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Firefly - Kadavu and back to Tavarua



Firefly is anchored off Tavarua following several great days cruising the south coast of Kadavu and then a passage back to the west of Fiji. Kadavu is one of largest off lying islands in the Fiji achipelago and is about 50 miles south of Viti Levu the main island. To its south and east it is protected by the Great Astrolobe Reef, this being the 4th largest barrier reef worldwide.

Kadavu is very remote, mountainous and the only inhabitants are Fijians living a very traditional lifestyle - living off farming, mostly kava growing and fishing. There are a few resorts, several specialising in scuba diving - the clients arriving by light aircraft and then being taken to the resort by boat as there are no roads.

Following a couple of nights anchored off Ono and a dive around the Alacrity rocks we headed for the village that was also called Kadavu, having read in the guides that there was both a great waterfall and a friendly eco resort nearby - where we planned to spend Rosy's 24th birthday. En route we stopped off a small island called Vatelle, the northern tip being known as a spot for seeing manta rays. We anchored near a beach, Susie went into the water first and was immediately snorkeling above 3 mantas, with another larger one appearing soon after.

With the sun behind us we worked our way south west inside the Great Astrolobe Reef, we needed good visibility of the water and its relative depths as we passed through narrow coral strewn channels - in this location the GPS is about 200 metres out. The boat is actually 200 metres north, north east of where the chartplotter and i Pad (both with Navionics charts) indicate and therefore it all needs some ongoing interpretation.

Motoring in the dinghy down a mangrove lined creek we approached Kadavu village on a lovely sunny morning. The properties in this village where similar to those we had seen on Beqa although here the people were clearly a little more affluent and less surprised or affected by seeing the 3 of us walking to the house of the Village Chief. The village was beautifully kept - with orchids lining the paths. The Chief's Wife gave us lemon tea and some freshly baked bread while we waited for the Sevusevu. Similar to before the ceremony was only brief but still quite moving - the Chief was a really nice chap, he had been a dock worker for 40 years in the capital city called Suva and therefore spoke excellent English. Our kava offering was appreciated, the Chief explaining to us that for them its the tradition of the ceremony that is more important than actually receiving the kava.

Following the Sevusevu we visited the waterfall that is up above the village. After a short hike we came across a pool with several small cascades and were a little dissapointed. The Chief's wife who was showing us the way said 'no, no, up there' and she led us up to another pool and said we needed to climb up through the next cascade. This would have been an easy scramble up apart from the slippery rocks which made it somewhat challenging. Above we found another large pool almost completely enclosed with very steep and through this we swam until we reached the main falls - falling about 20 metres - it was really spectacular.

Heading back down the creek we stopped at the local school, located in a beautiful rain forest setting and met the Headmistress who was keen to show us around. She arranged for the younger children to assemble in the main hall and here we sat in front of the children and were asked to tell the children about our background and to explain the details of our voyage. The special assembly ended with the children singing Rosy 'Happy Birthday' and some traditional Fijian songs.

Fijian singing is really special, everyone being so enthusiastic and in harmony and later on that day Rosy was treated to another dedication. At the Matava resort we had booked in for dinner and really enjoyed the warm welcome, dining with the small number of resort guests and enjoying fantastic locally caught fish and home grown food. Without any special requests the kitchen had prepared a banana cake for Rosy's Birthday and before it was presented the staff (about 8 of them) came and sang several songs including another rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. The Fijian's have a few extra verses to the song that we feel should be adopted back home.

In order to leave before the onset of some potential headwinds we sailed the 120 mile passage back north west to Tavarua overnight on Friday 18th July and Rosy was able to surf Cloudbreak the following day. Having seen no other sailing boats at all around Kadavu it was nice to get back to the relative civilisation of the west of Viti Levu. We have spent that last couple of nights anchored off Tavarua with Harry, Imogen and Tim, on Hebe anchored nearby. All keen surfers they have been picking up Rosy in their tender when they head out to the various breaks.

Paul, Susie and Rosy

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