Another overdue update from Auckland, New Zealand
FIJI, pt 1
We arrived in Fiji early in November & wish that it
had been sooner as it became quickly apparent that one could cruise there for a
whole season & only scratch the surface. Not only is the beauty of Fiji
endless, but it is very inexpensive. We checked into the country at the town of
Savusavu -- a favorite with cruisers as it is friendly (everyone says bula/hello
as you pass on the street) & the location is at the mouth of a river so it's
very calm. (The moorings are so secure that many cruisers were spending the
cyclone season there despite Fiji being on the cyclone path.) We spent a week
there hanging out with other cruisers at the marina lounge & local yacht
club, and enjoying the good Indian restaurants. (The Fiji population is about 51%
Fiji-Indian as Indians were brought in to harvest sugarcane in the late 19th
century. While many Fiji-Indians have enjoyed business success, they own a very
small portion of the land & were only recently entitled to vote.)
We took a cab ride up the coast where we checked out an upscale
Cousteau dive resort & took in the scenery of the Hibiscus
Highway. The pic below shows a traditional bure (or house made of coconut
thatch, fern fronds & timber), though we didn’t encounter these too
much as they were being replaced by cinderblock structures that can withstand
any cyclones.
Each morning we listened to a resident expat, Curly, with his own
little VHF radio show coming from his houseboat (an unusual vessel for the S.
Pacific). Curly was quite an information hound, announcing everything from the
cruisers kids club meeting to Fiji cooking classes at a local
restaurant. We made daily visits to the local market where I spent time in the
crafts section talking to local women & checking out the great baskets as
well as endless array of seashells.
At the market, we also met a lively woman named Tima at her kava stand.
(Bob was quickly becoming obsessed with kava & wanted ground kava to make
kava to drink on the boat. For the non-initiates, kava comes from the root of
the pepper tree & is a mild intoxicant used in ceremonies by village chiefs.)
Tima wanted to come visit the boat so we established a time for her to visit
the next morning. When we picked her up at the dock, she was laden with fruit
& veggies from her family's farm - a very generous gesture. She was
pleased to share her recipe for, palosami, sautéed coconut prepared in the
leaves of the ubiquitous taro plant. (We missed the part about steaming the
leaves in the coconut, so our version turned out to cause major scratchy throat!)
After Savusavu, we made a stop off the island of Nanenalala
where the cacophony of birds awoke us each morning. We would later learn that we
missed some of the best diving in Fiji around the passes to the lagoon here. We
next went on to Makongai which had once been host to the country's leper
colony. We didn’t land here, but had nice snorkeling. Both stops were scenic
& peaceful as there were no other boats around. Our next port was the old
whaling capital of Levuka which still has many clapboard structures on the
shore & a great little restaurant called the Whales Tail where we ate twice
in a 24 hr period as it was so good. We rented bikes & headed up the coast.
We decided not to stop at any of the villages along the way as custom dictates
that one should be invited to a village. Levuka had been the original capital
of Fiji, it is now small and not big enough to support a real market. The women
just spread their fruit & veggies on the sidewalk each Saturday. In the pic
below, you may be able to see the huge taro in the foreground & Althea in
the background.
We moved on to Suva, the current capital of Fiji, where
we found real supermarkets & stayed at the friendly Royal Suva Yacht Club.
They even had a machine at the bar that dispensed mango daquiries - yum! After
much comparison shopping, we invested in a large kava bowl that is decorated
with mother of pearl inlay. The bowls are made from one piece of a wood called vesi
and are traditionally used in men-only ceremonies. Each kava drinker uses a
communal bola cup (made of coconut shell) & dipped into the large bowl
where kava powder & water have been mixed. We have plans to have a kava
party once we return to Berkeley but who knows if we'll ever find ground kava
in California as it only seems to be sold in the U.S. in capsules or small
tincture bottles. I would guess any of the 2 dozen or so kava dealers at the
local Suva market would love to be exporting the stuff to the states & Bob
took one dealers business card with thoughts of at least importing kava for his
own personal use. The spice sections of the market were extensive &
specialized in various bulk Indian spices sold wholesale & to the public.
We thought the array was worth a shot.
While in Suva, we found a dive company that was available
to certify us for a bargain price. We arranged for the dive boat to meet us
every morning in the lagoon off the small island of Yanuca. As we had the
little bay to ourselves every night, we couldn't imagine a better place to get
certified. All of the dives featured giant coral heads that were absolutely
covered with colorful, soft coral for which Fiji is known. The dives all had
great names including 'Fantasy' where we saw huge sea fans, lettuce coral,
trigger fish, blow fish & many swim through tunnels; Golden Arches where we
spotted a lion fish (beautiful but very poisonous); & Big Moy where we were
entertained by the little blue ribbon eels that would poke their gold heads out
from the rocks. The underwater scenery was really stunning. We had a total of
five dives with this company -- they were all a treat & we were very
excited to finally be legitimate certified divers. We took time for a hike to
the little village on the other side of the island where we found children en
route who were gathering coconuts for the evening meal. As with all Fiji
children we had encountered, they were incredibly happy & seemed to lead a very
unpressured life.
Our next stop was the island of Ono where the villagers
were very happy to see us. Before we went ashore, I had to dig deep in my
wardrobe to find a long skirt (below the knees) that would meet the customary
expectations of the conservative villagers. One young guy, Nabouwala, came out
to greet us.
Nabu took us on a guided walk to show us his family's farming area
where they grow taro & pepper trees - the source of kava. Our next tour was
to a cave where we floated the dinghy through until we came out in a verdant
garden-like setting just under the cliffs. The cave picture of me doesn’t
show much but does prove that Bob is capable of taking photos =)
After a dive that included lots of swim throughs in underwater caverns,
Bob joined Nabu at his favorite spearfishing shot. The fishing wasn’t a
success but we had a great time with Nabu & Jalesi, one of his brothers
joined is onboard for a cold Fiji bitter beer. The brothers were
very psyched as beer is a rare treat. When we said goodbye to the Nabu’s
family, we left them with some goodies: batteries for Jalesi's tatoo machine,
lemonade mix, flour & a huge coke. In turn, they gave us tons of fresh
fruit from their trees.
Our favorite stop (so far) is coming up next.
