Pages
Recent Posts
Taveuni
Another rough day at Beach House included our massages, where we got seriously worked over by two beefy Fijian women. It was the shit. Pretty sure John got the “stronger” of the two. Ian you may commence jealous mutterings. The women gossiped during the whole massage. This would have been annoying as shit if they were speaking “Amurican” but they spoke Fijian which sounds very melodious, calm and soothing. Late in the afternoon we went on a snorkeling trip out to the edge of the reef. Saw some pretty cool new stuff including soft coral, sea anemones, clown fish, and sea snakes. The sea snakes are supposedly the most poisonous snakes on earth but are very docile so you don’t have worry about them.
The next morning we caught the bus to Suva, the capital and largest city in the South Pacific. We had some trouble getting money from the ATMs there but crisis averted, we boarded a ferry bound for the island of Taveuni. The ferry was supposed to take about 14 hours overnight with a stop in Savusavu. Instead, including a 2 1/2 hour departure delay, we spent 22 hours on the boat. That’s Fiji time for ya. While aboard we were treated to bad action movies and an endless loop of cheesy Lucky Dube (R.I.P.) videos. The economy class was unairconditioned and a bit oderific but we managed to sleep a little bit. Mysteriously, the outside of Kelly’s checked backpack, along with half of her belongings housed inside of it, picked up the strong scent of mothballs. Yummy. Needless to say we were eagerly awaiting the return voyage. Altogether we spent just over 31 hours traveling from Beach House to our accommodations in Taveuni.
Taveuni is the fourth largest island in Fiji, and lies just east of Vanua Levu. It actually has a lot of strange similarities to Kauai in Hawaii. Both are the fourth largest islands in their respective chains. Both are known as the “Garden island.” Both lack mongoose and as a result have an abundance of wild roosters (although Kauai easily wins the prize in that department). Both are known for their abundant rainfall, and both have one road that goes most of the way around the island before being blocked by impenetrable sea cliffs and rainforest. Interestingly, during the 2 1/2 weeks we spent on Kauai it rained exactly once, while it has rained everyday (and night) of our stay here. Oh yeah, both are known for their red dirt too.
Our first destination on Taveuni was the small village of Lavena, which lies in the middle of the eastern coast at the very end of the road. The bus ride from the town of Naqara near the ferry landing took over 2 hours. Most of the route down the eastern coast of Taveuni is unpaved and there are a couple of spots where streams wash over the road. The bus was packed with local Fijians returning to their villages for the day (this was the 3rd and final bus running for the day). When we arrived in Lavena at 6:30 pm it was already dark. The island of Taveuni actually straddles the 180th meridian and although the International Date Line curves around so that all of Fiji has the same time, it gets dark early here. Plus this is the dead of winter after all ;) Upon arrival we checked in as the only guests of the Lavena Lodge, located about 30 feet from where the bus parked for the night at the end of the road. This lodge was a bit of a dump, kind of your typical accommodations in a Fijian village and quite a contrast to the sweet digs at Beach House. However, it’s literally the only place to stay in Lavena and to do a day trip from the main resort area involves a $60 cab ride. It’s a good chance to experience village life though.
The next day we hiked a trail along the coast and then up through lush jungle along a river, finally swimming to the end of the “trail” where two waterfalls meet in a deep lava pool with high walls covered in ferns. The hike back was at low tide so we walked out onto the tidal flats and observed the abundant life in the tide pools. We hung out in the common area of the lodge that night and John played his ukulele with some of the locals. We tried to buy some vegetables from the only store in the village to supplement the noodles we’ve been surviving off of, but this place is pretty much devoid of actual nutrients. The only vegetables they had in stock were onions and most of the locals subsist off of root crops. Still, fried onions did noticeably improve the plain (and I mean PLAIN) “breakfast crackers” we had. We considered taking the early bus (5:45 am) out the next morning but eventually decided to sleep in and take the 11:00 bus. Only problem was that it had rained a lot overnight and through the morning so the rivers were high and the 11:00 bus never came. Nor did the 6:30pm bus which usually spends the night and leaves early the next morning. It continued to rain most of the day so we mostly chilled at the lodge and hung out with an American living in the village through the Peace Corps. Our room was free for the night thankfully. By chance, we woke up the next morning around 6:00 am and heard the bus unexpectedly roll in. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity, threw our things together and stumbled onto the bus.
Our next stop was Beverly’s campground on the north side of the island, where most of the accommodations are located. Beverly’s is run by an elderly Indian man named Bill Madden and his native Fijian wife. He treated us to toast and tea for breakfast and led us to our tent site, complete with electricity! We walked around the area, bought some groceries, and chilled some more. The next day we took a kayak out and did some modified snorkeling, one person hanging off the back of the kayak with their head in the water while the person in front paddles. Not a bad system, especially in an area where shark attacks can be a problem. We cooked some dinner in the communal kitchen and chatted with the family from New Zealand that was also camped there. Only minor issue was when we caught Bill’s 15 year old grandson going through our tent. Luckily, nothing was taken since we had all of our valuables with us by the kitchen area. Looks like Bill will be sending his grandson back to live with his parents though since he seems to cause quite a few problems for Bill.
The next day was our last day on Taveuni. We expected to be heading out in the late morning but there was some confusion among locals we had talked to about when the ferry was actually departing, if at all. We called in the morning and they said it was running late, they were telling people a probable 4pm boarding time. When we called later, it had changed to an 11:30pm boarding time because they were working on the engine, then delivering a shipment to another island before we could board. We had to flag down a cab and ask them to come back at 11:00 since taxis don’t usually run that late and it was about a 30 minute drive to the wharf. In the mean time, Bill had been drinking rum and coke with his brother-in-law Joe and was noticeably wasted. He kept insisting that the ferry wasn’t really going to leave and that we should stay for free and take the next ferry 2 days later. He wasn’t very helpful when we were trying to work out our plans, but he did keep us entertained. He and his brother-in-law just kept repeating a few key hilarious phrases by the end of the night including, “I’m Irish” and “Bastard” and “He talk too much!” all followed by a hearty drunken cackle.
When all was said and done, the ferry did finally appear at the wharf around midnight. We bought our Economy class tickets and found our seats amongst the locals. The trip began much like the last time and we slept most of the way to the first stop in Savusavu. Kelly was feeling really pleased with her Bonine because she didn’t feel sick at all even though the ocean was pretty rough and she heard a few people in the cabin wretching throughout the night. Turns out she was overly confident. The rough seas really didn’t hit until about 6 hours into the trip and she spent a couple hours outside on deck, trying to watch the horizon but mostly dry heaving. The boat crew provided full size black garbage bags as a barf bag. Wonder if that’s the usual, or if they had run out of smaller bags? We did eventually figure out that getting seasick, then passing out on your husband’s lap on the salt covered deck while getting sprayed by ocean water will get you bumped up to first class though. We spent our last 10 hours “enjoying” the air-conditioned first class cabin. Kelly was beginning to believe that she may actually live through this voyage when the engines stopped working about an hour and a half from our destination in Suva. The ship rocked powerless on the high seas for about an hour while the crew attempted to set the anchor and engineers worked on the waterlogged engines. At one point we were rolling so badly that the glasses and dishes behind the bar smashed to the ground, pretty unsettling. We pulled into port at about 8:15pm, were finally let off the boat around 9:15pm, and then happily headed to our hotel room in Suva.
Bottom line: Tavenui was awesome, but we’ll fly next time.
Hmm……..this might be too much information for mothers - What do you think, Joan?
Dramamine!!
Thanks so much for updating us our your adventures. It all sounds incredible.