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Published: October 15th 2008
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Bula to all our friends and to the crew on Tui Tai We arrive at Nadi airport in Fiji at 04.30 after 30 hours travel, including 9 hours wait at LA airport (so boring) for a connection and losing a day as we crossed the international date line. Still we arrived and as we waited for the next flight out to Tavauni the sun came up - so nice. A bit of a wait and we are then boarded onto a small twin prop plane with 18 seats (both your luggage and you are weighed) and about 40 years old - straight out of an Indiana Jones movie !
Ninety freezing minutes later (its not a sealed up plane) we land on Tavauni in the wind and rain. No one from the boat is their to meet us as we managed to get an earlier internal flight than expected. Still a friendly taxi driver rang Tui Tai and sorted us out. Taken to a hotel while the crew prepared the boat (well we were not expected for another 6 hours). But we were quickly collected by Meli and taken by rib to the boat where we were welcomed by
the whole crew singing.
Turns out were are the only 2 passengers for the next two days - and we are upgraded to a State Room with a private sun deck - shame its raining !
The morning was spent snorkelling (Sue) and diving (Bill) and in the afternoon we went for a short stroll with Lina (who was to become our good friend) to the International Date Line which is at then end of a local rugby pitch. The pitch was very basic, tufts, lumps and bare ground - it would be the worst I have played on, but it had an additional hazard, it was covered in frogs, imagine squished frogs when you are tackled !!
But we spent a few minutes jumping from one day to the next and back again.
That evening we were formally welcomed on board by the whole crew in a ceremony which initially was very serious. Formal words were spoken in Fijian and then a drink of Kava was taken, one hollow clap before accepting and three hollow claps after drinking from half a coconut shell. Not acoholic, but it is a mild narcotic and it makes your
tongue go numb. There were formal introductions from each crew member and from us and then more Kava drinking. You could either have Low Tide, High Tide or Tsunami - guess which Bill had.
This was a very special moment - we were made to feel so welcome 😊
The next day was more snorkelling in the South Pacific Sea for Sue and diving for Bill (sharks - nice), followed by a afternoon walk. We both bought Sulas to wear on village outings.
Day 3 on board and another 6 passengers join and we head off to local waterfalls, Bill by bike (it was hard work) and Sue walking. The lower waterfall was really nice and Bill jumped in from a ledge at the back - very scary. Then Bill set of for the upper waterfall while Sue was given a massage at the bottom of the waterfalls by Queenie, a very nice person. After lunch at the waterfall its back to the boat for Sue to get a sun tan on our private sun deck - so cool. In the evening its off for our first village visit - this is a reall village will local welome
ceremony (yes more Kava) and story telling of the peoples history in dance - this is the real thing, not a tourist outing. So special !
Oh - did I mention Sue doing Yoga on the boat every morning with Lina (said Linga). He also takes Sue snorkelling - she feels safe with him.
Day 4 and we are off to the top of an Atoll - its a very difficult mountain goat type trek over tree roots and rubble with steep drops on either side - scary - but the view from the top was tremendous. So good that in the afternoon Bill & Sue kayaked into the volcano's crator - very moving and peaceful, until Lina woke up the bats. Another first for Sue, Kayaking in the South Pacific.
Day 5 and a morning visit to a school on another island - different version of Polonysia - again history in dance and learning how badly the British treated these islanders in the last 150 years - very moving. After lunch we went to a secluded beach where it was just us and the crew cooking dinner in the ground - very Robinson Crusoe. A beautiful
dinner on the beach that evening.
Part of day 6 was another village visit - again a different style - this was in a formal meeting house with the whole village present. Both of us were given head garlands - very pretty. History in dance (it is a composory subject for 30 mins each day in school) with a large circular drum in the middle, played by 16 men, while the dancing is on the outside. So moving and the meeting house decoration was fantastic. Too hard to describe. Again we had to introduce ourselves as they want to know about us and where we come from. Very real Fiji.
Last day, was easy day on beach. As usual Bill got bored quickly and walked up the beach. Only to see Queenie talking to the local family (who speak minimal english). In invitation to join them sees Bill sitting with this family drinking yet more Kava - before lunch !
We both found our days on the boat so rewarding. Tui Tai run a foundation sponsoring projects on the islands and childrens schooling. There was no pressure but we both decided to sponsor a child for a
year. On Lina's recommendation we sponsored a boy who would have missed out on his last years schooling because his family just ran out of money.
The Fijian people in the offshore islands are so poor, but so friendly and they put so much effort into thier schooling we felt the we just had to help. 600 Fijian Dollars buys one years schooling - a cheap price for us to pay for the hospitality we have recieved.
The last moring and a goodbye song from the crew. Both Bill and Sue are in tears at going. A great time and so sad to leave 😞
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