WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
I know this is against the norm in the blogging world but, I try to keep the site clean and easy to read for our reader’s enjoyment. For this reason, I opted to keep comments to one page. We would love to hear from you. Do not let my wacky thought process deter you from expressing your feelings regarding our postings or another items of interest you want to share.
- Thoughts on the cruising lifestyle?
- Do you have an favorite sailing destination or a place you think we should avoid?
- Send us your favorite recipe.
- Have you read any good books lately?
- What would you like to know about us?
Please include your e-mail so we can write back to you (email addresses are kept private)
Thanks for connecting to us!
Mark and Cindy
I’ve been following you both now for years, and am always amazed at the writing, photography, and comical thoughts – especially recently in the comments. But the photography in this blog post of the kangaroos and wallabies is beyond outstanding and worthy of a call-out. Hope that wonderful Amel is taking good care of you and visa versa with the maintenance you said you had scheduled. All my best, keep up the great work!
Thank you Bob. For that occasion we unpacked the SLRs. The beach and kangaroos will be a memory we will cherish for a very long time.
Mark
Massive thanks for your excellent piece detailing your horrifying experiences with the despicable bullies in Fiji. We read it on Noonsite. It was quite fortuitous – we’ve been seriously considering buying a yacht in Fiji and leaving it there as a base for family & friends to use whilst on holiday from New Zealand. We even have a short list and we’re trying to synchronise flights and viewings. Your totally credible account of your experiences with officialdom thugs has blown our plans to pieces. We would not subject ourselves to that level of intimidation, harassment, rudeness, humiliation etc. To you – HUGE THANKS for publicising the nightmares you’ve experienced.
We owe you several beers for bothering to let folks like us know (what to avoid!). Sing out when you’re in this neck of the woods
Fiji is a great place and the snorkeling/diving is some of the best in the world. The downside: it’s Fiji. The country is very second world. I can’t imagine trying to maintain a boat there. We made friends with a chap that ran a charter fleet. He had story after story about the tribulations of getting parts delivered and the absurd practices of customs.
Have you thought about doing your plan in French Polynesia? They offer tons of islands and atolls. It is much more first world than Fiji. And, the underwater scene there is second to none. You could buy a boat there that has import fees already paid and keep it there. Tahiti’s airport is easy to get to from NZ. Also, most of French Poly sits outside or on the very edge of the cyclone belt meaning less worry and available insurance.
If you like to know more, let me know and we can chat on email.
Mark
PS. very sorry for the delay in my response.
Mark… The USA has changed. Since COVID, you see fewer people with cash. I personally used to use only cash and have since moved to credit/debit cards. There is a lot more tap-to-pay, with cards or phones. Even some of the restaurants have upgraded their POS systems to portable terminals so you never lose sight of your card…very much like Europe has been for 20+ years.
What has changed in the USA is that tipping has popped up everywhere.
And sorry to disagree, while In-and-Out is fantastic (4×4 animal style!), Five Guys I think is overall a better burger. Except that they ask for a tip now…
Hi Chris, sorry for the slow response.
Agreed. Five Guys does make a great burger. I recall the tipping jar and the massive amount of fries served. Those put me off a bit. I think the USA is out of control on the tipping. Restaurants need to just pay their staff a living wage – period. It is so much better in a restaurant when tax and service is all inclusive in the prices listed on the menu.
Is good to know the USA’s credit-card technology is finally catching up to the rest of the world – LOL. I remember Americans traveling and they could get their cards to work overseas because they didn’t have a chip (only magnetic strip). This went on for years before the US caught up.
I cannot find anywhere to link from here to Facebook. I wanted to comment there but the feed refreshed and cannot find the blog on Zuck’s sandpit.
I do not typically write comments but John on Westwind is wrong about what he wrote about New Caledonia. The French Government canceled the plan to change the law early in 2024 after the riots started. If the law had passed, it would allow French citizens living in French territories the right to vote in those territories. But only after living in the territory for 10 years. The bill was killed and did not passed. This opened talks and quieted the uprising. A new government is being voted by the people of New Caledonia starting the next few weeks.
John is also completely wrong about services in New Caledonia. I am here and can say first hand that businesses do not restrict customers from buying products.
I am not sure where John on Westwind gets his facts but he has been misinformed.
Hi,
I am John from Westwind V. We were berthed alongside you at Nawi Marina in August. Very interesting to read your thoughts on Savusavu and New Cal.
From the perspective of a New Zealander who has been sailing to the South West Pacific for the last 25 years you got most of it wrong. Savusavu has in recent years had problems with crime. This is seen at lower levels throughout Fiji. It’s due to drugs. The invasion by customs etc on your yacht was repeated for most yachts at Savusavu in August, including ours. They are practicing in the hope they will get better at finding drug imports.
Regarding coups in Fiji. Rabuka the current Prime Minister was the army general who organised the first coup in the 1980’s. Fiji has gone downhill rapidly since he recently became Prime Minister.
New Caledonia’s problems are not due to a small group. France recently changed the New Caledonian voting laws (without any consultation) to ensure that the independence referenda would not go against them. They now allow over 50,000 voters living outside New Cal to vote in these referenda. Mostly Europeans who have moved back to France.
You noted that the shopping was much better in ‘French’ New Caledonia, than in other Pacific Islands. What you have not noted is that the shops in Noumea will not serve indigenous Caledonians. They restrict their business to white people and Polynesian immigrants. It’s called apartheid when the wrong people do it.
Things are not always what they seem when you are a tourist.
I just love it when somebody tells me how wrong I am based on what they “think” I have written and not what I “actually” wrote. Try to keep up John. It’s obvious reading and comprehension are not strong attributes for you.
Mark
Hi Mark and Cindy,
I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. I finally have something constructive to contribute to your discussion. In 2000 we took a trip to Australia and New Zealand. It was wonderful. We stumbled upon a spice company and bought a bottle of BBQ Bloke Spice (great stuff) from http://www.gewurzhaus.com.au. We have since reordered the BBQ spice and other stuff by communicating directly with the staff (Alice Reynolds and Sadie-Jane Berison) as they have to set up special shipping outside of Australia and NZ. If you check with their website, you can find their locations. Thanks again for the great blog. Stay safe.
Thanks Carl. I will try to remember to pick some up when we get down to the Sydney area and give it a try.
Hi Cindy and Mark,
Read your post about Customs visits to your boat at Savusavu. I agree that there have been all manner of very serious concerns and appalling experiences for some cruisers over the last few years. The repeated official visits began about August 2023. Some owners have been taken to the Customs or Police offices for an ‘interview’ whilst their boats were searched.
Isn’t it curious that the goings on in Savusavu aren’t included on any of the the marina’s web sites. Go figure.
Not only Savusavu but also Suva. Assaults (including sexual), burglaries, aggressive badgering for spare change after dark as you walk down the main street, (particularly across from Copra Shed where it’s especially dark). Several attacks on moored boats have occurred in the middle of the night when the scum know that the owners will be onboard asleep, and so they can threaten people for money. One chap was literally tortured by 2 assailants. That was an especially horrific attack.
Anecdotally they pick the elderly couples on cats. It’s not the exclusive cruiser club by the way, they do the same to people living in houses in and around Savusavu. But of course having a couple of vicious dogs free on your property can make quiet access a tad more difficult. Friends of mine were burgled twice whilst asleep at their home just last week.
But my comments today are to implore you to send your thoughts to Noonsite for publication. I sent Lynda, their South Pacific reporter, an email with a link to your Savusavu post. Her email address is lynda@noonsite.com
Just to add I very much enjoy your Blog. Some excellent posts.
Oh and I have asked about egg sizes here in NZ. Neither Google nor ChatGPT know why, and I await an egg produced to call me with the answer.
Cheers and thanks,
Grant
I recently found your blog and just completed reading it from start to finish over several days. I was entertained by how similar our stories were from dream through the Eastern Caribbean. We had a very similar story but ten years prior to yours, leaving Kemah, TX in 2005, traveling up the East Coast for a summer, then to the Bahamas for a winter, back to the East Coast for a summer, then through the Bahamas and to Grenada, and then spending most of the next seven years in the Eastern Caribbean. Our plan was never to go past the Caribbean and admire those who chose the big jump to the South Pacific. We had friends from Kemah in that timeframe who made the jump and are still in French Polynesia. They’re about 20 years into their 4-year circumnavigation plan. Maybe you ran across Steve and Lili on Liward?
I enjoyed your comments on finding good hamburger in the Caribbean. We spent 18 months managing the bar at Clarke’s Court Bay Marina in Grenada (before it got purchased and turned into a boatyard), and given the lack of good burgers, we started a very popular weekly burger night for cruisers. I cooked between 50 and 75 burgers every Wednesday.
We reached the point of not thoroughly enjoying anymore in 2014, and sold the boat in the BVI (big mistake) and later it was destroyed at Nanny Cay by hurricane Irma.
We transitioned to the full-time RV world and a 40-foot diesel pusher and have been land-yacht cruising the USA since. Still living in a 12v world.
Be safe and enjoy!
Hello Chris,
Thank you for the kind comments about the blog. How funny that our travels are similar. We are happy to hear you are still exploring.
Land, sea, air, rail….to us it does not matter how we travel. Our goal is to see the places we want to see and spend as much time in each place as we can or want. We hope you continue to enjoy your adventures as well.
Best regards.
Hi Mark and Cindy,
I enjoy your regular posts.
I noticed your comments about the seaweed problem in New Zealand. Exotic caulerpa is a serious issue which the country is grappling with.
Here is some background information for you:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/495382/caulerpa-invasive-seaweed-threat-spreading-what-you-need-to-know
Cheers,
Geoff
Thanks Geoff. I still find it hard to believe that the New Zealand government would threaten people with jail over seaweed. Even more so now I’ve read your article about how the seaweed can migrate due to storm activity. It even goes on to say the seaweed existed at Great Barrier Island several years before being discovered a couple of years ago. Weren’t boats anchoring there that entire time without it spreading? The RNZ is very cautious with their wording, like saying Its spread is most significantly thought to be caused by people. Isn’t it inevitable the seaweed will eventually spread? I don’t claim to know more than the marine biologists but I do think people shouldn’t be jailed over seaweed.
Mark