To make a long story short…..we had planned this weeks ago to have lunch with the Vuda sailing school here in Fiji. Navi, the sailing school instructor, had been serving us at the restaurant for almost 2 weeks while we were on the hard and mentioned he taught sailing on Saturdays. Trevor and I immediately wanted to do something for them as we love to sail and love that Navi was taking his time to teach local village boys and girls to sail. So we offered to have the school come aboard Slow Flight for lunch. After many phone calls and text messages, we could not host the lunch on our boat due to liability issues and of course we understood (maybe it was a good thing as we would of had 12 boys and girl, plus 4 adults). So we decided to treat the kids to lunch at the Vuda Marina restaurant, The Boat Shed which worked out perfectly!
The day….After moving our boat 4 times…we finally got into a slip at the Vuda Marina. We met the school in the morning to meet everyone and introduce ourselves. We proceeded to take orders for the kids so that lunch could be ready for them when they got back. We watched them set up the rigs (part of the lesson) and then left them to go sail for about 3-4 hours.
Navi and the school talking about what they are going to learn today.Setting upThey did everything themselves…so impressed…maybe I should of taken the class!They all helped each other which was really refreshingAlmost ready…they would sail with 2 in each boatThere were 2 older students (13 and 16) who sailed larger lasers.Mast up!Kimi taking lunch and drink orders
Trevor and I then headed into Lautoka to do some provisioning and get a passport photo for our New Zealand visas while the kids completed their class.
Lautoka’s open market… it was so huge…largest we have seen to date!Trevor doing his shopping thing…4 pineapples were $1 usd but peppers were $2.5 usd eachThis is Veer, our loyal and trusty taxi driver. We first met him when we needed to go find parts for us while we were in the yard….he has taken us everywhere since then. He took us to a place to get our passport photos and lives in Lautoka so we were in good hands. He even stopped for us to check beer prices at another store : ) What an Awesome guy!
We were back for lunch and helped the staff get lunch served and drinks.
The gang!The man in the red shirt is from the local village they are all from. He is 61 and looks like he is 50. The boys are all “cousins” and they all go to school together…explains maybe the helping each other out all the time. The boys age ranged from 8-14I witnessed incredible manners and respect….they would clean up their plates without being asked. I was told they do this at home so why not do this here?! good point! They also had smiles to die for. I am NOT exaggerating this…. the please and thanks you’s were coming out of their ears.
Birthday cake! It was Navi’s 37th birthday the day before and when we asked him what he wanted for his birthday….he replied “Cheesecake”! So we made it happen.
Navi and his cheesecake…he told us he never celebrated his birthday… but he was happy to have cheesecake today.So when we went to town to the stores I couldn’t find regular birthday candles but did find numbers…except there was no “3” so I bought a “2” instead…. better than a “4” right?!
After lunch Kimi thought it would be a good idea to make the boys dance with her and then we sat under a tree and Trevor was asked a bunch of questions about our trip and sailing in general.
To my defense…. I am old….these boys had some fun dance moves and when they were done with lunch and the music was playing I saw all their heads bob and their shoulders swing. So why not! I learned the Coconut dance, the Panties dance (hilarious…it’s like taking off on your underwear and then swining your “panites” in the air, just to name a few).Here I am learning the Bat dance! Get low, get low, get low (then I said ocuh)
Trevor giving his perspective on sailing…being a jack of all trades, a problem solver, and knowing your limits…a proud moment for me! After that the eldest boy stood up and spoke for the group thanking us for the lunch etc.They needed to head back to the village in a bit but I suggested they come to Slow Flight to check her out. They agreed willinging and we hung out on Slow Flight with more sodas to be drank (we are now empty of sodas lol) and the boys loved the hatches!
So one boy asked me “do you sit here and drink beer like this?”…My response “yes I do..exactly like that”…. so the other boys, and their sodas all mimic me so I had to take their photo doing thisOk this lil’ captain cracked me up…. I asked him where he was taking us and he said “Australia” without any hesitation…new crew member? I love that he can barely see over the helm…he was the youngest of the bunchUp and down, in and out these boys went through all the hatches….Floating jungle gym… no joke!
It was time for them to go home but I had to get one more group photo.
I think they enjoyed themselves…or….they were all on a sugar high from all the soad and carbs they just ate…hopefully they will crash and sleep well tonight.
Thanks to Navi, Lisa Wade (Adam wife – Adam is the marina manager) and the staff and chef who made all this possible…Vinaka!!!!! (that is Thank you in Fijian)
My favorite post so far! I love these kids and I don’t even know them. What wonderful memories you gave the boys. Love this!!!
Wonderful photos, very proud of you both. You are truly world travelers. The kids looked fun. Dad and Betti