The Ferry to Suva

On the morning I left Lavena, there was a glorious sunrise. I was given a mighty send-off, I suppose.

And then it was off to catch the ferry, for a twenty hour journey to Suva.

When I joined the three people on the hike at Vidawa, I heard bad things. One of the women knew the ferry and said that if I had the budget, I should fly. Then at the lodge the last two nights, a guy had come and stayed. His name was Alex. He said the ferries were crap. Literally. He said it was awful and that he really didn't want to go on it, but had no particular choice. So when I got to the ferry, I was wondering just what kind of conditions I would find. It was really quite nice. I guess Alex had been talking about economy class. As a visiting traveller, it is often best to spend just a little bit extra and get the higher class on a travelling option. First class on the ferry got a bed, and didn't have to sleep on deck. The bathrooms, which Alex had told me about, were also just fine. The economy bathrooms must have been atrocious. (But then, they couldn't have been worse than the worst bathroom in the world, which I had both seen and had to use. They were on the Qinghai Plateau in China. So nothing would have surprised me on that score.)

Now it was really just a ferry with some cabins where passengers could sleep, so there wasn't much of interest while the ferry was on its way. There was a pearl farm in Savusavu. But as you can tell, it was riveting to look at. Other than that, there was a lot of water to look at, so not much of interest to take photos of. And at night, there wasn't even that much.

But on arrival in Suva, I watched how they put cars on the upper deck. Cool.

And then it was into Suva itself. That was an arrival back to reality.

I decided that it was best to go on to Nadi that day. The first good bus to Nadi had already gone by the time I arrived in Suva, so I booked the afternoon bus. That left me with a few hours in Suva to look around. I had been asking around about the Bula Art Festival, where Serah in the Solomon Islands had said she would be for May. But everyone seemed to think it was in Nadi. And then I went walking around in town to find an internet cafe, and some breakfast, and maybe some souvenirs. I found breakfast, at McDonald's. I found internet access and caught up on 60 or 70 piled up emails. And I found souvenirs, with the help of a very friendly guy who took me to a couple of shops. He knew the owners. I know I should have been a bit more discerning and shopped around a bit more. I did end up happy with the prices I paid, but it was a bit too easy to get the prices I paid. And then my helpful friend demanded a consideration for his helpfulness. Nope, it wasn't the friendly, helpful environment of Lavena anymore. Then I went looking around the area in Suva. I saw the Parliament House.

I saw an old falling down hotel, that apparently you can just walk in and look around, at your own risk. But I didn't find out about that until just before the bus ride, from a fellow traveller. Oh well, that would have been interesting.

I saw the President's House.

And his guard, dressed in full traditional regalia.

Finally, I found the Suva Museum. Inside they had some historical items that were quite interesting. There was this boat that the old-time Fijians used to travel the south Pacific. And they did it without any instruments. No compasses. No maps. No navigational instruments of any kind. They only used their knowledge of the positions of the stars and the way the swells on the oceans rose and fell. I think that was quite amazing.

Wishy-washiness and the Road Back to the Main Island

When I came to Taveuni, I thought I would fly back to Nadi or to Suva. Then I talked to Anna and thought I would take the ferry back. Then I found out that the ferry left Taveuni at 10 am and arrived in Suva the next morning at 6 am. Then it seemed the best option was to fly again. Then I talked to someone else and the flights from Savusavu on the nearby island were cheaper, so we worked out how to get to that airport by using a ferry and a bus to get to the airport there. It would be in time to catch the flight from there to Suva. So this morning, I went in with the late morning bus to see what could be arranged for that ferry. While I was on the bus, I got to thinking. I was going to spend the better part of the day getting from the lodge to the ferry terminal, across the strait, to the other ferry terminal, on a bus to the airport, on the plane to the airport at Suva, with a taxi into town and then finding accommodation of some sort. And by that time, I would be doing nothing much other than sitting in the accommodation overnight. And it would all cost a fair amount. Or I could simply catch the ferry to Suva and have accommodation included in the price, which would end up being about a third of the price. So I went to the ferry terminal and bought a ticket to Suva. I hope the airline understands why I won't show up tomorrow for the flight that I booked (but didn't pay for).

After last night, I got up and had breakfast and wandered around the area for a few minutes taking photos of some of the daily sorts of things that happen around Lavena. There were people out in the water catching crabs and other things. The beach was the beach. The waves were the waves. It was nice.

I also caught a hermit crab.  He came out of his shell and tried to pinch me.

I went in to town on the 11 o'clock bus. Anna went on the same bus, as she was taking her monthly trip to town to see her son and other family there. When we got to town, Anna really wanted to take me around to a couple of things. She was there to see her family and she wanted to make sure that I saw the things in town that I wanted to see. She was even taking care of lodge guests on her time off. They are so nice here.

The first place she wanted to take me was the local church. This is the largest church on the island of Taveuni. It seems fairly old as well. I guess for the big Christian events, like Easter and Christmas, every Catholic on the island comes to this church. And once a month Sunday mass is held here. The other weeks the priest travels to other villages to hold mass. That seems to be a very good priest, as far as I can conceive of good priests.

Inside it was also quite nice, but it does show its age. There are cracked windows and splintered wood here and there. There are no traditional pews. Everyone sits on the floor. Anna sat on the floor and waited while I had a look around.

The view out the front door is quite amazing.

And they have an interesting church bell as well.

Then it was off to see the whole reason I chose to come to Taveuni: The Date Line, 180 degrees longitude. We walked along the road towards the spot and I was quite excited. Anna told me it was just ahead. I couldn't really see anything that stood out, but I figured that it must just be kind of hidden from view. And then Anna announced that we were there. I looked around. I looked down. And I have to say, I felt a rather profound sense of disappointment. This was it? No sign? No trumpets? Just a little white marker that didn't even say what it was? Hmmpph!

With the taste of bitter let-down in my mouth, we went to the ship dock to ask about getting passage to Suva for tomorrow. And I remembered that there was a couple who had come to the lodge who had a photo of the dateline that was more impressive than what I had seen. But Anna didn't know where it would be. She did know where the natural waterslide is that is close to where the couple said the dateline is supposed to be. So she told me how to get there. And so it was that Anna and I said good-bye. I am indebted to her and the rest of the people at Lavena for making my stay so memorable. I had such a good time and I will remember it always.

After getting the information about the ferry, I then asked about the dateline and received much more heartening news. It was up at a soccer/rugby field just at the top of the hill. So I went and found a much better dateline marker. It still seems a bit old and run-down, but it does mark the spot much better than the simple white pillar of the other spot. But if it were me, I would be making a big deal of the spot. It is a great marketing tool to bring in tourists.

There are people in the area who seem to be trying to capitalize on the idea, but overall, it is pretty much ignored as a tool.

After the dateline meridian, I went into town to find a bank machine, possibly the only one on the island. Then I got myself a haircut, got some lunch and caught the bus back to the lodge for my last night here before heading back to the main island of Viti Levu. Although it wasn't a completely satisfying day, I did get to see the dateline, so it counts as a successful day.

A Celebration

I was invited to a fundraising event for the Lavena school. The school was built a year ago. Now they need to outfit it properly with boards and computers and other necessities. So they engage in fundraising activities. Last night was the collection night and they had a little party. The festivities began at about 7:30. The town parents had been divided into four groups to make a sort of informal competition of the proceedings. At 7:30, the head teacher opened the evening with some comments. Then there was a prayer and then the singing began. Some of the men of the village played guitars of varying sizes and they sang. They were really good. And, of course, the kava was flowing as well. At 8:30, the counting of the funds began. Each of the groups in turn were called upon to bring something up to the counting table. They could bring all of their funds raised, or some, or none at all. It was duly counted and the tallies were kept on a board at the front of the tent. When they would come up to bring some money, they would dance and cavort. Often they would invite others up to dance with them. And, of course, the kava flowed. Then, after each group had brought the money up, the whole tally for the gifting round was written up on the board. Some more singing and dancing (and flowing kava) followed until 9:30, when another gifting round was begun. In a different order this time, each group again brought some money up (or in the case of the group that adopted me, opted to wait until the final round), with singing and dancing accompanying it all. And, of course, lots of kava. Another tally was put up on the board. And more singing and dancing. And, of course, the kava kept flowing. The final round was the last of the money that was raised by the groups. More singing, dancing, and kava drinking accompanied this final round. Then a hat was passed around for anyone who wanted to donate a final bit of money, accompanied by more singing, dancing and, of course, kava drinking. In the end, the community raised $3206.10 for the school. Not bad for a community of 300 or so. I don't know how long this round of fund-raising went on for, but I think they raised a lot of money. And they had a lot of fun gathering it up and counting the final tally. And I felt very happy to be included in the event. They made me feel very welcome.

Friday the 13th and the Vidawa Rainforest Hike

Bright and early, again, I got myself out of bed and met the three people who had come to stay the night at Lavena. One was working with a volunteer program on another island. She was in charge of marketing the program and then sending the volunteers off with a nice experience. She brought them here. Another of the three was one of the volunteers. The third was a guy they met on another island. He is from Basque and has been here in Fiji for about two months.

We all hopped on the bus and headed to the Tavoro Visitor Center. There we had a cup of tea, instead of the planned breakfast. They had to catch the next bus out and so we were a bit pressed for time, and had to skip breakfast. But we did have a couple of cookies. And an early morning rain shower made the light nice for a photo of the flowers.

Then we headed down the road to meet the guide for the trek. Kristy (the volunteer coordinator) knew him from other times she has visited the area. It was a meeting of old friends. We signed in at the Vidawa Visitor Center and then headed up the mountain. It was a bit wet and muddy. And it was also slippery. While we were slogging up the mountain on the trek, I slipped somewhere in the mud and the strap in my sandal snapped and came out of the sole of the sandal. Suddenly, partway up a wet, muddy mountain, I had to go shoeless. It's a good thing that rainforests break down the dead vegetation quickly and it is soft (for the most part) on the forest floor. I didn't step on too many things. Our guide, Matt, offered me his flip flops, but I can't make those things work properly, so I had to give that up after only a minute or two. Bare feet it was. Part of the trek was to see birds. Now birds are nice, but I don't find them really interesting. We did see something called a ground dove. It was in a tree. There were some other birds that we saw, but the real prize eluded us on this day. There is a rare bird here called the Orange Dove. I guess it's only found on this island in Fiji (making it endemic, yea, I get to use a new word from Kakadu). As far as I'm concerned it's a myth. I have asked people if they have seen it, but it's always, “No, but my uncle/aunt/next door neighbour/guide did.” In any case, we did not see it.

But we did see a stone chair where some Fijian king in the past sat and looked out over the ocean.

And we saw the defensive trenches the villagers of old dug to protect against invaders from across the seas. It was uphill and the villagers lived at the top. They dug these trenches to give themselves the high ground on invaders, making it easy to throw spears or rocks down on them and kill them. There were four such trenches along the way. After that there was a narrow path with a steep slope on either side leading to the village. Matt apparently said that it was the only way into the village, but I think that must be mistaken. If there is only one way in, then by extension that means there is only one way out. And if there is only one way out, and the invaders did, by some quirk of fortune, manage to get into the village, the villagers would be dead. So I imagine it must have been the main way in, with a couple of secret ways out. Once in the ancient village, we saw ancient mounds where the houses used to be situated. It was too dark in the area though for good photos, and I was preoccupied by bare feet.

But the next bit was the sacrificial stone. If ever there was some problem in the village, bad crops, adultery, unfavourable weather, the chief would gather everyone together. He would ask everyone who was responsible. If someone spoke up, they were sacrificed on the stone. They would kneel on the kneeling stone and put their head on the high stone. Then they would be whacked on the back of the head, and be killed. Now, if by any chance, there were no volunteers eager to fess up for any wrong-doing to cause the village's trouble (and, hey, I can't imagine why there wouldn't be many eager volunteers to take their lumps, can you?), the chief would choose someone to be sacrificed. And then they would be eaten, apparently.

We also saw how they used to catch wild chickens. A trap was laid using sticks and a piece of bark as a lasso, strapped somehow to a young tree. The chicken would come along, lured by some tasty coconut. It would step on the twigs and the tree would be loosed. It would snap back upright and the chicken's foot would be snared by the bark lasso. Dinner would be hanging from a tree when the hunters returned. It was a fairly convincing demonstration, and a reminder of just how much we city dwellers have lost in knowledge along the way.

Then we headed down the hill, back to the village of Korovou, where Tavoro Falls was located. But as we were walking through the village, the bus came along. Not wanting to walk the five kilometers back to Lavena Village with tender feet and a broken shoe, I ran to catch it. I just made it and rode back to my accommodation. So much for my plans to walk back. Foiled three times out of three, I guess I will have to find a nice view on another road on another island another time.

When I got back to the lodge, I decided to take a swim to wash the mud off. As I was getting my legs clean, the room key came out of my pocket and was lost to me. I searched for it for quite a while, but eventually came to the conclusion that it was gone. I told Anna, the woman running the lodge this week. She was understanding.

I went to watch some volleyball in a tournament the village is having today. While I was there, the key floated up to Anna on the beach and basically came back home. Sigh! Friday, the 13^th.

Tavoro Falls

This falls is the waterfall that is featured in the movie Return to the Blue Lagoon. And it is another of the village attractions in Bouma National Heritage Park. I got up and headed to the Tavoro Falls Visitor Center on the 11:00 bus. When I got to the spot, I was greeted by Maria, the woman who runs the Visitor Center. At first she seemed a bit stand-offish, but she quickly warmed up. She signed me in and gave me a little map. When I asked if she had any snacks or something I could take with me on my hike, she offered to make me some lunch. On the menu was a vegetable curry. It was delicious. While I was there, some kids were using some bilibilis on the river next to the spot where Maria brought me lunch.

Then it was off into the woods to see the three waterfalls. First up was the famous waterfall from the movie. It's okay, but really it's just a cascade down into the pool below. I didn't do any swimming, but the water seemed quite refreshing.

Then it was time for climbing. Up the hillside, I climbed for a while, and then reached a point where I could see a long ways out to see. It was a very nice view of the area and the shore of the island of Taveuni and Maqai in the distance.

After a short rest, I continued on to the second waterfall. Again it was all right, but a simple cascade down into a pool below. But then it was on to the third waterfall. This required a fairly involved crossing of the pool and river below the second waterfall and then another short climb up the hill. I found that not many people at all go to the third waterfall. Maybe it's the treacherous crossing of the river. Maybe they just don't see that it could get better. Maybe they don't realize that if you are going to view three rather high waterfalls, it's going to necessitate climbing. But I ran through a large number of spider webs on the way to the third waterfall.

And it was the best one of the bunch, in my opinion. It had three different fall lines. And it bubbled and fell in interesting ways. I really liked. And I had it all to myself. Actually, I had all three to myself. This is not yet the high season for tourists here and there were only a few people who go to these places these days. Next month it will be getting busier. But I was the only one to go to the third fall this day.

After a short stay at the third cascade, I headed back down to the visitor center, and met this purple crab on the trail. Now, I didn't know there was such a thing as a purple crab. And I was a bit surprised to see it so far from the see, in the middle of the forest. I wonder what it was doing there. But I had a short sword fight with it (well, it had its claws and I had a stick), and then headed on down.

My plan had been to walk back to Lavena, but just as I arrived at the visitor center, one of the park drivers (or maybe from a resort in Matei) was just leaving to head back to Lavena and he gave me a lift. It was a fairly lucky day.

While I was away, three new visitors had come to Lavena Lodge to stay for the night. Their plan was to go to the Vidawa Rainforest Hike the next day, so I asked if I could join them. That made it easy to work the final destination activity for the park into my plans before heading out to civilization on Saturday. But it did mean getting to bed early for another really early morning to catch the first bus. Another sunrise to view. Yea!! (Read that with some level of sarcasm.)

Kava

In Korea, it's soju. In North America, it is probably coffee. In Fiji, it's kava. Kava is the get-to-know-you, socializing-while-drinking drink. It is slightly intoxicating, but not overly so, although it does make your mouth a bit numb and definitely makes you sleepy. It is also bitter and something that I don't understand why people ever started drinking. And I was invited to participate in the ritual. Over and over, we had cups of this brew. It is made from the roots and bark of a plant that takes 3 years to mature to the point where it can be turned into the a powder that can be made into the drink. The two people who arrived earlier and stayed also participated in the ceremony and we were up drinking this stuff until well past midnight. And then I couldn't do anymore, and I headed into bed. It was an interesting experience and I am glad I was invited, but I will try to avoid any more invitations if possible.

Waitabu Marine Protected Area

The Bouma National Heritage Park is a national park on Taveuni Island. Inside the park there are four or five villages. The people of these villages can live off the land as they always have, but the resources of the park are protected from outsiders. In addition, the villages also operate little tourism businesses. The lodge where I am staying, the Lavena Lodge, operates a guesthouse as well as being the visitor center for an area nearby where visitors can walk a coastal walk to visit a waterfall, or take a kayak trip to another waterfall, or even take a boat tour to a series of further waterfalls. These trips can be combined and the area can be fully experienced. The kayak/coastal walk was the trip I took yesterday. And for the trip it only cost about 20 dollars. Staying in the lodge costs only about 11 dollars a night. It is so inexpensive here, but they really put together a nice place to stay.

Another village, Waitabu, has a Marine Protected Area that is associated with it. Visitors there can go for a snorkelling tour of the coral reefs they are protecting and rehabilitating. This visit costs about 15 dollars.

Another village has a rainforest walk associated with it. And a fourth village has a big waterfall nearby, Tavoro Falls. This waterfall was also featured in the movie Return to the Blue Lagoon.

All four villages offer tours with guides for their natural attractions at very reasonable prices. And all the fees associated with them go to the villages and guides. That is the kind of arrangement that I like.

Today I visited the Waitabu Marine Protected Area (MPA). I got up at 5:30 so that I could catch the public bus at 5:45. There is a public bus that operates on the island from end to end of the habited areas four times a day on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and 3 times a day the other days. I talked to the driver last night so that I could make sure to catch the first bus today. The MPA operates according to the tides and the tides today weren't favourable for the 11:00 bus, so it was best to get the early bus, even though that meant getting up at the ridiculous hour. Of course, with power off here at 10:00 at night, it is early nights anyway, so getting up so early isn't so hard. And there was the added benefit of seeing a pretty nice sunrise. I've been seeing lots of those lately. That's a bad habit I shall have to break. Sunrise is just too early in the morning.

I arrived at the village and was greeted by one of the families there. They made me breakfast while I waited for the starting time, 8:00. The woman also had her daughter show me around the village. It's a nice little village and the kids are very cute. 

Then I met my guide and we headed off to the reef. The area has been protected for over 12 years now. When they first set the area up, pretty much all the coral was dead, and there were few fish. A few years ago the care-takers, under the guidance of a marine biologist, planted some new coral and set up some fish houses. Since then the area has thrived and there are whole fields of coral now. In addition there are loads of fish. It was quite a sight. At the time I was snorkelling with my guide there, the tide was coming in. It was really tough going. Fighting a tide is very hard work and I was getting exhausted. Even my guide found the current very hard to work with. In addition, I had no booties on inside my fins, so I had to pack it in early due getting blisters on my toes that were getting quite painful. But the area is very interesting and a great way to spend an hour or so.

On the way back to the village in the boat (which, I am embarrassed to say I couldn't manage to get back into without a visit to the beach), we passed by the Bat Cave. Hey, where's Batman?

After the snorkel tour, I headed back to the road and made arrangements to see the Tavoro Waterfall tomorrow. I also got to see the bilibili rafts in operation. They are rafts made by tying some kind of wood, like bamboo, together. They look a bit difficult to manage and probably require some good balance. But these kids seemed to have been born on them. Then I barely flagged down the bus back to Lavena. I had a bit of lunch with the ladies at the lodge and a driver for the park, then I had a bit of a nap.

After that I headed down the road a bit for a walk and to see what's around. I had a bit of fun with a fern. This fern shrinks away from contact with anything, including fingers. It's really cool. After a while, it opens back up, but it takes too long, so I didn't stick around for that.

While I was walking I admired the views of the coast.

And there was this guy, too.

And everywhere, people here are friendly. I would walk by a house and hear a call of, “Bula!!” People smile and say hi and generally make visitors feel very welcome. It is the Solomon Islands all over again. I don't care what the governments of the world say about coming to Fiji. I don't care about what the government here is supposed to be and whether it is acceptable to western democracies. The people here are fantastic and I would return here in a heartbeat.