Fiji, Act Two

Now this feels a bit like historical fiction.  We arrived back in Seattle Saturday evening, three days ago, and our feelings are decidedly mixed.  "It's good to be back home, home is where I wanna beeeee, boys" goes the Simon and Garfunckel song, and it's certainly true, but it's also true that we miss our life in Brisbane a bit, its slower pace, its living outside, its distance from the bombardment (news, politics, superpowerness) that is America.

And memories begin to fade ... thus the "historicalness" of this post.

Where Vanua Levu, our first island stay in Fiji, was cloudy, wet, rustic, and isolated, the second island of Taveuni was sunny and full of pretty accessible activities.  The resort we stayed at, Aroha Taveuni, made a difference, too.  It's owned and operated by a pair of Kiwis, Ngaire and Dennis, who knew the business well, employed some wonderful local staff, including a cook who created delicious and inexpensive meals.

The sun drops over Somasoma Strait, from our deck.

It was also right on the beach, and mornings and evenings brought the sereneness of views like this:



One unexpected highlight for all of us (Kate, Aaron, Robin, Bill) was two hikes to beautiful waterfalls that cascaded into refreshing, picturesque pools ... swimming brought the laughter of children out of us!

Robin on a bit of a wild part of
the Tavoro Falls hike.

The first such hike, named Tavoro, actually took us to three falls, each seemingly more beautiful than the next.  And like kids, we HAD to jump in each pool, frolicking, seeing if we could swim against the force of the current caused by the plunging water,

The second walk was interesting, not only for waterfall it led us to, but for the community whose land we traversed. Lavena governs itself as a sort of commune, running its own school, church, and farmland where the men go everyday to work the taro (a starchy root staple) and kava (which when dried and ground into powder is used to make a slightly narcotic drink ... more on that later) fields.  Women harvest a long, narrow leaf, boil and dry it, and then use the resulting material to weave both utilitarian and touristic baskets.

Lavena guide Gabi leaping off the falls into the
bubbling pool below (photo by friend Bill Gartz)

The community also built and maintains the track we walked on to the falls and a visitors center, and a local community member, Gabi, was our guide.  The funds Lavena earns from the waterfall walk support the school, church, children's activities, and track maintenance.  We all felt good about the whole experience, over and above the beauty of the forest, waterfall, and beaches.

Basket-weaving leaves drying in Lavena

Kate biking to the International Dateline

A little ditty about Taveuni is that is straddles the 180th Meridian, which theoretically is the international dateline.  Theoretically, as the actual dateline has been bulged out in a number of places along its length to assure that parts of single countries don't have to exist in both today and tomorrow (or yesterday and today, if you like).  Nonetheless, we rode bikes in search of a well-marked point on the Meridian to experience being in two different days at the same time:

The four of us also had a fabulous day of diving (Bill and Aaron) and snorkeling (Robin and Kate) on Rainbow Reef between Vanua Levu and Taveuni.  I think we all concluded that our experience on this reef exceeded our Great Barrier Dive for diversity of fish, coral, and colors.  We did two dives, the first to about 100 feet at a place called The Zoo, and the second to about 60 feet at Pot Luck.

Aaron with Reef Shark behind
(photo by friend Bill Gartz)

The second dive began a bit traumatically ... first, Bill found himself uncontrollably rising to the surface after first reaching depth.  Turns out his weight belt slipped off and lies lonely on the sea floor.  At about the same time, I (Aaron) had a bit of a panic attack and likewise surfaced.  By that time, the fairly strong current a pushed us past the part of the reef we were to see, so we had to get back in the boat and start all over again.  The second attempt went, well, swimmingly.  Both dives were fabulous, as we swam with reef and white-tipped sharks, saw a well camouflaged sea turtle, and just had awesomely clear water to see the brilliant colors of the flora and fauna.

The awesome world of Rainbow Reef
(photo by Bill Gartz

Sea Turtle (photo by Bill Gartz)

Kate snorkeling (well, ok, the truth is this photo is
from the Great Barrier Reef trip, but she looks so good!)

Taveuni seems to be a religious island, with a plethora of churches, from the rustic like this photo to the grand Catholic church (but no synagogue that I saw).  The one butcher on the island was even halal.






We explored the main commercial town of Naqara, which had a small but attractive fresh fruit and vegetable market

 We also saw some pretty cool birds, including this wild-looking Orange Dove.

And on our last night, our hosts at Aroha Taveuni put on a Kava fest with a wonderful trio of musicians who played that lilting sort of music that evokes the warm tropical breezes as rustle the leaves or the undulations of gentle waves lapping the beach.

Kava has a chalky taste and seems to numb the tongue and lips a bit, but not a fast effect or strong one.  I think having tried it once, we can probably check that experience off the list!

Kate doing Kava

Kate boarding the TwinOtter for Nadi and our flight to LAX.

All good things must pass, and our time on Fiji and on this 6-month long adventure are no different.  So on Saturday afternoon, 28 June, we flew from Taveuni to Nadi and then home.

And here we are.