Author Archives: Liz Eastland

Of Pastors and Pastels – Fiji Newsletter 5

Bula ! I know how this newsletter will end. Not Moce, goodbye to Fiji, but Sota Tale, see you again. You taught more than any other place the importance and the potency of impermanence. But first there is a story to tell. I will start with the highway that I fell in love with, hard as […]

Great Expectations…and Fiji Shoes! – Fiji Newsletter 4

Bula Bula ! This newsletter takes us from the dry, sunshine drenched, reef encircled Yasawa islands on the western edge of the Fiji Islands to the heart of the second biggest island of Fiji, Vanua Levu, a volcano-formed steep island covered in rainforest and slower in pace, mixter in race, and visited often by rain. Why would […]

In Which I Discover How Fijians Grow Up to be so Wonderful – Fiji Newsletter 3

Bula ! I am still marvelling at my day spent at Togo Primary School in the hinterland of Fiji’s Nadi outskirts amongst the rich green sugarcane fields. But first I must introduce how I got there, and introduce a few new characters. It begins with an organisation called Pacific Connect, a federally funded program to forge strong […]

Lo’s Famous Fresh Fijian Donuts – Fiji Newsletter 2

Bula ! June 24, 2022. Last I wrote we were anchored in Yalobi Bay, Waya Island. This adventure takes place on the island of Nanuya, further north in the Yasawa chain of islands. And once again, it is about food! But it isn’t about just donuts, it’s about a pickle, too. Friday June 3 turned out […]

Amazing Grace in Yalobi, Waya Island – Fiji Newsletter 1

Bula ! June 6, 2022. Since my last newsletter, I welcomed Amaranth II to Fiji, having flown with their more intelligent partners, while the crew hand steered for 10 and a half days in what was the equivalent of three back to back Hobarts in 30 plus knot winds and 4-6 metre waves. After celebrating a great sail with […]

My Pastel Plein Air Travel Kit [Lesson]

I love to pastel and I love to walk and I love to travel. This blog is about how to combine them all: walk to where you are inspired and paint with soft pastel. While there is heaps of information on the Internet about how to paint with pastels I have found very little on […]

Poetry in orbit: posts from the southwest pacific

Poetic responses to a sailing journey through the Southwest Pacific Welcome to my sailing journey brought to you through poetry which I have written throughout the six months we sailed through the islands of Fiji and New Caledonia in 2022. Even though most of the time we were remote from major towns and internet, I […]

What art materials to pack for an extended voyage? [Lesson]

Only the most essential art materials for a long trip I am about embark on a six month’s trip sailing through the remote islands of Fiji and need to figure out what art materials to take with me on our boat.  I’ve been in my studio almost every day for over a year, and the […]