Bula from Fiji…and from the other side of the international date line!
Team Roz arrived safe and sound at Nadi International Airport just before 3:00 pm local time. Please forgive my mistake on the blog this morning – I said we were arriving on Monday, September 1st and of course, I meant Monday, August 31st. That blog entry was rife with errors, and I can only ask your forgiveness – it was a rather hasty entry written at the airport gate and I was a bit sleep deprived!
The 7 hour flight was great – very smooth and the plane was practically empty. As you can imagine, the view from the sky as we descended into Fiji was pretty spectacular. Conrad got out the camera and did some filming – I hope the video captures the incredible colors from the various depths of water. Just stunning!
We breezed through customs and were all relieved that none of our food rations were confiscated. (I think I brought enough granola bars and dried fruit to feed all of Tarawa for a week!) We waited for about 20 minutes for a shuttle to our hotel, which is just a few minutes down the road. We checked in quickly, unloaded our bags in the rooms and headed immediately for the restaurant – we were all famished. Cold beers and a good lunch was just what the doctor ordered.
Sitting outside, we all remarked how similar this part of Fiji is to Hawaii – Hunter noticed that the plants surrounding us are just like the ones in his backyard at home. The hotel has a lovely little pool surrounded by a nice garden, and since our flight to Tarawa isn’t until noon tomorrow, I think we might get a little dip in the morning.
So, I know this is all terribly fascinating stuff (wink, wink) but the reason you’re all here is Roz and you’re itching to hear more about her! Our girl is doing great, not to worry! Many of you are wondering why her position is no longer being posted to the RozTracker, and why she’s not blogging and Tweeting anymore. Don’t worry – this is just temporary. Roz is taking a few days to collect her thoughts and just enjoy some peaceful, contemplative time alone before arriving on Tarawa. She’ll be back to blogging in just a couple of days.
It’s important to point out that I’ve asked Roz to grant her Team one really big favor. In fact, it’s a huge favor. I’ve asked her to slow down. That’s a big ask of someone who has been alone at sea, rowing for nearly 100 days. But I had to make the request – I only found out on Thursday that we’d be going to Tarawa and as you know, we’re scrambling to make all the necessary customs and immigration arrangements for both Roz and her boat.
The other reason I’ve asked her to slow down is for her Team. The earliest we could get the rest of them to Tarawa is Tuesday, September 8th. They’ve been a huge support for Roz throughout this amazing mission of hers and are now coming halfway around the world to support her and toast her arrival – it would be an incredible shame if they missed it by just one day! So Roz has graciously agreed to slow down.
One last great piece of news that I just received: Roz is featured today on CNN! You can take a look at the excellent story by journalist Matt Ford here. Okay, I’d best run, my battery is just about to die. More to come tomorrow…from Tarawa!
Nicole
UPDATE (8/31): Just got an email from Linda in Tarawa and learned that we won’t need visas after all – whew! ;o)
My goodness Nicole, I dare say that you’re doing more work than Roz, with all your running around and planning, and her slowing down. I don’t know where she found you, but what an incredible stroke of luck that she did, because you’re doing an amazing job! Maybe this is an inappropriate question, and if it if please ignore it – but are you a paid to do all this?
Roz, I hope you’re getting in some nice leisurely swim time without barnacle scrubbing or remoras, writing, relaxing and good book listening (and probably a little planning for the upcoming months).
.
contemplating she
sea change ocean pulling oars
cause meta for Roz
on sky sea herself
bound for a different shore
not Tarawa yet
One small boat,
One small compass.
That is your World.
At least until lunch.
Have a Fiji Bitter (aka Fiji Baby)or three for me !!! Drank many of them when we sailed through that whole area for 3 months enroute from Sydney to SF. Only better beer (IMHO)in the whole pacific (excluding Oz) is Hinano in Tahiti.
Remind Roz to watch out for the Space Station per my previous post.
Cheers to Nicole and Team Roz! And More cheers for mom Rita! Reid Stowe has been at sea for 861 days, but I have this feeling that Roz has burned more calories in her aggregate of approximately 300 days at sea.
There are many other explorers/adventurers out there whose exploits I follow with fervor. But of all these, past and present, there is none that compare nor surpass the intensity of the mission Roz is on. Her ecological concerns and messages are outstanding. She truly inspires a positive reaction toward cleaning up the colossal mess humanity has, and is, leaving in its wake.
The messages from others are small by comparison… for the moment; but the momentum is growing! And we, dear Rozlings, can expedite this by setting examples in our own communities. Many of us have already begun to do so in various ways to various degrees. As a result, we really are a part of Roz’s team, a trooper if you will.
So let’s let Roz enjoy her rest, a break she rarely gets, and do our share of what she inspires us to do. Spread the word and carry on, troopers! That’s the energy she needs from us.
Tremendous hugs to you, Nicole! _Achates
Wow! I’m glad you were able to get all your rations through, and you won’t need a visa. That’ll take some stress out of it, I hope.
You’re doing a great job Nicole, and no matter how many mistakes – we appreciate you updating us and letting us know how everything is going!
Hey you forgot to take me with you!
-j
If you haven’t done so, check http://bit.ly/ceqIx for the CNN article on Roz. It’s one of the better ones.
.
solo day of rest
tugging on the world beneath
knowledge in her wake
Will any of the TWiT team have a chance to get there before Roz? Jim Bell Australia
.
We interrupt this program …
self imposed silence
breaking tweet out from the blue
feeding sharks surround
We resume regularly scheduled programming …
middle of nowhere
farthest reaches of the world
we now know our plight
how wonderful to nearly completed what you set out to do .
I surely admire you very much.you are a shining beacon in this sometimes sad world.
Have a good rest,you must be very tired by now.
Magda.
Just tuning in, way too belatedly, to Roz’s adventure. I’m completely inspired and fascinated by the journey, and by what it represents. As a weather guy, geographer, oceanographer (by trade), and explorer at heart, this completely captures me. Enjoy Tarawa and keep on rowing!
Oh, and thanks for the NIU deployment. Those of us in Hawaii appreciate that!
– Pat
Yay! Welcome back Roz Tweets! Guess I was wrong about that leisurely swimming thing. Hope we get some shark pics eventually. Looking forward to hearing about the Fiji-to-Tarawa trip. I was surprised to see that that’s about 1,300 miles. Good travels.
.
solo float parade
hugging west the equator
just strutting her stuff
ROZ-Wow I literally found out about this two days ago…and had to start from the beginning and work my way up to today. You’re on such a powerful journey and have inspired so many people including myself and for that reason alone this voyage has been such an amazing success.
Roz, glad you are back … your absence was epic. Seeing your progress on RozTracker, I for one anxiously await to read your next blog for new revelations. While you were off-line so to speak, something came over me and I fell into a haiku state of mind … simplicity and fun twisting of words like a puzzle … here is one which I imagine may express how you fill your idle time and what may fill your mind to the brim:
zen introspection
seas impending emptiness
solutions abound
BTW, clues in your tweets and practical introspection I figured out when and where your crossed the 176 00E and 175 00W lines, and $cattered carrot$ before you westerly as pledged … one carrot$ every 2 nautical miles $stretching WNWesterly
epic errata … regrettably, I did not $catter carrot$ when you crossed176 00E and 175 00W lines. That would have been magical and mystical indeed, and would really throw ol’ Neptune for a loop.
In fact, recent carrot$ were $cattered before you when you crossed 177 00E and 176 00E.
The next bunch of carrot$ will be $cattered when you cross 175 00E, $pread evenly every 2 nautical miles WNW before you.
Well, I guess the tug-boat has disengaged now that the tracker is back on. Cmon on Rozlings, something is not quite right here…
I just wanted to be one of the very first to greet you back from your self imposed silence, Rozita… All of us Rozistas here in Colombia will be tuned to you all the week or so left for you in rhe arms of Neptune. Carry on, dear Roz for the greener future. I’ve been leading a training program for teachers in a very deprived part of my country, by the sea, and have been speaking of your feat. Now you have about 40 Rozistas on the caribean coast, teaching young children how to care for the environment
Row, row, row your boat, Rozita, all the way to Tarawa
Alejo, from Colombia
Roz, from your last few tweets, seems you are threading the eye of a needle ~200 miles away.
Not only is Tarawa a speck hundreds of miles over the horizon, but winds and currents push, pull, slow, speed and impede you. In addition to your many other talents, you must be a master SEAmstress … with an added element of a window in time. Please keep the tweets coming …
Rozlings can say “a little bird told me …”
8/29/09 4:48PM – kills me 2 go so slow! but teamroz cant all get 2 tarawa until 9/9.
9/1/09 8:26AM – eek! had passed today’s target milestone by 0600. harder than you’d think to go slow!
9/1/09 9:35Am – going to try sea anchor and see what happens…
9/1/09 1:57 PM – need to push north. safest approach to tarawa is from east.
9/1/09 6:32 PM – wind strong and rising. sea anchor out. too south for tarawa. anxious times.
9/2/09 2:17AM – midnight here and wind still blowing strong. ric tells me it shd drop a bit tmrw. it better had!
Doug,
Thanks for re-posting those tweets. There were a few in there that I hadn’t seen before.
“”9/1/09 1:57 PM – need to push north. safest approach to tarawa is from east””
I am only posting this because I know you were given incorrect information about where to head to on Funafuti…
According to http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Kiribati/BetioIslet
“”Tarawa Radio should be called on VHF Channel 16 when approaching the island and give one’s ETA. The Marine Guard keeps 24 hour watch on 500, 2182 and 6215 MHz. Channel 16 is monitored only during office hours (0800-1230, 1330-1615 Monday to Friday). Having been advised beforehand, officials will be waiting in Betio when the yacht arrives. All formalities are supposed to be completed alongside in the small boat harbour in Betio, but this can only take yachts under 6 ft draft. Because of silting, the depths in the harbour are unreliable, so it may be safer for larger draft vessels to tie up to the commercial wharf on the way into Betio or anchor just outside the harbour entrance. An unmarked wreck, lying just below the surface, is close to the recommended anchorage and its position has been reported at 1°22.03’N 172°55.44’E. The customs office is at Betio and immigration officials will come over from Bairiki, where the government offices are based. The captain must show last port clearance and registry certificate.””
The required point of entry is at the Beito small boat harbour.
Also on the charts and Google earth there does not appear to be a reliably open inlet from the east side of the islands to the lagoon.
I apologize if I am incorrect but it appears you are heading a half days row from where you need to be..
This morning I received a voice-recorded blog from Roz, which has now been transcribed and will soon appear on the blogpage. Fear not, Rozlings, ’tis only the email problem that is preventing Roz from “speaking” to you herself. Watch this space! Thanks and best wishes, Rita.
anxious times indeed – Looking forward to following your progress.
Be safe.
Roz — I’ve been following your journey for some time, but only now decided to write. There are no words to describe the wonderfulness of what you’re doing. Young girls the world over have taken inspiration from you. When I showed your website to my two daughters, they were awe-struck.
I know that your sights are set higher than simply the achievements of one person, and your goals are for the entire planet, but sometimes it is the inspiration provided by just one person that makes all the difference.
So anyway, add three more people to the legion of Rozlings! Go Roz!! Godspeed!!
I hope you have noticed that Roz Tracker is back! Follow her trail as Roz anxiously tries to get further north for the approach to Tarawa.
Richard, prompted by your post, I took a look at RozTracker Update which I have not followed …
Richard in Austin wrote: I think that “once”, with one of the green ones (ability to see in the future), I correctly foresaw that I would have a stomach ache from eating too many Jordan almonds.
LOL, I remember those candy-coated almonds … did not know they had a name Jordan. Not only are you a minstrel, but a fine Court Jester … ability to see in the future, indeed, and invoke jolly laughter.
[Someday let’s bend an elbow when I visit my son and his family — they moved to Round Rock last summer. When my wife and I visited last August, my son and I met with Will Wynn to chat about his and Austin’s green agenda — he was wearing western wear and flip-flops having just returned from Bloomberg’s NYC meeting with McCain’s and Obama’s energy and climate advisors. Very progressive.]
Reference to Richard as Roz’s minstrel is found on Day 91 – Approaching Latitude Zero:
“To Richard, my minstrel. Funny that recently I’ve been listening to books by George R R Martin, set in the court of some imagined medieval-ish place and time. So jesters, troubadours, singers and minstrels are very vivid in my mind right now. And you perform the role admirably – I very much appreciate your contributions to the Rozling community, as well as your thoughtfulness in considering how best you could enhance our enjoyment of the adventure. Thank you!”
I just happened to take a look at RozTracker and there is a blog post from Roz an hour ago:
9/2/09 6:15AM – Day 101 – Landing a Parachute on a Penny
Great to hear from you Roz. Thank you!
With your skills, you can do it!
Thanks for posting that link, Doug! I don’t know if I’d have found that anytime soon. Where there’s a will, there’s a way for Team Roz. So ironic that Roz is more successful communicating with the outside world from a rowboat than Nicole and Team are from Tarawa. I do hope everything is fine with the efforts on-island, and with Roz on the wavy, windy deep.
GREAT ! She is heading for the east side of the atol and there are no inlets there.. I hope she gets my previous post or email because if she cannot access the lagoon from the east and she goes to that side of the island she will have a hell of a long struggle to go around to Beito on the southwest end of the atoll.. If the currents and wind don’t carry her to the Marshall Islands !!!
If ANYONE has her Sat # CALL HER and tell her to Radio or call the Tarawa Marine Guard on 500, 2182 and 6215 MHz. Channel 16 is monitored only during office hours (0800-1230, 1330-1615 Monday to Friday).
AND VERIFY WHICH END OF THE ISLAND SDHE NEEDS TO HEAD FOR !!! SOON !!!
Comfortabl y, the post is in reality the freshest on this worthy topic. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your coming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the great clarity in your writing. I will immediately grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates. Authentic work and much success in your business dealings!
Something I have been using is binaural beats – these sounds are amazing and can help you achieve more energy – better focus – more relaxed and for a good nights sleep.