Home at Last

All checked out at Port Denarau in Fiji and off again for the last leg of the trip and home to New Zealand.  The first few days were a little rough and uncomfortable, but then the seas calmed down and it was beautiful sunsets once again.  We still had some food to eat up and the b'que was put to good use in the calm weather.

Nearly there, putting up the New Zealand courtesy flag and the yellow 'Q'  flag, ready to go alongside the Quarantine  berth in Opua and clear customs.  We arrived at 21.30 on Tuesday 23rd October and cleared in the next morning.

Janis, our excellent crew in his 'hospitality manager' role and pouring the champagne to celebrate our safe arrival.

Good friends from S/Y Ultimo came over to welcome us and enjoy a glass with us.                                                                                                

'No Rehearsal' in berth G5 in Opua Marina.  They have done a wonderful job of extending the marina and have several purpose built catamaran berths.  Cruising across the Pacific we notice that there are more and more multihulls out there now.
 Maybe we will be saying in the future "Do you remember those monohulls?"


So, home at last.  Who knows what the future will hold.  Will we cruise around the Bay of Islands or set off on another adventure to distant shores once again?.......only time will tell.

Fiji

And so on to Fiji....

No Rehearsal on a buoy in Savusavu harbour, where we checked in.  The customs officers could not have been more pleasant as they went through all the forms with us.

There were several good places to eat here and a great fresh market too.

Seeing the sights.

Crowing coconut palms to transplant later.

Baby bananas!

There is a great tradition of Cava drinking here.  It is a root which is ground up and then mixed with water, the locals will sit around and sip this mixture, which looks a little like muddy water.  It is quite a ceremony and taken rather seriously and  I did try it, but prefer a G and T.  It is said to have medicinal qualities and aids sleep.

Just chilling after a heavy night on muddy water perhaps?  Luckily no heavy machinery was involved, just a machete!

Meeting up with good friends Di and James in Musket Cove.  A great  coffee shop and excellent sausage rolls too.

Then we went off to Port Denarau to check out and finally head south to New Zealand.

Whale Video from last post in Tonga