0800 position 17-10S 179-00W. At anchor in Bavatu Harbor
This whole north end of Vanuabalavu is owned by Tony Phillips who has a "plantation" here. Tony also owns one of the two marinas in Savu Savu and another in Nadi on Viti Levu. The only signs of humanity here in Bavatu Harbor are two docks along the shore and a house perched atop the cliff on the west side of the bay. The dock near the entrance of the bay sits in front of the abandoned "yacht club" facility that was badly damaged during Hurricane Winston eighteen months ago. The other dock, at the south end of the bay, is actively used for landing supplies for the plantation.
It was 11AM before the Macka crew arrived in their dinghy to go hiking. We all went ashore at the active southern dock and walked up the concrete road at the bottom of a gulch that led to the plateau on top of the island. As we neared the plateau the gulch opened up into a cleared valley filled with cows, coconut trees, and short grass. The cleared areas looked like they had been painstakingly claimed from the surrounding jungle decades ago. It was certainly an old plantation, and most of the coconut trees in the cleared areas had been knocked down during the recent hurricane. The many hundreds of downed coconut trees had all been cut into ten foot long segments. It took a lot of effort to cut the trees, perhaps the first step in cleaning up after the hurricane, but none of the downed trees had been moved yet from where they fell. We passed lots of cattle and downed trees on the plateau as we meandered through meadows with gated fences. After a half mile of gradual climbing we approached what looked like a low walled village compound with six or so structures in it including a generator that was running to produce electricity. A couple of Fijian men came out to speak to us. They told us that the compound provided housing for the four male workers who maintained the plantation. They spend the work week there and return to their village on an adjacent island on the weekends. The compound was completely destroyed during Hurricane Winston and had been since rebuilt. The workers who were on the island during the hurricane took refuge from the storm in the roots of a nearby giant banyan tree. Nobody was injured during the storm, but fifty six cows were killed in addition to the downed trees and destroyed structures.
One of the two men who greeted us, Seko, took us on a walking tour of the plantation. First he guided us to a cliff lookout on the western side of the island that faces the "Bay of Islands", a popular cruising destination where at least three boats were anchored including the 305 foot Eos. The Bay of Islands is aptly named, a beautiful labyrinth of islands and coves with dozens of hidey holes where yachts can find protection from the winds. It looked like a good place to go during a hurricane, and it is the next stop on our cruising itinerary.
From the lookout we meandered another half mile along a manicured path back to the worker's compound, behind which we found two large houses. One of the houses, which belonged to the plantation's owner, was a fifty plus year old concrete building that had come through the hurricane unscathed. They don't build them like they used to... Seko told us that none of the Fijian plantation employees, some of whom had worked there for years, had ever seen Tony, the owner of the plantation. The other house was new, replacing one that had been destroyed during the hurricane. The new house was the one we could see from Van Diemen's anchorage, and the view of Bavatu Harbor from it's front lawn was spectacular. We got a bunch of great photos.
That's where our tour ended, and from there we followed the path to a wooden stairway with 291 steps down to the boat landing. It was long and steep, and at the bottom was a plaque claiming that some guy had climbed to the top a few years ago in 56 seconds... 560 seconds would be a fast ascent...
Our shore side adventure was great fun, but we were worn out after three hours of hiking. It felt great to get some real aerobic exercise after being on the boat for so long.
John and Leilani dinghied over in the late afternoon to socialize. They are headed south today or tomorrow for Fulanga, a Lau atoll 160 miles to the south. The current forecast indicates they should have perfect weather for that overnight passage.
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