Sitting around Savusavu for several weeks waiting for spare parts wasn’t an adversity at all. It’s a very small town with wonderful people, lots of tiny, inexpensive Indian and Chinese restaurants and a good fruit and veggie market that is open every day.
 |
| Gormless Observers |
Along with a couple of other yachties, we hired a car for a day to tour inland where we headed over the mountains to the northern coastline before circling anti-clockwise back along tiny dirt roads. The trip took the entire day despite the fact that it really isn’t that great a distance. The roads aren’t exactly conducive to high-speed travel and the car had a serious over-heating problem. This meant regular stops to search out creeks and rivers to fill up with water. The first time it happened, we were literally in the middle of nowhere land standing around aimlessly watching the steam pour out with no water in sight. Lady Luck was definitely with us as, lo and behold, a truck full of chaps passed by and one just happened to be a mechanic. Not only that, but they led us off into the bushes and, wow, there was a stream. Once we got going again, we made a habit of topping up with every stream we found so things progressed fairly well after that.
There is an amazing difference between the landscape on the southern side of the island as compared to that in the north. The southern region receives a lot of rain making the vegetation lush, thick and very green, whereas, on the northern side, little rain falls making it altogether drier and more sparse. Despite this, one of their main crops is rice where the plentiful rivers are put to good use.
 |
| Southern Side - Lush & Green |
 |
| Northern side | |
Everywhere we stopped, people were so friendly and curious as to where we were from, etc etc. One stop by a school proved incredible. Within seconds of getting out of the car (there were five of us), we were invited to stay for lunch. We graciously accepted and sat down to a huge bowl of very tasty dhal soup and cassava, a staple root crop eaten as we would eat potatoes or bread. Hard to believe such hospitality. They appeared to be a delighted to have us join them as we were to sit at their table.
 |
| Outside Cousteau Resort |
Once our parts had arrived, we headed off in Calypso to see some of the other destinations in and around Vanua Levu. Our first stop was not far out of Savusavu just outside the Cousteau Resort complex. We spent just a couple of days snorkelling there and took a wander around the resort with its beautifully laid-out tropical gardens. A tad beyond our price range to be sure.
True to form, when we chose to move on eastwards, there was little or no wind and what there was, as always, was dead on the nose. However, we had a pleasant day motor sailing up the coast to Fawn Harbour. Here we found a small hot springs after a fair hike up through and across a river so relaxed in the hot pool before cooling off in the cold river.
Our next stop was Viani Bay, a fairly large protected bay on the southeast end of the island. It had been our plan to spend just a couple of days there but we met up with a couple of other boats and joined them for diving expeditions. Viani Bay offers the services of a local chap by the name of Jack who knows all the great dive spots on the outer reef and for a mere F$10 pp (about US$6), will take one of our yachts out, drop us at the spot and then motor around watching the bubbles to be right there when we pop up. One of the guys had a small catamaran AND a dive compressor which was like heaven sent. And the diving was superb, so we definitely got our diving fix! The first spot had an amazing dive-through cave and a fabulous wall. Another spot near the pass offered a gazillion fish with gorgeous coral heads, all the colours of the rainbow. Oh to have our own compressor!
The next anchorage is just over there somewhere so we’re off to investigate.
PHOTO GALLERY:
 |
| Not exactly a super highway |
 |
| Our "not-so-happy" Car | | |
 |
| Jack's Wife, Sophie, Putting on a Great Spread for the Yachties |
 |
| Gardens at Cousteau Resort |
Everywhere we stopped, people were so friendly and curious as to where we were from, etc etc. One stop by a school proved incredible. Within seconds of getting out of the car (there were five of us), we were invited to stay for lunch. We graciously accepted and sat down to a huge bowl of very tasty dhal soup and cassava, a staple root crop eaten as we would eat potatoes or bread. Hard to believe such hospitality. They appeared to be a delighted to have us join them as we were to sit at their table.
True to form, when we chose to move on eastwards, there was little or no wind and what there was, as always, was dead on the nose. However, we had a pleasant day motor sailing up the coast to Fawn Harbour. Here we found a small hot springs after a fair hike up through and across a river so relaxed in the hot pool before cooling off in the cold river. 
