Finally left for the island of Vatulele on day 12 of my stay in Fiji, with Taina, the Fijian nurse practitioner. The one and a half hour journey from the mainland to the island in a small boat was marred by seasickness, which was quickly forgotten on arrival. The 10 days on this island were absolutely amazing, we worked hard at the health centre seeing patients from the 3 villages on Vatulele and we had some great experiences outside working hours. The local village chiefs made me welcome in their traditional ceremonies of drinking of kava and the very talented local church male choir adopted my after having congratulated them on the high standard of singing. The 'adoption' involved their visiting us at our residence in the medical compound and giving an impromptu concert, as well as an invitation to a beach picnic near the locally famous 'prawn pools' on the other side of the island near the very expensive resort. Other celebrations included a lunch in the next village where the local women were having a lunch as they had reached their church money raising targets for a young peoples project. Food consisted of locally caught fish and locally grown vegetables, such as cassava, breadfruit, yams and vundi (a banaana-like plant). Fruit such as papaya, banaanas and coconuts were falling from the trees as you walked passed, and no villagers were without food. Cooked dishes of fish would appear on our doorstep resulting in 4 meals of fish on the Sunday, feeding us 'til Tuesday! The last night on the island saw us attending 3 kava ceremonies as part of various celebrations in the local village. The final one was held at our residence where my 'adopted' choir presented me with gifts of a fine piece of masi (the local art form made from tapa tree bark and stencilled using natural dyes) and a local sulu, all followed by the inevitable drinking of kava. Various villagers brought gifts of masi to the house in the final 24 hours, their generosity of spirit unmatched anywhere else on my travels, I felt very honoured to receive all the gifts. It was with regret we left Vatulele on day 10 due to my inability to practice alone (Taina was returning to the mainland to teach on a 5 day course) as the Fijian nursing service had not delivered on my nursing verification certificate despite numerous attempts to contact them. The return journey, in the larger of the 2 ferry boats was much smoother and we then made our way to Loatoka by bus where I stayed for the weekend at Taina's apartment where nI met her family,yet again the hospitality was generous and warmly given.
I booked 3 nights at The Beachouse, on the recommendation of a fellow backpacker in Nadi, a budget resort which proved to have excellent facilities and most meals of good quality food included in the price. Spent a total of 4 nights at the resort meeting many fellow travellers over a few local beers in the evenings. Much of the days were spent snorkelling, seeing my first live coral reefs with their array of amazingly colourful fish, but sadly did not see any reef or tiger sharks as I'd hoped.
Apart from 24 hours back in Lautoka visiting the senior nurse manager to exchange some information about nursing protocols in England, I spent most of the last week of my stay in Fiji at The Beachouse relaxing on the tropical beaches.
My final nights stay in Fiji before flying to Australia was at the friendly backpacker 'homestay' near Nadi airport where I met Emily again, my young hostess from Suva.
Flew to Brisbane early on the 20th July and stayed with my nurse friend I'd worked with in the UK. It was so good to see a familiar face at the airport and am able to use her home as a base for my Australia visit.
Photo 1. Sunset on Vatulele
Photo 2 and 3. The Beachouse resort, apparently used by in the tv series "celebrity love island', though this did not affect the enjoyment of the resort!
Photo 4. Emily, m indispensible hostess in Suva.
Photo 5. The Lautoka hotel, a comfortable and relaxing few days spent here.
Photo 6. The village chief, Taina and a village elder after the greeting ceremony on Vatulele.
Photo 7. The celebratory lunch held in the village meeting house.
Photo 8. Standing outside the after the welcome ceremony with the chief .
Photo 9. Leila, the village health worker, working on a piece of masi, in her home.
Photo 10. A red prawn in the pool, Visitors who see many prawns are regarded as being blessed with good luck - there were many.
Photo 11. Swimming in the second prawn pool, a tidal pool.
Photo 12. The return journey, by boat, after the picnic.
Photo 13. The formal gifting ceremony conducted by the choir.
Photo 14. The formal thanks (on my behalf) given by Manasa, the chorus master.
Photo 15. The giving of gifts was finally celebrated with kava.
Photo 16. Drawings of Vatulele man on the cliff face close to the prawn pool. When they were drawn is unknown.
I booked 3 nights at The Beachouse, on the recommendation of a fellow backpacker in Nadi, a budget resort which proved to have excellent facilities and most meals of good quality food included in the price. Spent a total of 4 nights at the resort meeting many fellow travellers over a few local beers in the evenings. Much of the days were spent snorkelling, seeing my first live coral reefs with their array of amazingly colourful fish, but sadly did not see any reef or tiger sharks as I'd hoped.
Apart from 24 hours back in Lautoka visiting the senior nurse manager to exchange some information about nursing protocols in England, I spent most of the last week of my stay in Fiji at The Beachouse relaxing on the tropical beaches.
My final nights stay in Fiji before flying to Australia was at the friendly backpacker 'homestay' near Nadi airport where I met Emily again, my young hostess from Suva.
Flew to Brisbane early on the 20th July and stayed with my nurse friend I'd worked with in the UK. It was so good to see a familiar face at the airport and am able to use her home as a base for my Australia visit.
Photo 1. Sunset on Vatulele
Photo 2 and 3. The Beachouse resort, apparently used by in the tv series "celebrity love island', though this did not affect the enjoyment of the resort!
Photo 4. Emily, m indispensible hostess in Suva.
Photo 5. The Lautoka hotel, a comfortable and relaxing few days spent here.
Photo 6. The village chief, Taina and a village elder after the greeting ceremony on Vatulele.
Photo 7. The celebratory lunch held in the village meeting house.
Photo 8. Standing outside the after the welcome ceremony with the chief .
Photo 9. Leila, the village health worker, working on a piece of masi, in her home.
Photo 10. A red prawn in the pool, Visitors who see many prawns are regarded as being blessed with good luck - there were many.
Photo 11. Swimming in the second prawn pool, a tidal pool.
Photo 12. The return journey, by boat, after the picnic.
Photo 13. The formal gifting ceremony conducted by the choir.
Photo 14. The formal thanks (on my behalf) given by Manasa, the chorus master.
Photo 15. The giving of gifts was finally celebrated with kava.
Photo 16. Drawings of Vatulele man on the cliff face close to the prawn pool. When they were drawn is unknown.
