Savusavu, Koro and Taveuni

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Savusavu - September, 2011



The blog is published a little after the fact, so please excuse my tardiness!!



It's time for me to take a trip to Fiji. Caroline is visiting family in the US and I haven't visited the Fiji property in two years. And yes, there will be lots of maintenance that requires attention. Normally, I visit every year, however, Europe and India for five months in 2010 left me little time to spend in the Pacific Islands.



August 31 – Sept 1, 2011

The trip starts with a bus ride from Paihia to Auckland where I am picked up by our son, Harrison, and taken to an airport motel for the night. My luggage is right on the 23kg limit, partly because I have dismantled a free standing fan and put it in my bag. One can never have enough fans in Fiji and much like everything else they get broken with monotonous regularity, or at least they did under the regime of our old caretaker, Sailosi. Andrea and his daughter, Sisi now look after the property and things are much better cared for. Still an extra fan is a good thing, especially when it's 30C and 90% humidity.



The flight to Nadi (pronounced Nandi) takes around 3 hours and because I have purchased the cheapest flight, I find that I am only entitled to tea or coffee, but not orange juice. I ask the flight attendant for a juice and am given it, however it is pointed out that juice is not part of my ticket. Oh well!! Short haul, it looks as though I will have to take my own sandwiches next trip.



Arrival in Nadi goes fairly smoothly, I've filled out the arrival form on the plane and go through immigration with ease. But, and there is always a but, on having my bags x-rayed I am asked for my customs declaration by a uniformed Indian lady, but oops, I seem to have lost it. I am immediately pointed back to immigration and no amount of pleading does me any good. There are no forms down at the Xray machine. Finally, rather than leave my luggage, I tell the customs officer that this bullshit-bureaucracy and continue on through. Perhaps I'll get my hand slapped when I return. Then, it's a short hop to Labasa pronounced (Lambasa) and on disembarking am met my Malcolm (Of India fame) and Filo his Fijian wife. A bite to eat, a little food shopping in Labasa and then a 1 hour drive to Savusavu and Vatuseta our Fijian property.



Andrea, our caretaker, has already arranged for a couple of the village boys to start sanding down the outside of the house ready for the “big paint”. Fiji is definitely one of those places that a job will take all of the time available for it. I'm here for 8 weeks, so it will almost inevitably take 8 weeks to prepare and paint the house and cottage.



Sept 2 – Sept 30, 2011

It's the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Fiji is a Rugby Nation, or at least Fijians are rugby supporters as long as Fiji is playing. I expect that I will be spending quality time in the Planters Club over the next six weekends, watching the major games. After a couple of games It turns out that the Fiji team are not up to the challenge.



One point of note, my first Friday evening in Savusavu yacht-club, as I am introduced to some of the new faces, I find that I am being watched by a man at the end of the table. He turns out to be “Bernard the German” (Bernard doesn't go by Bernie or even Bernard the pronunciation is a definitive “Bern-ard”) and I had crewed with him on my friend Bill's sail boat, Sonnet, in the Bay of Islands, eighteen months previous.



Maryvonne, my daughter, is getting married in March and I feel that Fiji is a good opportunity to attempt to drop a few pounds. I don't know whether I will manage it, but it's good to put it in print . Malcolm and I have grand ideas of hitting the gym on a daily basis, but after a quick visit decide that we can devise our own “get fit” regiment that will be just as good. An afternoon walk to the top of the hill (6.2km round trip) overlooking Savusavu and then a walk back to the house.. This walk puts our Russell walk to shame. Anyway, we managed to get our fastest time down to 1hr 23mins from an initial time of 1hr 50mins.



The days roll on, I normally find myself heading into town every 2 days. My Fijian workers are sanding down the main house by hand and use copious amounts of sandpaper. While I have been meticulous about performing maintenance, the last couple of paints have have not required sanding be done back to bare wood. Anyway, the wood-grain is standing out and a couple of coats of natural wood stain will see it in good shape for the next two years.



Often, in the afternoon I amble across to my neighbor, Mike (an ex-pat American), to solve the problems of the world, or at least Savusavu. Mike is a connoisseur of single malt scotch whiskeys and around 4.30 in the afternoon is a nice time for him to open his liqueur cabinet, pour a wee dram and look out across the reef to Koro Island. Mike also has an excellent library and video collection.



On one of my trips into town, I run into Bernard the German who announces that he is going to sail to Koro on his boat “Rainbow's Shadow” for a few days to look at property. I immediately put my hand up to be a part of the crew. It The crew consists of Bernard, Millie (his Fijian girlfriend) and yours truly and a trip report must be filed at Savusavu Customs prior to embarking. The trip will start on Friday, Sept. 16 and will be for 3-4 days. We leave the dock around 10.30, but due to problems with engine mountings we are back at anchorage by 2.00pm. This gets fixed over the next couple of days and we are finally away on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The island of Koro is approximately 24 miles from Savusavu. We leave at 9.15am and the wind is on the nose all of the way. It's a long miserable trip with Millie feeling quite seasick, I also feel a little queasy , but not for long. We finally arrive in Dere Bay, Koro at 7.00pm in pitch blackness. The anchor slides into 30 meters of water and Millie makes dinner before it's time to finall retire to bed.



Koro is a pristine island with very few inhabitants, it's major attraction to most westerners is a major sub-division for white folks. Land is owned by celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Lauren Hutton and probably a few more. I don't think that Clint has ever set foot on the island, but if he does he'll find that his major acreage runs the full length of a white sandy beach.



Mathew, an extremely nice American . In his thirties, lives in the sub-division with his wife and four children It turns out that both he and his wife were extremely successful yoga teachers on the big island of Hawaii. Wife, Lotus, children Nai'ia, Yama and two more with unconventional names have been living on Koro for 3 years and love the place. The children are home schooled and seem to thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle. Mathew dreams of a little self sufficient community.



As my days progress, I find that Millie is wonderful and typically Fijian, while Bernard is wound quite tight. I find Bernard challenging, and even have spirited exchange later on the voyage, but I'm crew, and it's quite difficult to just get off the boat. We work through our personality clashes and by the end of the trip we are still friends.



Snorkeling in Koro is good and it gets quite deep in the passages that cut through the reef. While snorkeling I see barracuda and some giant trevally. The coral is also in a healthy state despite the occasional crown-of-thorns starfish.



The shoreline is dotted with a few houses one of which was nicknamed the Hollywood house. It's owner “Holly” won the house on a reality TV show filmed about 5 years ago. Supposedly, the final round required that contestants spill their darkest secret. Holly's husband announced that he was “Gay”. Needles to say, her marriage was over. Holly ended up with the house and she and her kids hung out in Fiji for a period of time before heading to destinations unknown. The house is now in a awful state of disrepair, the pandanas roof has has large chunks that are missing, rusted fans hang from the ceiling and the rest of the furniture and appliances just litter the place. To say that it is “sad” is an understatement!



Bernard loves Koro, or so he says, however most of the one acre lots run around 50K US. And on this note we up-anchor at 6am on Friday, Sept. 23 and set sail for the island of Taveuni. A major task is pulling in 50-60 meters of anchor chain with a hand crank. The sail to Taveuni is leisurely and we arrive at Paradise point at 3.00pm. The anchorage is directly in front of a new hotel/resort “Paradise” and as we get close to shore coral heads are visible beneath the surface. Bernard backs out and we approach from deeper water.



Rainbow's Shadow hangs off one of the deep water moorings in front of Paradise Resort and I row in to talk to the owners who turn out to be a very nice Australian couple. The result is we are made most welcome and able to use the facilities of the resort which is an exceptionally nice gesture. The resort consists of 16 Fijian style Bures, main dining area and bar. A lovely pool overlooks the ocean and a dive facility complete the resort. The dive facility runs trips to the rainbow reef on a daily basis and for divers this really is a must-do dive when you are in Fiji. It sure is paradise!! Three days of this turns out to be exceptionally relaxing, then it's an 8 hour motor sail back to Savusavu. Bernard and I man-hug on leaving the boat any differences are long gone.



Bernard has looked at several properties that Taveuni has to offer and all he has to do is spend the next few weeks mulling over his favorite place in Fiji to settle for his remaining years.



My remaining time for the month of September is pretty much as the month started with beer and rugby at the Planters Club. And the main house has had a single coat of natural stain all of the way around.




October, 2011

Maintenance on the house continues, yes, this will definitely last until the day that I leave and maybe even a week longer. The Rugby World Cup progresses and myself and my friend Malcolm ensure that we watch many of the remaining pool games and also the quarter finals. During pool games I am introduced to a New Zealander known as Stubby, it turns out that his home is in Okiato where the ferry to Russell docks. We shoot the proverbial and say we will get together when we are both at home.



Monday, October 10 is Fiji Day. I have arranged to go to Nukubalavu Village to collect stromb shells which the Fijians eat. Andrea has brought them for lunch during the past month and they are extremely tasty. It reminds me of my youth in Blackpool, England eating cockles soaked in vinegar with a tooth-pick as I walked along the golden mile. Anyway, its going to be my turn to get some of these little lovelies. It's been raining solid for the past 3 days and Fiji Day is no different. I join Sisi our house-girl out on the reef. The wind is blowing and it's hosing down, but I'm having fun . I manage to collect 9 stromb shells, not exactly enough for a feast. Also, my canoe has been picked up by Semisi and taken out to the reef. Sisi, her cousin and I locate it, climb aboard and head for shore. The two girls are in the front paddling with me sitting on the back facing the wrong way. Laugh, we laugh all the way across the lagoon before finally capsizing. The rest of the rainy afternoon is spent at Andrea's house with his family eating seafood and drinking warm, milky sweet tea.



The world cup is over in the middle of October and New Zealand are the winners. Finally, the All Blacks hold the Web-Ellis trophy again after 24 years. And however good they were in the rounds leading to the final they are lucky to win the trophy. The All Blacks play France in the final and the French have definitely come to play. Possession and territory are with the French but no matter how much they attack they can't manage to change the score line. Final score NZ 8 France 7. It's been a good tournament and I believe that most will agree, the best side of 2011 comes away as victors.



Malcolm, Filo and I hit the lagoon a few times in October to look for some more of the tasty stromb shells. The coral inside the lagoon is not the best, but if you keep your eyes open you can see have some interesting encounters. On one snorkel trip I see a small lobster, two moray eels and a variety if fish.



Every so often, I bump into Bernard, “The German” who has taken two voyages to Wallis and Fortuna during October. This is done to renew the visitor visa and/or to ensure that a sail boat has left Fijian waters during an 18 month period,. If a boat stays in the country for more than eighteen months then the owner could face a hefty tax bill. Bernard still hasn't found his own slice of paradise, but continues to look. Will he still be walking the main street of Savusavu when I return in late April?



My last week in Savusavu sees the Indian celebration of Diwali (Festival of lights). The firecrackers and fireworks are a big part of festivities as well as lighting up the houses with a myriad of Xmas lights. Last year I was in India and I must say the bangs were bigger!! However I am invited to Indian friends for dinner and sweets as part of the celebration.



I'm down to my last few days and work on our houses is winding down. As I suspected on arrival, it will take one week longer than my Fiji stay. Semisi and deaf and dumb, Naori my Fijian painters have been hard working and full of fun.. Andrea our caretaker has overseen the job. I have shared their Fijian lunches and laughed almost as much as themselves during my eight week stay. The houses look great and large scale maintenance will not be done for another two years.



Sunday, October 29

I'm booked on the boat from Savusavu to Suva. I have never done the trip by sea and take the opportunity to see if it is worth the effort. It is, and on reaching Suva I catch a mini bus to Nadi where I stay overnight at Raffles Hotel before catching my plane back to NZ.

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Photos

The Hollywood House
Just to give an idea of the state of disrepair. The place is trashed

Hollywood House for Sale
The house was just left with clothes, electrical fittings, stove, refrigerator, etc...

Rainbows Shadow
At anchor off Paradise Resort.