Leaving Fiji

We had planned to leave Suva early on Tuesday morning, however we all woke up on Monday morning with varying degrees of sore throat and runny nose so decided that we didn't feel like starting the next leg sick, especially considering that once we leave a port we don't get a good sleep until we get to the next stop, and we all felt exhausted.

Yesterday we checked UGrib - an online weather program that lets us see wind and weather predictions in 3 hour increments for the days ahead, and decided that if we waited another day we would avoid a large low pressure system that would bring rain and 30knots of wind. While we didn't think it would be dangerous we also didn't think it would be particularly comfortable, and with Stu now at the worst stage of his cold we figured we may as well kick back in Suva for another day. An easy decision to make - it's lovely here! We will clear out today and make a move early tomorrow morning (Thursday), heading to Noumea which is about 750 miles away. We're expecting to arrive in about 6 days. At this stage of the trip we're running short on time so will probably have to make Noumea a short stop - 2 or 3 days to have a good sleep and restock with food and diesel - before setting off for Coffs Harbour. How exciting it will be to make landfall on the Australian coast after so long away from home!