day 141 - 143: maximus, commodus or proximo?
Hello Jamie: the purgatory in vuda point marina is beginning to take hold. Although we have done very well with our food water fuel restock, the dodger which readers may remember from such episodes as “big wave day” is in dire need of repair. Although Fran and I did an honest job of repairing it under sail using a hell of a lot of glue and wire, it’s not really up to scratch for the colder climate and stormy seas down towards Aotearoa. Skipper and I spent the day cruising around Nadi in taxis looking for repair shops. No dice. Busy time of year pre cyclone season. Instead we bought fish and chips and bevies. Although yesterday me Mim and Naomi had a day of mud pools and geothermal spas as well as a massage. What an amazing treat! A subtle place where you drive inland on a gravel road and slather yourself in mud. Let it form a crust and get itchy eyebrows. Then hop in the first of four pools and wash off the mud. The hot pools were a great temperature and tended to get hotter sequentially. There were mongrel puppies running around which despite being mongrels were very cute. We finished off the operation with a half hour massage. So thoroughly relaxed and happy we sank into our seats of the taxi and drove into town to get Chinese food and back to the boat. Ok word of the day. I am collaborating with my team of lawyers to get this segment trademarked as there are a few snakes in the grass sniffing around the idea scent (robin) WOD: exit. Exit - to leave a building or area. Could be a noun or a verb as in fire exit or I will now exit. Opposite of entry. You’re an adult, you get the idea. Used in a senny - if we need to use all the exit would be a good idea to just scramble them.
Matt: Highlight of the last few days for me is assuredly the pineapples of the Lautoka market. Absurdly good and they sell them pre-cut like little popsicles for very little money or in variable heaps for only slightly more money. Softens up the purgatory of vuda to have some in the morning with yogurt, maybe sneak in a few mangoes while everyone else is sleeping
Miriam: Oh, how the days slip away anchored here at Vuda Point. We thought today would be the day for a quick conclusion to the dodger repair saga and that we’d be off on our way again by midday. Those plans began to shift in the middle of the night when a huge thunder roar opened the skies to a steady downpour that lasted well into the morning accompanied by some fierce winds and the sort of surprise boat motion that makes continuing to sleep less likely as well as revealing how complacent we’d become at anchor with dishes in the sink and other things that clatter and spill in the night. So the early morning did not happen and all I accomplished today was watching Finding Nemo (again) with my 4 year old buddy Abel who was only a little freaked out by the sharks and lent us the fantastic book “Narwhal, Unicorn of the Sea” so I could read a bedtime story to everyone. I read it to him already of course.
The mud bath/hot spring/massage combo was sublime, incredibly relaxing. We barely resisted adopting a puppy. Had an incredibly productive day the day before with procuring produce at the Lautoka market, diesel, water, and propane before going to Abel and his parents Skye and Yelle’s boat for a bbq. Super fun to hang with them, feasting and playing games, and I got to practice my latent storytelling chops getting Abel settled in for the night. Maybe tomorrow we’ll go somewhere…
Hi it’s Naomi here We are hopefully all done with our weird vuda point purgatory after our semi unsuccessful dodger mission, and really looking forward to getting out and about and away from all the oil spills in the water :/ I for one will not be unhappy about this as we have dragged anchor twice here, fortunately both times we were all up and in the cockpit so could get to battle stations in a prompt and organised manner. Last night we got loads of extremely bright lightning until finally CRACK CRACK we got some VERY loud lightning followed by lots of rain and choppy seas which made for pretty much no sleep :) But we are very happy with our fresh water ice fruit and veg! And…. hazelnut flavoured coffee (???)
Bluebird out!