On to Ono

We had a terrific sail south to Ono Island.  It was a day passage and we arrived at Nabouwalu Bay in mid-afternoon, in time to get ashore for sevusevu before evening.  Sevusevu is a ritual where visitors present kava to the village chief (ratu) or headman (turaga), requesting permission to visit the village and its surrounding lands and waters.  When we get ashore, somebody comes to meet us and escorts us to the chief or his stand-in.  It's very brief and we usually have a pleasant visit and get acquainted with a few people.  [hmmm, sorry no photos so far]

Fijian homes are sparsely furnished and we usually sit on mats.  Often there are family photos on the wall and that gives a good conversation starter.  It's interesting how many Fijian men have served in the armed forces overseas in either UN peacekeeping assignments or in Iraq or Afghanistan.  In fact once in a while you see a newspaper headline that a Fijin soldier has been killed over there.

Nabouwalu Bay is a particularly beautiful and calm bay. One night however, it was so stormy that the bananas hanging in the cockpit blew off the stock, just leaving some peels...