15 Sept 2020
SomoSomo, Taveuni

Dive Academy had a food and fuel run scheduled to the town of Somosomo on the island of Taveuni for Tuesday morning before low tide. We joined them to get oriented, get some outboard gas and fresh fruit. Taveuni is a long island and the International Date Line cuts right through the island making it possible to have one foot in today and another foot in yesterday. The first store we saw had a sign saying "the first store open". It was a short taxi ride to the fuel station where everyone lined up their jerry cans while I watched trees full of bats overhead. There is a resort right under the fruit bat "camp" nicknamed bat resort. Taxi took us back the the long boat and we took the fuel back then returned to the main section of town to find an ATM and do some shopping.

I loved the old cinema building with 1950's versions of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny painted in the arch. There was one four story building with rust in all the exposed iron that was the staples market then about eight tables, some with sheds that were stocked by farmers' wives with the fresh vegetables and fruit. It's always exciting as you grab things you don't see often first (like cilantro, basil and green beans or green onions) then get the basics that are always available like Chinese cabbage (bokchoy), local vine spinach, right now tomatoes, chilies, squash and cucumbers. A super exciting find was fresh roasted peanuts inside the school uniform, fabric/miscellaneous store; so I bought a half kilo.

John meanwhile is talking with our taxi driver, Jass (Vutarus' grandson), who turns out was working with Di and Warwicks friend Noel Heinz and remembers SeAx of Allegra. So they were having a great time and we got his phone number for our next trip over and Jass promised to take us to all John's old haunts and up to the falls and the infamous water slide. He also invited us to come to his house for dinner.

Jone had more shopping to do for the Dive Academy so we took the taxi back to the boat and hung out on the beach where the tide was out to wait. John explored the little store nearby and found it to be NOT so little. Once inside it opened onto a separate fabric store and tailor and the other side opened into a huge connecting hardware and parts store. I enjoyed an ice cream outside and visited with the resident fruit stand women who had a plate of 8 small papaya for $5. I may need to make banana papaya bread as many are ripe already.

We sat on seawall behind the store made of filled plastic barrels of concrete to keep waves from swamping the houses and business. The government has dedicated a budget for retaining walls to keep the rising sea waters out; but in small remote areas like these it is more likely that the villages must make the attempt to stop the encroaching waters. The lower level starts as volcanic rocks stacked; then they added a concrete topper, then barrels into concrete and topped with wood stringers. I wonder what the next level will be? We visited with an older couple from Nasau Bay on Vanua Levu who had come across to Taveuni as their daughter worked at the hospital and had booked them to see a visiting eye specialist. They were in their Sunday best and were also waiting for the tide to rise sufficient to get the boats over the reef and home.

It probably sounds boring to you; but for us this was a pretty exciting day!