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Published: February 15th 2011
The Fijian AC
On the bus on way to ferry Well, on Friday, I sent out on my first weekend adventure. I made my way down to the Patterson Shipping company office because they operate the ferry boat that travels to Levuka. Levuka is the first capital of Fiji and has some great historical buildings so I decided to make it a weekend trip. Well, like everything else in Fiji, time is not the most important. The bus was supposed to pick up at 1:30. At about 1:45, it drove by jam packed with people. We are then told that a second bus is on its way. At 2:30, we find out, that bus forgot to stop for us. The company calls for another bus and around 3 pm we're finally on our way. This bus is one step up from my typical daily town bus...it has windows! Its about an 1 1/2 ride to the ferry landing. I've made friends with a mechanic going out to fix his friend's car and an Australian couple spending the long holiday in Levuka. As we wind through the country side I take in the sites. This time, I'm on the King's Road - the highway that runs along the east side of the
Village Sign
This is the standard sign used for each village country. Its as green as ever! The villages continue to interest me. The way the homes sit in the hills and gather near the road. Each little village has speed bumps in the center of town so that traffic (this is a relative term) slows down. Sometimes children wave at the bus as it passes by. I'm also amazed to watch the cows. The cows will be grazing just feet from the side of the road. As it turns out, on the highways, most accidents are from vehicles hitting a cow. I mean, good lord! Thankfully, this is not something I've witnessed as of yet. I try to snap a pic of the cows, but its too hard as the bus wizzes by! At one point, the bus is slowing down and everyone starts talking and then laughing. I finally see what it is...the bus that was supposed to pick us up has a flat tire and all of the people are standing on the side of the road in the hot sun! We stop (its a rolling stop by here, that's a stop) and a few people jump on. I can't understand what's going on...why didn't we pick them
all up. The road finally comes down from the hills and is now next to the ocean. what a sight! The water is a beautiful blue with the sun shining overhead. As we pull into the pier area I can't help but chuckle.
Everything about this ferry experience is funny. The ferry landing is really just a concrete driveway. Some cars are pulled off to the side waiting to load. The ferry is pulling in to dock as we roll up. Our bus apparently is not getting onto the boat. The bus with the flat is getting it fixed and the boat is going to wait for it. Ok, fingers crossed! So, I get off the bus and have to stand and watch the unloading of the ferry. The hatch opens and then buses and trucks start rolling off. But in order to roll off, they have to use additional individual wheel ramps. But those aren't quite enough either and a piece of wood block is used to smooth out the entire gap. Ok, so maybe it is better that I walk onto the boat! The buses and trucks bump and bang, literally, their way off. Its a funny
thing to watch the workers fix the tire ramps after each vehicle. They run the ferry twice a day...you'd think someone would try to come up with a better fix. Oh well. I walk on and immediately head upstairs for an outside seat to watch the ocean and islands on the journey. I settle in and reach into my bag to find my motion sickness wristbands. Um, yeah, I forgot them. In the next three days, I'm going to be on 3 boats and a couple of interesting bus rides. Of all the things to forget....So, I tell myself that its only an hour and the seas look pretty calm. I should be fine. As the ferry pulls away from the dock, I realize that I'm riding in the back of the boat. Oops! I pick up all of my items and hurry up the side to get a forward facing seat. There, now I'll be ok! The trip was great. I was able to watch some of the storm clouds pass of neighboring islands. It was so interesting to see them slowly engulfed in rain. It was a nice smooth ride and my stomach stayed so calm. I was
happy!
The ferry landing on Ovalau island was worse than the one on the main land. I was already loaded on the bus, so I didn't get to see the whole process of pulling in, but driving the bus off was interesting to say the least! We had to load the bus before the ferry docked because you have to fight for your seat. Apparently, this is a big deal. Some people don't even get off of the bus on the ferry in fear of loosing their seat. I was all like, yeah, um, I came on a completely different bus so I don't really have a seat...this nice Fijian man told me where to sit. Apparently it had been an empty seat prior. Thank goodness! The mechanic ended up sitting next to me and that was great fun! He makes several trips a year out to Levuka and acted as a sort of tour guide. The bus is now jam packed with people and we rocket off the ferry with a big bump. And from here, the bumps never stop. As it turns out, the road to Levuka, which is half way around the island, is one lane
and dirt. Oh and its raining...downpour. Wow, this is going to be interesting! We rolled off with several other vehicles and started on our way. There are several villages along the way and the landscape is even prettier than the main land. The entire island is volcanic so it has quite large peaks and you can see much of the black rock that was left behind from the eruptions. Then, of course, its all covered in green! Beautiful!!! There are several little creeks and as my tour guide points out, the bridges we are taking to cross them are not engineered so much as they are a couple of cut down trees. LOL Seriously, the one was wooden planks. Again, this ferry route and people transport route are very popular...why not look into updating the bridge? We continue to bump along, dropping off passengers at villages, waving to locals and taking in the numerous water falls. At one point, we pass the airport on the island. It was just a paved air strip in a clearing. No buildings. Classic! The road weaved along the shore for a bit and it was interesting to see how the sea wall was like
The on/off method
You can see the additional pieces and the wood a 2 ft high volcanic rock wall. It was really pretty. The water was pretty calm and the gray backdrop of the sky made the entire drive just a bit more eire. As we pulled into town, I was consumed with the most disgusting smell of all time. FYI, Levuka is also the capital of fish canning. That's right, all the fish caught in the country and canned is taken to the enormous factory here. Wow, I might never eat canned fish again...
As we pull into town, its much like an old Western town out of a John Wayne movie but with a tropical feel/twist. Its quite cute. I'm excited to go exploring on Saturday and see all that it has to offer. As we disembark the bus, I'm struggling with my bag and the bag of goods that I'm taking to Chinn (PA coordinator) family that I step off right into a whole and sprain my ankle. I am caught by a nice Fijian man and helped to the curb. Seriously...you can't make this stuff up. Chinn's brother comes up to me before I can really assess how bad it is and we are off to her
parent's house so I can say hello. They live just one street off the main road and I quickly realize how small this town is. I asked how they knew I was there (since the ferry was so many hours late). The father says, we heard the bus go by. Oh, well, yes, of course! I visit with the family for a bout 20 min and then make plans to see them the next afternoon. Her brother then walks with me to the hotel - The Royal Hotel for my nights stay. Its about a 3 min walk and the hotel is a great site. It was origanally built in the late 1800s and then rebuilt in early 1900s after a fire. They've made some slight modifications, but I'm so excited when I check in. There is an old world charm to it. My room is upstairs and a single. It has really high ceilings, a single iron bed, a small wood dresser and a small sink in the corner. The old veranda was enclosed and is now a sitting room and small bathroom. The window is a large wood shutter and I have a nail to use to either
open it wider or close it! It couldn't get any better than this! I put my things down and head out to dinner. Since the curry has not been sitting well with me and I've stopped eating so much, I'm excited for a dinner out. I head to the Whale's Tail, one of the popular restaurants in town and have the special, chicken in comcquate (sp?) juice. Its absolutely divine! I can't get over how good the juice is and dip everything in it including my potatoes and veggies. I literally cleaned my plate and considered having a second order. I sat with the cook, waitress and another patron for a bit and learned a bit more Fijian. The ladies were so lovely! Then I headed back to the hotel. I figured the bar at the hotel would be open, but since its not tourist season, they were not. So, upstairs to my room and a little reading before bed. It was still raining and I decided it was probably best to close up the shutter before going to bed. I also dropped the mosquito net. What a thrill...first time I've slept under one of those! I fell asleep early
The storm passing over the island
This is Ovalau island where I'm heading and slept pretty hard. Until the rain got really bad...pounding in fact. I could even hear the ocean pounding the sea wall.
More to come in the next blog!
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Lauren
non-member comment
Loving your posts!
I just love how well you write, and feel like i'm almost there with you, keep em coming, what a great experience!!!