Jac'k's Bay Fiji

Okay, I’m in love with Fiji – maybe even more than Tonga. I’m not sure how it is possible to keep loving every place we sail to even more than the one before, but it seems to be the case.

As in each Polynesian country we’ve gone to the Saturday market brings together the community. We went early in the morning to stock up for the week.


Peter busy picking just the right produce




Later that morning, the gals from Beachhouse (Anja and Sandrine) joined me for a day long excursion by bus to the “big” city of Labasa. It was a 3 hour bus ride there and a 3 hour bus ride back. The scenery was amazing as we went up and down the hills and stopped in all the little villages in the countryside to pick up and drop off people.

At times the bus was jammed full with people and food filling the aisles. What was really funny was that Anja had to go to the bathroom REALLY badly (the bumpy roads and lack of shocks didn’t help any) and so when we stopped to drop off a passenger she asked the bus driver if she could run in to the woods. She ended up in a mud bog, lost one sandal temporarily and got covered in mud up to her knees. Fortunately a very nice young man helped her outside the bus by pouring his water bottle on her legs. I had napkins so that she could finish her clean-up. The entire bus was staring out at her and laughing like mad. I’m sure the crazy “palangi woman” made their day.

Anja making her way over everything in the aisles, to get back on the bus after her nature stop.



Sunday morning, Peter, Anja and Scott went on a hammerhead shark dive. I decided to pass because of the buoyancy issues I had in Tonga. I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of maintaining at 60 feet in water that was 1,000 feet deep with no point of reference – not yet, anyway. They actually swam around for 45 minutes without seeing ANYTHING…then they got lucky when about 20 – 30 hammerhead sharks made an appearance.

As I had a wonderful day to myself, I went walking to find a church. I don’t really have a plan when I do this, I simply walk for a couple of hours until it is church time and then I wander in to one. The one I found was at the top of the hill, deep in the woods. It looked just perfect, and the little sign said “Everyone welcome – English service”. I was a little early for the service so I sat under a tree outside and the pastor came out and welcomed me personally. He explained that they have a prayer session first then the service, but I was welcome to come in and join everything. Always ready to step outside my comfort zone, I followed him in, but was totally unprepared for this “hell and brimstone” type of church. It was a humble church filled with the local villagers, many of whom offered their prayers peppered with “Hallelujah Jesus”, “Praise be to God”, etc.

A different kind of church



On the plus side, they had an amazing full band with three women that were belting it out like a southern Baptist church and I was truly mesmerized by the music. I’ve never heard anything like that up close and personal. On the flip side, I not only heard one sermon, but another by a visiting evangelist who ran up and down on the stage, full of enthusiasm and the “power of the lord speaking through him”. The two pastors then proceeded to do a “hands-on healing” with an old lady, complete with all the screaming and moaning.

I really felt like I was in the twilight zone, but the real kicker came when the pastor moved me to the front row and then called me up to the pulpit. Can you believe it??? He said “God has brought sister Diana, all the way from Canada to bear witness with all of us….come on Sister Diana speak to the good people here and bring the word of God”. Somehow I made it up the stairs to the pulpit and felt like a total fraud. I somehow managed to speak about their lovely country and their wonderful people and may God keep them all safe…blah,blah,blah. At the end of this ordeal, they all stood up and raised their hands, clapped and did a lot more “thank you sister”, “praise be to God”, etc., etc. Finally after two hours we all started leaving the church, where I was hugged and praised by each and every one of the congregation. I did manage to pass on the kind offer of lunch with the church family. Certainly something for the old memory bank.

Kids on the way to school.



On Tuesday morning, we set sail at the crack of dawn (buddy boating with Beachhouse) for a 9 hour motor boat bash against the wind and waves to an amazing bay that I call Jack’s bay. The bay is surrounded by a little village, well-tucked in to the trees and hills so you can only see a couple of homes. This village has no roads, no power or anything. The kids go to school each morning at 7:30 via boat right past QuickStar. I’ll talk more about this magical place next week after I’ve been to the church, the school, gone on a hike with Jack’s wife, etc.

Jack, his niece Eleanor and great-niece Stephanie, who they call the rose of the bay. Eleanor came to our boat to do some sewing for us. One of the few ways the locals can make some money here.



The main reason for coming here was the world-renowned diving. The local head honcho is Jack who is considered the chief of the yachties. He will come along on your boat and take you to the dive sites where he will keep an eye on things on your boat and on your bubbles. He only charges the equivalent of $5 Canadian for each person. We went out for two days with Scott (hence the reason I didn’t get the blog done yesterday). It was awesome, as Anja is a dive master, Peter has years of diving experience and Scott is an instructor. Plus, of course, Scott has all the gear and a compressor on board.

Let’s go diving



I learned a lot and experienced my first ever heavy current dive. When we were ascending the current was ripping through at about 4 knots against us, so for the 3 minute 15 foot safety stop we were hanging on for dear life to the anchor chain. When we were ready to get on the boat, we switched from the anchor line to a floating line that Scott had secured to the bow of the boat and then all we did was hold loosely to that and we literally were “shot” to the back of the boat. It was like a ride at Disneyland. Anyway, I now have a few more dives under my belt, all successful, all challenging but comfortable. I actually got to enjoy seeing the thousands of fish, the colourful coral, small sharks and my all-time favourite – a couple of turtles.

QuickStar in Jack’s Bay with our dinghy on Beachhouse’s mooring while we were out diving.



Sorry this blog is so long – but we had a packed full week including a Skype video call with Oma and Opa – which was their first time ever. Technology is wonderful! Drop me an email when you get a chance…we want to hear what you are up to and how the summer is going for you.

Until next week…..counting down the days until Taylor and Kylie get here…only 9 more sleeps!!!!!

P.S. This blog is dedicated to the memory of Trisha Carlson who died in a car accident July 11, 2010 in her early fifties and to Diane Andersen who should have turned 55 on July 12th but was taken by cancer at 50 years old. Also to my late Father who has been gone for almost 10 years whose birthday was July 11th. R.I.P.


Beachouse here at Jack’s Bay under the full moon last night ending a 10/10 week.