Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

We spent a wonderful day visiting our first Fijian port, Levuka, on the island of Ovalau. Skipper had intended to come here merely to clear in but decided instead to let everyone go ashore to experience a small town and another island, and we would travel the remaining 80nm during a night run and into the morning. The last bit of our passage takes us through many reefs and small islands, so we will do that once it´s light.  We arrived early and dealt with a slew of officials, one of our shipping agents even flying from Suva to meet us.  They were all wonderful people and enjoyed being on the boat.  We served them tea, coffee and juice, and in the afternoon, they even got to try some of the fish the ´guys´ were making for supper. Skipper chatted several hours with them, asking them about their interests, their families, their country, etc. . .  they loved it, they loved the attention I think, they didn´t want to go.  When we left the dock, they were there with big arms waving, calling out the names of the kids they remembered, saying they´ll see us again; and we were only there about 6 hours!  The shipping agent brought mail; this is a big event.  We have been thinking about mail for awhile.  I always hope everyone gets something.  Thank you to everyone who wrote and sent something.  We loved it, it´s wonderful the way people are being supported and are supporting, it´s something we can learn from.  If you phone the SALTS office you can find out the addresses of where mail can be sent.  It was like Christmas, once the mail has been passed out, everyone finds a quiet corner and disappears into the lives of their loved ones.  Every now and then, exclamations are aired as something just needs to be shared out loud. Thank you again. Today we changed our clocks again, an hour extra to our day.   We spent the majority of the day wandering through the town.  It is very different from French Polynesia.  The buildings and houses are somewhat run down, but painted all kinds of bright colours.  Someone said it looks like a railroad town, everything lined up along one main street.  The stores sold interesting mixes of items, things that at home we would not find in the same store.  They were more like general stores with a bit of everything.  People were very friendly, men, women and children would lean out their schools, homes and cars to wave and say ´Bola,´ which is Fijian for ´hello.´  Katie, the boys and I walked along the one road, along the beach, to a hundred year old Anglican Church.  It looked somewhat run-down from the outside but inside it was warm and welcoming.  There were beautiful stain-glass windows and wooden pews and it was tastefully decorated.  We stopped by a Fire Station so Katie could introduce herself and her dad and brother, and a very friendly man introduced himself, gave Katie a T-shirt and chatted with us and the kids for a bit, asking about the ship, the program etc.  He told us about himself and then asked if we liked mangoes.  He and his mates got a ladder and picked a bag of delicious mangoes for us.  The kids were thrilled.  We were already carrying an eating coconut and palm fronds with us.  Behind us on the dock is a Taiwanese fishing boat.  A large group of the fishermen came to where we were tied up, and were all sitting on their haunches, lined up on the dock, looking at the Grace.  Jordan, Skipper and Jose started trying to talk to them, their English was limited, and eventually invited them for a tour.  They were from different countries and some of them were very young.  Jose and Jordan were given a tour of their boat. Jose was surprised at how little they were being payed for contracts that went anywhere from 4 - 12 months.  He had the sense that working on the fish boat wasn´t easy or altogether healthy, although things seemed well-organized.  They too were on the dock waving good-bye when we left.  The island itself is very beautiful.  It reminded me of Moorea, Bora Bora, or the Marquesas; it is very mountainous and the vegetation is very lush and varied.  There were many flowers, both on bushes and trees, and a variety of fruit trees.  Tav, Chase and Scott prepared the 2 dorados for supper tonight; delicious, once again.  I think this is it, we are planning on arriving at Lautoka tomorrow morning at 1000hrs. Until then, good night, Bonice.