The Summit of Wayalailai

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This morning I boarded the Yasawa Flyer - a passenger catamaran that transports people around Fiji’s Yasawa Islands. I’ve purchased their two week pass that allows me unlimited travel between the islands they cover as well as my accommodations. I had about a two hour ride before we reached the first island I’m staying at.

Wayalaiai or “Little Waya” is south in the island chain, between the islands of Kuata and Waya (or the “big” Waya). A large volcanic rock named Vatuvula stands at the top of the island, towering over the backpackers resort and beach where I’m staying. It is an impressive sight up above you all the time.

After checking in and exploring the property, I lounged in a hammock on the beach, reading until lunchtime. After lunch I took a stroll along the beach. The beach isn’t spectacular, but it’s nice and the water and breeze down there was refreshing - it is very hot today. Some women from the local village were selling crafts near the beach and I stopped there to see what they had.

Then late this afternoon I embarked on the sunset summit hike the resort had offered. Myself and a British couple were led into the jungle by a man named Napote who lives in the village on the other side of the island. Napote leads the hike up the mountain twice a day, every day, for guests staying on the island. At 64 years old, it’s no wonder the man is in incredible shape! I woke up this morning feeling a bit sick - sore throat, heavy breathing. I blame it on the air conditioning vent right by my bed where I stayed last night. I feared I was going to be slow going up to the summit, but I held my own and did alright.

We cut up through the jungle, steadily getting higher up the mountain. We swung around the backside of the cliff face to visit “The Wobbly Rock”. It is just that - a giant rock on the side of the hill that is wobbly. Napote had us climb up on top of the rock and then he proceeded to push the rock until it tilted back and forth under our feet. After we managed to climb back down from the rock, he had the group of us push it together. We peered underneath it and saw how the whole massive thing is balanced on just two points at the bottom. No wonder it’s wobbly! I can just imagine the day it goes rolling the rest of the day down the hillside!

It took a little more than an hour before we reached the very summit. The last stretch on just the bare rock was a bit scary for me. As I started working my way across it, I said to the others “Did I mention that I have a fear of falling?” But I managed.

It was lovely at the top. We could see around most of the island and around to most of the other islands too! We could see very clearly Kuata, our Southern neighbour, and then out to the Mamanuca island group and beyond there to the main island. To the north were other islands in the Yasawa chain. Pretty cool to see. And the sun was beginning to set so we could sit and watch it sink down into the ocean.

The sun finished setting as we made our way back down the mountain. We had to use flashlights for the last stretch in the jungle. Then we made it back to the resort - extremely hot and sweaty - just in time for dinner.

Some of the local Fijians performed dancing tonight after dinner. But I was so sweaty and tired, that after dinner all I wanted to do was shower and get ready for bed. I managed to catch the last of the dances though - I watched from the top of the hill outside my dorm which overlooked the lower part of the resort. It was a nice way to finish off the night.

Today begins two weeks of hopping around the Yasawas. Lots more to look forward to!

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