Fiji
Today is Saturday, January 27th. This past Thursday we visited Fiji, a 330-island archipelago. The population of all of Fiji totals just under a million. There are only two cities in the whole country, the largest being Suva, on the island of Viti Levu, where we docked. I was awake particularly early that day and took these photos which reflect that beautiful morning light and color just after dawn but before sunrise. The last few of these photos were taken a little bit later as it got brighter.
The port area is the largest of any of the islands we've visited. Not a surprise, since Suva is the largest city in the South Pacific. There are rows of stacked containers as far as the eye can see. Our guide explained that most of the freight destined for all of the islands in the South Pacific is first offloaded in Suva and from there shipped to the various islands. I should have taken a few photos of these stacks of containers, but didn't. Once our tour bus left the port, it passed through the downtown area on its way to the site where we were to get on the Navua River. Here are a few photos I took from inside the bus. Hopefully, they will give you an idea of the grittiness of downtown Suva.
After a bus ride of about half an hour we got into boats and onto the river which itself is in rainforest territory. The boats were very basic, but adequate, each piloted by a very competent operator. Our boat was named "Good News," as you will see here.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the river. On our way to a waterfall site we encountered other boats, people engaged in various activities, and gorgeous scenery. Here's a sample:
Next, some photos that illustrate the lushness of the area. Remember, we're in rainforest country. The waterfall depicted is not the one we were on our way to visit.
In time we reached our destination, disembarked and climbed up to a beautiful waterfall. Here's a shot of Janis just out of the boat and starting the climb, and another of the two of us at the bottom of the waterfall.
Back in the boat, we headed in the direction from which we came. This time our destination was the Village of Koromakawa. For a brief period of time on this part of the ride, the son of the boat operator joined us at the bow.
I should mention that on the way to the waterfall we were all forced to get out of the boats, walk a distance while the boat operators moved the boats up and over some modest rapids that were running in the opposite direction, and then back into the boats. On the way back, however, even though some boat operators followed the same routine, our boat operator decided to run the rapids. Here are some shots showing our approach to the rapids, running the rapids and the aftermath. Since Janis and I were sitting in the first seat at the bow, we got drenched, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad it happened as it did. You'll be able to tell from this group of photos at what precise point we were soaked.
Eventually we arrived at the Village of Koromakawa and disembarked.
We were then warmly welcomed with a traditional kava ceremony (see post on Tonga for note on kava) and treated to a traditional lunch prepared by residents of the village.
We are at sea today. Tomorrow we arrive for the day in Russell (Bay of Islands), New Zealand and for the next seven days after that we will be in other parts of New Zealand (both North and South Islands). I don't expect to be able to blog about each place we visit in as much detail as I have so far because we won't have any sea days between visits. (That may be a good thing.) In the meantime, we send our best to all of you.
The port area is the largest of any of the islands we've visited. Not a surprise, since Suva is the largest city in the South Pacific. There are rows of stacked containers as far as the eye can see. Our guide explained that most of the freight destined for all of the islands in the South Pacific is first offloaded in Suva and from there shipped to the various islands. I should have taken a few photos of these stacks of containers, but didn't. Once our tour bus left the port, it passed through the downtown area on its way to the site where we were to get on the Navua River. Here are a few photos I took from inside the bus. Hopefully, they will give you an idea of the grittiness of downtown Suva.
After a bus ride of about half an hour we got into boats and onto the river which itself is in rainforest territory. The boats were very basic, but adequate, each piloted by a very competent operator. Our boat was named "Good News," as you will see here.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the river. On our way to a waterfall site we encountered other boats, people engaged in various activities, and gorgeous scenery. Here's a sample:
Next, some photos that illustrate the lushness of the area. Remember, we're in rainforest country. The waterfall depicted is not the one we were on our way to visit.
In time we reached our destination, disembarked and climbed up to a beautiful waterfall. Here's a shot of Janis just out of the boat and starting the climb, and another of the two of us at the bottom of the waterfall.
Back in the boat, we headed in the direction from which we came. This time our destination was the Village of Koromakawa. For a brief period of time on this part of the ride, the son of the boat operator joined us at the bow.
I should mention that on the way to the waterfall we were all forced to get out of the boats, walk a distance while the boat operators moved the boats up and over some modest rapids that were running in the opposite direction, and then back into the boats. On the way back, however, even though some boat operators followed the same routine, our boat operator decided to run the rapids. Here are some shots showing our approach to the rapids, running the rapids and the aftermath. Since Janis and I were sitting in the first seat at the bow, we got drenched, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad it happened as it did. You'll be able to tell from this group of photos at what precise point we were soaked.
Eventually we arrived at the Village of Koromakawa and disembarked.
We were then warmly welcomed with a traditional kava ceremony (see post on Tonga for note on kava) and treated to a traditional lunch prepared by residents of the village.
We are at sea today. Tomorrow we arrive for the day in Russell (Bay of Islands), New Zealand and for the next seven days after that we will be in other parts of New Zealand (both North and South Islands). I don't expect to be able to blog about each place we visit in as much detail as I have so far because we won't have any sea days between visits. (That may be a good thing.) In the meantime, we send our best to all of you.
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