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Approaching Ovalau
Once we were safely inside the reef, we were able to take a few pictures of the island. …Once we actually did leave, we REALLY regretted our decision. In order to enjoy another full day of beach activities on Caqalai, we left at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, which was low tide. We hadn’t realized exactly what that meant… It meant that, in order to get to Ovalau (a larger island off of Viti Levu), we would have to go outside the reef and its calm water. For the locals who took us in their boat, this was no big deal. For us, however, it was a huge deal. Completely insane - it was the scariest thing we’d ever done (except for being trapped in an overturned car in a ditch along the PA turnpike - that was pretty terrifying). Imagine yourself in a tiny (23 foot), fiberglass, open boat with no life jackets, no seatbelts (or seats for that matter, just 2x6 planks!), and a sputtering outboard motor on the open ocean. It’s scarier than it sounds. For 45 minutes our knuckles were white, our asses were pounded, and Ryan was drenched (Erin picked the right side of the boat!) as we sped among 4-5 foot swells. As the Fijian guy behind us laughed and enjoyed a Coke,
we held on for our dear lives, constantly reassuring ourselves that Fijians do this every day. Thankfully, we didn’t find out until later that 15 people die annually in Fiji from just such an experience. But we made it!
After the boat, the ride into the town of Levuka didn’t seem nearly as scary as it should have. It was in a “carrier” - a pickup with narrow (but padded!) bench seats covered by a tarp in the back (again, no seatbelts - we didn’t even see a seatbelt the entire time we were in Fiji - they must be illegal…). The truck sped around a twisty dirt road right along the seawall, where one missed turn would mean dropping right off into the water. Again, we thankfully didn’t find out until later that it’s a relatively common occurrence for a vehicle to go over the seawall - a full size bus did it recently!
We finally arrived in Levuka just before sunset. The town looks a bit like an old western town that was picked up and dropped on a mountainous tropical island. You half expect to see the sheriff walking down the street with pistols ready
for a shootout (or a nap under a palm tree). Instead, when we ran into a policeman, upon finding out we were Americans, his response was to shout “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee!” We were as confused as you are. We immediately took a liking to Levuka.
The hotel we stayed in, the Royal Hotel, was the first one in Fiji. Like much of Levuka, it hasn’t changed very much since the 1890’s, though we did finally have electricity and “hot” running water (“hot” meaning “cold”). The town looks western because it was mostly built by European settlers in the late 1800’s, when it was the capital of Fiji.
Exhausted by our near-death experience getting there, our first night in Levuka was an early one. The next morning, we got up early with plans to go on a tour to Lovoni, a village in an extinct volcanic crater in the center of the island. Having signed up the night before, we started asking about the tour at 8AM. However, everything was running on Fiji time, and by noon it was apparent that we wouldn’t be going to Lovoni that day. Instead, we hiked into the hills behind
Fish Market in Levuka
Caught that morning on the reef; for sale an hour later on the sidewalk. Levuka, visiting settlements, forest, and farmland, and seeing some great views of the town. It’s in an amazing setting, nestled along the shore at the base of steep, lush, rainforest-covered mountains.
Next, we walked along the coast road to the village of Waitovu, where we had been told there was a waterfall. Along the way, we met two girls from the village who were on their way home from school. They had just adopted two adorable puppies from a bag on the side of the road. They walked with us to the village, then left us to figure out what to do from there. This time we were prepared, and had a sevusevu of some kava. But we had no idea where to find the chief. We asked a passing boy who we should speak with, and he pointed to one of the houses. As we approached, shouting “Bula!” (hello), a large man wearing only a towel came outside, still dripping wet. We asked about the waterfall, gave him our sevusevu, and he instructed his granddaughter to take us there. Mary (that’s phonetic, we have no idea how to spell it - probably something like Ngotre), who looked about
6 or 7 years old, led us into the forest for about 15 minutes until we reached a beautiful multi-level waterfall with a deep swimming hole. We changed into our swimsuits and took a dip in the cold, refreshing water. Mary showed us places to jump off into the pool, and how to slide down the rock face of the falls. It was great! We swam for about a half hour, and then headed back towards Levuka.
It was at this point that we realized that what had just happened was slightly out of the ordinary for us. Imagine you are at home taking a shower and two random strangers show up shouting at your door, ask about a local sight, and then hand you three small paper bags of narcotics. Would you send your 6 year old granddaughter off into the woods with them, where you know they will likely take their pants off? That pretty much sums up our visit to Waitovu.
When we got back to Levuka we went to the Ovalau club, another institution that doesn’t seem to have changed much in the last century. We had been told that there was a weekly
gathering of expats and Europeans, and we happened to be in town on the right day. We had a great time talking to people who live there, and we learned a lot about Levuka and Fiji, including how close we came to dying on our way there.
The expats filled us in on some things about Fijian culture that the Fijians on Caqalai hadn’t mentioned. The family and tribal structure sounds extremely complicated and confusing. There are a lot of rules that served some purpose in the past, such as to discourage inbreeding. For example, brothers and sisters aren’t allowed to speak to each other after they reach puberty. And nieces aren’t allowed to speak to their uncles after puberty. On our way to Waitovu earlier that day, we had passed a man who said hello to us but ignored the girls we were walking with (the ones with the puppies). After he passed, one of the girls said he was her uncle. After learning that they aren’t supposed to speak to each other, it made a lot more sense. These rules are still widely observed and can cause some serious problems. One of the German expats who had
a business in town had accidentally hired two people who weren’t allowed to speak to each other! Apparently you’re not allowed to say no to certain relatives, no matter what they ask, which causes a lot of problems with government corruption. The strangest rule is that there is some relative (2nd cousin twice removed or something) that you are required to make fun of whenever you see them.
Unfortunately, we only had one full day in Levuka. We took the ferry back to Viti Levu early the next morning. We got to see the sunrise from the ferry, along with some beautiful views of Ovalau. We were sad to leave. We WILL go back.
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Mom
non-member comment
What were you thinking????????????