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Fiji Day!

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What is Fiji Day?  It is a day of celebration for the entire country! It is a symbol of national pride, unity and hope for a brighter future!

Fiji’s Independence Day is 10 October and it marks to monumental occasions. 

The first is Fiji’s independence from British colonial rule in 1970.  This is the day that Fijians raised their flag for the first time.  It is a day of national pride, unity, and reflection on Fiji’s journey as an independent nation.

The second milestone which presents an interesting twist is that this day also marks the day when Fiji was formally ceded to Britain in 1874.  The Deed of cession was signed on 10 October.

So, two major turning points:  one that started with British rule, and one that ended it.

How do Fijians Celebrate Their Independence?

Each island hosts a celebration for the both the locals and tourists.  The celebration will follow a similar program across the country.

This celebration started with a welcome speech and prayer. Then they do the honored raising of the Fijian flag. At Castaway resort they then sung of the National Anthem.

Locals will participate in a multi-cultural fashion parade, traditional dances, singing, parades, games, and feasts.

The fashion parade represents the various cultures found in Fiji which are sponsored by different departments within the resort.

The indigenous Fijians start the parade followed by  Kiribati Banabans, Somoans, Wallis, Chinese, Europeans, Tuvaluans, and Indo-Fijians.  Each group displayed their unique dress and dance.

Fiji Games

Everyone enjoyed participating in several games.  Four teams of 10 people each competing in:

  • Sack relays
  • Tug of War
  • Walk the Plank
  • Cup O’ Water relay

Each ceremony ends with awards, recognitions, and an enormous Fiji cake.

Fiji’s National Anthem

Blessing grant, oh God of nations, on the isles of Fiji.

As we stand united under noble banner blue. And we honor and defend the cause of freedom ever, onward march together, God Bless Fiji.

CHORUS

For Fiji, ever Fiji, let our voices ring with pride, 

For Fiji, ever Fiji, her name hail far and wide,

A land of freedom, hope and glory to endure whate’er befall

May God bless Fiji, forevermore!

Blessing grant, oh God of nations, on the isles of Fiji,

Shores golden sand and sunshine, happiness and song.

Stand united, we of Fiji, fame and glory ever, onward march together, God bless Fiji.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We celebrated Fiji day on 10 October at Castaway Resort on Qalito Island.

Did you miss our adventures on Qalito Island in our last blog post?

Castaway Resort at Qalito Island

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Qalito Island is a small private island located in the Mamanuca group in Fiji.  The island is about 70 hectares (170 acres) even though most of it is uninhabited.  On the west side of the island lies the famous Castaway Resort.

Many visitors get Castaway Resort (located on Qalito Island) and Castaway Island (Monuriki Island) confused. 

The movie Castaway was filmed on the small, uninhabited island of Monuriki.  However, the locals refer to Qalito island as Castaway Island because of the Castaway Resort.

Qalito island is mostly lush rainforests with white sandy shores, and vivid coral reefs. 

The anchorage is very deep (18-20 meters) and can be a bit rolly.  However, we “weathered” the rolliness to enjoy the resort.

Castaway Resort

Yachties are very welcome at the Castaway Resort. 

We enjoyed several days of delicious food at two of their three restaurants. 

  • Restaurant 1808 is their main restaurant and it overlooks the bay. 
  • Sundowner Bar and Grill is located on a deck which offers spectacular sunset views.
  • Nuku Marau Pool Bar and Grill offers poolside cocktails and food.

The resort has 2 pools, tennis courts, ping pong tables, volleyball court, a bushwalk, and lots of water sports and activities.

Bushwalk across Qalito Island

Behind the resort is a short Bushwalk Trail up the tallest hill on Qalito. 

It took a whopping 30 minutes to scamper up the hill in flips. 

There are 2 beautiful lookouts.  The 1st looks out over the east and the 2nd looks over the west – the anchorage.

The locals put up lovely signage and have maintained bushwalk trail.  The signs share information on the plants, trees

On the way down we detoured toward Navutu Beach. 

This second trail was not as well maintained and had some slippery areas for sure.  

Navutu Beach is a beautiful, secluded beach.

Walk Around Qalito

During low tide, Matt and I walked around the entire island of Qalito.  It was a short 2.5 miles and took us about 2 hours.  The walk included lots of climbing up, over, and around rocks and boulders.

We rewarded ourselves with a nice lunch and frosty drink by the pool.

The main entrance to the resort.

Find Qalito Island on No Foreign Land.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We spent 1 week at Qalito Island during the first part of October 2025.

We fix a problem that was perplexing us for many years in our last blog post, “Reversing a Saildrive Problem.”

Reversing a Problem: Saildrive

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Our “reverse” on the starboard engine has always been a bit “finicky.”  The engine’s saildrive will go into reverse but it does not always engage immediately.  Sometimes it takes between 8-60 seconds to engage.  Which can be a problem as you approach a dock or berth.

We had Whangarei Marine service both sail drives in 2023.  However, they could not replicate the issue.

We have been able to just “deal” with the issue for the past few years with no problem as we were not staying at any marinas. 

However, it became a problem really fast when we tried to get fuel at Vuda Marina.

The starboard saildrive did not to engage just as we were approaching the fuel dock.  Lucky for us we were going slow and there were dock hands available.

What is a saildrive?

A saildrive is basically a transmission for a boat. 

It allows you to shift between forward, neutral, and reverse. 

The saildrive is attached to the engine and protrudes downward through the hull connecting to a horizontal propeller shaft mounted on a skeg outside the hull.

Plan B

We scheduled Whangarei Marine to work on the boat when we haul out in November (in 6 weeks). 

However, we need to get this repaired now before we get back to New Zealand.

We called Ritesh Kumar who works at Krishna Yacht Services in Fiji.  

He arrived next day he and a helper arrived at Sugar Shack’s berth in the marina. 

  • First, they moved the engine forward in order to access the saildrive.   
  • Next they had to disconnect the saildrive from the engine.
  • Now, they can access the gears and the sleeve (under the black “oil” top).

The good news is they found the problem.  The bad news is we need to find a new part for our 25 year old engine/saildrive.

The saildrive is the silver mechanism in the 2 lower photos below.  

The forward gear can be seen in the lower left photo in the circle and the sliding sleeve is below that.

The sliding sleeve  was worn on one end (the reversing end) which is why the saildrive had issues engaging.  

In the photo below you can see the “gray” bottom. It is rough in texture which allows the mechanism to shift. 

The copper portion on the top is smooth which prevents the engagement of the part.

The culprit is the sliding sleeve Volvo Penta part 87308. 

It took me several hours, but we found two at Marine Direct Australia. They are an authorized Volvo dealer and they happened to have these parts in stock! 

We had them in our hands in 2 business days (yeah, DHL).

Install

Ritesh and his helper came back and had the cone clutch installed, saildrive connected, and engine put back in place within 2.5 hours.

We tested both forward and reverse which both worked! 

Of course we are tied 7-ways to Sunday so the “real test” will be once we leave the marina.  Then we can test reverse in full throttle but we are confident it will work.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We worked on the saildrive toward the end of September 2025.

Check out where we stayed while we worked on the saildrive -Blog post on Vuda Marina.