week 10 Dec 14 - 20, 2014, Vuda Point Marina, Fiji

I am finding it very frustrating to be here in Fiji but not going anywhere or seeing anything.  i had expected to sail out to explore the islands and to get a car to drive around.  But Alan does not want to take a chance on the weather and besides, it is a lot of trouble to get the decks cleared and everything packed and ready to go.  He  does not want to get a car because not only is it an extra expense but it takes time away from the projects  When we first got to Fiji we put together a list of projects that we wanted to get done this season and came up with a total of 117 jobs.  We have now been here 2 months and aside from the haul out, very few of them have actually been done.  From time to time I get out the list and try to prioritize and schedule things but somehow the work never gets done.  The one thing I have learned is that there is no way I can get Alan to do anything.  As sweet, kind, gentle, loving as he is, my husband is the most stubborn man in the world.  He does what he does when he does it and it takes as long as it takes.  When it is finished he does whatever he does next.  God forbid I try to make a schedule and plan the work so that it gets done in the most efficient manner, or even done at all.  It is a long needed lesson in patience for me.  So we have a lot of long lazy days: breakfast, lunch, a nap, topped off by happy hour and then dinner, read for a while and go to bed early, with a few odd jobs here and there.

My jobs are to make sure there is food and that meals are cooked on time, to do the laundry and to keep everything picked up and put away.  Not jobs that I was ever fond of at home and even less appealing in such a small space  Shopping is even more of a production than it was in Mexico.  The bus only runs every 2 hours and takes up to 45 minutes to cover the 10 miles to town.  Once there, it is the usual problem of balancing what we need with what I can carry on the bus.  Alan seldom goes with me because he hates shopping and does not like to walk very far.   He feels that he should stay and get something done on the boat (see above).  There is the added problem that we have no refrigeration.  The only time we get meat is the day I go shopping and I need to be very careful with the produce, cheese, butter, etc.  Once again, it is very difficult to get ground coffee and almost impossible to get decaf, even instant.  There is lots of tea but Alan likes his pot of coffee for breakfast.   Bread will only keep for a couple of days in this heat and fijian bread is not very good anyway.  OK for sandwiches and french toast but not much else.   Luckily we have discovered the indian flat bread, roti, which seems to keep indefinitely.  There is a wonderful produce market but everything is sold in “heaps”  it is not possible to buy just one or two of anything.  Bok Choy will only keep for one day.  Green beans and carrots will last a couple of days.  Lettuce is almost impossible.  Tomatoes keep if I buy them green but don’t have much flavor. Eggplant is the one thing that seems to keep so we have eggplant almost every meal.  Luckily Alan likes eggplant.   I have decided to add green beans and tomatoes to my garden.  I tried lettuce but is is not doing very well.

OK, sorry   End of rant for the day.  I really love it here in Fiji, there are just a few issues to work out