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Port of call: FIJI -July 20, 2000
Position: Port of call: FIJI -July 20, 2000 After the Americas cup races Seaquell was put back in the yard to finish the reconditioning work. We returned to the states, to help Grandma Doc get settled in her assisted living home in Mpls. I returned to New Zealand to relaunch Seaquell and to continue our world venture while June stayed in Mpls. to finish our family needs. Returning to New Zealand in June the crew and I sailed to FIJI even though it was in the midst of a coup by some rebels. We had talked to other yachts in the FIJI area and found they were not having a problem with the uprising natives activities. FIJI consists of a large group of islands located 20 degrees south of the equator with a climate similar to St. Croix. The island group is much like the Caribbean with small and large islands, sandy beaches, with extended coral reefs. The reefing between islands covers a major area, making it difficult for open sailing without the knowledge of the waters. The charts available unfortunately do not have the complete info desired. The local people are all very friendly but expect a gift of a large kava root. The root is presented with ceremony to the chief of the village close to the good beaches and dive spots. After the ceremony you are welcome to stay as long as you like in each of the chief's areas. There are many great island shores to visit. Each of the larger islands are surrounded by barrier reefs that offer unlimited dive sites. Some of the yachts spend a year or more in this area. Our stay of a month only gave us time to visit some of the more notable stops. The coup was mostly a racial uprising, similar to the coup of 1987. The racial problems are between the indigenous Fijians and the Indo Fijians. Presently the population of 700,000 is 55% Fijians and 45% Indian. The Indians were brought to FIJI by the British in early 1900 to work in the sugar cane fields. They were never allowed to own land, they could only lease the land. Many of the Indians obtained long term leases on the land to raise sugar cane. Being more industrious they presently own many of the businesses and work in the villages. After a recent election the Indians became the majority and the Fijians decided to rebel with an armed take over of the parliament. This has since all been reversed with the government restored but the natives are still rumbling and staging uprisings. It will be a time before everyone is satisfied, maybe never. The take over was in Suva on the south side of the main island. The international airport is on the north side at Nandi. The yachts were never affected by the coup, although the tourism industry has collapsed. International travel has not been recommended for FIJI. Many of the hotels have closed. We did not have to worry about a hotel as we stayed on SeaQuell. It will be some time before tourism is back to normal, but I would not worry about travel to FIJI if you could be assured your hotel was open. We had a very informative and enjoyable stop with lots of warm sun, wind and seas. |
