The cyclone season is upon us. The weather in Fiji has become much more humid. We spent the two last cyclone seasons in Fiji and would be OK to do another season. We had signed up for the Denarau Mangrove River list again, as a last escape, to hide up a tidal mangrove river when a tropical storm comes too close.
Our 4 month visitor permit is going to expire soon, and while the next 2 month extension is easy and inexpensive, the 6 months extension after that has become more difficult and is rather expensive. One now needs a medical exam from an approved practitioner, that just also adds to the cost.
And somehow we were looking to see something else. The sail to NZ has become less and less attractive, by now we think NZ is a destination to fly to, and then rent a RV to see some of the south island and then fly back. Most sailors seem to hang in one or two spots, or are most of the time tied up with boat work on the hard. Boat work and traveling seems to not work out for most crews.
What other options do we have, that are reasonably safe for cyclone season? Some boats we know have left Fiji for Australia, with a stop in New Caledonia. The reports from New Caledonia came back as rather positive, including the marinas having decent cyclone protection/preparations. And while prices are high in NC, some of the European food items we haven't had in years.
We also got to meet "Derak" in Musket Cove. He is American, speaks French, and lives in New Caledonia. He flew to Fiji to help sail another boat from Fiji to the Marshall Islands. New Caledonia has seen some riots in May 2024, that closed the country to visitors, for a while. It also caused a bit of an exodus of French expats there. It was good to hear from Derak, how things are getting back to normal.
We dug up more info on New Caledonia, and this destination became more and more attractive. It could be a quick four night trip, so we started looking at weather to sail there.
