Taveuni Island . . .

. . . a short plane-hop east-southeast from Vanua Levu. It's shortly after 0600, the sun is just a few degrees above the horizon and a hundred feet from the veranda lies a glassy calm bay that's studded with pretty little islets. Miles further from the shore, across the Somosomo Straight, we look at the islands of Vanua Levu, Rambi, and the Yamba Group . . . very picturesque. Down the hill from me Tyler's wading through the shallows, stalking fish with a throwing spear that Leipani made for him. He just ran up to tell us that he's already gotten two: a mullet and a rabbitfish. They're too puny to mess with cleaning and cooking, but he's having great fun hunting them so we'll use them for bait when we go after bigger game this afternoon.

Marau Vale (house we're renting) is a beautiful piece of property located at the very northern tip of Taveuni. The golden sand beach begins at the edge of the lawn down from the lanai. Interesting sandstone formations make great Tide Pools  when the water is low and Ty spends much time exploring them. We shuffle our feet when wading for fear of stingrays.

We can all sense that we are gradually slipping into coconut time, which is the pace at which everyone lives in this climate. You get up with the sun, and go to bed pretty much when it sets (unless a party's going on). It means that you do whatever the weather, the tide, and the time of day dictate; without getting very excited or concerned if plans don't work out. Tyler's schoolwork is the bugaboo for us. There's no way, nor any sense, in trying to stick to a strict regimen when so much new and interesting is going on around us. For now we're fitting it in too sporadically, but so it goes.

September 07

Freddy the housekeeper met us at the airport, then took us to Maru Vale where we'll be staying for the next two weeks. There we met Emma,  Freddy's wife, and a person as dear and gracious as mortals are allowed to get.

Unpacked a bit, relaxed a bit, went exploring.

Around sunset we wandered a half-mile or so down the beach and found a little restaurant called Tovutovu. Dan had 'Ika' (fish-of-the-day, cost $5 for whole dinner); Ty and Kaaren splurged and had lobster.

September 08

Slow day hanging around Marau Vale. Walked down to the market in the morning. Met some of the local ex-pats along the way: Ronna (owns 'Coconut Grove') when she rode by on her Moped, Fred and Erm (live part-time in Grants Pass, Hawaii, and Taveuni). Visited Audrey's house on the way back. She has a single bure she rents out and bakes deserts for sale, including the most incredible chocolate cake this side of the international dateline.

Ronna invited us to a buffet dinner at Coconut Grove. She's a fascinating woman. Maybe early 40's, a tall, charming, pretty, onetime Jewish Princess raised in New Jersey; wandered the globe through her youth and finally settled on the very northern tip of this beautiful island, where she's built a small resort (3 rooms and restaurant). Her immediate family consists of Lucy and Gracie, two well-mannered Dobermans. Loves music, wine, and conversation. She and Kaaren spend alot of time together during the next two weeks.

We ate out on the veranda - perhaps 16 people. We were the only Americans; the rest of the company were British, New Zealanders, Aussies, and Germans. Shortly after seven, Ronna set out a dozen Fijian dishes (plus lasagna) on the railing of the veranda, and we all dug in. Food was different curries, taro, taro leaves in coconut milk, raw fish (waloo?), mutton, and salad. It was a fine feast.

A group of 8-9 local Fijian lads playing guitars and ukuleles played and sang gentle island melodies in the background. Between songs all (incl. Dan) partook of the kava bowl.

September 10

Hiked into Bouma Falls this morning. A rare sunny day to start up the steep mountain trail, K. leading the way through lush Jungle. We started out too late in the day to see any of the rare birds that live only in this particular forest . . . saw some great bugs though, and a walking-stick that was at least 25 cm in length, by far the biggest insect that we've ever seen. We missed the side trail to the lower falls and ended up at Upper Bouma  Falls,

 where we stopped for a picnic lunch.

We backtracked to the Lower Falls. We swam and T and D dove in the pool beneath the falls. The water was cold, sweet, and clear and felt delightfully refreshing after our hike through the humid jungle. Fishes similar in features to our northwest trouts lived in the pool beneath the falls . . . conditions very akin to our rivers, and a great example of convergent evolution. While we were swimming a rainstorm broke over us. Even as it rained, occasionally a shaft of bright sunlight would break through the clouds and penetrate down through a cleft in the mountains to this beautiful grotto at the bottom of the falls.

The rain was warm, and the way the light played off the raindrops and spray from the falls created a combination of sensations that was gorgeous and hypnotic. Later on we read that a scene from the film 'Return to Blue Lagoon' was shot at these falls.

Later, at home, in a calm and sultry evening, Emma prepared and joined us for a dinner of fish curry, roti, and pulisami out on the Lanai  

of Marau Vale. Freddy was off at his evening kavaclatch.

September 11

Robert Osborne showed up in his boat at 0730 to take us fishing offshore. Ty and Dan met him the day before when they walked through the village of Nasalesale while exploring. Robert fishes for a living, going miles out to sea every night in his open 18' skiff, using a handline to catch mackerel, trevally and tuna. He's the primary supplier of fresh fish to the local village market.

The weather changed again and it started to get windy. Current and wind were against each other so waves quickly got big and choppy. Waves broke over the boat a couple of times, but the motor kept running and Robert kept smiling, so we just re-swallowed our breakfasts and held on. Saw hundreds of flying fish. Sometimes we chased feeding birds (albatross, gannets, boobies, and frigate birds) but it was so rough that we couldn't move fast enough to get to the schools of baitfish before they sounded. It was a wild ride and a memorable experience even if we didn't get any fish.

Before dinner, Leipani and Freddy  fetched us green coconuts, and Emma brought us a portion of a huge mangrove crab that wandered into their gill net the night before. A brute of a crab, with thick shell, hard like porcelain, and the biggest claws we've ever seen on a crab. Very tasty meat, like Dungeness, but sweeter.

September 13

Ty's up early to look for birds.

Especially he wants to find a kula, a tiny, multi-hued parrot. Freddy knows where to find them.

Dan and Ty put the outboard on the little skiff and headed out to the edge of the reef to try one more time for trevally. Skunked again, but blue skies and calm seas allowed us to work our way among narrow passages through and across the reef, where we looked down on corals and myriad tropical fish. We saw plenty of baitfish and there should have been some trevally. Robert says so few remain on the reef because of destructive fishing practices still carried out by the locals. These are:

1. Setting seines close inshore with small mesh net so that even the juveniles are caught and killed, leaving no stock to migrate to the outer reef as they grow.

2. Continued use of poison (even though it's now outlawed) to collect fish, which kills everything on the reef, including the coral.

Tomasi came by in the afternoon and introduced himself. He's a wonderfully happy guy who knows everybody and everything on the island. Also he's a gifted musician. He took great care of us for the rest of our time on Taveuni.

September 14

It's Sunday, and Sepo drove the all us, plus Freddy 40 minutes south to Weiyevo to attend services at a Catholic Mission built over 90 years ago. We wanted to hear the choir in the church, but that day it was an open air mass in honor of the patron saint of this parish, and it had started an hour before we got there. The Mission is an anomaly here where everything is built so flimsily. The church was built to honor a priest who had helped the Fijians with military strategy during an onslaught by Tongan islanders (nasty guys notorious for cooking and eating their captives with breadfruit - makes you want to choose your enemies carefully). Anyway, what we did get to hear was mesmerizing - the voices so clear and melodic. After the service some local boys led Dan and Tyler 100 feet up rickety stairs to the top of the belltower for a great view of the mission and village.

One the way back from church we hiked up to the waterslide,

a 100m-long, smooth, water-worn cascade down which Fijians have been slipping and sliding for centuries. Too scary for D. and K., but Ty loved it.

September 17

We caught an over-full 1100 bus into Weiyevo. It was packed to the gunnels, and we had to stand up the whole, bumpy way, so didn't get to see much scenery. When it came time to get off in front of the bank, Dan followed the example of the locals, and jumped out the window of the bus.

Had lunch at the Cannibal Cafe ('We love having you for lunch . . .'), posted mail, shopped, and shared cabfare back to Matai with Audrey.

Ty, Dan, and Max the Wonderdog walked down to the market. Max has as much smarts and way more personality than most people, but he's sometimes short on manners, and today we discovered his greatest failing: a profound dislike for uppity chickens. It was a warm and muggy afternoon and we were sitting on the porch of Arjoon's market talking to some local folks; chickens scratched at the dust in the street in front of us. One of the chickens wandered too close, and before anyone knew what he was about, Max snatched it up and broke its neck. Bad form, Max! A great hoopla ensued. Max smiled and pretended like he didn't know what the fuss was about, but for the white feathers poking out of his mouth. Were it any other dog, he'd have been soundly thrashed. But Max enjoys a special status and respect in town, and since he kills a chicken only once a year or so, bail was posted and it was agreed that Freddy should give him a good talking-to when we got home. Mrs Arjoon

declared that she was owed either a new chicken, or else an invitation to our pending lovo.

September 18

Lovo Day! Get up early to start provisioning for the big party.

Menu for the Lovo:

taro / casava / pulisami / lamb (steaks and shanks) / chicken / tuna / other fish

Ronna strongly suggested we avoid serving any kind of alcohol. Apparently some of those on our guestlist love to fight when they're in their cups.

Friends of Leipani are going to provide taro root and leaves for the pulisami. Tyler and Dan walked down to Jeanna and Tomasi's house to fetch English cabbage, tomatoes, and casava. Tomasi hadn't dug the casava before he left to work, so Jeanna fetched a gardening fork and had Ty and Dan dig it up. It was yellow casava and one plant provided enough of the fat, round tubers for the whole lovo.

Next Kaaren and Dan headed down to Arjoon's market (Bhuli Bhai) for groceries and fish. We ended up buying a whole 'Bigeye' tuna for $20 (Fiji). No matter what anybody says, Tyler did NOT catch it. The rest of the groceries came to just over $40.

So we collected everything needed for the lovo, but for one thing . . . grog. I gave Freddie $10 to buy some, and he assured me that would suffice to purchase enough kava to get the whole village happy.

About noontime Freddie and Leipani started digging the Lovo Pit.

It looked as if it might rain so they headed off to the forest to chop poles for uprights of a tin-roofed structure they built over the pit. After that they made a great heap of mango logs and coconut husks, and with a cup or two of kerosene, got the fire started. Before it got very hot we piled lava rocks all over the mango log pile. The blaze grew higher and higher and the stones got hotter and hotter.

After a bit, Emma and Jane started carrying down successive loads of food prepared to go into the fire. Through most of the day they'd been peeling roots, washing leaves, chopping up the meat and fish. Then all the food (but for cassava and taro) was wrapped in individual packages of banana leaves (Fiji foil). When most of the logs and husks had turned to coals rocks were piled on top to heat up - then banana leaves - then the food - more banana leaves - then buried in sand and left to cook for a few hours.

When lovo pit was uncovered at 1830, we were appalled at how much food we had, and wondered how we'd get rid of it all. Emma just smiled. First the local ex-pats came, then Arjoon's family, then most of the band and finally, an hour or so late, the rest of the Fijians showed up . . . and showed up . . . and people we'd never before laid eyes on kept showing up. We were amazed at our wealth of new friends, and Ronna just laughed and said this happens whenever rumor of free food and Kava gets out.

Well after midnight, the food long gone, we said goodnight, and left the oorts to the night scavengers. The Fijians moved the party over to Freddy and Emma's next door and kept making music until the grog ran out about sunrise.

September 20

Dan went diving with Alex and Tanya of 'Aquaventure'. Dive Sites: 'The Ledge' and 'Blue Ribbon Eel Reef'. A calm and humid morning and the sea was oily smooth as we headed out into the Somosomo Straights. Far ahead we saw some dolphins leaping so Alex headed towards them for a closer look. Soon we were surrounded by a mixed school of dolphins and pilot whales that stretched across the sea for perhaps a mile and must have held many hundreds of animals. Some played in our bow wake and everywhere we looked others were leaping clear of the water. It was a marvelous display, and even Alex (who's been out in these waters daily for years) said he'd never seen anything like it.

Made two dives: at 'Lenora's Ledge', and 'Blue Ribbon Eel Reef'. Both dives in about 80 feet of water. Great visibility, and lots fish and soft corals. Saw big whitetip sharks, lionfish, huge bumphead wrasse, bigeye tuna, groupers, and a seven-foot-long banded sea snake. The second dive (at Blue Ribbon Eel Reef) was a drift dive and was made at full flood in an awesome and frightening current. It took maximum effort to hang on to the downline as we descended, and Alex had warned us not to turn our heads sideways to the current or the pull of the water would rip our masks off. Current was much less at 80 feet and we followed Alex's lead by getting neutrally buoyant, crossing our arms and legs, and just let the current sweep us along the face of reef covered with every hue of coral (hard and soft) and millions fish. At our backs was the deep blue of the abyss and occasionally big pelagic fishes would swim by. It was a great dive.

September 21

Left Marau Vale at 0900 to catch flight to Nadi by way of Savusavu. Off TO Australia. Caught Qantas flight to Brisbane and then on to Cairns.

North Queensland...........