Not a lot to report today. There’s a big high pressure system way south down by NZ that is causing high winds up here in Fiji. It’s something like a 1032 high which is compressing the trade winds, so we are sitting at anchor here in our little bay getting buffeted by 25 to 30 knot winds and the associated choppy water that goes with that. So…it’s a boat day.

Ann finished the special quilt she’s been making for the weaving ladies. More on that Monday when she presents it to them and we’ll have the appropriate pictures to post when we’re back in internet land. I’ll just say for now, it’s quite pretty and very creative.

I spent half the day processing pictures from yesterday’s event. I brought in the long zoom lens and got some really stunning portraits of folks and wanted to take the time to do them justice. It’s been worth it as they came out really well.

Tomorrow is church, so Ann is making a pasta salad to take in and share with our host family. We often feel like such a burden and want to bring something. The reality is that they love to have us as their guest and cook a ton of food for Sunday feast anyway, but we want to make the effort.

We’re running down to our very last favorite supplies. From here on its canned and dry food unless we can trade for some fish and/or veggies. The villagers are very generous with the fruit (bananas in particular, but we get papayas as well) but suffice to say we’re going on a diet. We’re down to about six cans of beer, a couple bottles of wine, two carrots, six potatoes, some eggs and a couple apples. We won’t starve as we have canned/dried foods that would last for months, but dinner will certainly be more of a challenge to make taste “fresh”. Tonight I cooked the last two eggplants with 1/3 of a pumpkin the villagers gave us in a coconut/curry sauce and we had that over rice. Ann’s comment was she was surprised at how good it tasted.

At this point we’re guessing we’ll likely stay here another couple weeks (visit the other village across the lagoon – explore a bit once the wind drops) and then take another week or so to visit a couple islands on the way back to Savusavu to resupply – then back out for some more adventure.

Add Lady Godiva to boot and you’ve got some idea of how today went. Or not.

We were presented beautiful lais for the party.

Today was an event for the cruisers put on by the ladies of the village. They were also hoping to raise some funds for a flush toilet. They need this. Currently the path to relief is out the door and behind the banana trees. Not so bad if you are a guy, but these women desire more.

They have been practicing songs for several days and they built a special structure that everyone could fit into just for “the show”. The structure was made from small trees that held cross beams that consistent of more trees as well as a very long pipe that looked scavenged from a ship. The whole thing was covered with corrugated tin and held down with large rocks to keep the roof from blowing away. The floor was woven pandanas mats, so we were not sitting on the dirt. Musical instruments included guitars, ukuleles a loli (wooden drum) and other percussion instruments including a cardboard box, a coconut shell and a meter tall section of 6 inch PVC pipe.

Jasmine as "The Myna Bird"

Bill as "Lady Godiva"

Here's the outdoor theater set-up.

The ladies were all dressed up for the event.

There was some beautiful music as well as silliness. The beauty came in the form of an invocation started in falsetto by the children, several songs about the island of Fulunga (and how you’ll lose your heart there – so right!) and a goodbye song to end the evening.

The centerpiece of the event (besides the food – see below) was the silly song about the myna bird, etc. Four of the women dressed up in myna bird, gorilla, goat and chicken outfits and pranced and danced to the hoots and hollers of all present. It was hilarious and felt like summer camp! Then one of the young men came out dressed as a woman (Lady Godiva) and the place fell apart.

Since it was all in Fijian it was impossible to tell what the song was really all about, but given the costumes and silliness it was pretty easy to join in the overall fun.

There was also kava (of course) and food. After numerous rounds of kava, the feast began. Octopus, crab made several different ways, whole baked fish, fried eggplant, cassava root, and roti (a Fijian tortilla). Needless to say, Ann and I have skipped dinner after this sumptuous feast.

There were also some heartfelt speeches from the village elders and then a call for the cruisers to say something. Before anyone could decide who should speak , Tai called out Ann to say a few words. She has become very close to many in the village so there were lots of affirmative voices calling for her to stand and speak which she did – and Ann did us proud. Lots of “vinakas” and clapping.

I could go on and on about these wonderful people but I guess I’ll let the fact that we’ve been here for four weeks today be testimony that this place and these people are unique, special, wonderful – you can choose so many other adjectives but we’ll just say that we are also proud to call them our friends.

A quiet day today. We’re in a three or four day windy period where we can’t do much other than work inside or go ashore and since we’ve been working the clinic for the past two days we were pooped!

I used the last of the clams Joe dug for us and made a great (according to Ann) batch of clam chowder. Yum. Ann is finishing the quilt she’s making for the weaving ladies. We had one of the other boats (Graham and Diane from Maunie – a lovely couple of Brits) over for a Charisma and we were having such a delightful time we invited them to stay over for chowder. They reciprocated with freshly baked rolls which were perfect!

So, it’s late. I’ll leave you today with another little anecdote. The Three Loves.

Ann was trying to teach the little girls in the village some English words and in return seeking to learn more Fijian. She was trying to get the girls to teach her the proper word for “beautiful”. There was quite a back and forth, but no progress. They didn’t seem to know the English for “beautiful”. Finally one of them said; “Rairai vinaka”. Ann was pleased to learn a new word, but was thrilled when the girls looked at her tattoo with the three hearts stacked inside each other on her ankle, (each heart signifying one of her children) and said, “That’s your three loves. It’s very beautiful”.

It is official…we have spent another incredibly fulfilling day as assistants to Batai, the island nurse. That hardly describes what Batai provides to the three villages of Fulunga. Last year there was no nurse here. Batai has been here since last November and the villagers love him. There is a lot to love about this 25-year old guy who is doing it all with no real time off. (Yesterday I found him asleep in the middle of the floor in a villagers house—but everyone knew where he was when I asked.) 24/7 Batai is on call.

So when Batai said he needed to continue the health screenings in the “third” village we were very happy to help. Yes, we have seen the third village. The interesting part about this village, Naivaduma, is that it is the only village visible from anchorages. But it is not the main village, Monicake, which has the school, the Fulunga Clinic and the head chief. Even though this is our second trip to Fulunga we don’t know anyone who actually has been to this village. Boats come in through the pass and head to the main village anchorage and don’t stop. So this was a treat.

We had heard from friends that tried to get to the third village by dinghy that it was difficult due to reefs. You can walk to this village but it is a rugged hike lasting from 1.5 to 2 hours (Batai can make it in 30 minutes!). We got lucky today. Batai coerced Ed and Nila from Quixotic into joining the crew that had helped the day before so we needed a fiber (panga-type boat) to carry all of us. Good thing because the winds are up and we stayed much drier in a fiber than we might have in a dinghy.

Our “taxi” picked us up at the beach at7:30am (ouch) and dropped us gently off right in front of the village. We were greeted by Felipe and Buna, the village health workers and wandered through the village to the community hall to set up. Now that we have been to each village we have seen that each village has a distinct personality. Naivaduma is incredibly well kept. Flowers bloomed in gardens around the houses. The beach was clean, but windy and in front of some of the huts the sand was raked. There were even ducks floating in the surf!

Tau, our host, is from this village and she told us stories about growing up there with her father as the most talented carver in the village. Although he has passed his legacy lives on in the church. The rail across the front of the altar is supported by intricately carved war clubs. Seriously. It is a comment by the church on how far they have come…no longer warriors but now a loving community at worship. Tau’s father’s was the centerpiece of the rail and it is beautiful. We are so glad we knew to go look.

The villagers were very pleased to be the center of attention and happily came in for their screenings. We managed to see all 25 adults (and four darling toddlers). Yesterday we were missing three adults. And these folks were characters. Our bulas and smiles were met with bigger bulas and, of course, some silliness. One of our favorites was Mattei, Buna’s father, who immediately set about causing trouble. He thought maybe he should just sit on the scale. Bob met his teasing with some of his own immediately instructing Lisa to do some extra blood sticks to make sure we had his data and the laughter continued. Oh, and Bob got invited to come join the men in a kava party as soon as he was done!

The village chief, Moeses personally thanked Bob for our participation in the church fundraiser a few weeks ago, where Bob reigned as guest chief. Very thoughtful. And of course, breakfast of bread, crackers, oranges and tea was provided afterwards. They really wanted us to stay for lunch too but we all decided that we would like to hike back over the hill and so time was limited.

The hike back to our dinghies took us up to higher lands where we saw many plantations, back down along the mangroves and finally ended at the second village where we had been yesterday. It was sometimes challenging due to the sharp lava rocks that are the path in some places. What a great way to complete the circle back to the main village. And just in time for school to let out…swamping us with all of our little friends creating a bit of a parade back to the dinghy.

Another great day in Fulunga. But tomorrow we are sleeping in!

From Bob: A short anecdote. Yesterday when Tau and family were on Charisma for dinner, we watched the new moon come up over the island. It was just a sliver and it was “upright” shaped like a bowl. Tau glanced up and said it was going to be a dry month. “Why”? we asked. She said that when the moon came up shaped like a bowl it meant that it was holding the water, that none would spill out. Just a little folk wisdom from Fulunga – where we’ll see over the coming weeks how the prediction for less rain plays out.

Today, Ann and I were recruited by Batai, the village (male) nurse to go to the second village and help do a health screening day.

So…up at 0545, into the beach by 0645 and in the village at 0700 for the 20 minute walk down to the second village to do the screenings. Part of the screening is a blood sugar test and Batai wanted to try and do that before folks had their breakfast.

So, off we went. On the way, we passed some of the kids from the second village who (as we are continually amazed) remembered our names from last year. “Bula Bob, bula Ann” we heard as we walked along the trail. We haven’t been down there yet this year. How do they remember…?

Once in the village, we started setting up stations for various health measurements. Larry and Lisa from “Lisa Kay” also were with us. We had a weighing station where I took weight (in kilograms) then Larry measured height and calculated BMI while I recorded all the numbers in their personal health booklets. After us, Lisa did a pin prick diabetes test, then on to Batai who measured blood pressure and finally to Ann who recorded all the information in the official log and helped the villagers understand some of their readings. It was a fun and rewarding morning. We were finished by 1100 at which point they had some breakfast for us. Plates of goodies and hot tea were the reward for a job well done. Tomorrow we’re taking a small boat (in Mexico it’s a panga, here they call it a fiber) over to the third village to do the same thing.

After doing the clinic, we were walking back to Charisma when two distractions presented. One, Jasmine said that Joe (the Patriarch of our host family) was out getting clams for the dinner we were going to have on Charisma tonight. Huh?! Well, we did mention something about maybe doing that when we were in on Sunday. Whatever. If Joe was getting the clams, I was going to cook them. The second distraction was Ann got caught up with the weaving/quilting/sewing ladies. I now add sewing since Cindy on Bravo brought in a dress pattern and the ladies asked Ann to help them learn how to sew a dress. Ann is now in the seamstress consulting business and my understanding is the dress is about 80% done.

So, Ann stayed on to sew and I went back to Charisma to prepare for dinner with our host family. I thought that they were going to bring COOKED clams. Wrong. As I was cleaning up the boat a bit I happened to look outside and saw Joe coming by in a kayak. I went out to say “Bula” and after our appropriate bulas back and forth, Joe said he had the clams. He then handed me a burlap rice sack with about 40 lbs of clams in it. Joe’s English is a little challenged, but after some back and forth I learned that I was to cook said clams and he would see me later when I was to pick up him and family on the beach. OK. I took the big bag of clams and he happily paddled off toward the beach.

Now I’m presented with a dilemma. I’ve never seen clams like these and had no real clue how to cook them. I did know that I should clean them by soaking them in salt water, so I dumped about a third of them into a 5 gallon bucket and filled it with sea water. Good thing. They were really sandy. They were also a bit hairy so I scrubbed them with a brush to clean them off before piling them high (after an hour of soaking) in our biggest pot and throwing them on the stove. I read that they should open up after about 10 minutes. Right on time, they popped open almost like they were on springs and I thought, “You know, this just might work”. In the meantime Ann showed up on the beach with Jasmine and Samu (Tau and Joe’s 9-year old son) so I dinghied in and picked them up. Then Tau, Joe and their older son (we never get his name right) showed and I ferried them out as well. Long story short(er) I made spaghetti and after cooking the clams chopped them and sautéed them in a butter, garlic, onion and wine sauce then combined it all. Seconds and thirds were had by all and Tau, who makes the best coconut clam dish in existence pronounced the dinner, “Maleka!” Delicious. Success! To top dinner off, Ann offered up her cherished bag of peanut M&M’s for dessert. They were a big hit with the boys and I was able to discreetly saved some for later.

So, all in all a good day. The only problem is we have 2/3s of the clams still hanging in the burlap sack off Charisma’s stern. Tau says they will last fine that way if we just keep them out of the sun. I guess I’ll have to figure out another clam recipe for tomorrow night. Stay tuned. Sewing update from Ann- As Bob mentioned I was recruited to work on the dress again. God bless these patient women. The hand-cranked machine was acting difficult yesterday so we decided we would try the treadle machine. Actually I have always wanted to see one in operation so I was thrilled. Until we tried to get it to give us a good stitch. No bueno. Back to the temperamental hand-cranked machine.

As we started back into the project Jasmine joined us with a guitar. “How nice”, I thought. What I didn’t know was that the village women’s group was going to be practicing for the “Women’s Day Event” that they had invited the yachties to on Friday. Imagine if you can, three women fighting with a temperamental sewing machine while ten silly Fijian women laugh and giggle as they try to remember dance steps and words to songs and hand motions. Many of the steps took them around the room circling us with laughter. Add to this joyful scene four toddlers under two. None of them were crying. They were dancing and pounding on anything to keep the beat. And they were good. Sure wish I could keep a beat like that. Some were even trying to sing. All were smiling. The music for this practice consisted of Ba, the owner of the biggest smile on Fulunga, seated on the floor with her legs straight out and a box between them. She used a machete and her hands to pound her “drum”. She later was joined by Rebecca who picked up a pair of scissors (cote in Fijian) and a pen and flipped over a low wooden box that said Money Till on the side, to use as a drum. And top it all off with their lovely voices. Wow.

Oh, and then the school kids joined us when school let out. First it was the younger girls but soon it was a room full of boys and girls, some dancing, some drumming, all singing and smiling. I looked up at the whir of music and laughter around me and could not imagine any place lovelier. I can’t wait for the real performances on Friday. I bet we will all be learning some Fijian dances steps and songs!

Or maybe it’s sewing and diving. You guessed it, we split up today. As Bob and friends bobbed and dove on the outside of the reef I went into the village for more weaving and quilting. But it ended up being a sewing lesson instead.

I had mentioned to Cindy on Bravo that Jasmine asked me to please plan to come back to Fulunga next year and teach them to sew their own clothes. They love quilting but they would also love to make stylish new dresses too. Well, Cindy happened to have a pattern for a simple yet stylish dress that she offered to bring in to share. So while Cindy and the other new weavers were enrolled in Weaving 101 I began teaching Sewing 101.

My mother, who spent so many hours teaching me to sew as a six year-old, would have been pleased with my efforts today. I was channeling Mom as I explained how to read a pattern and understand how to use it. I could hear Mom explaining how to properly layout a pattern piece following the grain of the material and properly notching the needed marks. Marks that later become very important for matching pieces and sewing seams. And she would have laughed when the dress we were making/ had just cut out was now going to be sewn to fit a 9 year old girl, not a grown women. No need for room in the bust, take in all of the seams. What a day. Add to these issues the fact that the hand operated sewing machine was giving us fits. We finally got an okay stitch out of it and seem to be on the right path to downsizing the dress.

We ran out of time today so will finish the dress tomorrow. The village ladies are hanging on my every word and I am trying to be as clear as possible so that they can continue to make some new dresses for themselves. Some of the ladies really seem to understand. I have been speaking very slowly and pointing to everything I am describing because I know how hard it is to translate a language and apply it at the same time. They are amazing.

Nila from Quixotic ended the weaving lesson with a lesson of her own. A yoga lesson. Although most of the older women declined the invitation a few joined in, as did the young girls who had just come home from school. I was not inside the “yoga studio” but the silliness was spilling out the windows. As one of the “reserved” ladies commented, “We sure know how to laugh here!” Amen!

A little silliness to go with weaving and sewing.

From Bob: So, the bobbing part. It was windy today, but Ed from Quixotic came by and asked if I wanted to try and dive. Yes please. We got Adam from Bravo to came as well and the three of us headed out about halfway between high and low tide. As we got to the entrance to the reef there were large standing waves. The biggest I’ve seen. Probably about three feet, but they were very close together making them pretty intimidating. Fortunately we could just slide by the edge of the channel and miss the worst parts as they were big enough to have swamped the dinghy.

Once outside, we immediately saw that our plan to “go left” down the reef about a mile to a spot we saw when we were fishing the other day wasn’t going to happen. It was too rough. Actually, it was looking too rough to dive at all, but we went to the right and up the reef hoping to find a spot that was a little protected from the waves. Even though the wind was easterly and theoretically the reef was blocking the waves, they were still refracting around the point so we have three foot waves breaking on the reef. Not to worry. Ed, who is a strong swimmer jumped in with snorkel gear and set the anchor on a piece of dead coral. The dinghy was set in about 25 feet of water, but since the reef is near vertical, the dinghy was probably only 10 meters from crashing waves on the reef. But Ed was OK with where his dinghy was, so we suited up and slipped below the surface. Once down everything was quiet and serene (as always). You would never know that it was so tumultuous up above. We descended to around 50 feet and paralleled the reef up current. Ed and Adam saw a turtle right off. I was mezmorized looking up and over at the waves crashing above me and how they contrasted with the quiet beauty of the coral down where we were. And so it went until our air supply ran low and it was time to return to the rocking and rolling world above the surface. The only way back into an inflatable dinghy is to take off your gear while still in the water and tie it to a line while you try and time your “kick” with the waves to jump back in the boat. Back in the boat it’s a little disorienting to once again see just how close you are anchored to the crashing waves against the jagged coral reef. Oh well, just another day in Fulunga.

Maybe Ann will make this into a new Olympic Sport. You certainly need to be quick. She slapped two sparrows today. One on the way in to church and another on the way back. Both seem to be OK.

What the heck am I talking about? Well, the trail up from the beach toward town is “rich” with mosquitos. So, there are tons on quick little sparrows who take advantage of that by dive bombing the trail and eating them. Probably by the thousands. Usually they are just swooping around, but today for some reason they flew much closer to both of us that we have seen before. Combine that with Ann slapping at the “mosies” buzzing her head and you have sparrow slapping. She got one on the wing on the way into the village. I was behind her and saw the close encounter. But on the way back she slapped at her head just as a sparrow swooped and I could hear a hollow thump as she slapped it on the head. In both cases she let out a little yelp. I’m not sure I could hear what the sparrows said.

So fun meeting the children on the path on the way into the village.

Church was the usual beautiful singing and happy, loving people. They so make us feel part of the family here. Everyone calls us by name; “Bula Bob, bula Ann”. As always I’m struck at the differences with formal religion as I’ve experienced it in the past. Here the very young children are shared from lap to lap with family and any others who happen to be nearby. When they get tired of one person they wander off and someone else scoops them up and holds them until the process repeats itself. “Joe The Enforcer” is there to keep the older children in line, but his bark is scarier than his bite as the saying goes. He looks menacing walking down the side of the church toward the unwary child who is not paying attention. As we sense his presence “stalking” down aisle with his long stick, we cruisers all unconsciously straighten up in the pews, but he is focused on the kids (fortunately). Just as you think he’s going to whack one of them with his stick he gently prods him or her with it and gives them a scolding but grandfatherly look and they straighten up and all is good in the world again. Until the next kid misbehaves.

Joe "The Enforcer".

The other thing about church is the incongruence of some of it. One the one hand here is worship of a Christian God. But on the other hand you have native drums just outside that are used as a call to worship (this is throughout Fiji, not just here in Fulunga). Today when the ladies in the church began a hymn as the minister was entering church, the wooden drums (carved out of a tree trunk, the larger drums are six feet or more long and three or four feet in diameter) outside the church started their primal beat as a counterpoint to the singing within. Today the drums signal a call to worship, but I couldn’t help feeling how just 100 years or so ago those same drums were used instead in pagan rituals or signaling an enemy approaching from a neighboring island.

After church, as is the Sunday custom, we were invited to feast with our host family (Tau, Joe, Grandma, their two boys and Tau’s half sister Jasmine who is staying with them. As we got to their home (It’s got a large open main room and several bedrooms, corrugated tin siding and roof and the kitchen is outside where all the cooking is done over an open fire or in the lovo – an in ground oven) the food was already being placed on the “table”. On the floor really. There is very little furniture here and no-one uses a table and chairs. When we asked why they didn’t eat at a table it was explained to us that as big as their extended families are, they can’t get enough table space, not to mention chairs in the room. It’s not at all unusual here to have a dozen or more drop in for a meal. So easy to just sit down on the floor instead of worrying about all those pesky chairs.

Meals with Tau and Joe have almost always been on their front porch. They put out several large pandanas mats to sit on and cover that with a tablecloth runner – about 10 feet long and two feet wide that the food is placed on. I asked how long a typical mat would last and Tau noted that the one we were sitting on was 7 or 8 years old. It hardly even looked worn. You sit on the mat, around the tablecloth cross – legged on the floor. It’s so relaxing sitting there on the porch. People walk past on the path outside and “bulas” are exchanged all around. The dog and cats sit on the mat as well, but don’t beg. They know that no one will feed them until the meal is over at which point all the scraps will go out into the compost pile where they can have at them. There’s no dog food or cat food here. It’s scraps or nothing.

The meal is usually spectacular, but of course depends on what they gathered on Saturday. Today we enjoyed curried green papaya, boiled fish (you just pull the meat off the bones of fish served whole), a couple of huge crabs, lovo baked cassava root (grated and combined with coconut then wrapped in banana leaf and baked in the ground) and the best clams I have ever tasted. Tau claimed they were just boiled in water, but they tasted so rich, like they had been simmered in pure butter. Anyway, really amazing food all gathered yesterday. Nothing packaged or from a store. Wow.

Sunday feast.

After lunch we headed back to Charisma for a lazy afternoon. Ann worked on a quilt she’s making for the weaving ladies (more on that in a future post) and I worked on, um…a nap. OK, I read some of my book but then drifted off in a food induced stupor.

Sunday in Fulunga. We love it.

And I do mean ON the reef.

Today being Saturday in Fiji, is the day everyone in the village fishes or otherwise prepares food for Sunday’s feast. Ed from Quixotic volunteered his dinghy to take Tai fishing and I was invited. We did ourselves proud in the long run, but it was a rocky start.

We (especially Ed who was risking his dinghy) had no idea that we were not headed out the pass to fish, but actually over the reef. It was high tide so while seemingly possible, not something we cruisers would ever do. That reef system is ¼ mile of jagged coral that is partially uncovered at low tide. We were fishing at high tide, but it was a little harrowing and disconcerting when we got to the “big rock” in the channel and Tai pointed NE and said; “Go there”. Ed’s response agreed with mine. “There”?!! But “there” we went since we trust Tai to know. I don’t think we had much more than a foot of water under the propeller but we made it all the way out to the reef and set the anchor just inside the waves breaking on the outside of the reef. Then Tai taught us how to bait and cast the handlines. Basically, you put a LOT of bait (cut up goatfish is the bait of choice), bend a little piece of lead sheet around the line for some extra weight and then swing the baited hook over your head in a circle letting a little more out as it spins up until you have about six feet of line out. Then you let go and hope the whole thing doesn’t catch on something in the boat or one of your fishing partners. Actually it worked pretty well most of the time.

We only stayed out on the reef about 45 minutes at peak high tide. That’s the best fishing and also about all the time you have before the tide drops and potentially strands you until the next high tide. So, our score: One small grouper, one large (about 8 lb) something or another. I think maybe a type of sweetlips which is close to a grouper and a very large fish on my line that jumped and I lost him. We also lost three hooks and about 150 of line to the coral rocks.

So, the tide’s going down and Tai decides it’s time to go to the other side of the reef and troll. To Ed’s and my amazement, Tai showed us a little cut right through the reef to the outside. Before we knew it we had gone from four feet of water inside the jagged rocks, through the breakers and into deep water. All in about 25 meters. I never would have considered it, but…local knowledge!

Outside the reef it was rough and windy today. Not good diving weather, but good trolling. We added to our fish count with a good size spanish mackeral that Tai caught trolling the handline with one of my homemade lures – a red and yellow squid pattern. Then the big one. I hooked up on a good size skipjack tuna and we landed him. Somewhere in the 20 lb range. Happy day!

So armed with a good morning’s catch we headed back. Tai was kind enough to give Ed the spanish mackerel and Ed invited Ann and I for dinner. Nila did a fantastic job with the fish. Deeelicious!

And the bonus for the day – Ann made two loaves of wheat bread. Yum. It’s such a treat to have something homemade and fresh at this point in our trip here since after three weeks we’re running out of fresh food. Now we need to improvise. For instance, we bought a pumpkin. It’s large enough we’re planning three meals out of it. Curried pumpkin, roasted pumpkin and potatoes, and something else we haven’t decided yet.

We also moved anchorages. We were in a very secluded spot, but for the next four or so days there is predicted to be higher than normal winds, so we ducked back into the village anchorage where we started several weeks ago. It’s very protected and the biggest advantage is it’s close to the beach where we dinghy in so we don’t get wet blasting 1 miles across the lagoon in wind and choppy waves to get here. We’re just 150 meters from shore. Convenient since we’re going into the village tomorrow and Monday (it’s quilting day now that Ann has the weaving ladies making a quilt). I might wander down and try and see if Mini will let me carve a bowl with him.

Tomorrow – church and the Sunday feast.

Yup, I went diving again today. Best dive yet. The conditions were outstanding and the water was especially clear and almost unnaturally blue. We went outside the pass, but this time turned to the right and dropped in the water on the NE side. Turns out it’s got more interesting topography. Lots of dips and turns and some almost caves and the coral is really alive and colorful. Just fantastic.

The best part of the dive was coming around an underwater hill at about 50 foot depth, seeing an undercut and when we were about 10 feet away a huge sea turtle swam out. OK, we probably interrupted his afternoon nap, but it was a spectacular display as he slowly swam out 10 feet in front of us and arced across, up and then down and away until he disappeared into the deep blue. Breathtaking.

On these “cruiser dives” we only have the one set of gear (looks like we might be able to borrow some extra gear in the next few days for Ann to get to experience such an amazing place) so Ann has been going into the village to show the ladies there how to quilt. But today she spent the mid-day exploring our new anchorage on the paddleboard. Then after going all the way around the bay, she jumped in for a snorkel around some of the little motus near Charisma and – surprised a sea turtle! Wow, sea turtles dancing all the way around for us today!

Tomorrow is Saturday in Fiji and it’s the day everyone is out gathering/hunting for food for Sunday feast. I’m going fishing with some men from the village (at 0700, ugh) and Ann is going to go fishing with the ladies. We’ll go outside the reef hoping for some pelagics and the ladies will fish the shallows for goatfish and other reef fish that they will net. Others in the village will be collecting food out of the gardens, gathering and preparing coconuts and hopefully some will get clams. One of my favorite foods here is clams in coconut milk cooked in the lovo (in ground) oven. Yum.

A last word on our new anchoring spot. We’re the only boat here.

Charisma's private bay.

The water alternates between ice blue and turquoise depending on the tide. Those colors signify depths in the low to high teens. Charisma is in about 15 feet over sand. Last night the stars were so amazing we were speechless. Not a cloud in the sky. A 360 degree view with a horizon punctuated by an occasional coconut tree on one of the motus sprinkled near us in the lagoon.

One sign of how enthralled we are with this place and its people is that we’re going to run out of wine and beer soon. Yup, the unthinkable is near, yet we’re staying longer. We just can’t make ourselves leave. Once the alcohol runs out, (shudder!) we’ll likely go native…so stay tuned, but don’t worry we still have enough rum to last most of the rest of the season, so Charismas at sunset will NOT be missed.

That about sums up today. Well not quite, but close.

Morning starting with the last of the rain and clouds. I got up (again) sometime around 0400 when a gust of wind blew one of the paddleboards off the cabin top and it banged on the deck waking me with the usual scare of hitting a reef in the dark. OK, just the paddleboard and back to sleep.

Enter morning and a pot of coffee waiting for the clouds to part – which they did on schedule around noon. Good, the day is going according to plan. We had a quick lunch and pulled anchor to head to a new part of the lagoon since we had some sun to guide the way. I’m getting more comfortable reading the water depth by the color of the lagoon, so we headed into completely new territory where there are no other boats. We’re in a beautiful spot in among the motus. We’re surrounded on three sides by maybe a dozen little islands. Some are just 20 yards wide and maybe 15 feet tall. We’re anchored in about 15-20 feet over sand. It’s a small spot with just enough room to swing and stay in that depth. Just beyond our 100 feet of anchor chain it shallows to four to six feet at low tide. Not enough to float Charisma, so it was important that we set the anchor carefully to allow just the right amount of swinging room if the wind shifts.

Evening finds us under a cloudless sky, by ourselves in our lovely little anchorage with an infinite blanket of stars overhead. There are so many stars that it’s hard to pick out the constellations. We’ll probably stay here a couple days. It’s in a nice spot not too far from the village anchorage so it’s easy for us to dinghy in, yet it’s a private spot with no other boats – largely because it’s out of the way. You have to be a little adventurous to wander in here instead of sticking with the safety of the deeper, safer spots.

Ann had a special time today. Here she is to tell about it: (By Ann) I have wrestled with the idea of entertaining my weaving friends on Charisma but I know that I could not limit it to the number that would fit on Charisma. There are at least ten, if not more, of these darling women who I would love to have aboard but it would take multiple dinghy trips and a much bigger boat. Enter Sue, from Spruce. Sue is also an apprentice weaver trained by the best here in Fulunga but, yahoo…her boat is much bigger! And Sue and Andy are leaving Fulunga tomorrow so when she called and asked if I wanted to be part of a tea party aboard Spruce to say goodbye, I was thrilled! And Sue did it up in grand English style. Not only was there English tea, with lessons on how to properly extend your pinky, but there was a demonstration on how to properly prepare an English scone. There were cucumber sandwiches, egg sandwiches and loads of sweet things to indulge your sweet tooth (these non-English items I was able to help supply).

The first dinghy...

...and the second boatload.

Crowded but loving it.

And, no Tara, that's not how you stick out your little finger when you drink tea.

The best part of today was being able to return the generosity that these ladies have shown us. The ten ladies who were ferried to Spruce in two large dinghies actually got to sit and enjoy being pampered. They loved the tea and devoured all of the goodies. How fun it was to tell them to eat and enjoy, more….more…more. They are always spoiling us when we visit the village so it was extra special to be able to spoil them. Laughter, love and the most beautiful smiles in the world!