Freewind's Log: Updates from Fiji and New Zealand

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Savusavu Junior Sailing Club hosts the Island Cruising Association regatta

Bula from Savusavu!
It’s all quite again in Savusavu, after all the activity and excitement in June when the Island Cruising Association regatta stopped over for their annual visit. The ICA boats have been stopping in Savusavu for many years now and everyone always looks forward to their arrival. The Savusavu Yacht Club always organizes a few activities to give the yachties and townspeople a chance to mingle and get to know each other, and this is also an opportunity for the Junior Sailors to do a bit of fundraising for their club. This year, apart form the traditional Optimist races between the kids and the yachties, a lovo was organized. This is the traditional Fijian cooking which is done in a pit dug in the ground and fired up with wood all morning. By lunch time, there’s plenty of embers for baking all the good food which is wrapped in banana leaves and lowered in the hot “lovo”, then covered and baked until ready. The picnic guests – locals and visiting yachties – took the 15-minute bus ride to the beach location on a coconut plantation just out of town, and enjoyed the scenery and great Fijian hospitality. Although the weather wasn’t perfect, the food was outstanding, courtesy of the Hot Springs Hotel crew, everyone had a great time, and the Junior Sailing Club got a few dollars for their Oceania Championship fund.


	photo: Trevina Gray
The Islands Cruising Association regatta boats tied up at the Copra Shed Marina, Savusavu	Carving up the pig at the Junior Sailing Club’s fundraising picnic. Yachties and locals alike enjoyed the great lovo.

…and meanwhile, back in New Zealand

Creating sanctuaries for our native birds in the Bay of Islands

While Freewind is enjoying the warm weather of the tropics, the shore crew in Russell, the Bay of Islands, has been taking part in some conservation work in the Bay. The Guardians of the Bay, an organization dedicated to preserving the native wildlife in the Bay of Islands, organized its annual planting at Waewaetoria Island. This project of native bush re-planting has been going on for a few years now and every year another patch of newly-planted native trees is added to the already existing regenerating forest. Native birds are already returning to this beautiful island which was used for grazing sheep and cattle in the past, but is now a nature reserve. It is hoped that as trees grow and mature, more birds will discover this bit of paradise, and that with the ongoing pest control, the Department of Conservation will be able to introduce endangered species such as Kiwi and saddlebacks into the forest.


The island reserve of Waewaetoria in the Bay of Islands is a popular anchorage for yachts. Freewind stops there often to enjoy the beautiful sandy beach.	*Volunteers from the Guardians of the Bay* planting native trees on Waewatoria Island, to encourage endangered birds.**