Alfreddy made this bowl for us with shells from Fulaga
Monday, August 4,2014

Time To Go

We've had a twenty-four hour weather window handed to us, meaning 15-20 knots of wind and 4 foot seas, to shoot over to the capital of Fiji, Suva, on the island of Viti Levu. If we don't pull out at this time it looks like the next possibility won't be for another week, and after our three weeks in Fulaga - as much as we have cherished it - we are itchy to move on...and buy food...and toilet paper...and go to a restaurant...and maybe get internet?

The weather has really been a bit of a downer. We've only gotten in the water here three times! It is so beautiful and the turquoise color is so inviting and we know there is amazing snorkeling and diving at the pass but we just cannot get out there in this wind! The few times we have snorkeled we've worn our Lycra suits under our 3mm wetsuits just to try and stay warm.

The islanders have warmly done their best to keep us all busy; weaving on Mondays for the ladies, net fishing on Saturdays, various get togethers - always with lots of kava, food, and music, hikes to hidden caves with ancient human skulls and bones *(not sure if these are here due to the earlier practice of cannibalism in this country), church on Sundays etc...and all us boaters are very clever at trying to give back in some way - doing a presentation at the school, playing with the kids, or making repairs in the village. Any donation of food and goods has been greatly appreciated - they even like our empty bottles in which they will re-use for many things, including making coconut oil. We have fallen in love with our hosts, Alfreddy and Bale, who have taken such good care of us! Bale makes a delicious crab curry and roti, which keeps Ben very happy. Ben even spent an afternoon learning to wood carve with Alfreddy, as the men of Fulaga are known for their carvings. Other afternoons the two would go out and fish. We had our host family to the boat for dinner one night, serving them lasagne - something Alfreddy had only had one other time in his life. He brought us the most beautiful bowl he had carved as a gift, and then proceeded to fill it with perfect, shiny sea shells they had picked up on the beach.

*Cannibalism was alive and well in Fiji 'til the mid to late 19th century. Cannibalising an enemy was considered the ultimate revenge. In a book I am reading now, "Life In Feejee - Five Years Among the Cannibals" by Mary Davis Wallis, wife of Captain Benjamin Wallis - who ran a dangerous but lucrative trade in beche-de-mer ( a sea cucumber that the locals are still collecting to this day, drying them and selling them to the Chinese) on his ship Zotoff in 1844-1849, she gives many gruesome accounts of the heathenism practiced at the time. Not only does she write of the numerous savage murders, but she gives details of how chiefs wives, after the death of the chief, volunteer to be strangled so they can be joined again in the afterlife. Or how a child is fried instead of baked before being eaten. Or how children are often given the hands to be consumed. Or how quite often people are thrown on the fire whilst still alive. Or sometimes limbs are cut off a victim and they are either forced to watch them being eaten or they are forced to eat their own. Her tales go on and on...I'm not sure if she was a foolish woman to stick around that long or if she was incredibly brave. But the one thing that is clear is her love for God, and by befriending the Wesleyan Mission families that were living in Fiji at the time, she had quite an experience. Larry recently asked a local friend in Fulaga, how she felt about Christianity being brought/forced into Fiji. Her reply was, it had brought peace. The people were no longer fierce and warring.

It is extremely painful to leave a place like this. There are other friends in other countries that we have made along our journey, that as sad as we are to leave them, we know there is a good chance we will see them again. But when you visit a place such as this...chances are, not so much. Although, there is a vessel that recently pulled in that was actually here twenty five years ago, with their two young daughters at that time. I know, however, that this is a one time circumnavigation for Larry and I. Now for Ben, who knows....

Our farewell consisted of Bale's wonderful cooking, a dozen or so of the village men with their guitar, ukulele, loli (a wooden drum), and kava bowl - singing farewell songs for us and drinking grog. Gifts were exchanged and it was bittersweet. As darkness fell, we stopped at Tui Fulaga's ( the chief) home to give a thank you letter, say goodbye, and another offering of kava. It seemed the right thing to do, after his village had looked after us as one of their own for the past three weeks. He was deeply touched.

The following morning was a flurry (this was what Larry was afraid of!). He had made a commitment to the chief of the third village that we would transport a kava bowl that had been carved in the village to Suva, our next destination. Of course we still did not have the bowl and we needed to lift the anchor at a certain time in order to make it out of the reef pass at slack tide, 10:30. We went ashore at 9:00, and there was Bale and Alfreddy with a huge bundle of fresh cabbage and frangipani flowers for me, clams for us to freeze and give to relatives in Nadi next month, and more tears and hugs. Batai, the village nurse, had work envelopes and a gift for his mother to be delivered in Suva. And yes, the chief showed up with not only one but five giant kava bowls and three huge bags of dried fish! Our heads were spinning with all the requests and directions and phone numbers! I thought Larry was going to blow a gasket! We were very happy, don't get me wrong, to help out and transport. Could you imagine in this day and age, living and feeling so remote. I could only hope that someone could deliver a letter or message for me if I needed it.

Alas, all worked out as usual, and the anchor begrudgingly lifted off the Fulaga sea floor. Alfreddy and Bale had waited patiently on shore, waving and blowing kisses all the way until we were out of sight...excuse me, I have to go and cry now.