Elaine awoke to the most spectacular sunrise this morning and after
taking some photographs, had no sooner snuggled back under the covers when she
heard Roy take the plunge off the back of Paw Paw. Yes, at last, Paw Paw has a
clean bottom, but, sadly, her topsides are filthy again from all the black soot
caused by the numerous fires that burn day and night in the sugar fields.
Anyway, once the final cleaning was done, Roy went ashore to have the dive
tanks refilled and check on our sail repairs while Elaine spent the morning
finishing off her research on all the entry procedures as well as completing
our itinerary for New Zealand.
After lunch it was time to head back to shore to attend a seminar on New
Zealand Passage Planning and Management which we found very worthwhile indeed. Feeling
more confident about the decisions we had already made regarding the passage
and with Paw Paw as ready as she can be at this stage for the voyage, it was
time to go out and play.
So, we decided to become "Gastro Tourists" for a night, starting off
with sundowners and starters at Lulu's Bar and Restaurant, followed by our main
course at the Indigo Indian Restaurant. However, in-between the courses, we had
a wonderful surprise.
Since our plans had changed en route to Denarau, preventing us from stopping in
at Beqa Island, we missed the opportunity to see members of the Sawau tribe,
famously known as the Beqa Fire Walkers, who can walk bare foot over blazing
hot rocks. The legend depicts that an historic encounter with a spirit God by one
of their great ancestors saw the exchange of the captured God's freedom for
power over fire.
As luck would have it, the Beqa Fire Walkers had come to us. After seeing this
amazing ritual, we then got to sit down and enjoy "kava" with the
priest and the other fire walkers. Definitely a highlight of our stay in Fiji
thus far!
"Kava" is made from "Piper Methysyicum" which is Latin for
"Intoxicating Pepper", a crop
of the western Pacific, the roots of which are used to produce this drink that
has mild sedative and anaesthetic properties. Needless to say, we were very
relaxed for the gastronomic experience of our main course!
After dinner and having eaten far too much, we took a slow dinghy ride, on flat
seas under a waxing moon, back to Paw Paw, where we both crashed after a busy
week of "boat projects" or was it the "kava"?
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