A Place So Beautiful It Couldn't Be Real . . . Except I Was There.

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Today I ventured down the other end of the road, along Taveuni’s East Coast. Paul, who drove me yesterday, drove again and Pela, who I’d met yesterday, came along. Both of them are from villages along the East Coast and Pela has worked as a guide there, so I had the perfect hosts to show me the way.

We headed to the far end of the road to Lavena. The road only goes about halfway down East side of the island - after that there are too many rocks and streams and waterfalls in the way so a road has never been built. While the road on the Western side of the island is paved, on the Eastern side it is not. Although it’s only about a 20 kilometre drive, it takes just over an hour to get down to Lavena. The ride is rough, bumpy and slow, but it is beautiful. The sun was shining, the ocean was sparkling blue. Across the water we could see neighbouring islands. On the other side, Taveuni’s lush green jungle-covered mountains reached above us. Sometimes the road would curve upwards and we’d see down into valleys of palm trees and fields of taro, pineapple, kava and cassava. We passed through tiny villages, including the one where Pela lives. People would be walking along the road or working in the fields - Paul and Pela would honk and wave and call out to them. They knew everyone - and seemed to be related to half of them. Not all that different from me driving around my home county!

Eventually we reached the village of Lavena and checked in at the main gate for the park. Then we set off for the Lavena Coastal Walk.

The Lavena Coastal walk is 5 kilometres. The path first travels along the side of the village of Lavena. The school sits right next to the path and it looked really nice. It was built only last year. From there, the path follows along the coastline, under the shade of the rainforest, beside the sandy beach. At one point, on the beach were large boulders - they’re made of volcanic rock from when the island was formed by volcanoes and lava flowed out to the sea. After about 30 minutes, we reached a tiny village - Naba. While the village is remote and the people there obviously do not have much, their surroundings are stunning. Naba is backdropped by a jungle-covered mountain with two waterfalls cascading down the side. Soon after Naba, we reached the Wainisairi River. High up on the mountain is Lake Tagimauea - where Fiji’s national flower grows. The Wainisairi River is the only river that drains directly from the lake. A suspension bridge hangs over the river and we used it to cross. Soon past the river, the path turned inland and we walked alongside the Wainabau Stream. We passed by two men who were seated in the shade. They had a big pile of taro roots and were waiting for a boat from Lavena to come pick them up with their crop.

After about an hour and twenty minutes, we reached the end of our path, at the edge of the water. Further upstream, I could see the Wainabau Falls. Pela, Paul and I got in the water and swam up towards them. About halfway up, I could see around the corner of the stream - there was a second set of falls there too! Just before the falls, a natural archway formed over the stream. We swam underneath it and into the pool at the base of the falls. I swam my way to the rock wall at the edge of the pool and sat there.

On one side of the waterfall, you can slide down the rocks and into the pool. Pela went down. Then both he and Paul climbed to the top of the taller falls and jumped into the water. The rocks are difficult to navigate and slippery, so I didn’t attempt to climb up myself. I was content swimming in the pool and marveling in the view.

I was in awe. I have seen many beautiful places in my travels, but this just may be one of the most beautiful. The falls, the pool, the rock walls, the jungle along the top, the sun shining from above . . . all of it just seemed too perfect. It was the sort of setting you’d see in a movie and because it’s just on the screen, it doesn’t seem real. It was so beautiful, I didn’t know how it could possibly be real, except that I was there.

I could have stayed there for far longer reveling in the beauty of the spot, but we had a long walk back and another part of the park to visit. Plus the guys were freezing in the water. I’m the girl who is normally always cold - it was funny to me that the water felt perfect but they were so cold!

We made the long walk back along the same path, except that for the last stretch we walked along the sandy beach instead of the trail. Pela and I picked up seashells along the way. They were so bright and colourful - shells those colours are sold in shops in the Caribbean ports I’ve been to!

After a brief rest at the gatehouse in Lavena, we got back in the van and headed back up the road. About 15 minutes before Lavena is the start of Bouma Park. This was our next stop. In Bouma, there is another trail through the rainforest that goes to three sets of waterfalls. Pela told me that the stream actually has eight waterfalls if you follow it all the way to the top of the mountain - but the park’s path just goes to the first three. It was already mid-afternoon and the walk is pretty far, so I just wanted to go to the first set of falls - only about a ten minute walk.

While we were driving from Lavena to Bouma, the afternoon rain started. At Bouma, it was still raining. But, I was going to get soaked swimming in the waterfall anyway, so we started out. Even with the rain, it was a nice walk. And such a short easy one after doing the Lavena walk! In what seemed like no time, we were at the Bouma Falls.

This set of falls was higher than the ones I saw earlier. Bouma’s fell high from the mountain ridge in a long straight drop. The pool was deep at its bottom and there was a large cave behind the falls. I got right in for a swim.

Pela’s village is very close to Bouma. He said that growing up, he’s come here all the time. That on holidays, families crowd around the falls’ pool. I was happy it was just a regular day and there was no on else there. We swam to the cave behind the falls. I sat on the rocks and took in the scenery while Pela climbed the rocks and dove into the pool.

The rain stopped after we’d been there for a little bit and the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds. I floated in the pool at the bottom of the falls letting the sun hit my face.

It was a brief relief from the rain however, because as we were getting out of the pool and ready to head back, the skies opened up again. It continued raining for much of the drive back.

Paul made one last stop for me when we were in Matei, the village where I’m staying. An American woman named Audrey lives there and she sells homemade baked goods and coffee from her front porch. I’d read and heard about Audrey from various sources and was eager to try. I just got my goodies to go though, a treat to finish off the very simple meal I’ll be cooking myself for dinner.

The pictures I took today are beautiful. But they only begin to capture how beautiful the places I saw today are. As I was walking today, I kept thinking about how I wish I could capture the way it felt to be there . . . The sun hot on my skin and then the natural way the air cools when you walk slightly deeper into the rainforest . . . The butterflies that would occasionally flit past me . . . The air so fresh and clean in the forest where no engines have ever been . . . The colours of the ocean and the jungle intensely vivid . . . What it’s like to turn a corner from what beautiful place and still be stunned by a new view that’s even better.

Tonight, as I sat on the front porch of my bure finishing my dinner, I noticed how strong the colours where in tonight’s sunset. I grabbed my camera and walked out into the lawn in front to get a picture. I ended up walking to the edge of the hill at the front of Makaira where the view opens up to down the coast. The sunset was even more stunning. Again, I’ve seen many beautiful sunsets, but this one goes way up on the list. A beautiful ending to a day filled with beautiful places.

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Comments

[swills82]

Such beautiful landscape and surroundings. You must feel so tranquil during those moments where you can just sit and breathe it all in. So happy for you Netter.