ADVENTURE 18
Fiji 2



THE FAMILY VISITS FIJI….BULA FIJI

On July 2, 2014 a little Air Fiji Cessna airplane appears in the distance and then drops out of sight to the bottom of the grass strip to land up hill on the beautiful island of VANUA BALAVU. Today is a special flight from Suva, the capital of Fiji. Out hops 6 passengers, 4 of whom are John, Camie, Blake and Nolan Bentham from Victoria, BC. Our family. They are carting their hand luggage, pillows (for sleeping on the plane), vegetables and fruit from the Suva capital farmer’s market, a load of fishing lures and a fishing rod! Whew, after traveling quite a distance they have arrived safely from Canada to join Sea Whisper for 2 weeks in the ‘LAU Island group’. Whoopee – they have landed here to visit Fiji’s wild frontier and to explore the remote villages of the northern LAU Island group, and the schools; to learn about the Fijian culture, to play rugby with the kids, to attend village feasts and have a lot of fun and just to hang out as they say! Add to the mix water sports, swimming, snorkeling, wakeboarding and fishing. The dance begins in the sunshine of the villages and the warm waters of the Lau!!
Prior to their connecting flight to the Lau, the 4 of them had spent 1 ½ days in Suva, the multi-cultural capital of Fiji. There they were introduced to Fiji’s two cultures…Fijian and Indo-Fijian peoples, the students from the University of the South Pacific (of 12 Pacific Nations) and the grand Municipal market with all its cabbages and Kava amongst a ton of other farm-market produce.

SAY BULA!
Bula is the Fijian Hello. It’s the best known word in the Fijian language.
For the next 2 weeks Sea Whisper will be our family home together. We are excited to plan our days and pack them with culture and adventure. We will explore the hidden villages and, with the single word ‘BULA’, be adopted by the locals. Soaking up the Fijian friendliness and affection and the glittering scene that surrounds us will be a world class experience. Let’s get started!

DALACONI, A REMOTE VILLAGE IN NORTHERN LAU
We are off the tourist track! Within the 330 islands most Fijians live in villages with their extended family or clan and a Hereditary chief. Blake and Nolan look around and soon realize that life is pretty simple here in the village of Dalaconi. There are no stores, no TV or Recreation Center…. only a supply ship stopping once a month with supplies from Suva. They people are poor. They have so few material things. But they are rich in other ways. In this small village of Dalaconi, everyone helps each other and they share what they have with friends and family. They are sustained by food sources from the land and the sea, living the lifestyle that their ancestors lived. The men, women and children are happy enjoying their freedom in this Pacific paradise. When we approach them their faces are calm, wide and plain with a wee bit of curiosity as they intently gaze at us. And now after meeting Lionel and me, the villagers are very keen to get to know the family. We are interested in them; they in us. We soon become friends. Today in this small hidden village of Dalaconi on Vanua Balavu Island in Fiji we will perform our SEVUSEVU and be accepted into their family.

SEVUSEVU
We thought 2 boys 11 and 13 yrs. would seem a bit shy and somewhat bewildered at the thoughts of wearing a wrap-around skirt (Sulu) to meet the Chief and perform our Sevusevu, the traditional ceremony for visitors to be accepted into a Fijian village. We give ourselves a little briefing on village protocol: no hats, sunglasses, never to touch a Fijian’s head and to sit with our legs crossed in front. We practice, Bula (hello), Vinaka (thank you) and Goodbye (moce). Off we go with our bundle of ‘waka’(kava) in hand. The Chief is delighted to meet 2 smart young lads from Canada. He places them on each side of him in a hearty warm embrace. But before we begin John is invited to the back garden to pound the Kava with the big steel mallet. Pound, pound, pound. The Kava root is now a fine powder to be mixed with rain water and squeezed through a silk cloth. Back to the ceremony and the silence, sitting cross-legged; boys in their Sulus, girls in their Sarongs. How smart we all look. The ‘mixer’ of the Kava circles the Tanoa (Kava bowl) with his hands indicating the Kava is ready to drink. The chants begin and the Chief receives the first offering in his personal Bilo. Then the Bilos (drinking bowl made from the coconut shell) are passed around in silence and we all take our turn sipping the muddy chalky substance. The silence is broken with the Cobo claps. Everyone is smiling and we now have completed an age-old tradition. We introduce ourselves and talk (talanoa) about our travels. We have enjoyed this unique experience. ‘Pa’ the Chief’s sister magically prepares a luncheon spread of grilled fish, fish with coconut, yams, spinach and cassava for all of us. We are one family.


THE SCHOOL, THE PLANTATION, THE RUGBY, THE VILLAGE
We all walked to the SCHOOL on the edge of the plantations. Here the boys found the friendly teachers and the students in their crisp blue and white uniforms. I must say my grandsons also look very smart in their Sulus and Fiji shirts. This is a primary school – grades 1 to 7. Already we recognize Melanie from the village. She is smiling at us and welcomes us into her class. Melanie, who speaks impeccable English is a very bright 12 year old and wants to be a Doctor some day. The boys are eager to pass out the pencils, pens, flags and Canada pins we have brought for the students….all 26 boys and girls. There were more boys than girls. Each student stood up from their simple wood desk and bench-seat and told us their name and their age. Voila! We’re making new friends and we’re told there is RUGBY after school in the small field. Blake and Nolan chit chat with the kids and make friendly connections. Kids of all ages play in the dirt, on a rough grass field or the village beach. Even though life is different here, kids are kids and Blake and Nolan found out that there is a common bond between Fijian and Canadian kids.



THE PLANTATIONS
Walking in the hot sun on the dirt road to the PLANTATIONS, we notice a mass of vegetation. There are banana trees, coconut trees, papaya trees, mango trees and lemons, limes and oranges. The crops on the ground are casaba, yams, taro and some spinach and pumpkin. And of course Kava bushes. Our eyes are dancing in all directions as we take it all in. All of us are genuinely curious about all that we see: The male villagers in bare feet coming and going on the narrow dirt roads branding their machetes and the men and women packing large palm-grass baskets laden with fruits and vegetables that they will take back to their village. A horse passes by with the rider balancing a load of wood for the kitchen fires in the village. The family is humbled by the every day villagers’ routine of gathering food from the land and the sea. An indescribable scene.

RUGBY
It was time to play RUGBY with the village kids. Every male from five to forty plays rugby in Fiji everyday on the smallest patch of grass! Blake and Nolan are very athletic and fit right in with the village boys (and girls). My, how they stood out with their blonde hair and fair skin amongst all the dark Fijians! What fun to watch all these spirited kids as they ran, laughed, talked and tossed themselves around.

Every young male aspires to be a rugby star in Fiji. Fijians are fanatical about their rugby game. Even the smallest patch of dirt plays host to a rugby scrimmage. And then there’s the big leagues….. Pacific Nations Cup with Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Australia, NZ and Japan. Genius on the rugby field can translate into political power! In Suva, the atmosphere at the match we attended between Fiji and Italy at the National stadium was electrifying! 15% OF THE Fiji population is registered Rugby players!

THE VILLAGES
Our family had the opportunity to observe life in the hidden VILLAGES in front of the lush mountains of Northern Lau. It was fascinating for us to be part of the village life observing how simple, basic and not too ambitious their daily existence appears. Inside their tin and straw and bamboo houses we observe how the families live in very small primitive spaces. How their mothers and grandmothers prepare simple food in sooty metal pots on wood fires on dirt floors inside smoky ‘Kitchen Houses’. In a separate house the families sleep (many children in one room). Blake and Nolan visited Melanie and her brother’s house one morning before school. In their blue and white uniforms, the school kids sat on the ground by an open fire eating their pancakes that their Grandmother ‘Bru’ had prepared.... blue smoke wafting in the air inside the small kitchen house. At the lunch break the boys and girls walk from the school back to their village for lunch - fish, casaba and rice. Not your conventional Canadian lunch-box lunch! We watched the women make coconut oil, weave mats and purses, wash clothes in pails and cook the family meals on open fires. The men were catching fish, walking around with machetes, working in their plantations, fixing their boats and drinking the Kava. One day, in Dalaconi Village, while Camie is visiting the village women who are weaving and making cocoanut oil she meets Maja and her little baby and they have a wonderful visit….young mothers. Maja with jet black hair, Camie with long blonde hair. Striking contrasts.
John can be seen a few yards away on the beach with another ‘yachtie’. They are helping Joe, the village spokesman who is a keen fisherman, fix his outboard motor on his fishing boat. Joe shows us wicked scars from shark bites while spear-fishing at night on the outside of the reef. He limits his fishing to inside the lagoon now.
The boys are mixing it up with the local village kids with a rugby game on the beach. This day has captured magical moments. BULA Fiji!

FISHING
John is a keen fisherman. Very soon he is rigging the gear and on day 3, with 2 lines in the water; one with a Tom Mac spoon and the other a feather, we get 2 hits…a double header. With Lionel’s encouragement John hurls the yellow-fin tuna on the boat keeping tension on the line - never mind wasting time with a gaff or net! Wow, both slippery tuna are sprawled on the aft deck. Rod and hand lines go in all directions. Towels quickly wrap the heads of the fish to calm them down. Hang on tight should the powerful tails start slapping you!
VILLAGE FISHERMEN Regardless of the weather the men of Dalaconi village strike out at dusk in their open boats to the outside of the reef where the seas and surf are strong and fierce. Here for 3 to 4 days at a time they fish, fish, fish for the big tuna. Can you imagine the discomfort of hanging out and upside down in a 15 ft. open boat in the heavy rolling sea hoping to catch big tuna on hand lines with the most rudimentary gear. Some of these fish are sold at the bigger markets. The ‘Catch of the Day’ becomes paramount as fish is the mainstay of the Fijian diet and also the prime fare at village feasts and ceremonies.

THE KID BOAT

A banner in the Marqueses Islands in French Polynesia spelled out ‘Kid Boat’. Onboard Sea Wisper were 2 kids and their parents. Sea Whisper did not have a banner but we had 2 great kids …Blake just about 13 and his brother Nolan 11.They were active and busy with water sports every day- swimming, diving, snorkeling and wakeboarding. Yes, a wakeboard in the remote islands of Fiji! It’s a good thing that we were the only boat in the anchorage. At 0700 hrs. Nolan could be heard calling from the aft deck “Lionel, Lionel, let’s go for a wake-board! Off they went spinning around the nooks and crannies of the Bay of Islands, an idyllic group of islands in the northern Lau. And then it was time for a snorkel out to a reef or a swim with their mum around an island. Snacks were a big part of the day. Popcorn, chips and cookies. And if the kids were not too tired, mixing bread and baking oatmeal cookies was part of the day’s activity.
And at night the stars in the Southern Hemisphere made for interesting entertainment. The Southern Cross is my special star and Noley’s too! In their journals Blake and Nolan wrote all the words and phrases that were part of each day.

AN OVERNIGHT PASSAGE
Log entry July 7, 2014 Enroute to Viani Bay from Bay of Islands
0000 17 09.4S 179 13.5W SOG 6.1 COG 274 W ESE 10-12 kn.
It was midnight and passage out through the reef went smoothly, retracing our route in through the pass. Slight swell. Wing on wing. Family crew doing well.
And then at 1000 hrs in the morning we hear, “Fish on, Fish on!” John has just nailed a big Dorado (20 lbs). He hand lines it carefully to the boat and with everyone holding their breath he heaves the big fish onto the aft deck. What excitement onboard with only 7.5 miles to go to Viani Bay!
A good passage wouldn’t you say?

THE FEAST AND THE CABBAGE PATCH
The first day we arrive at Viani Bay there is a feast at Jack’s place. Jack is the local Fiji guide who arranges snorkeling and diving and fishing and feasts for the Yachties! The Fijian women and men at the waterfront village have roasted a pig, and cooked fish, chickens and vegetables in their ‘Lovo’ ovens.
We headed to the beach for the feast; John, Camie, Blake and Nolan’s first very big Fijian feast…and what a feast it was!
The Cabbage Patch is a local famous reef for snorkeling. Off we went the next day with a catamaran full of people with Jack as our guide to the Cabbage Patch…..a coral garden profuse with Coral Cabbages as big as a room. Blake and Nolan were constantly free diving down the vertical drop-offs to the cabbages, the brilliant corals and the many species of fish. At the end of it all we caught a nice ‘Walu’ while motoring back to the anchorage. It was a big fish to share and it was delicious on the BBQ.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
We decided to go ashore and stretch our legs. After getting vague directions to follow a jungle path to another bay on the other side of the island we struck out from Viani Bay. We walked and walked through rainforest and cocoanut plantations and suddenly out of the wilderness appeared a group of indigenous Fijians. Oh my, we were startled. But after our “Bula, Bula” introduction there were big smiles and gestures to follow them. Three families were living together in what is considered a Settlement. They guided us to their primitive dwellings and weaving hut and plantation. Kids, dogs, adults, cows and chickens surrounded us. “This is a National Geographic experience,” proclaims Camie. We passed out Sea Whisper pens, and ‘Canada’ pins. You would have thought they won the lottery; they were so excited and grateful. Two of the children offered to show us the way to the bay across the island. After walking a great distance we stopped at another plantation and decided to turn back. Waving goodbyes to the ‘Settlement’ we struck out on the jungle path back to Sea Whisper. A textbook adventure!

A JUNGLE WALK TO THE HOT SPRINGS
At Fawn Harbour on Viti Vanua Island, another Sevusevu ceremony with the Chief a traditional village. The next day something different: a journey to the Hot Springs at Fawn Harbour. And where are they? A few inquiries to the route resulted in “Follow the creek.” This we did. Tripping over boulders in the stream, climbing up the banks of the flowing creek, squeezing through barbed-wire fences and tramping through plantations we kept forging ahead. “This can’t possibly be correct,” I shouted ahead to Lionel who was leading the pack. “Just follow the creek,” was his response.” I was dragging up the rear and kept plodding along. About an hour later we came to some hot pools in the middle of the bamboo jungle. What a find! We dumped our laundry in the hot pools. The shampoo and body wash went into high gear and the scrubbing began. In no time we had clean laundry and whistle clean hair and skin! Back to Sea Whisper down the creek bed.


THE FINAL STOP …..SPLIT ROCK AND SAVUSAVU
Rated as one of the best places to snorkel in Fiji is Split Rock near Jacques Cousteau Resort, a lavish beach front resort and Vila. With masks, slippers, goggles and ‘Go Pro’ we head to the coral reefs. Our discovery - an array of stunning fish…some small and some big. Oh, oh I see a shark! I come to the surface and call out “Shark, Shark!” Some of us got to see the White Tip as he cruised down below us. And later at the outside barrier reef we snorkeled and found more wonderful fish, soft and hard corals and more sharks. The boys were thrilled!

At the Jacques Cousteau we pretended to be tourists and indulged ourselves with exotic fruity drinks with little umbrellas. That’s all our budget allowed….The price tag for one night is $1,000. I might add the hefty rate includes meals and a kid’s club!!

The little town of SAVUSAVU is known as the prettiest town on Vanua Levi. It’s set on a Peninsula with lovely views across the bay. A great place for Yachties to visit and stock up on supplies and provisions and pick out a good restaurant. And indeed we did. “Surf and Turf” is the name of an outstanding family restaurant serving extraordinary local food. The catch of the day ‘Wahu’ in a curry sauce was the favourite of Camie’s and my choice was a grilled fish in a black bean sauce. It took forever to eat but I enjoyed every morsel! Our farewell dinner was mixed in with Celebration for Blake and Nolan’s summer birthdays. Cake and homemade delicious ice cream was the finale of this exquisite meal!
And the last day a picnic lunch at Blue Lagoon and then off to the airport and back to Canada. We have had the most exciting, cultural and adventurous holiday together in the stunningly beautiful cruising waters of Fiji. John, Camie, Blake and Nolan announced that their holiday was filled everyday with many “Once-in-a Lifetime-Moments.” BULA FIJI.



BARBARA AND LIONEL AT A FIJI WEDDING
On the this day Lionel and I attended a wedding in a village on the other side of Vanua Balavu. How honored we were to sit with the Bride and Groom in their Wedding costumes. The feast was elaborate…the women cooking for days on end and still every moment of the ceremonious day going at it in the back gardens spread all over the ground with their pots and pans and cutting, chopping fish, lobster, clams, cassava, yams, spinach, beans and foods we did not recognize. We sat with the bride and groom and indulged ourselves in the finest of feasts. Our wedding gift: A nice tray with a big red and white Maple leaf on it, 2 special pens from Sea Whisper and a few Fiji dollars.



DIVING AT NAMENA ISLAND

Lionel and I discovered a secluded island paradise with some extraordinary diving. It is only 25 miles from Savusavu and offers the best diving in Fij,
a Marine Reserve. The first day we snorkeled and discovered magnificent soft corals and bommies and deep drop offs. But the world class experience came the following 2 days when we did 3 scuba dives: Grand Central Station, Rainbow Wall and The Chimneys! Wow…we discovered patch reefs and coral gardens in glorious colour illuminating the sea, channels, tunnels, and vertical pillars that were simply alive with schools of fish, sharks and little macro critters of the ocean. Taking the Padi scuba course in New Zealand was definitely worth it. What an amazing dive experience! Not to be forgotten.

CUTTING SUGAR CANE AND MILKING COWS IN VUDA, VANUA LEVU

We were fascinated with the sugar cane industry on Vanua Levu. The cane is harvested for 6 months between June and December. Dusty fields of the tall cane can be seen waving in the hot sun. Walking to an Indo-Fijian village we got invited to a farm with 40 acres of sugar cane being harvested. And guess who had a chance to hack away at the canes with a big machete? Cane-cutter Lionel. The cane workers, who are mainly Indo-Fijian begin work at 0600 and cut cane until 1500 hrs. when they load the truck that takes the cane to the factory. The SUGAR CANE TRAIN rattles along on a small track with cars and cars of cut cane. So picturesque! We ended up getting invited to Brig and Sarusa’s home for a curry dinner with dahl, rice, mango pickle, roti proceeded by KAVA! All in the day of village life in Vuda, Fiji.

MILK THE COWS
I think my story rivals Lionel’s sugar cane. On my early morning walk to the Indo-Fijian village passing sugarcane and vegetable farms I met a farmer who had 7 cows. Two of these cows were milking cows. “What time do you milk your cows?” I asked. “Seven in the morning,” he answered. When I invited myself to help milk his cows he took me up on the offer. “Show up tomorrow at 7 and you can milk the cow.’ At 0700 I arrived at his farm, As he was finishing saying morning prayers. We began to milk the cows. It took me way back to my childhood in Deep Cove when as a kid I helped my mom and dad milk the old ‘bossy’. What a hoot! I can still see the astonishment on this Indo-Fijian farmer’s face!

BULA FIJI

With that we will sign off this adventure in Fiji as Sea Whisper, after some repairs, heads west to Vanuatu. A new adventure awaits us!