April 27, 2013
On the 27th there was an Island Cruising Association seminar about Fiji being held in Opua, a 5-hour drive from Tauranga. We really did’t want to make that drive, nor did we want to pay for a night in a hotel, but at the last minute we decided to go. We knew pretty much nothing about Fiji and figured it would be worth our while to attend and hopefully come away with lots of valuable information.
I’d been surprised there isn’t a current cruising guide for Fiji. We’d enjoyed Charlie’s Charts across the South Pacific, Ken’s Guide in Tonga, and David Thatcher Guides in New Zealand, and I assumed Fiji would have something like those. Alas, there were only a couple of out-of-print, outdated guidebooks, pdf copies of which were being shared among cruisers, but they weren’t the kind of books I like to use. This season, whenever we’d meet Kiwi cruisers who’d been to Fiji, we’d anxiously ask how they liked it. Some people loved it, and others didn’t care much for it at all! This divide only added to our confusion.
So we hopped in the car, big coffee drinks in hand, and made the long drive north to Opua, arriving in plenty of time for the seminar. I was expecting Opua to look exactly the same as when we’d left it; so it was a big surprise to find fall had arrived. The change of season had been subtle in Tauranga, but we could sure see it here. It was a reminder that we’d have to be sailing off soon.
The seminar was a bust, remarkably useless and consisting mainly of arguing between the audience and the speaker about entry requirements (“No, they don’t use that form any more.” “No, you need to fill out two forms now.”) and discussions about how much booze you can bring in. There were useless tidbits of info about a few anchorages that only served to confuse us in that we didn’t know any of these places. The main thing the presenter emphasized was, “Suva’s a pit, don’t go there,” which turned out to be terrible advice. After booking a hotel and making a 5-hour drive, this was a major disappointment. We were more perplexed about Fiji than ever! We figured we’d just have to go there and learn about it for ourselves. (The seminar was by ICA; Island Cruising Association. From our experiences, we don’t recommend any of their events or activities.)
There were some silver linings on the cloud of this trip. We discovered a really neat restaurant in Pahia (where we stayed). It’s called the Waterfront Restaurant, and we’d never been because it seemed to be one of those trendy, touristy places. But the manager of our inn recommended it and we could walk there; so we gave it a try. It was perfect for this fall night, full of fire features that provided beauty and warmth. The food was fantastic, and this turned out to be one of the best dinners we’ve had in New Zealand. The next morning we went to raid Makana chocolates before before heading back south. We may not have learned anything about Fiji, but we could find solace in eating delicious chocolates.
The gallery below shows some highlights of our drive north, including my favorite part: driving the Karangahake Gorge through the mountain range with sheer cliffs on one side of the road and a river on the other side. There’s also the giant L & P bottle in Paeroa, stormy skies just south of Auckland, and a picture from the Waterfront restaurant, a new favorite. –Cyndi
