Kadavu Above Sea Level

Our anchorage at Kadavu Island

A few days ago we sailed from Ono to Kadavu (pronounced Kandavu) Island, passing through the reef-strewn Ono Passage under jib, with 20 minutes of motoring to dodge upwind around a couple of tightly spaced coral patches. The heavens opened shortly after we anchored off Matasawalevu village on the northeast side of Kadavu Island. It was a real tropical deluge - enough to fill our water tanks and to do a bucket-load of laundry.

Along the path to the village

The next day we rowed into a deep-water landing near the village, the main wharf being high and dry, defended by a hundred meters of thick sticky mud. The path into the village passed through plantations on one side and a mangrove swamp on the other. We presented our sevusevu to the chief's representative and visited the small, recently opened store. At the store we met Dolo who retired here about 10 years ago after a career as a medical technician in Suva. She does an awful lot for a retiree! In addition to the store, which she runs to pay for feed for her pigs, she is helping organize construction of the new wharf built using Australian direct aid money. She also runs the piggery, with her brother-in-law, sits on the village women's committee, and has set up a professionally run kindergarten. After chatting with her for half an hour, we bought a dozen eggs and then hiked over the hill to Lagalevu, a settlement on the north side of Kadavu.

Bruce shows me his drying kava

Typical rural Fijian civil engineering

In Lagalevu, we met Bruce and his mother, Marianne, who have a lovely property on the water. Bruce showed us the kava he was drying and answered some questions I had about this crop. He told me that the older plants produce better grog and take at least 18 months for a harvest, but the roots he was drying were 3.5 years old and the product is better if you wait even longer. The roots sell for $35 Fiji (about $20 Canadian) for a kilo and the stems are also harvested, selling for only $5-$10 per kilo. Marianne showed Rani a basket of beche de mer (sea slugs) that she had smoked and dried for sale through a friend in Suva to Chinese purchasers. The family also grows tobacco as well as the usual food crops of taro and cassava.

Dried sea slugs - yumm

Tobacco plants

Today we went for another walk along the shore and into the hills of Vatulutu Island, which lies at the entrance of the bay. The island is small but varied, with sandy white beaches set against a jet black rocky shoreline, pandanus forests, mape (chestnut) trees, and stunning views out over the fringing Astrolabe reef. Parrots were calling in the trees where we began our climb to a look-off rock and we had a couple of good sightings despite leaving the binoculars on the boat. We believe these birds were the red and green Kadavu Musk Parrots. They have a scarlet head and breast, bright green back, green wing and tail feathers with indigo margins. They have an un-melodious and very distinctive nasal 'Eahhn' call, a bit like a baby might make if you squeezed it too hard.

Lookoff at Vatulutu Island

A view south from Vatulutu Island. Note the twisty navigation required on the way to the Lion Pool

Beach on Vatulutu

We found this lovely but very fragile urchin on the beach.

North end of Vatulutu. There were the remains of a homestead here.

Book Recommendations

A few notes on some books I have read recently (all are available as e-books).

"Life in Feejee" by Mary Wallace

Written around 1850, this is the diary of the wife of a sea captain and beche de mer (sea slug) trader. Tribal warfare, bloodshed, deceit, horrific violence, and cannibalism. What's not to like? Makes me glad we are visiting Fiji in the early 21st century when our chances of survival are somewhat better. Available as a free e-book from the US Library of Congress website.

"The First American - The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin" by H.W. Brands

This life of Franklin makes fascinating reading. I had some inkling of Franklin's reputation as a polymath - his experiments and inquiries into nature and human nature, but I had little knowledge of his many other achievements. This work - just shy of 800 pages - provides a decent summary of his life - both achievements and foibles.

Franklin was an accomplished writer and publisher, a brilliant satirist, a clever and pragmatic scientist, and a man admired throughout Europe beyond any other American both before and after the war of independence. In his later life, he devoted many years as an agent for the American colonies, living for years at a time in England and later in France. Initially an ardent British patriot, he worked tirelessly to keep the colonies within the British Empire. He abandoned this stance only when it became clear that no compromise was possible between the British who refused to relinquish control over legislation and taxation and Americans colonies who felt that their own elected bodies should have this control. One things that stands out is Franklin's remarkable patience during endless political machinations.

Franklin was not particularly successful in his family life - his son William sided with the British during the revolution and was estranged and he spent years at a time away from his wife, failing to return to her even after she suffered a stroke. Nor was he a great orator - his pen was far more effective than his speech. Despite these and other failings, he stands out as one of the greatest men of his time.

"At Home - A Short History of Private Life" by Bill Bryson

If you liked his "A Short History of Nearly Everything" you will enjoy these musings on domestic life. Bryson organizes this work around the rooms of his house - an English  Victorian parson's home. Do not expect a thorough or complete exposé of domestic history. Bryson goes off on tangents at the slightest provocation (whenever an interesting story or fascinating character comes into sight) and focuses much of his investigation on 19th century Britain. Despite this, I enjoyed the book and learned a few things, too. For example - did you know that the first café in London was opened in 1652 by a Sicilian in a shed in a London churchyard? The proprietor promoted coffee for its health benefits. To quote Bryson, he claimed it cured "wind, gout, scurvy, miscarriages, sore eyes, and much else".

"Neither Here Nor There" by Bill Bryson

Describes a trip through Europe. I enjoy Bryson's travel writing because his sometimes biting humour is almost always offset by an essentially positive outlook. He tells a good story in an often self-deprecating style and with colorful descriptions of events and people.

"Postwar - A history of Europe Since 1945" by Tony Judt

Not sure if I have mentioned this book in the blog before, but well worth a read even if you have lived through much of the events described. A bit long-winded at times, but very helpful if you want to understand how Europe reached its current state. Each country is considered separately during different periods and the interplay of nations is also explored. Begins with a good discussion of the immediate post-war era in the Eastern Bloc and Western Europe. The book then examines the great social experiments that followed the war as well as the gradual amalgamation of European commerce and policy that resulted in the European Union. The history of the nations of Eastern Europe and the Soviets is described in parallel until the collapse of communism and the re-unification of eastern and western Europe.

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.