, mostly during the prep phase. Joe's foreman, Siti, turns out to be a sailor. He once had a trimaran he sailed all around Fiji, and his goal for retirement is to build his own monohull to take off in. So he was very keen to see Tackless, and very impressed once he had. His interest sparked curiosity in many of the other staff, from the guys who have been building the little dock in the mangroves to the gals working in the lodge. Don and I were particularly impressed at the approving take of one of the ladies. "You've gotta go and see everything in life that you can."

Plus Joe and Julie finally got out for a visit Sunday morning. We'd just done a massive clean-out of the forepeak, and had a pile of treasures (of the bilge), which they were happy to take from us.

In the evenings we've stayed home and watched videos. Joe has a huge collection, mostly from China at about fifty cents apiece. We've caught up on a lot of major flics we've missed these past years, but also found some unknown treasures in Aussie and Kiwi films.

Tomorrow, weather permitting (today we've had overcast, rain showers and wind), we plan to sail back down to Nukubati for a few days of diving. We'd been laboring under a misunderstanding that Joe had a dive operation lined up in the area they'd use for any guests who wanted to dive. It turns out that dive operation is Nukubati…the only dive operation on this side. We don't want to miss seeing a bit of the Great Sea Reef, so back we go.

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Vanua Levu Circumnavigation

We rode around the rest of the morning with Joe and Julie as they did errands. Also more shopping. The one surprise Labasa held for us Tuesday was the sight of a red-hulled sailboat dropping their hook in Labasa River! We are not alone anymore! Unfortunately, they were too far away to hail and we couldn't see any name.

Back at Palmlea, low tide is now midday. This time we were prepared, and after lunch we donned our walking clothes and set out to explore "our"property. This property is about 15 acres to the east of Palmlea, on the other side of a ridge looking eastward over Labasa Bay. We had first heard about it over lunch with Joe and Julie in Savusavu last September the day before we flew back to the US, and we had first seen it on our May trip over by car, a brief handshake of a glimpse from the road. It is not in any real way "our" property, but it has gotten kind of convenient to think about it that way, and believe me, we have done plenty of thinking about it.

Do all cruisers, in the back of their minds, harbor the desire to find the perfect place to plant the anchor? I don't know, but some sure do. We have a number of cruising acquaintances who have put down new roots in one of the destinations they've traveled to by boat, among them Bonaire, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia. In Fiji alone, four separate boat crews we've known have become dirt owners! It doesn't always happen on the first go round. Sometimes they backtrack. Others buy as an investment or hedge for the future, and sail on. Back home, in the US, land has gotten so expensive, cruisers can't help but feel they have missed the boat! Additionally, the American urban and suburban landscapes are so congested and built up with the repeating patterns of chain businesses and housing developments, that returning cruisers, after years in the third world, just don't feel comfortable.

We feel all these things, and when we see a place like "our" property here in Fiji, our imaginations instantly flesh it out with a house – Fijian-style, of course like Nukubti or Palmlea – situated to the fabulous view, with a garden full of tropical fruits and veggies to the side, great rural walks out the back door, and inexpensive help. But even more we extend the fantasy to include long "summer vacation' visits by the kids, with Kai growing up – at least part-time – in a place he can run free, splash in the creek, built forts in the sugar cane (Fiji has no dangerous land critters!), and know early on that there other cultures and other perspectives in the world than those of white suburban America.

But these are OUR fantasies, inside our heads, and not a reality any of the players necessarily subscribe to. The REALITY of "our property" is that it is a long way away from our families, it is on the side of the Vanua Levu where there aren't many other "gringos" (I can never remember the Fijian word; I think it is ko'palangi) to socialize with (present company of Joe & Julie and their neighbors excepted), and quite frankly it is in a country with no infrastructure, little immediate hope of getting one going, and, indeed, is in the midst of a political coup! Such a deal, huh!

Still, with reason weighing heavily on our enthusiasm, we figured we are here now, and we might as well scope it out.

It's a pleasant walk from Joe and Julie's over the ridge (now owned by our former cruising compadres Greg & Sujata, Maaji Re) down across a stream (now dry) and up along the top of the next hill. I think I've already mentioned that the view east is to die for. Below the road, the cane field is nearing maturity. It stands about eight feet high and rustles in the wind. As we approached the house we were startled to see the slight figure of a youngish Indian man in a long blue coat with a machete in hand. This turned out to be Hussein, the owner (with his uncle) of the property. Hussein wants to sell, because he wants to follow the rest of his family to the big city of Suva.

Hussein led us on a tramp up the hill to show us where the southern (uphill) boundary was. This was good news because, were we to buy this land and build a house, we would want it as high as possible to maximize the view and the breeze. One might have to move the road down to run along the top of the cane field, but around here, a bulldozer would make light work of that. A house on the hill would put us a tad close to our neighbor, a retired policeman from Suva, but it definitely has the best view.

The boundary Hussein showed us ran from "the pine tree down the hill to the cow," perhaps not legalese, although I bet the official Fijian wording of the deed is not altogether so different. A survey is an important first step in this part of the world. One of Joe and Julie's neighbors on the other side had to move their house when the survey revealed the land they'd built on wasn't theirs after all! The cow, however, revealed that there was more land than we'd originally thought on the eastern edge. Hussein also confirmed that the stream we attempted to paddle up is the outflow of the big mangrove estuary at the bottom of the hill. He told us that there is a unique species of tasty fish in that estuary, found nowhere else in Fiji!

He also explained to us a bit about the cane crop, an attractive investment feature as the return on the cane (split between the land owner and the sharecropper) would amount to an annual return on the property value of about 7-10%. Most Fijian cane farmers no longer burn the fields as we saw in El Salvador for example, because they have been persuaded the quality of the crop is better without it. In El Salvador one of the main reasons to burn the field was to get rid of pests hazardous to the cane cutters like snakes and scorpions! Fiji doesn't have these, and since cane is another product considered a potential biofuel, cane is not a bad crop to have on your land.

After parting ways with Hussein we continued on down the road, past small houses and tethered cows, goats and dogs and a lot more cane. Eventually, the road loops back around to join the "main" road to Joe and Julie's about halfway back to the paved highway. Hussein had told us that the next village was about two kilometers further on. We didn't get that far.

At a corner of two fields, we heard the most alien of sounds – a police siren. Also a roaring engine. Next thing we knew a car came hurtling around the bend with four guys in it. They grinned as they sped past us, gravel the size of golf balls flying! Several perplexed heartbeats later, here came the cops, siren blaring, after them. My, my, excitement in the burbs! We wondered whether they would turn off on any of the small lanes we'd passed, or whether they would keep on, cross the rickety log bridge and speed past Palmlea. (We later head that's exactly what they did, causing no end of excitement!)

It seemed a propitious time to turn around. We walked back to Hussein's, but before climbing back over the ridge to Joe and Julies, we turned off and followed a track through the cane down to the mangroves. We found the border of coconut palms, but the mangroves were pretty muddy from the recent new-moon tides, so we were unable to explore far enough to see the stream. One would have to cut a road through as Joe and Julie did to make any kind of water access feaasible.

Have I mentioned Joe is a hell of a cook. He had been promising a Mexican dinner for days now, and tonight was the night. We helped ourselves to a shower in Bure #1, enjoyed a cocktail for sunset (I'm sticking to club soda!), and then indulged in as Mexican a meal as you could possibly imagine in this hemisphere: great salsa and chips, hearty beef enchiladas, and spicy refried beans. Don and I positively groaned as we schlepped our shopping down the hill in the dark to the dock. Portion control, Joe, Please! We're gonna burst!

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Vanua Levu Circumnavigation

Sunday was a rerun, except that about an hour after lunch we heard an ad on the radio for Father's Day! Ooops! We whip out the Iridium sat phone and call home to Morristown. It was, of course, Saturday in Indiana, but we hoped by our 'early' call we'd catch Don's brother visiting. We missed him by an hour. For some reason our connection wasn't the best, but the thought was registered!

Father's Day was apparently also overlooked up at Palmlea, where Joe put together another meal to tempt us off the boat – lamb chops on the grill, a different kind of Italian potato (Joe has a whole repertoire of neat potato recipes!), and a cabbage salad (not quite cole slaw!) I don't think any of their guests will ever starve. back aboard, we stayed up even later watching "The Devil Wears Prada," as far away from our setting as could be!

Fiji was a British colony from 1874 to 1970 (its flag still has the Union Jack in the corner), and there is still a nostalgia among some for the pre-independence days, so the Queen's birthday remains a holiday in these parts (in New Zealand and Australia, too!) After two days of hard work stripping the teak (mostly Don I confess), we decided to take a holiday too.

After a nice breakfast, we launched the inflatable kayaks and paddled eastward along the mangroves. I wasn't expecting much, except to admire the roots of a really mature mangrove forest, but we had some surprises. First we found the mouth of a stream that we could paddle up into. The stream wound like a tunnel through the trees, reminiscent of the river trip in Tenacatita, Mexico.

We went quite a ways before the current of the ebbing tide got too strong to paddle against. We imagine that this outflow comes from the estuary in front of the land we have been looking at to the west of Joe & Julie's.

Some way beyond the stream, we found a sand beach! Caramel colored, to be sure, but sand none-the less. A pretty spot, with tall trees and coconut palms behind it. Then, rounding the point that is giving Tackless her protection, the coast opens up to huge Labasa Bay. Off the point is a complex, triangular sand bar uncovered by the falling tide. We got out and walked around, sometimes sinking 6-8" into the soft sand, out to the tip where a small flock of shorebirds and actual terns (we haven't seen much in the way of sea birds here) chattered to each other about the pickings. We felt so incredibly special to be all alone on such a remote spot…and turned around to see a young Indian man picking up crabs and stuffing them into a gunny sack! Where he materialized from we can't guess, but it is the way of this place. Whenever you feel all alone, look twice. Someone will come walking by!

We were out paddling probably two hours, so we jumped in off the back for our first swim. The one flaw to this area is the water color. It is not especially inviting this close to the mangroves. It is not so much that the water is turbid, as the color of the bottom undermines any chance at blue. Still, it sure felt great.

Over lunch, just about the time I hung out a load of laundry on the line to dry, the clouds rolled in and the wind piped up and backed to the NE and North! Yikes, what's up? We have no protection on this side, so the boat started rocking and bobbing, to the point we picked up the dinghy and stowed stuff in case we had to make a run to hide behind one of the little offshore islets. Fortunately, by about five, the wind died down and went back E-ESE . The sky stayed threatening, even turning an ugly shade of purple, but that was as far as it went. The next morning, things went back to normal.

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Vanua Levu Circumnavigation

Labasa is a very different town from Savusavu. It is bigger, with an actual downtown several streets deep. And it is livelier with barkers announcing store specials and crowds of people hurrying along shopping. And it is much more strongly Indian. Since Indo-Fijians own the lion's share of all "businesses" in Fiji (while the ethnic Fijians own the lion's share of the land), that may seem like it would be obvious. But in Labasa, most of the shoppers are Indians, too, the ladies scurrying along wrapped in their saris.

First stop was Asco Motors for a new propeller. Out of stock, but will have by Tuesday, after the upcoming three-day weekend. Same story at Vodaphone, where we ordered an external antenna for our Fijian cellular broadband card. (Sitting at anchor off Palmlea we are picking up a signal from Labasa. The antenna will just make it stronger!) Our next stop was the post office where we worked hard to post a thank-you note to James & Pearlie. The address on their card was not really a mailing address, but the workers knew who were they were, so the letter ended up posted on a bulletin board to be passed on when they saw them! Then we nipped in a store to look at a proper sulu for Don, but left without as they didn't have his size in a good color.

Next stop was the open market, which was also quite a bit bigger than Savusavu's. Julie was looking for fish, while we were looking for eggs, tomatoes and lettuce. The market was followed by a stop at the Labasa Morris & Hedstrom supermarket (M&H), which may have between twice the size of the market in Savusavu, but offered substantially less in "gringo" products. Still, we could restock on the basics.

Upon our return midday, the tide was out again, so J&J were "forced" to feed us lunch. Their kitchen gals whipped us up a round of cheeseburgers, while Joe plied us with his notebooks full of DVDs to watch while here (in exchange, of course, for ours!) Mid-afternoon we went back the boat to stow our groceries, before coming back in for another fine dinner of Basque chicken. Without other guests, we were much more prompt about getting back to the dinghy, about two hours after the 6pm high tide.
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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Vanua Levu Circumnavigation

The shoreline here, mangrove cloaked every bit of the way, extends another mile or so off the bow to a point around which is the wide expanse of Labasa Bay (pronounce Lambasa). Farther east, large mountains pile up in layers on the horizon, with a few islands extending the line into an arc to the NE. To the north are several low-lying islets, above which pokes the silhouette of tall Kia Island that stands like a lone soldier about twelve miles away in the great oxbow loop of the Great Sea Reef. No houses are visible, not even the teal roofs of our friends' resort. It is a pretty spot to sit, if more of an open roadstead, than the comfortable nook we usually think of as an anchorage. Fortunately, the prevailing winds come from the SE to E, and the little upturned tip of a point off the bow seems to be enough to keep our water nice and quiet.

In mid-afternoon, we looked to have enough water to get the dinghy to Joe and Julie's dock. So we headed in and walked the nice road they've built through the mangroves and up through the fields to Palmlea Lodge. I described Joe and Julies new resort previously in the update of our road trip over from Savusavu (May 15), but in the month since our visit, they have finished construction of the third bungalow, the trellised garden, added a generator and new water tanks, and the bougainvillea is well on its way to making the front hedge Julie desires.

We had finished our tour and were toasting (with that devil champagne!) our debut as the first yacht to visit Palmlea, when the phone in the office rang. It was Jim Bandy, the voice we have listened to for three seasons every morning on his SSB radio net called "The Rag of the Air" (8173 mHz @ 1900 UTC). Jim lives on an island near the NE tip of this coast, and we plan a stop there before we turn the corner. Of course at the rate we are going, that is still weeks away. Anyway, Jim was in Labasa bringing a friend to the airport and wondered if Palmlea's restaurant was open for dinner. Although the resort was not quite officially open yet, Joe had planned some local fish for the four of us. Fortunately, Joe has a habit of over-apportioning, so there was plenty to expand dinner for four to dinner for six.

For cruisers, meeting a radio voice is a little like meeting a celebrity, but Jim in person was nothing like we had imagined from his voice. We had pictured a crusty codger well into his social security years (often the case with radio net controllers), retired from cruising to his tropical island. Instead he was a trim, tanned man about Don's age, as was his friend Kurt from San Diego. From what we've put together from comments on the net, Jim has a boat building operation as well as one of the nascent virgin coconut oil processing setups, endeavors that he has undertaken almost as much from a missionary-like zeal to help the Fijian villagers as much as to support himself. We'll no doubt learn a lot more about it all when we visit, but he has been having a tough time lately with government red tape and a lack of dependability in his workers.

For an architect and builder, Joe is a mighty fine cook. He has studied the cuisines of all the countries he has lived and worked in, and he will be the supervising chef, if not the actual hands-on cook, for Palmlea's resort operation. Our meal was superb, an outstanding baked fish, what they call hereabouts a "coral trout", with sides of an eggplant medley and Tuscan roast potatoes. Over the meal we learned that Jim had once been a race car driver, which of course led to talk of the Indianapolis 500 ("Greatest Spectacle in Racing") and from there to motorcycles. Jim was not a Harley man, and Kurt rides a Big Dog. (I've seen the T-shirts, but never knew it was a bike!)

The evening lasted a lot longer than we'd planned, and when we got away to go home (after a debut walk down the hill in the dark!), we found the dinghy high and dry. @#$%#$@!!! Shades of Naviqiri! High and dry simply doesn't capture the reality of the muddy ooze and rock mix it was grounded on with about 40-50' to get to the water! The bugs were biting furiously, so no option now to sit tight and wait. We dragged the damn thing out one glopping foot at a time, bumping over rocks and losing our shoes every other step. I hate to think how we may have gouged the dinghy bottom. I've been afraid to look!

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms, Vanua Levu Circumnavigation

There is only one "highway" through Savusavu. Southward from the middle of town it is known as the Hibiscus Highway (although there is no sign anywhere that says so!), and it leads over the hill to the airport and several villages and resorts beyond on the Tunuloa Peninsula. Northbound it is called the Transinsular Road, and I get that from the Lonely Planet Guidebook. In either direction it is two lanes of pavement, riddled with potholes! Our vehicle was a white, two-door, four-passenger Suzuki 4WD jeep, which was, of course, right-hand drive. As you may know, from our years in St. Thomas, we have plenty of practice driving on the left, but little in actual right-hand drive cars where shifting is done with the left hand. In the passenger seat on the left, it was all I could do to stop myself from adjusting the rearview mirror so I could see back. It just felt wrong!

Our route north led around the east end of Savusavu Bay, passing the hospital, the Fiji Gas Terminal, and the campus of a technical college, giving us our first view back across the water onto the village. The lowlands were thick with coconuts palms, and Fijian fishing rafts were moored along the shoreline. Then we started to climb.

From the anchorage, we have been admiring the serried ranks of steep mountains ranged along the spine of Vanua Levu. Now we were up in them! As the road climbed the palm trees gave way quickly to pines. Villages along the way were clean and tidy, with crews of men scything the grass along the shoulder. Boys rode horseback along the side of the road. Virtually every person smiled, waved, or called BULA as we passed!

Near the top we stopped at a scenic overlook just above the Waisali Rainforest Preserve. The little park with its 1.5 km groomed walk is the closest thing to a tourist offering we have seen on Vanua Levu. The man staffing it said it was put together by the Waisali community! Good on them. I was sorry we didn't have more time to stop and take the walk. Next time!

Coming down on the north side of Vanua Levu, the landscape changed again. The forest became drier and the earth redder. Further down the hills opened to grass and sugarcane or the ordered rows of lumber pines. Our "highway" came to a T with a bus stop. There were still no signs, but we used nautical know-how and turned east toward Labasa (pronounced Lambasa). The roads may not have signs, but they do have milemarkers, and just before the 14 miles from Labasa marker we turned left at Khan's General Store.

The road promptly went to dirt, and that's dirt with baseball sized gravel! We've noticed that the Fijians drivers don't slow down much for this stuff, but we sure did. We followed this for 3km, taking just long enough that we wished we'd marked the odometer, when finally we saw the diminutive sign for Palmlea Farms and a track going off to the right. This track wended its way through shoulder high grasses for another kilometer, with stunning views of the islands and reef offshore, before opening out in front of our friends' new farm.

Palmlea Farms
Joe and Julie Smelser are a couple we met three years ago in the Marquesas. They had been around the world in their Beneteau 44, but were world travelers in their pre-cruising careers as well. Joe is retired from one of the most memorable careers I have ever heard of. He was a development architect for Pan American, researching, conceiving, negotiating, and designing signature resorts for the new and exotic destinations the pioneering airline sought to open around the world. Julie was retired from an equally interesting career as a start-up troubleshooting manager for casinos!

In the Marquesas they were still sailing aboard their boat Apogee, but even then their plan was to end the cruise in Fiji. Back then they talked retirement talk -- about a simple traditional Fijian home on leased property that would revert after their death to the original owners. But obviously, they were not really ready to sit still, because the actual project has become something completely different.

The main building, a lodge built in the Fijian style with high and steeply pitched roofs and an open front, sits above the road looking down a long slope of waving grasses to the mangrove-edged shoreline. Beyond the mangroves are approximately eight miles of lagoon and picturesque islets protected by the Fiji's Great Sea Reef, one of the major barrier reefs of the world. Behind the building the slope continues up steeply to a knoll, and their land is framed to the east and west by two thrusting ridges, one distinguished by its sleeping lion rock formation. Clustered on the main building's western flank are the first three bures of Joe and Julie's resort, which match the main lodge in style. Two of the bures are one-bedroom, each with a luxurious bath and sitting porch, and the third one, which was still under construction the day we visited, will be a two bedroom unit. Three more bures are planned.

The "Farms" in Palmlea Farms refers to the organic gardens that Joe and Julie have planted in three plots around the buildings to provide all the fresh produce the little resort will need. Bougainvillea plants ornament the front, and hibiscus in many colors decorate the bures. As we arrived they were in the midst of constructing a delightful trellised walkway between the lodge and the bures, part of which is an ingenious aqueduct for the rain catchment system from the lodge's roof to their cisterns.

We were both quite taken with Joe's designs for his buildings. The main building in particular, which has four dining tables across a totally open front, backed by a sitting area on one side and bar/kitchen area on the other, is really stunning. The floors are polished hardwood and the beams and rafters overhead are stained black with traditional Fijian woven palm matting mounted between them. Indeed the OUTSIDE walls of the building are lined with this traditional matting, varnished against the weather. Accents of colored walls and local art tie things together, and the overall effect is an airy and serene space totally focused on the awesome view.

After our tour around the facilities, Joe and Julie hosted us to a lovely luncheon in the main building. With their official opening only a few weeks away, Julie was happy to have us be guinea pigs as she trained her staff, a troupe of charming (if a bit shy) Fijian women from the nearby village. Joe presided in the kitchen, and we enjoyed a yummy meal of homemade torte (an Italian flatbread) with melted cheese and fresh rocket (arugula) from the garden, followed by teriyaki chicken. That and some very chilly Fiji beers really hit the spot.

As you might guess, the two captains brought with them their real estate itch, all primed and ready. Because you see, not only Joe and Julie have invested here, but two other couples that we cruised with from Mexico: Mike and Mary, formerly of Danseuse de la Mer, and Greg and Sujata, formerly of Majii Rey These six people were guests aboard Tackless II for a memorable potluck/book-swap that took place in Baie Anajo on the North Side of Nuvu Hiva (see www.thetwocaptains.com>From The Galley>#26.). so there have been several suggestions that it is preordained that we buys some land here.

Michael and Mary have purchased land at the very top of the hill above Palmlea Farms, while Greg and Sujata bough the plot on the ridge to the east. And of course there is at one more plot left with oceanfront access. So after lunch we all four climbed into the Suzuki and continued down the very overgrown track through Greg and Sujata's property, across a bridge-let made of logs, and then up a rise to the top of the lot.

The land – about 15 acres in all – like Joe and Julie's land slopes down to the mangrove-lined shore, but it is flatter and currently planted in sugar cane, just as all the lands around here have been at one time. The eastern boundary fronts a tidal river, an estuary that will empty at low tide, of course. Along the road is a small house (that can be included or removed!) as well as a few fruit trees. No one was sure where the uphill boundary ran. The view might even be better than Joe and Julie's, because the land wraps a bit around the hill so that the exposure is northeast across Labasa Bay where there is not only the town, but several small mountains and islets off shore.

So we'd be lying if we didn't confess that our imaginations have kicked into gear. To have a property, with very few, but known, neighbors, a spectacular view, a cash crop and access to the delights of the bay's protected waters and the great diving and fishing on the Great Sea Reef, all only 14 miles from a biggish town and with its own airport….well, it is tempting! However, we are not jumping to any conclusions here. We will just take Joe up on his suggestion and bring the boat up to anchor off his dock for awhile and explore the area for ourselves.

By the time we had done all this prospecting, the sun was starting to drop quickly toward the horizon. We were a little embarrassed to realize we had taken up the whole afternoon of these very busy people, who are pushing to be ready for their first group booking next week! Plus, we were also just a bit anxious that we were most likely going to be driving the hour and half back over the mountain in the dark! So without further ado, we said our good-byes and piled into the Suzuki to retrace our way home to Savusavu.

Interestingly, the route back did not seem quite as long as it had on the way over (although it still took the full time to drive it!) We stressed a little about finding the left turn at the bus stop, which did seem farther than we remembered it, but by now Don was such a pro at handling the Suzuki and dodging the potholes, (I won't mention the time he went to dim the lights for oncoming traffic only to shut them off entirely!) that we were back on the other side of the island in no time! We parked the car right in front of the Copra Shed and slipped home by dinghy for a light supper before bed.

Bonus Time

Since we had the car officially until 1030, we rose early the next day and used up the time exploring eastward along the Hibiscus Highway, which you will remember went east out toward the Tunuloa Peninsula. The first 20km of the road is paved and in relatively good shape. Beyond the airport we found a couple of fancy luxury resorts, the Koro Sun Dive Shop (with its own resort), and several other attractive little bure resorts as well along the road as it hugged the shoreline. Off in the distance we could see Taveuni. The pavement petered out right at the throat of the peninsula, offering a choice of a dirt road along the south shore of the peninsula, or another dirt road along the northwest side of Natewa Bay, the big gulf between Vanua Levu proper and the Tunuloa peninsula. We rattled along the dirt road another 15 minutes, seeing copra and cattle farms as well as more enterprising homesteaders, before turning back to turn the car in. If the infrastructure of the area (roads and restaurants) ever gets beefed up, Vanua Levu, sometimes called "Fiji's best kept secret," won't stay remote for long.

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Labels: Fiji 2007, Palmlea Farms