Tuesday 24th June
The rain has stopped and it’s clear blue skies. Ian and Stewy head ashore for breakfast while Annie has a bit of peace and quiet and gets packed up (kava, colouring pencils etc for meeting locals) for the day out. Ian and Annie go and pay for the mooring and get some advice from Kendra about where to go and what the etiquette is for visiting villages. Norfy joins us and off we head into the country to explore Vanu Levu. We start by heading out of town to find the gas depot. We find the industrial estate – they don’t have the right fitting to fill our bottle but tell us they’ll try to sort something – we’ll call back later. Off we go heading west along the coast and then north to cross the island. We stop when we see some root things for sale at the side of the road – we‘ve heard you’re supposed to present roots to Island chiefs in preference to dried kava, but when the woman comes out of her house she tells us this is not kava, but taro, a root vegetable. This family are not Asian, and look native Fijian - an old lady is waving and smiling at us so we decide to walk down and say hello. There are 2 little houses off the road and we are welcomed and waved in to sit on the veranda. One of the women, Alumita, speaks very good English and introduces us to her 3 year old son, Sekove, her mother – in law, Louisa, and her sister-in-law, Inesa. They are very welcoming, telling us that this is the Fijian way and ask us where we are from and what we are doing. An old man appears with a machete (Louisa’s brother) he does not join us but smiles and waves his machete (unthreateningly!) at us the whole time we are there. We have a good chat and they tell us about Kava drinking, show us the plants and offer us some, which we politely decline. Annie takes some photos and again agrees to send them when she gets home. There are no smiles from Little Sekove however, who just stares at us the whole time we’re there and seems a little over (or under!) whelmed by our presence. We say our farewells and carry on along the road. We pass through villages and men working on the roads - absolutely everyone waves and smiles. We stop at a roadside shop where there’s a family sitting outside. Again, they’re very friendly but there’s no beer or cold drinks – they’re waiting on a delivery, so we move on. The road is good in some parts but there are lots of potholes – Ian thinks Annie, who is driving, is trying not to miss any! It’s quite a bumpy ride. We decide to press on to the main town on the island to try and get some lunch as there is clearly not going to be any where else to eat and we’re all getting a but hungry and thirsty. Annie’s a bit worried about Norfy’s lunch a he hates curry of any form and the main town, Nabasa, is known as Little India. As we reach the top of the island, we see a sign post to “Palmlea eco farm resort”.. We decide to take a gamble and head off down a dirt track – it says it’s 5km but 20 minutes on we’re now on an even rougher track with no sign of anything. As has happened before, we’re now wondering if there will be anything at the end of the road… then a vision of loveliness appears – a large bamboo building high on a hill with a huge veranda and a wee man running down the hill to meet us with flowers in his hair! This looks fantastic! We park the car in visitors parking, and the man welcomes us warmly with “bula” – Fijian hello. When we get up to the restaurant we are welcomed by Shirley, a senior Australian woman who explains that she and her husband sailed here and in the past three years have been building their eco resort with the help of a solid team of locals. We are introduced to all the staff and told we can have drinks and lunch – we’re in heaven. The veranda and garden lookout over a lagoon with small islands in the distance - it is a stunning spot. We enjoy a fabulous 2 - 3 hour lunch, and meet some other sailors who had heard about the place and anchored in the bay below. This is a find indeed. It’s a perfect afternoon and as well as great food, company and the idyllic location, we learn a lot about local customs and culture from the people we meet. Reluctantly we eventually leave as we still hope to reach Nabasa before dark. We arrive in the town about 5pm, it’s probably rush hour, but it certainly is a little India – most people are of Indian Asian appearance and there are numerous indian shops. Annie suggests that the lads should get some local gear to wear out tonight, in view of Tallulah Ruby’s performance last-night. Initially this is met with reluctance but eventually Annie persuades the team and is dropped off to run into an Indian shop and buy 3 saris . Stewy comes too and within 5 minutes we’re in High Fashion with Stewy asking for a sari fitting – the fun and games begin. Soon Stewy is surrounded by some beautiful young Indian girls, his arms are in the air and the sari is being wrapped and tucked! Annie runs back to drag Ian and Norfy in for their fittings. By this time there’s quite an audience gathering and people are coming in off the street to watch what must be a fairly rare spectacle of 3 beer bellied Brits getting dressed up in saris! Annie can hardly take photos for laughing. Once they’re dressed, the finishing touch of a red dot is applied to each forehead. The sari clad lads then stride up the street with Annie following behind taking shots and enjoying watching the reactions of the locals. Next stop is the Great Western Hotel for cocktails. It’s quiet but the staff are very amused and Annie persuades the lads to keep the saris on until we get back to base, as we’ll never remember how to put them on! It’s a race back to the Copra shed – Annie runs in to check Tallulah ruby are in the bar , which of course they are, then the lads make their grand Entrance….. Tallulah Ruby erupt in laughter, there’s songs and salutes and the three tenors serenade the saris ! We retire to the Planters club where we meet some more locals and where eventually the saris are ditched – they’ve had their moneys worth!