S 16° 46.728
E 179° 19.856

…writing this narration and waiting for the shuttle boat back to Nawi Marina.

Left early this morning to check out some things on the Savusavu town side.

Got all the information I need and enjoy now this quiet while a of waiting for my cappuccino and a waffle in a coffee shop. All of these sounds pretty Western and it is Western. The influence of Europe and the USA is not to be overseen. The good thing is that they don’t offer coffee with xxx flavor. The cappuccino I’ll get is supposed to be coffee with only coffee taste and the foamed milk with cocoa powder.

The town is pretty busy already in the morning. Small street vendors sell produce of their gardens. In the public market hall, a fully open construction, local veggies and fruits are sold. All from the actual season. Only garlic comes from China, and apples from NZ. Chinese garlic is sold on all islands of the southern Pacific from the most SE islands of the Gamblers to NZ and up to Fiji.

The friendliness of the people here is wonderful. “Bula” (hello) comes from almost everybody. One only needs a certain physical closeness or an eye contact and there is the “Bula”. It has a nice sound and feels good. Feels like being a part of the island.

The population is a mixture. What I can see in is a high percentage of Indian people. They own most of the shops or are teachers or police officers etc. The Indian routed population is about 50 %. A few local whites are also too be recognized.

The day before yesterday, we met Olivier & Neila again. We met them a few weeks ago in Whangarei marina, NZ. First we wanted to meet in a restaurant, but then Joe proposed to have dinner for 4 on board. We talked about many things but among them there was also conversations about the growing nationalism, racism, etc all around the world. For me it was so good to have these three people with their libral mindset and openness towards understanding of human right and diversity on board. One of the high lights of my looong sail.

There’s is soon another, repeating high light coming up: Norah my daughter, and her boyfriend are coming soon on board. Last time I saw Norah, Frank & Judith, grandkids, and my wife, was the end of December 2022, when we sailed the San Blas Islands.

As for our documents we I got all now and bills for health and biosecurity inspection are paid. So we have now also the permit to sail in the listed islands. Regulation and follow up send to be pretty strict. In have to submit a report every week on where I’m, who’s on board, and….