Nautilus at anchor in Vatulele Lagoon
Fiji became a British Colony in 1874, and it was the British who brought in the Indian workers for their plantations resulting in two distinct cultural groups - the Ethnic Fijians and a minority of Indo-Fijians. Despite efforts to unite the two groups, there is still conflict at times and only Ethnic Fijians may be referred to simpoyt as Fijians.
Having checked in at Suva on Viti Levu we bought some fresh provisions from the huge market - there were literally hundreds of individual stalls, mainly selling the same locally grown produce plus a few with imported New Zealand apples and oranges.
One of the outside stalls that surround the covered market - there are tarpaulins overhead, but when it rains the preferred means of keeping your head dry is to use a plastic bag. We bought pomelos (giant sweet grapefruit) and cucumbers from this lady for a couple of Fiji $.
The produce is sorted into piles, each pile for a fixed price - it is a very simple, no haggling approach to shopping. The locals are incredibly friendly and have all been very happy to have their photo taken.
Eggs, spices, dried produce and Cava are all available in the covered area of the market.
Suva is a town of many contrasts - as well as the traditional produce market and crafts market, there are also large modern shopping malls and huge supermarkets. We completed our provisioning at the giant Cost-U-Less and headed out to the islands.
Our fist stop was Beqa, just south of Viti Levu where we entered the lagoon and and had a close encounter with a humpback whale ... no photos, but it surfaced literally 10 metres in front of us. Fortunately we didn’t make contact, but it certainly was close enough to give the helm (and presumably the whale) quite a shock!
We anchored in Vaga bay and headed ashore with Hugh and Annie to present our first Savusavu at the little village. We wore Sulas (Fijian sarongs), covered our shoulders and removed hats and sunglasses as required by local custom and were taken by the Mayor to meet the Chief. The Mayor presided over a short ceremony, our gifts of Cava roots were gratefully received and we were given permission to wander around the village, swim in the bay and walk inland.
The Mayor on the left, then Annie from S/Y Vega next to the Chief’s Wife. Ian is sitting next to the Chief in his house.
The local’s houses are almost always constructed of corrugated iron, there are well tended crops and always lots of laundry drying on the line. We walked up the hill for a view over the bay - a nice walk but the view was mostly obscured by the lush vegetation. That afternoon one of the locals took us all out in his boat to dive on the wreck of a large fishing boat in the bay.
The primary school children are educated in a nearby larger village, but the secondary school requires a boat trip. As usual, the children were immaculately dressed in their school uniforms.
After a couple of days in Beqa we waved goodbye to Hugh and Annie from Vega and headed on to Vatulele island where we met up with yachts Jadean and So What who we cruised with last year. Again, Savusavu was required - Barry, Greg and Ian set off by dinghy to the village round the other side of the island from our anchorage bearing the customary bundles of Cava Roots.
Although the Navionics charts are fairly accurate in these waters, like many cruisers we also use satellite images - this shows the island and the surrounding reef on Vatulele. We anchored off the north west coast between the two beaches, you can see the village on the north east coast, and also the run way which is now disused and overgrown following a cyclone that destroyed the resort here some years ago.
The cyclone not only destroyed a coastal walkway and damaged many of the resort villas, it also pushed the resort’s cruise ship, the ‘Reef Escape’ onto the beach - where it remains, gradually rusting away on the sand. Apparently the resort is under new ownership and will be renovated but the ship will probably stay where it is.
The coastline and surrounding reef are beautiful.
We met a family collecting edible sea weed at low tide.
Not too sure how much help the kids were, but they were having a good time! The next day was Sunday so we walked across the island to church - Fijians are deeply religious, we attended the second of the three Sunday services, a Methodist service, conducted in Fijian. Although we couldn’t understand a word of it, the singing was wonderful and the concept of the Wrath of God came across loud and clear!
We were then invited to the Minister’s house for lunch, with food provided by various of the village families - we ate sitting on a large woven mat on the floor, visitors and the minister first and once we had finished his wife ate on her own. We were given chicken noodle soup, yam, smoked fish in coconut and interestingly a dish made from the sea weed we had seen collected the day before - also served in coconut milk but with added chilli and smoked fish.
We learned that the sermon was on the evils of drugs and incest, and the importance of education.
The villagers were all in their Sunday best, and despite attending three church services in one day the 100 or so children were beautifully behaved.
Indo-Fijians and Fijians children clutching their Fijian language bibles played happily together outside the church after the second service before setting off home for a meal and rest before the final service of the day.
We left for Musket Cove the following day, one of the major tourist resorts, but also an area reputed to have excellent diving.
One final image - the airport waiting room, next to the disused and over grown airstrip - no longer used since the closure of the Vatulele Island Resort some years earlier.
Next stop - Musket Cove and Fiji Underwater
