18 August 2020

Wind Event & a Taste of Fijian Family Life

The Solo and his family and friends left before sunrise to make it back to their home village in time for church. They made us welcome to visit and would watch the dinghy and boat if we get a call from Immigrations that our visas are ready. They knew the time schedules for buses and assured us we could take a morning bus and arrive back by evening.

It was very quiet Sunday after all the activity and hollering on their work day but weather was calm still so we took the dinghy out to snorkel out by some of the resorts on the windward side of Sumosomo Strait that are not open right now. It was some of the clearest and most alive reefs we have seen with some soft corral in mauve/pink shades. We hope to hook up with a dive guide soon as the Somosomo Strait has some of the best spots like Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall but without local knowledge we may get into trouble. Upon our return to the boat George gave us his hoot call to tell us he had papayas for us. George's outboard froze up so when we didn't come right over after lunch he paddled over to see Ratu John and share a beer bringing a selection of local lettuce, squash, eggplant and papaya.

We now have our own hoot each morning to say Yandra or good morning to George. It reminds me when we played Indians as kids and had our own call for hide and seek. The high wind warning was a bit delayed but once the winds hit even back in this sheltered narrow bay we are seeing 35 knot gusts. The wind abated in the evening so we went over to see George with a couple beers and met his clan of wild hog hunting dogs and visited his ancestral farm. John and he talked crops and soil conditions as we joined him in the kitchen to watch him roll his tobacco in strips of telephone pages. Almost dusk we hear another hoot or holler and even before the boat arrived George said his brother was here to visit just back from Qamea and maybe his nephew to work on the outboard so he brought out the kava bowl. Sure enough they pulled into the shallows and started unloading things up to the house with subdued greetings. Turns out their brother-in-law, just visited had died just a few hours after they began their boat trip home so they were only home to butcher a hog and collect fresh food to take back to Qamea for the week long funeral celebration. John and I took our leave with sympathy and promised to return to visit another time.

It has been odd not having internet here and I realize how much we depend on Facebook and texts to let us know what is happening back home. Although the world you share seems so bizarre I hesitate to share the simple joy we have here. Stay sane please!