Savusavu, and embarking on the Tui Tai

My bure at the Daku Resort.
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The flight from Nadi to Savusavu was spectacular - dramatic mountains covered with lush green vegetation, gorge-like rivers, and then all of a sudden blue ocean as far as the eye could see as we left Viti Levu (what Fijians call the "mainland", but it's really the largest island) and headed for Vanua Levu island.  Of course it rained, but rain in Fiji was usually accompanied by bright sunshine, either during the rainshower itself or immediately afterward.

Although I didn't see much of the village, I was able to relax in my private bure (thatched bungalow) and go for a dip in the pool at the Daku resort.  I met J.J., the British/Australian owner, and he invited me to join him for dinner of prawns cooked in local greens (probably the leafs of the taro plant, tastes somewhere between spinach and swiss chard) and coconut milk.  The resort often is full of guests doing specific workshops, like painting, singing, yoga, etc., but this night I was the only guest so I got lots of attention (sometimes it can be too much attention...)

View from the plane
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The next morning I was picked up and brought to the Tui Tai and met my companions for the next few days, who you will see in the photos to come.  Our first day was rainy but still fun with some seakayaking, a beautiful first dive at "Golden Nuggets" which was like diving through an aquarium, and a welcoming kava ceremony.  For those of you who don't know, kava is made from the root of a plant, and acts like a mild sedative/hypnotic, with some local anaesthetic properties (my tongue started to feel numb after about 15 minutes).  You can ask for it "high tide" or "low tide", and your bowl is filled accordingly.  It is rude if you don't empty the whole bowl at once, so be careful what you ask for, as you can always have seconds, or thirds...  There's also other formalities involved, including clapping of your hands in a cupped fashion, and Fijian phrases which go along with the ceremony.

The Tui Tai, my home for 5 glorious days and nights.
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I had read about kava in J. Maarten Troost's travel account "Getting Stoned with the Savages", (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Stoned-Savages-Through-Islands/dp/0767921992) which chronicles time he spent living in both Vanuatu and Fiji.  It's an interesting read, with good humour, but quite a bit of artistic licence.  After his description I was expecting kava to taste absolutely horrid, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to down my bowl, albeit a "low tide" portion, with no problem.  I even had a second helping.  Needless to say I slept very well that night until we hit the open ocean and the boat started to rock almost as badly as my cruise around Cape Horn last fall.  Thank goodness for motion sickness tablets.

Relaxing on the sundeck, where we ate most of our meals.
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The next day involved more diving - two dives in the morning, some snorkelling in the afternoon (not only did I want a break from diving, but I wanted to try out my new Olympus SW 770 underwater camera - good only to 10m/33ft, so adequate for snorkelling but not for diving).  We then visited the island of Kioa, which people from Tuvalu bought from Fiji after WWII.  It's interesting that Tuvalu is an endangered country.  It is slowly sinking into the sea.  See http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/tuvalu/index.html for more info.  The villagers were called by a conch shell and treated us to a beautiful performance of song and dance with traditional costumes.

Seakayaking in the rain.
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My second night on the boat I was the only brave passenger to go on the night dive to "Black Magic" with dive master Daniel.  Night diving is very different from daytime diving, and there are definitely certain creatures which are more active at that time - particularly crustaceans like prawns and lobster, sharks and rays.  And if you're lucky and brave enough to turn off your flashlight, you can see some creatures which glow in the dark, known as bioluminescence.  My night dive was not the most exciting of the trip, but I enjoyed overcoming that constantly nagging fear of what lies in the dark depths of the ocean, which is still there even after 6 years of frequent diving, but it's fading with time and experience.  Once again I slept well after a very busy day.