Month: November 2013

November 2013

Here are some handy things we learned in Suva.  The map is interactive – zoom and drag as you please. You can also switch between map and satellite views. Click on a listing below to show location on map. We hope this is helpful.

November 13, 2013

Now it was time for some comfort food at McDonald’s before heading to see Dr. Singh at Stewart Street Dental. It’s always nervous-making to see a new doctor, especially in a third-world country. It turned out we needn’t have been concerned, and in fact Dr. Singh would turn out to be the best dentist we’ve ever been to.

First we sat in the outer office waiting for our appointment, and it was quite nice. When Rich’s turn came, we were ushered into another office with its own waiting area. It was beautifully done and well-air conditioned. I had the option of going into the dental office with Rich and decided to do so. I was impressed—I think it was the nicest dental office I’ve ever seen with paintings on the wall and a beautiful painting on the ceiling for the patient to contemplate. We met Dr. Singh and his assistant and they both seemed very nice (as were the nurses we’d met already in the office).

And so began Rich’s exam, which started with a general exam before a special camera was used for the problem area and tooth, providing a close-up display for a large monitor mounted on the wall. This monitor was there so Dr. Singh could show the patient what was going on. The unintended consequence was that any guest sitting in there could see it, too. In this particular case, it looked pretty gruesome. Here, a photo that sums up my experience as the photo unexpectedly appeared on the monitor before I could turn away…

Now came a discussion about what was going on. There was a lot of decay yet no pain because the tooth’s nerves had retracted. We’d been hoping Rich previously had a root canal on this tooth (he’d had a couple over the previous decade), but he hadn’t. So the next step would be to go to the X-ray room for a better look. This room had it’s own waiting room and included a desk with a monitor and seating area so the results could be shown to the patient. A separate X-ray room contained a machine the likes of which we’d never seen.

For the X-ray, the patient uses a chin rest and then bites down on a plastic thingy placed near the front of the teeth. The machine takes over from there, rotating to x-ray the entire skull including the jaws and the teeth. It all happens in a few seconds, and then that’s it. No more X-rays, no painful plastic inserts in the mouth, nothing to do but go sit in the waiting area for the photos to “process” which doesn’t take long. When it was all ready, we sat at the desk and looked at the photos of Rich’s teeth and skull, which could be adjusted to be viewed from any angle. Remarkable!

The good news: the area wasn’t infected. The bad news: Rich may need a root canal (Dr. Singh would have to do a more thorough exam to assess this) and definitely a new crown. Normally we would have gone ahead and done all this, but we thought we might be leaving over the coming weekend. Dr Singh had a suggestion: he could clean out all the decayed area, cover it with a temporary crown, and then we could come back next season to get the possible root canal and permanent crown. Since we were already planning to come back here; it was an easy decision: yes! So we made another appointment to get this initial process done the next day.

I didn’t get any photos of the office or the procedure as it didn’t seem polite to do so, but another time Rich got a photo of me getting a cleaning.

Tooth taken care of, we headed back to the yacht club and celebrated with beer and tostadas. Below, a few day and evening photos of the yacht club (click to enlarge and scroll through any photos below).

We did return for our appointment the following day, and I settled in for what I figured would be a long wait; so what a surprise when Rich was done in half an hour! Dr. Singh used a laser to clean out the decay in Rich’s tooth; so not only was it fast, it required no novocaine. He then put on the temporary crown and we were good to go.

Now all we needed was a weather window as the one were hoping for was starting to look pretty iffy. –Cyndi

Back on November 13, 2013…

Ah, a sunny day, the first we’d had since getting to Suva. It was a good day to be looking at weather windows for a New Zealand passage, and it looked like we had a possibility coming up over the weekend. Exciting, but this meant we had to keep the pedal to the metal on getting things accomplished.

We already had one big plan for the day. Rich had lost a crown and was worried he had an infection in the area. It needed to be looked at before we went out to sea, and after looking into a couple of dentists, we got lucky with one we found recommended in the Soggy Paws Compendium (our main source of information for cruising Fiji). We called the previous day and a dentist at Stewart Street Dental could fit Rich in this afternoon.

That gave us the morning free, and with the nice weather we decided to check out an area called Lami about a 10-minute drive away. There were two reasons to visit Lami. The main one was to check out the Yacht Shop, a very nice marine store that would likely have stuff we needed. The second was to check out the anchorage there as it was a well-known alternative to anchoring off the yacht club when in Suva. Some cruisers preferred it; so we figured we should at least look at it.

We took a cab to look at the anchorage; then we planned to do the 20-minute walk back to the Yacht Shop. Below, a map of Lami and its anchorage in Lami Bay.

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We already knew a few things about the anchorage at Lami. First, it was just outside a shoreside hotel, the Novotel Suva Lami Bay resort. It had the advantage of being very well protected by small islands and reefs in the area and was rumored to have good holding. It also had a few moorings that were free of charge if you could find one available.

It sounded wonderful, but it had some disadvantages that we didn’t consider trivial. The biggest issue was that it was 4 miles from downtown Suva, too far to walk so that meant taking a bus or a cab to go there. The actual downtown of Lami was just a mile away, but its markets were small and there were no appealing eateries. The only reason for us to go to downtown Lami was to visit the Yacht Shop.

Another disadvantage would be having to use the run-down police dock to park our dinghy. Plus, we’d miss having the goodies that came with the yacht club like laundry service, showers, and a yachtie bar and restaurant. (Yes, the Novotel hotel had a bar but it didn’t feel like an inviting place for yachties, and the restaurant had resort prices, also discouraging for yachties.)

Below, a couple of pictures from the drive to Lami. It’s a nice car ride but not very good for walking.

Just walking into the Novotel resort I was really taken with the area. Like other Suva hotels it was long and low, 2 stories for the room wings and a single-story lobby with an open-air view of the bay and its islands. There was no beach here; instead the resort and deck sat perched over a stone wall. Since this bay was so well protected, there were no waves.

From the deck we could see the boats moored and anchored off to the left. Two small islands provided protection for the boats, while another sat off the hotel and gave it a protected feeling. The skies had become cloudy and the breeze was cool. It was all really very pretty, and while we wouldn’t have time this season, I was so taken with this area I hoped to come anchor here next time we came to Fiji.

Below, a few photos of the Novotel resort and Lami Bay (You can click to enlarge and scroll through any of the photos in this post).

Full Disclosure: Because it had become quite cloudy, my bay photos from that visit were terrible; so I’ve borrowed a couple from our current season. The last photo was actually taken from our boat. While it wasn’t one of our viewpoints that day, I do think it gives a feel for the place. The mountainous backdrop, the prevailing color of green from the dense vegetation and murky water, the sense of enclosure from two protective peninsulas and four small islands in the bay, the frequently cloudy skies (a gift from the inland mountains) and the still water all added up to a calm, peaceful feeling.

After seeing Lami Bay, we headed to the Yacht Shop. It was small but clean, organized and well-stocked. This was the kind of store that could cater to sailing yachts of all sizes and power boats, probably the best marine store in Fiji. Rich spent a good half hour milling around while I had a seat and enjoyed the air conditioning. –Cyndi

November 12, 2013

How luxurious it felt to head into the yacht club this morning and drop off our big bag of laundry. Tomorrow we’d retrieve it, washed and folded, from the front desk. Next, we headed into the restaurant and split a really good breakfast burrito (yet another American influence on this restaurant’s offerings) while watching a tropical downpour take place outside. It looked like it was going to be one of those days were we’d need to be prepared to take quick cover from sudden rain showers, but it wasn’t going to stop us from getting a few things done, even some sightseeing.

Once again our first project of the day was the solenoid issue. We headed back to the place we’d discovered yesterday and yes, the guy there could rewind it for us. Rich also realized we’d bypassed a shop yesterday with good potential and wanted to check it out. Lo and behold, they had a solenoid, a slightly different size than ours but workable. Between this one and the one we were having fixed, we’d make it to New Zealand with one repaired solenoid and one spare. Once there, we could order a proper new one from Seatech Marine, our favorite watermaker and autopilot guy in the States.

Now that the morning’s task was done, we could do more sightseeing. Today we picked up where we left off and headed to what I’ll call uptown Suva. I should mention that my “town” definitions are not from a tour guide but my own. I like to define downtown as the busiest and most bustling area of a city, while a typical midtown is more organized with shopping and mainstream businesses. My idea of an uptown area is that of a more stately, dignified, and quiet place. The next area Suva certainly fit that description.

Uptown Suva included all the foreign embassies, consulates, high commissions; government buildings; the city library; the Suva civic center, Albert Park (the city’s sporting field); and the Fiji Museum with its surrounding Thurston Garden (a smallish botanical garden). It also included an upscale and well-designed Holiday Inn, the historic Grand Pacific Hotel (being rebuilt, refurbished and restored to her former glory after falling into disrepair), and the city’s best coffee house: The Republic of Cuppiccono. Below, a map with some of this stuff.

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We cabbed into town and began our walk at Sukuna Park (by the McDonald’s), heading past the government buildings, the Holiday Inn and the under-construction Grand Pacific Hotel. As I hoped, this area of the city was quiet with little pedestrian traffic, a refreshing change from yesterday. We were headed to the museum when we spotted the Republic of Cuppiccino and thought a coffee drink would be nice. We went in and ordered two cappuccinos and were asked if we wanted them Italian style or American style. Not knowing the difference but not wanting to look like coffee ignoramuses, we went with the Italian-style. They were delicious.

Below, photos of the Republic of Cappuccino and a couple of buildings in the area. (Click to enlarge and scroll through any photo galleries that follow).

After coffee we headed to Thurston Garden and the Fiji Museum. We couldn’t help but notice this end of town seemed a little neglected. Thurston Garden was a pretty park and was being kept up, just not well kept up. The grass was patchy and too long, the fountains had dried up, and it just seemed to need some TLC. We hoped that when the grand hotel was restored it would inspire better maintenance for the surrounding area.

The clock tower was impressive, but the museum was small and not very interesting. There was a group of school kids there who, whenever I took out my camera, wanted to be in the photos. So, I don’t have many photos of museum stuff but I do have photos of hyperactive school kids. Below, an antique ocean-going canoe and a photo of a couple of the kids in the museum. (It’s impossible to be annoyed at their antics when they’re this cute.)

There was a small natural history room but the taxidermy was so bad it was distracting. The main thing I learned that day was that good taxidermists are deserving of respect, especially since so many people are bad at it yet still manage to find employment doing it. It’s also amazing how many mosquitoes can manage to live inside a museum—why would they not be outside? Maybe school kids are a mosquito gourmet delicacy.

Time for lunch. We tried Joji’s Noodle bar (the Chinese noodle place at the mall) and it was very nice, then went to our first movie in months (Rush, an excellent movie!). There are a lot of nice things about being in a big city, that’s for sure! We finished our day by walking inland and up a hill to an electronics store Rich found online (Universal Electronics). Yep, it was a good store; Rich found parts to contemplate for long periods of time. Thankfully I had my guidebook to keep me entertained and made sure we stopped to see the Roman Catholic Cathedral before getting a cab back to the yacht club.

At this point, we’d seen enough of Suva to form an impression: we loved it! How can anyone say it’s a pit? There’s not even any basis for that! It’s a city with all the things you’d expect from a city, both the good and the bad. It’s quite modern and has a lot to offer, including some very attractive surroundings.

Plus it’s cooler here, and when it does get hot and sunny, there’s air conditioning everywhere. It’s surprising how many places we’ve come across that should have air conditioning but don’t (I’m talking to you, Queensland). Suva had a thumbs up from us! (And we hadn’t even yet discovered what would become our favorite things here!)–Cyndi

November 11, 2013 in Suva, Fiji

Or maybe it is!

Produce…

Exotic Foods…

Great Friends…