Bula once more, Fiji!

By some painful and myseterious black magic— 12 hours in a tired old Fiji Airways Airbus bulkhead with unhappy, uncomfortable young travelers and a collapsing arm rest video unit that nearly took out Diana’s shin… somehow… we managed to atomically deconstruct our sense of self… and transport and reconstruct ourselves in a multiverse, far far away from the frozen white cornucopia of Bozeman, Montana, USA… Fiji where it’s GREEN, suddenly 90 percent humidity and 89 degrees F (something like 32 C for those so inclined). No way to describe the particular quality of sunsets here, unlike anything so far in the Pacific. Three weeks of relentless job lists, commiserating with our fellow sailors all struggling to resurrect our boats from their cyclone pits, reacquaint ourselves the preposterous, maddening and miraculous complexity of these beautiful beasts. Fix and clean more things than seems rational. We are finally ready to poke our nose back out into the whirl of troughs and reinforced trade winds and remember, we dearly hope… why we work so hard to sit at anchor, on our living lady Allora and dip a toe in this magical cerulean water.

Colin, Allora’s eager caretaker.
Allora’s view from November ’22 – May’23
Where to begin?!
Lots of jobs – New gaskets for the fridge and freezer!

Allora getting lifted from her ‘pit.’
In the slings – on the way to the marina basin. Always a bit of a GULP!
These guys are pretty smooth with the Travellift, thankfully.
First night with a wet underbelly! Still lots to do to ready her to sail, but this feels RIGHT!
Market finds, Local cotton fabrics, handmade – $1.50 each!
Such a surprise to share an evening with Maria and Herbie from NZ!
Allora with floating neighbors again!
Provisioning at Flavio’s Italian shop. Spent so much he made us lunch!
Even more fun with our new friend, Claudia, (aboard s/y RUTH)!
Fresh market provisioning. Lots of treats and heaps of things which needed descriptions – what they are, what to do with them, etc.
Innumerable meals at the Boatshed Restaurant. They’ve kept us going …
And then the stunning moment when Sue Gill from BOZEMAN shows up. WHAAAAT?! What a small and beautiful world!
Allora’s always got a front row seat!

We’re heading offshore tomorrow, the 18th of May, so check out the ‘Where In The World Is Allora’ link to follow our track and otherwise, the Contact Us page has all the ways to reach us. Haley and Liam are heading over for a couple of weeks from Nelson, NZ, so we plan to sail and meet them in Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu.

As always, our Internet/Wifi/Cell connections can be tenuous, so if I write you, respond using the same method so we have the best shot to reach each other. Be well loved ones – we are always missing you!

 

2 thoughts on “Bula once more, Fiji!”

  1. Congrats on getting that deep clean and deep repairs done. Bet it will feel good to unfurl the sails again!

    Fiji is magical, and Marcus’s description is perfect. Wish we could be there to join you in your jump into the warm, welcoming cerulean water!

    As always, it is so fun to see your ever changing world. Sending love, Lori & Scott & Sum + Magnolia

    1. Vinaka, Lori! We were just talking about how the quiet hours under sail allow for time to slow and distractions to fade. Thanks for popping over to the blog and then commenting – feels so good from this end! Much love to the 4 of you!

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