Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Well, actually no, it's a public holiday and they are only open on Monday. We have just
arrived after days at sea, and we are out of fresh food and provisions,” I said timidly.
“I am the commodore of the Royal Suva Yacht Club,” he stated, drawing himself up to his
full height and staring at us with his stony stare. “Are you two twins?” he asked, blinking.
“Yes,” I said hopefully.
“All the way from South Africa too, I see?”
“Yes sir.” I could see a faint trace of a smile on his regal ebony face.
“Might I suggest gentlemen that you douse that quarantine flag until Monday morning and
… welcome to Fiji.”
“Oh, thank you very much Commodore,” we babbled in relief. “It's great to be here!”
“We won't leave the club grounds until we have cleared in,” I promised him as Gavin tied
up the dinghy painter.
On sailor legs we swayed our way over the bobbing dinghy dock and onto the lawn and
wandered over to the wooden deck where several people were sitting enjoying coffee in the
morning sun.
“Hey look, there's Uwe the groover!” exclaimed Gavin pointing to a table around the side.
We went over and surprised him and his wife.
“Mein Gott, za twins from Efrica! How za hells are you, did you chust get in?” he asked,
beaming widely with genuine German delight.
It was moments like these that made cruising so precious. We smiled at his wife as she
puffed away on a cigarette. She had been writing a letter but now lay her pen down and
removed her glasses. They were enjoying a cup of coffee and invited us to join them.
We caught up on our latest news since leaving Tonga, and Uwe gave us the lowdown on
what they had seen in Fiji. They had been here for almost a fortnight. Apparently, there had
been a coup earlier in the year with the then Indian based government being overthrown.
There was still a lot of unrest, and sporadic gun fights and street wars were the order of the
day. I waved a waiter over and ordered us all a round of the black, aromatic coffee. Gav-
in happily accepted the non filtered Goloise cigarette that Uwe's wife, Gerda, offered him.
This was indeed grist for his mill.
“Ja, you can get a very cheap meal here at za club if you are a yachty,” Uwe continued,
“Zey are so friendly here; it's so cool. Just be carefool of za Indian traders. Zey will hustle
