Heaven's Edge

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I spent the Easter long weekend with the Rucksack Club in the Viti Levu highlands. This trip was to Heaven's Edge about 2 hours inland from Nadi. On Good Friday the plan was to walk from Nagado Village to Heaven's Edge. No one was really sure how long it would take to do the walk with estimates of somewhere between 2 hours and 9 hours! We started off around 10am and it was a good but tiring walk through the mountains til lunchtime. An hour later, 5 of the group went with one of the guides on a 'shortcut' up the mountain. I stayed on the main path with the rest of the group because even though my star sign is the goat (Capricorn) - nimble as a mountain goat does not really describe my talent for scrambling up and down steep rocks - for example, as some may remember I managed to slip on my own driveway and end up with stitches!

It then began to rain. Then it began to pour! We were totally soaked through and were relieved to see the ute from Heaven's Edge coming to save us and we hitched a ride in the tray back to the resort. It seems the estimate of 9 hours was about right - by 3pm we had only made it just over half way! The walkers on the 'short cut' arrived at the resort at about 5.30pm that afternoon - also seriously drenched and not convinced on the merits of the 'short cut'. We decided scenic detour was more appropriate.

We spent Saturday on a walk (more mud & more scrambling over rocks) to one of the local waterfalls and Sunday I went horseriding up one of the hills by the resort and played soccer in the mud. Unfortunately, my team (made up of me & 3 guys from the resort) were at a slight disadvantage in that the other team had 6 players! But we made a valiant effort and only lost by 2 goals. An unsuccessful attempt at a goal has left me with a possibly fractured foot (hot tip: always play soccer with shoes!) but there isnt much I can do except let it rest and follow up with some xrays next week if its still bad. I promised my doctor (who knows me well by now) that I would try and stay out of trouble. I loved her response - "If you are going to stay out of trouble, how will you have any fun?".

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Photos

On the way
V muddy in parts and my shoes will never be clean again!

On the way
Heaven's Edge is just over that big hill...

On the way
It looked a lot steeper in real life.

On the way
At the top of the steep hill and looking out to the Mamanuca Islands.

On the way
A home built under a huge boulder.

A tree just hanging on to the side of the hill...
...and a v brave guide standing on one of the roots!