Blogs from Fiji, Oceania - page 7

Over the last two weeks, we have had new volunteers arriving, although in a much smaller number and visited Snake Island a tiny island with incredible coral reefs between ourselves and it. The island is home to many birds as well as sea snakes, although we didn’t see any this time (more like snakeless island). Sea snakes are not shy creatures and have come up to us during dives. They end up growing to 1.5m in length. The dives we are doing now are coral, benthic and invertebrate point outs ready for surveying the reefs. There are around 60 species we need to be able to identify in all their different forms so no easy or quick task. I have also been working on a waste plan for the island ensuring that our practises are something ... read more

During this weekend we managed to get to Pacific Harbour for the weekend and stay there. The cyclone hadn’t hit the place too bad, although one of the resorts had damaged bures. Here we managed to do a dive to see sharks, such as bull, lemon and tawny nurse sharks. It was interesting to get back to Suva which took over 2 hours before we had even left. Bus after bus flew past us as they were all full, resulting in us having to get a the 45 minute ride back on a taxi to Suva. Earlier that week we decided to head to the rainforest outside Suva. There are some nice treks and rope swing to go and swing into a water pool. Since the schools were still closed, a lot of school kids were ... read more

Last Friday we decided to have a trip to Suva, the capital of Fiji. Initially there were only going to be a few of us, however shortly after leaving the island we were met by staff on Leleuvia island (where we change boats) who stated they were all evacuating the island due to the Tropical Cyclone Winston. Soon after this, Caqalai were evacuated and now everyone is in Suva. TC Winston was a category 5 cyclone that ripped through Fiji. Unfortunately there were some casualties and many houses have been destroyed. We were fortunately safe in a hotel in Suva. Caqalai island is been badly affected with the Kava hall being flattened, a coconut tree landing on the Common Room and 3 bures (Fiji houses) are damaged, although we are not too sure which ones. One ... read more

The wind finally settled down, the sun came out in full force, and Mango and I got to experience a 'typical' day on Ono Island. Typical here is a relative term, as we started our day in the calm clear reef just off of the resort, then traveled about a mile south to the nearby village where over half of the Resort's staff and their family live and were about to celebrate their children's graduation. Snorkeling was very chill. We kayaked about a half a mile from the shore and then donned our masks and fins. It was a little uncomfortable getting in the water since we didn't really know what was down there, but as soon as I faced the ocean floor, Bob Marley started playing in my head, "three little birds, sits by my ... read more

Another breezy morning, one that Mango would come to terms with in an intimate way hours after breakfast. Today was our first activity day: SCUBA diving the Astrolabe Reef. The ride out to our first spot was choppy. Somehow, Dee, our Divemaster, spotted a manta ray and told us to get our snorkel gear and slide into the water for a peek. Even before I could hand Mango her mask and snorkel, she was feeling queasy and looking a light shade of green. But being the trooper she is, she grabbed the mask and hopped overboard, eyeing the 8 foot visibility, which almost entirely appeared as a deep purple with a bottomless floor of murky sand. We swashed around for about 10 minutes but didn't see anything. Dee kept pointing into the abyss and swimming around, ... read more