Back in Suva

A few pics from Suva
Friday morning I motor-sailed from Suva Harbor to Vaga Bay on Beqa Island (as in Samoa and Tonga, written g's are pronounced ng). After anchoring I dinghied ashore to perform sevusevu, a ceremony wherein a gift of kava is presented to the village chief and he in turn gives you permission to walk around, swim, etc on their lands and waters. While the terrestrial part of Vaga Bay is beautiful, the underwater portion was less appealing, so the next day I headed to Yanuca (c's are pronounced something like dth) Island, passing by the private island resort on Ugaga Island on the way. After stopping in Yanuca Village on the east side of Yanuca Island to perform sevusevu, I continued to the most sheltered and picturesque southwestern end of the island where I anchored in a beautiful little bay off of Batiluva Resort. They are a few miles from Frigates Passage surf break (which is on the western end of the Beqa Lagoon barrier reef) and many of their guests are there for that reason. Yesterday I sailed then motor-sailed back to Suva with the intention of returning to Yanuca for a few days of lounging and surfing.

The population of Fiji is something like 60% native Fijians and 40% Fijians of Indian descent. The Indians were brought here by the British around 1870 - 1930 to work on sugar plantations. The Indian and native Fijians seem to live pretty much segregated from each other aside from business interactions. The Indians appear to own and run most of the shops and local businesses. Almost everyone speaks English (which I believe is the official language), but the native Fijians speak Fijian as their native tongue and the Indians speak Hindi.

I have bought a local sim card, so please give me a call anytime at 679 743 7927 (679 is the Fiji country code).