September 28, 2024
My fellow residents are celebrating final days in Belfast!

I am having a little case of FOMO since I found out the residents in Belfast already, are doing a bicycle beer cruises Sunday afternoon. They are making up signs to say " the boat people are finally leaving" and "bye, bye Belfast" and will pedal throughout the city with a photo stop at City Hall! Over 40 of them are committed so far. I also saw them partying Thursday, the start of Octoberfest with the locals. Love this Irish tradition with the song "don't rock the boat baby" !

LEVUKA was our last port in FIJI and it is a town that seems frozen in time back to its whaling history of 1900's. Beach Street is the main drag with boardwalks connecting wooden one & two story structures, that even have the old horse tie post out front,(nowadays - park your car) but still, the place feels very old and stuck. The merchandise in the shops is very basic and limited. We all had Fiji dollars to use up - they are changing their printed money in January - so we can't keep to use next time around. So most of us hit the liquor and grocery stores, but even there, it was challenging to find items. Christmas merchandise is pretty non existence. Candy is from Easter and Halloween!
Today was a real treat. We had a whole gorgeous island in Fiji all to ourselves. Leleuvia Island is a tiny coral cay known for its impossibly clear water, white sand beaches and quiet. It is home to fewer than 50 staff and no permanent population - just a sand fringed eco resort surrounded by reef and lagoon. We were suppose to be heading to Wallis & Futuna, but their dock was damaged in a storm and we need a last minute substitution and this island and our next port in Fiji were just added to the itinerary. Also we were in a nasty storm at sea last evening ( luckily only the 2nd I can remember in the 1.5 years to date) and through the night, with large swells, that had our boat rocking. So to wake to sunshine and calm seas was a blessing. Below are some of the fantastic drone shots our fellow passenger is kind enough to share.
Any day sailing is a good day, even when the weather doesn't cooperate! Today, a small group of us got a private catamaran experience. We caught wind for part of the trip but also had two small rain squalls too. We still had a lovely adventure, good food and conversation and a nice hour snorkeling at a sand cay off of Sail Rock (shown below) , a landmark and the opening scene for SURVIVOR Australia Seasons 2 thru 5, over the last few years.

