Fiji Prime Minister says, WE ARE OPEN, Yeh ha! Leaving NZ and sail to fiji, tropical paradise...Ep29

The Fijian Prime Minister announced that Fiji was open to boats on the Sunday night. By Monday morning we had booked our COVID test, completed and emailed our C2C form to Fiji and completed our NZ Customs departure form. We had asked Bruce Buckley to be our weather router and he agreed that the next Thursday would be a good time to leave. Over the next few days there was a lot of discussion about departing for Fiji and we decided to delay our departure. Two weeks later we were all set to leave and checked out of NZ at about 11am, just minutes after getting our negative COVID test results and getting email confirmation from our agent in Fiji, confirming that the Fijian Government had approved our application to enter Fiji. We got out to the entrance to the Bay of Islands around 1pm and picked up 25 knots of wind aft of the beam and following seas, as predicted. We headed 15 degrees east and the lovely following wind and sea kept us sailing for nearly 2 days. Then the high kicked in and we had no wind for another 40 hours, again, as predicted. Russ was at the helm most of the day except when he needed a break. During the night we each did 3 hour shifts, which is our usual night routine for passages. Towards the end of the trip the wind got up to 30 knots which was higher than predicted. This higher wind persisted for the rest of the trip with 25-30 knots for the last few days. The seas were very disturbed with 4m waves. We were very pleased with how the boat handled the large waves from the east, just calmly passing over them with minimal rolling and discomfort to us. Bruce Buckley had advised us to head 15 degrees until we got to 178 degrees east and then head straight to Fiji. He was keen for us to have a bit of east in the bank, so that as the wind backed to a NNE, we would still be able to sail. He was also keen that we didn’t use up too much time going any further east because although that would have given us a better angle for the NNE winds, time was of the essence, to arrive before the stronger winds started. This worked perfectly and we were again very grateful to Bruce for his wonderful weather routing and support throughout the trip. We entered the Navula Passage at around 9pm with no wind because we were in the shadow of the island and impatiently motored north to Nadi Bay, just outside Denarau, where we would complete our total of 14 days quarantine before checking in to Fiji. We arrived about 1am and dropped anchor. We were too tired to drink our champagne and sunk into bed for the best sleep. Next morning, the Fijian Navy visited us to welcome us and check if we needed any emergency supplies and that we were healthy. Bully and Lal and Dau were very friendly and conscientiously asked us on each of their twice daily visits, if we needed anything. On the twelfth day, government health officials arrived to check our health and to take samples for COVID tests. This wasn’t pleasant but necessary. On the 15th day, the government health officials returned to confirm that our test results were negative, to give us our health certificate to enter Fiji and advised us to head into Denarau Marina to check into Fiji. We were thrilled that after such a long preparation, we had finally made it into Fiji. Our check in was quick, efficient, friendly and very welcoming. We had our cruising permit for the whole of Fiji within 2 hours of arriving. Thank you to Cynthia Rausch from Denarau Marina, our agent Yacht Partners Fiji for your help and thanks to the Fijian government for having the courage to open Fiji to boats during this difficult time.