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Published: February 29th 2008
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Learner Divers
Kerry and Dave trying not to be distracted by fish whilst learning how to take off mask underwater (photo: Uwe Zurth) Shortly after our last blog, we were able to get back in the water and complete the diving course. It was absolutely fantastic and we had a hard job concentrating on doing the required exercises as we were constantly being sidetracked by fish, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, cushion stars and the huge diversity of corals. The main criticism the dive instructor had was that when we saw the white tipped reef sharks for the first time, and the large eagle ray, we stopped breathing, which you are never supposed to do when diving ! After finishing the course we were invited to a kava session in the village just north of Levuka, our first taste of the stuff, but sadly not our last! So we left Levuka , feeling only slightly peculiar,for a brief sojourn on the main Island, Viti Levu, before moving on to Kadavu. We visited Colo-I-Suva Forest, an outstanding park north of the capital with amazing waterfalls and swimming holes, and home to sulphur breasted musk parrot and giant millipedes. We also stayed for a couple of days on the Coral Coast in a small place right across from the beach. There are some huge tourist resorts here where
On the diveboat
Before a dive. Nobby (left) and Tee at the helm people come and spend their entire holiday without setting foot outside the boundary, and probably think they have seen Fiji. We walked through one such (the Outrigger Resort, check out the website if this sort of thing appeals to you and you have lots of dosh!) to get to the Kula EcoPark, a small area of bush where they are trying to educate people about Fijian wildlife. It is a great spot with walk through aviaries, fruit bats (Ken, you should visit), the native crested and banded iguanas, and we even got to feed the baby hawksbill turtles which are part of breeding programme. We then caught the bus to Nadi (the bus system in Fiji is fantastic. If it was that good in Cumbria, no-one would need to own a car!) and a flight to our final destination, Kadavu for five days of sea kayaking. Kadavu (Vunisea) airstrip is on an ithsmus at the eastern end of the island group. This means there is sea at each end of the short runway which makes for fun take-offs and landings! We had no idea what the plan was when we arrived, so were very glad when a guy approached us
Colo-I-Suva Forest Park
Kerry enjoying one of the beautiful waterfall pools in the park and asked if we were Kerry and David from Cumbria. After climbing into a pickup with him, and stopping at several small shops where bread, noodles, diesel and other stuff was slung in the back, we arrived at a beach were a dozen motorboats were moored. We got into one of these and had one of the most exhilarating rides along the reef lagoon to the far eastern end of Kandavu (about an hour and a half) to Waisalima Resort, a group of traditional bures on the beach with a central bar/restaurant, where we stayed for two nights. On the way we picked up Gus who was to be our kayak guide. Basically apart from Vunisea there are no roads on Kadavu so everyone gets around by boat. On our first day we paddled around the eastern tip of the island, but the next two days we headed west. The coral reefs here are completely unspoilt and are probably some of the best in the world. Paddling was fantastic, and the snorkeling was first class. Here we were able to use the underwater facility on the camera and so took lots of pictures of fish and coral some of which
Giant critters 1
Millipede in Colo-I-Suva park. Blimey! are shown here. Particular favourites were the anemone fish (or Nemo and his friends and relations) which are very protective of their anemones and will come and inspect a snorkeller, so it is therefore very difficult to get a side-on shot! We stayed with a Fijian family for the last two nights, and had yet more kava, and the interesting experience of eating soup whilst sitting cross legged on the floor without lifting the bowl…(you try it). A visit to a village on our final day’s paddle involved yes, more kava, and a sumptuous lunch made by a whole group of ladies, luckily they knew we didn’t eat meat and so had made a real effort. Hot tip- if you are ever stuck for conversation in a Fijian village, you can always talk about rugby, particularly Fiji beating Wales and making the quarter finals of the World Cup! We were very sorry to leave Kadavu, and it was a bit of a culture shock to get back to Nadi and book into a hotel for our last two nights in Fiji. However it was 33 degrees in Nadi on our last day, so it was really nice to arrive in
Giant critters 2
Huge hawkmoth, almost the size of a wren! New Zealand where it was a much more comfortable 25 degrees! More about NZ in our next Possum Post dispatch!
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