We are hoping from island to island and are enjoying our time in Fiji very much, so much that we are forgetting our readers!
We did a very short stop in Lautoka, the 2nd main city of Viti Levu. Always great to stock up on fresh produce from the market. We treated ourselves with a simple dinner out as it is quite cheap here. However, there were far too many mosquitos in that bay and we had the bad surprise to see Merlin's deck full of dark ashes the next morning.
We had a good sail to Navadra (17deg27S - 177deg02E). What a magnificient place.
Two small islands uninhabited with pristine beaches, clear water and beautiful coral life. The kids spent hours by themselves on the beach building some more elaborated "cabanas".
We hoped again a little further North (10nm) and anchored in another scenic spot. However, there was a big reef just behind us. We didn't sleep much last night as our GPS was incorrectly telling us we were drifting too much.
Early start this morning to find a safer anchorage and we found it at lunch time (17deg10S - 177deg11E). We are tucked between two islands, quite protected from the wind...and there are manta rays on our door step! We went swimming with them this afternoon. What a experience!!!
They were huge and beautiful, dancing for us (dixit Victor) and came back again and again. We will stay another day to go and visit them again. We ended up that special day with a colourful sunset and a good beer with our friends Bicoque.