Under Water Love

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Tavewa - Day 1

Well we left the Horizon Backpackers hostel at around 7:15 am to catch the bus to port. It wasn't too long a trip. I tried to anticipate how much money I'd need for the islands and to buy a couple bottles of water since I wouldn't have access to an ATM in the islands and water would be more pricey.  Met a few people on the ferry trip to the Tavewa from a UK set of friends and a trio of irish lasses.  Bumped into the guy from Ottawa again too.  We'd decide to start at the most Northern islands in the Yasawa Group and work our way south from there.  The ferry trip to get there was around 5 hours and was quite rough on some sections of the trip.

We had booked 4 nights at Coral View Resort and got there mid-afternoon the staff were all very friendly and greeted all us new arrivals.  We had a quick lunch then and settled into our dorms.  The facilities at the place were decent and I enjoyed that the main dining area was filled with a sand floor with an good view over the water. (nothing like eating barefoot with the sand between your toes!) Decided to take things pretty easy during the day and walked around on the beach taking a few pictures and breaking in a few hammocks. (at the start I felt a bit cautious lying in a hammock directly under fruit trees and coconut trees, but after a while I stopped worrying about falling objects)

 Just before dinner there was the daily Volleyball game with the staff and other guests.  I have to say those guys are good and pretty damn competitive! Thankfully I didn't embarrass myself too much although I came pretty close at one point to injuring myself.  It takes a little getting used to to see the little hermit crabs running around and the geckoes on the walls and ceilings. During dinner that night we had a crab manage to work his way to the dining area and give a couple girls a scare when it ran under their chairs.  The dinner was quite good and they did a welcoming song for all us new arrivals and introduced us to the guest who had been there before.

They had a pool table just off the main area.  While I think the idea of a pool table in the sand with an ocean view is awesome the actuality of it isn't that great.  The sand underneath the table makes the table uneven and sand is always getting on the table too which can mess up your shots. (the cues were in bad shape too.)

Decided to call it an early night since I'd be starting my diving lessons in the morning.

Tavewa - Day 2

I hadn't slept too well as the mosquito net on the bed felt like it trapped all the heat in with me. That and the fact one of the buggers got trapped under the (apparently I am like candy to mosquitos..) made for a restless night.  So I slept for a bit in one of the hammocks on the beach till breakfast time and then after that took a water taxi over to the other nearby island where the dive school was to begin my certification course.  I've grown to love being in a small nimble boat racing along the water.  It's quite exhilarating and most of the drivers like to go quite fast.  When we're racing along around the various islands the computer geek in me is strongly reminded of the game FarCry which the whole look of vegetation, islands and water resembles.

I met my dive instructor and spent the morning watching videos on dive procedures and then took a boat back to the other island for lunch and then back to the dive school in the afternoon for more dive instruction videos.  I hadn't really geared myself mentally to expect to be doing work on my vacation.  Thankfully most of the information is fairly logical and intuitive so it wasn't very hard to pick up. 

Went back to coral view and I decided to take the walk to the summit of the island for the sunset.  When we asked the staff about the way to get up to the top for the sunset they told us to just follow Snoopy the resort dog who goes up there every day at sunset. (who knew dogs liked sunsets?)  Snoopy was actually a really good guide and stopped at all the spots on the way up where it was good to take a picture. (Also island dogs are exceptional fly catchers.  I've seen some of the catch and eat flies in their sleep)  The sunset that night was only OK cause it was cloudy so visibility wasn't that great.  For the rest of the night I just ended up playing some cards with some of the other travelers before going to bed.  One thing I've found in Fiji is most people go to bed pretty early and wake up early.  I've generally been going to bed at 9:00 - 10:00 am and waking up 5:30-6:00 am with the sunrise which I would NEVER do at home. I think it's the sedate vacation lifestyle since there is not a lot to keep you occupied.  Everything revolves around meal times and sleep.

Tavewa - Day 3

The day I've been prepping for! my first dive!  Before I got to dive though I had to do a 200 metre swim out to a boat and back as part of my testing.  I really should have done some swimming before coming to Fiji because I really ended up working muscles I pretty much forgot I had. I think I came out the gate too strong in my swim and I started to feel out of breath quite soon in the swim. Being the trooper that I am though I stuck through it and took a more sedate pace on the trip back.  After a brief recuperation I got suited up and went just a little bit into the water in front of the dive shop and and did a few basic skill tests to make sure I was ready.  (clearing masks and regulators, using alternate air sources, flipper pivots, etc.) I got my first taste of underwater life and enjoyed it immensely. I find the whole process of diving quite relaxing and calming.  The slow steady breathing reminds me strongly of those used for meditation and just the generally efficient easy strokes you use and the way you try to minimize any unnecessary movement so you don't work harder and use your oxygen faster.  After that we swum out a bit further to a reef and did a dive to 11 metres.  I got a little cramp on the way out, but stretched it out and was good to go.

It's quite breathtaking under the water with all the coral.  The water in fiji is teeming with fish like vibrant clownfish and little neon blue fish and tons of others.

We were under for 22 minutes.  I just found that the whole thing so relaxing and serene that at that point I knew it was something I'd take the time to do through out my life. My dive instructor pointed out any interesting fish or sea life he saw as we swan along like scorpion fish and sea anomies.  we did a second dive in the afternoon and I had a blast.

We had a a traditional Fiji Lovo that night.  That's where they bury the food underground beneath coals to cook it.  One thing I find is that dome of the food served in fiji reminds me a lot of the food in the caribbean.  I would assume it mainly because they're about the same distance from the equator so similar food grows and because of the strong east indian influence in both areas as well.  Some of the stuff like Dal, Cassava, Taro and Yams remind me very much of what I ate at my parents.  

That night we had some Hermit crab racing after dinner.  The crabs were placed in a overturned bowl in the centre of a ring and then the bowl was removed.  The first one to reach pass out of the ring won.  The crabs were auctioned off before the start of the match, but the wagering was a little too steep for my pockets. :-)  

At the end of the day though I felt wiped.  I think I exerted myself too much though the day and didn't drink enough.  Also I think spending so long in the water that my core temperate dropped a little and I spent the rest of the evening just napping and recuperating.

Tavewa - Day 4

I felt back to normal the next day.  I'd dreamed during the night of diving. :-) The second day of diving was more of the same, but nothing greatly different from the first day.  The dives were as good as usual and I took my dive certification test. (I passed)  The test wasn't very hard and I think my diving instructor took it pretty easy with the dive during the day (He had been drinking a bit at the resort the night before with some of the others so I think he was feeling a little worse for wear that morning) I bought a disposable underwater camera so I took that with me on the two dives that day and took some pictures.   We became good friends with an Australian guy staying at the resort and ended up deciding to travel with him the next day to another resort. Our first choice was of Long Beach Resort was full so we decided to go to Coconut Bay on the island of Naviti instead the next day.  Spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing (I should get my own hammock when I get back...) 

After dinner there was an Australian couple who put on a show with the fire staff and batons.

One thing I've felt in Fiji is a certain curiosity about me from the locals.  I get the impression that they get very few black travelers at the resorts so they always want to know what my background is and where I'm from.  Quit often I got the comment that I could pass for a Fijian myself.

Tavewa - Day 5

Last day on Tavewa was pretty short.  We'd been there a while so we were pretty ready to move on and see what the other islands had to offer.  My day pretty much consisted of me taking a walk to the other side of the island and back so I could get some more pictures of the island for all my fans.  :-P