Blogs from Kadavu Island, Fiji, Oceania
August 6th 2008
Second Fijian entry, A lot has happen since I last wrote in this blog. Last week we visited five different schools around the capital of Suva. It was good fun and although not nearly as hard work as the camp still very tiring. We got to see a great range of schools from very small rural areas to large primary schools with much better facilities. On Thursday we went to the airport to catch a plane to the southern most island of Kadavu. This island was amazing. Boat is used as the main transport as there are few roads. The water is clear turquoise in colour and the amount of deserted white sand beaches surronded by palm trees was incredable. (Jealous yet?!) We Arrived and went straight to the school which was to host our second ... read more
Creature Comforts, into The Heart of Darkness and Finding Nemo
Published: February 29th 2008Oceania » Fiji » Kadavu Island
February 29th 2008
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 ... read more
January 6th 2008
Happy New Year Everyone, deputy editor Tina at the keyboard today.We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed seeing us sunning on the beach with our Christmas message. We had an interesting Christmas and New Year on the island of Kadavu in Southern Fiji and for me Christmas eve was certainly a day of calamity. We arrived at our resort in Kadavu on the 23rd, just as it turned dark due to delays, but whilst we managed to get a flight to the island, on a little 12 seater our luggage did not quite make it. We had promises that it would arrive next day. I spent most of Christmas Eve re-enacting the scene from the French Lieutenant's Woman, staring out to sea for a boat with our luggage; as darkness fell it was ... read more
October 25th 2007
6-8/10 flight Wien - London 3h Var ok utom att vi fick vänta 30 min på att köra in till gaten på Heathrow pga trafikstockning. Tur att de bygger ut en ny Terminal.. We had to wait 30 min before the plane could go to the gate in Heathrow because of a congestion. Lucklily the new Terminal 5 will soon open in Heathrow.. flight London - Los Angeles 11 h Alla passagerare som flyger via USA måste numera gå ut genom passkontollen och tullen. Synd om dem som bara ska resa igenom men inte kommer vidare eftersom de inte får visum för USA... Gernots väska kom inte fram på bandet, tyvärr den han hade sina dykgrejor i, men sen visade det sig att den hade hamnat på specialavdelningen för stort bagage. Sen var den tyvungen att ... read more
August 3rd 2007
I haven't been able to update for a while, apparently travel blog's servers crashed. I think my old entries might have been lost too.... Last time I updated, I was starting to get a sore throat. The morning after it was really bad and turning into a cold. We left Raintree lodge and headed for the airport, with a stop at a supermarket to get some soluble aspirin for my throat. The plane to Kadavu was tiny, with 8 passenger seats. Upon arrival we discovered the place we had intended to stay was fully booked. Instead, we headed to a smaller offshore island called Galoa (no roads, shops etc) to stay at "Reeces place". We had a house to ourselves here. Well, no kitchen or power but 2 bedrooms a lounge and a bathroom... It was ... read more
August 2nd 2007
There were still no golden doves to be found in the forest the next morning, or much else (but I'd pretty much got most of what I was after the day before anyway so that was alright). When we got back to Raintree, Robyn went fishing. There was a sign at the counter saying that if you could catch a fish in the lake then they would cook it for you for free. If it sounds like there might be a catch you'd be right. The fishing line was just a length of cord tied to an empty coke bottle, there was no sinker, the bait was an old piece of bread, the double-hulled wooden canoe provided was leaking so badly that there were actually small fish living inside it, and finally Tilapia don't really take ... read more
May 28th 2007
Ok, I've been in Fiji for 2 and a half weeks or so. It's very hard to get to an internet cafe and update the site on a regular basis, let alone upload photos, but I will eventually! We had a great 9 day sail from New Zealand although we did get a little smacked from a low. Soon after we landed in Fiji our other crew member Chris left the boat, so since then it has just been me and Dave. Dave is able to send updated to his blog every other day or so from the boat (I'm not able to do that with my blog). If you'd like to follow along with our great adventures have a look at his blog every few days. Dave's (and Kathy's) blog: www.svlavie.blogspot.com I hope everyone is ... read more
May 11th 2007
Our boat was supposed to leave at 10pm. We didn't realise that is was Fiji time and therefore it left at 2am! After a very bumpy journey, we finally docked at 12pm at Vunisea harbour (Kadavu's main port) - what a nightmare! We took a short speed boat ride to Gaola Island, arriving at our "resort", Reece's Place. Again, we were the only travellers there and would be for the next 4 nights. We were shown to a wonderful cabin that would be "our house". The place was run by the Reece family and had such a homely feel about it. The day that we arrived was Tess, one of the daughters, 18th birthday. We were invited to join their celebrations that night. We drank Kava with the men, whilst the ladies prepared the meal and ... read more
February 16th 2007
A few people commented on the morose tone of my last entry, so I’m following it up with a cheery blog. Just to add another twist to the story, I got the call a week ago saying my assignment was given the all-clear to return, so I’ve decided to spend another three months in Fiji to finish it off. But more on that later - first, a rundown on one of the most amazing days I’ve ever had. Ed and I hopped on an aeroplane down to Kadavu, an island half an hour’s flight to the south of Suva, to join Kellie, Cassie and Simo who were visiting from Australia for a few days relaxing Fiji-style. We reached Kadavu and after some miscommunication we found ourselves in the wrong boat heading the wrong way around the ... read more
