Snorkeling south of Nabouwalu

Chris rows into a sea cave.

After helping Isaak fix a leak in his long boat, we left Nabouwalu Bay and have spent the last two days anchored in a small coral filled bay a little over a mile south, but still on Ono island. The bay has a sand beach and the ruins of a house. There are coconut trees and the remains of a farm - cassava plants and even a tangerine tree - in the hills behind the beach. It is mostly overgrown with vines and appears to not have been cultivated in years. If you plan to visit here and anchor, be warned that there is very little sand between heavy coral formations. To avoid destroying these, we are on short scope with two anchors lodged under coral and a float to hold the chain up above the other corals.

Parrot fish - about 30 cms long.

We have had a couple of good snorkeling trips to the rock that blocks the middle of the bay and today along the cliffs running north to Nabouwalu. There are sea caves about three quarters of a mile north of the anchorage and we rowed the dinghy to them and swam most of the way back, pulling the dinghy. These pictures were taken on this swim.

Brilliant blue corals like this were spread across large areas of rock. This patch is a meter across.

Unicorn fish

There were areas in the rock where dozens of urchins filled every crevice.

Giant clam - love that wild lipstick! This is about 15-20 cms wide

Pink/purple corals are quite common throughout Fiji.

This area has a large number of green corals. I do not know why in one area, the algae can be so many different colours?!

Panorama of hard corals

There were a few large patches of soft corals. This one is several meters across.

This little flat worm has similar patterning to the giant clams. It is about 10 cms long

Box fish

Box fish - side profile

Aborted Hike

A villager carries pandanus leaves back from her family's farm.

Before we left Nabouwalu Bay, we tried to hike across to the western side of the island to visit a school at Natusara. We had seen the school from the radio tower hill and thought we knew which path to take to get to it. A little brown dog followed us out of the village, despite our attempts to dissuade it from coming. We were to enjoy its company for the rest of the day.  We had set off late and it was soon time for lunch, so we sat on a fallen tree trunk and took out the crackers, cheese and tomato. The dog sat at our feet, wagged his tail and looked at us in anticipation. He seemed to appreciate the breakfast crackers and New Zealand aged cheddar as much as we did. We poured some of our precious water in a plastic tub for him but he did not seem to know to what to make of that, so Chris ended up drinking it instead - woof, woof!

This tough little fellow hiked all day with us

We met these little chaps on the outskirts of the village.

The pigs appear to wander at will on this side of the river.

We were on the familiar Naqara village trail for the first half hour and then took a right turn, just before a bamboo tunnel. The side trail was well beaten and headed in the right direction. At the next fork, we struck right and the trail dipped into a valley and crossed a creek. After a brief uphill section, we crossed another shallow creek flowing from a planting of elephant ears. We stepped across on trunks someone had thoughtfully placed across the thick sticky mud. The trail continued up a small hill on the other side and our intuition began to tell us we were heading in the wrong direction. It was nice to reach the top, though, where a patch had been cleared for camping. Sharpened sticks and wood chips laying around suggested a plantation must be nearby.

The smell of orchids filled the air at many points along the trail.

Doubling back across the creeks to the last fork, we took the other path which dropped down immediately into what looked like a cleared valley leading toward Natusara. Ahhh - we must be on the right trail this time! A few hundred meters down the trail we arrived at a cassava and taro plantation. The rows of taro were planted in a field at the bottom of the valley and a stream with steep banks wound around it on two sides, like a moat. We struggled through the tall grass past the field but could not see any sort of path in the dense vegetation across the stream. We were feeling quite dejected as we returned up the path. I heard voices at the fork and we met a group of young men heading to their plantation to pull some yanqona. The men confirmed that the trail to Natusara is not there anymore because everyone travels by boat. Arghhhh. We headed back to the main trail and returned to Naturu.

The trail crossed a creek below these elephant ear plants (the roots of which are eaten by the locals)

On the outskirts of Naturu, we ran into Melina, a lovely woman we had met a few days ago. She was cutting pandanus leaves to weave mats for her house. Melina was surprised and delighted when Chris offered to carry them to her house. She had not finished cutting her full load yet, but, using a vine that grows over just about everything here, she tied up a small load for Chris's back. It was so light that he joked "This is a kevalangi bundle!"  Back in the village we dropped the bundle at Melina's house and left a shirt for her son who had given us some vegetables a few days before. We judged the day a success despite not reaching our goal. Not sure if our canine friend agreed with us, but he followed us all the way back to the beach where we left him sitting as we rowed back to Ladybug.

Melina gives Chris a light bundle to take back to the village.

Sunday - Fathers' Day in Fiji

We were invited to the Methodist church service at Naqara on Sunday by several villagers, so we listened for the beat of the "lali" (log dugout drum) and rowed ashore at ten in the morning. We were escorted to a bench set against the side wall close to the front of the church where we felt rather conspicuous. When we tried to move to one of the pews in the back, we were told that guests were expected to sit in the front, so we returned to our front seat. A couple of other kevalangi (foreign) women turned up a little later and joined us. We found out later that they were from a holiday resort at the northwest corner of Ono.

Mili demonstrates the beating of the lali in Naturu village

The service did not begin for another half hour and Chris was fidgeting already. Only about twenty people had shown up by the time the wild haired preacher, who looked a little like the actor James Earl Jones, began his sermon. It was all in Fijian but one could guess there was a fair amount of lecturing going on by the gesticulating and shouting. Someone gave us a Fijian Bible to join in the singing of the psalms and we did our best, probably amusing a few of the onlookers. After a while, an old lady came over to our bench and, in good English, thanked us for joining their small congregation. A wooden carved plate was handed around by a young girl and everyone gave a donation. Then an accounts book was read and people's names and figures were given out. Some people got up to give five or ten dollars - monthly tithes? At one point, the minister directed questions to the children. They must have given the correct answers because he looked approvingly at them. At the end of the service as we shook hands with some of the people and one man exclaimed to Chris "You were singing in Fijian!" If only it were that easy!

Methodist church at Naqara village

Then we were invited to lunch at the Chief's house. It was Fathers' Day in Fiji and also the one year anniversary of his wife's passing. Having seen the piles of taro and a trussed up pig outside his house on Saturday, we knew it was going to be a big affair. Returning from our hike that day, we had passed women loaded with bundles of firewood for the lovo and at night the long boat had motored past us to go fishing. As a small contribution, we brought over some carrot cake for dessert.

Sunday lunch

Inside the house, food platters covered in cloth were laid on chequered runners along the length of a large room with space for people to sit on either side. When the cloth was lifted we gasped in surprise. There were plates of roasted pork, chicken and potato curry, baked fish on taro leaves, tureens of ham and noodle soup, thick rounds of baked taro root, mugs of lolo (coconut cream), little heaps of salt and fresh hot chillies still on the branch. When the women found out I was a vegetarian, they sent over a plate of bele (spinach-like greens) fried with onions and covered with lolo and later, a platter of breaded egglant rolls containing canned tuna. The men and guests were seated first and the women and children waited until we had finished and moved outside. There was not much conversation during the meal as everyone piled up their plates and ate until they were fully satiated.

After the meal, we were mobbed by the children as we headed for the door. They jostled each other, played pranks and posed for our camera. We thanked the ladies for a wonderful meal and asked the kids to come outside and let the hard working women eat in peace. Kids being kids continued their horseplay on the grass and eventually one of the men came over to tell them to be quiet. We thought that was a good time to bid everyone adieu.

Rani tries to protect a little girl from being crushed by the ''mob''

And, they all fall down!

Dua, rua, tolu, jump!

Crushing affection!

The wind had swung to the east, so we sailed back to Nabouwala Bay for a comfortable night at anchor.

Naqara anchorage

Exploring Ono Island on Foot

Whether you are anchored at Nabouwalu Bay or off Naqara Village, there are wonderful hiking opportunities on Ono Island.  Trails connect the villages and lead to plantations in the interior of the island.

No, they do no play soccer with breadfruit!

Colourful laundry, Naqara village

A couple of days ago, we walked up to the Vodafone telephone tower on Qilai Mountain, starting from Naqara Village. Qilai Mountain is the second highest peak on Ono Island, the tallest being Madre Mountain, and people lived there in the last century.  We had moved the boat to Naqara on the evening before as the west wind had made the anchorage untenable at Nabouwalu Bay.

View of Ladybug anchored at Naqara Bay - if you look closely through the pine trees

The trail was easy to follow and we had the tower in sight most of the way. The downhill path from the pine forest on the ridge was very dry and the rust coloured  needles on the ground made it a little slippery in places. However, the steep climb to the tower proved to be easier than it looked. The wind kept us cool most of the way and we enjoyed listening to the rustle of swaying pine trees. The familiar sweet scent of pine brought back memories of hikes in the Cowichan Valley in British Columbia.

In my tropical hiking dress!

Only two small hills to go!

The view from the top provides a wonderful panorama of Ono, the reefs to its north, east and west coasts and the islands of Dravuni, Buliya and Namara. To the south lie the mountains of Kandavu.

Panorama to the north and east

25metre high Vodafone telephone tower with its 57 solar panels

Tall  grass towers over Rani as she starts her descent

On the return trek, we smelled a sweet fragrance and then saw the wild orchids - clusters of pink flowers with butter yellow centres atop a proud stem standing tall amidst the grass and scrub. They seemed out of context in the surrounding pines.

Deliciously fragrant orchid

Orchids in the wild

Great Expectations

I suppose in any exchange between people there are expectations on both sides. This is certainly true when 'kevalangi' (foreigners) arrive by yacht at a village in Fiji. We are usually looking for a novel experience - the more 'authentic' the better. We hope for a glimpse into native culture - a partial understanding of how other people live. The villagers, beginning with the chief, have their own expectations of us. This seems to vary by how much tourist traffic they receive and is no doubt influenced by their previous experiences with yachties.

On a hike across Ono to the village of Naqara, we met Asaeli who showed us his taro plantation.

On our return from Naqara, Aesali climbed one of his palms and brought down a dozen coconuts to share with us for lunch.

The first expectation is that we will perform sevusevu by bringing a bundle of yanqona (kava) to the chief. This is expected of any visitors to a village who plan to spend time in the area under the chief's control, anchoring, fishing, walking, and swimming. Further expectations fall into two broad areas - providing things that are hard to obtain locally but apparently easily available to yachties and providing services that require expertise not found in the village. Some examples from our recent visit to Ono include requests for wine bottles in which to store coconut oil, vegetable seeds, snorkeling gear, fish hooks and lead sinkers, glue and fiberglass to repair boats, cigarettes, and a tent. Services we have heard requested range from repairing broken machete (sele) handles to help repairing boats and assistance in fixing solar systems.

Cutting up drinking nuts for their sweet meat after we have drunk the water. Aesali  told us he is looking for a tent so that he can stay overnight in his plantation and save the walk back to the village. He asked us to put out the word in case someone coming to Ono has one they can part with.

Aesali  also gave us some local cabbage and bok choy that he grows among the taro. He showed us how he keeps some cabbage plants for seed and then broadcasts these seeds among the taro when he replants his crop.

The little children are not exempt from all this and while in most places they are just happy and curious to see strange people, we sometimes get requests for lollies (candy) and balloonies (balloons). In Naturu village on Ono, a group of toddlers ran up to us with delighted smiles yelling 'kevalangi, kevalangi, ballooni, ballooni!. This is likely the result of visiting yachties who came before us bringing small presents for the children. Of course we did our part to uphold the tradition and brought balloons on our next visit :)

In Naturu village, Sera and Iowana strip the inner stem of coconut palm leaves to make brooms. The yellow broom straws are visible at the far right.

Rani has a good attitude about all these expectations. She calls the exchanges we make gift giving and gift receiving, for when we do provide something for a villager we are often given some fruit or vegetables to thank us. And through these exchanges and the time we spend with people we help, we receive what we are looking for - small glimpses into the lives of the people of Fiji.

Alacrity Rocks and Ono Island

Ladybug in Nabouwalu Bay

Ono island lies just north of the large island of Kadavu within the Great Astrolabe reef. We are anchored off the village of Nabouwalu on the west coast of Ono. The winds have swung into the southwest and a very uncomfortable swell is currently rolling into the bay making us wish we had left this afternoon for a safe anchorage at the north end of Ono. Instead we went snorkeling on the Alacrity Rocks after rowing a little over a mile out to the reef in our dinghy.

Soft corals were not common at the Alacrity Rocks

Colorful hard corals and small fish abound

The visibility at Alacrity Rocks was quite good - I would estimate it at well over 15 meters - and the rocks are covered in hectares of colorful hard corals. There were only a few larger fish on the outside of the rocks, perhaps because the tide was still ebbing during our swim. We saw a white tipped shark cruising below us about 10 meters down, a large barracuda-like fish about a meter long, and a baby giant wrasse of perhaps half a meter. I was surprised to see few soft corals, but there were some colorful patches of these on the seaward side of a couple of the rocks.

Anemone fish 

Closeup of Anemone Fish and shy friend (behind)

Rani checks out a spectacular formation

There are fissures and tunnels in several places and I swam down through one of the tunnels a few times filming a video on my second and third attempts. I will try to post one of these when I can access a fast computer to process them.

Vagabond Butterfly Fish

There were large schools of small fish on the seaward side of several rocks

Rani swims over while I dive to photograph a school of fish

We have been enjoying getting to know the villagers, who are friendly to yachties. Today the chief's wife and daughter served us a 'porridge' from pumpkin, pawpaw  (papaya), and coconut milk. The first 2 ingredients are cooked together and the result is of the texture of porridge with (predictably) a sweet pumpkin taste. We also tried making cassava pancakes yesterday but did not get the same results as the locals do. It has been quite interesting trying to eat more the way the locals do, although I cannot see myself consuming the large amounts of taro, cassava, and other starchy roots that make up the typical diet here.

After a 2.5 mile row and a couple of hours of snorkeling we went for a walk on the beach and put in some bouldering on the craggy volcanic rocks.

Nice beach with a few good shells. The beach is just north of Nabouwalu Bay and can be reached from the village. The island marks the north side of Nabouwalu Bay

Aisea sketches the villages of Ono island  on a map for us.