Fiji Jim's Blog - Part 2
This is FijiJim.com
In Vanua Levu, Fiji - Hot or Cold,
It's The Water
Tuesday August 21, 2001
12:00 PM - The gates to
Lomalagi (Fijian for Heaven) Resort were
not actually "pearly". They were the same
washed green color that my aunt and uncle
had painted their company house in
Oildale, California in about 1951. That
was my first trip away from home that I
remember. I was allowed to be away from my
parents view for the first time in my life.
I ran with my brother, sister and cousins
around the hot, hard and dusty yard. There
were no plants there at all, but there was
freedom, sweet freedom from all cares and
worries. We ran shirtless and felt the Sun
on our bodies. We were safe and free. What
more could we ask for?
_lg.jpg "The Big Tree at Lomalagi Resort, overlooking Natewa Bay, Vanua Levu, Fiji - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)")
My
emotions were mixed. As we drove under the
Lomalagi arch; the tropical setting made it
all seem old. The walls leading away from
either side of the entry arch were made from
long-dead coral reef material stacked in
like building blocks. A single-track
causeway, wide enough only for our Jimny's
wheels led us to a motor court and the
office, also painted green. There we met
Collin, our hostess and Terry, our host.
They were hard at work at
their computers, communications for which go
out over an old-fashioned radiotelephone
modem, then link up with a land-line
somewhere back in town. From there the link
is to the
Southern Cross fiber optic cable that
runs from New Zealand, straight through
Savu, Fiji and then on to
Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast. At that
time, the resort's internet service was
available only in the office and ran at
about the speed of a 14.4 KB modem, if you
can remember how slow that was. Still, it
was their window on the world.
12:05
PM - We checked in, which consisted of
saying hello in person and getting a key to
our bure. Cagey and Collin (the proprietor)
had been emailing for weeks regarding our
visit, so we felt like we already knew her.
We drove the car along another path, which
led across the rolling grounds until we
parked beneath a huge tree, whcih was
planted in a raised rock planter, perhaps 60
years ago. Not waiting for any help with the
luggage, we dragged it up some wooden stairs
and along a raised wooden walkway, all the
way to our new home away from home. Of
course, the walkway and the
bure were paint... green.
When you look around the
grounds, you notice that almost everything
is green. There are darks and the lights
and shades in between. There are pale
greens that dazzle the senses; some so light
that they reminded me of the burst of spring
in Michigan, where I lived a decade before.
After getting out on the water, we realized
that the resort could not be seen from a
mile out on
Natewa Bay. It appeared to just be part
of the green.
_lg.jpg "Myna Bird in a papaya tree on the lanai, Lomalagi Resort, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)")
Our
bure was simple in concept. The outside had
a (green) cyclone-proof roof and a lanai
facing the bay. Inside there was a
great-room, with a bed and a closet to one
side, and a living room space to the other.
Ahead was the bathroom, with its room-sized
shower and tub, all in tile. The kitchen
was along the bay side, with its own views
toward the head of Natewa Bay. The floor
was of hardwood, with rag rugs that mopped
up the dust like magnets.
12:30 PM - Time for lunch.
We worked our way back along the green
wooden walkway to the center of the
complex. There, rising from the central
hill stood the dining room with its high
ceiling and skylights all around. Nearby
was the saltwater pool, in a lava rock
setting. When we arrived inside, there was
a guest at the table. He was a man in his
early sixties; a New Zealander, by his
accent. With Collin, Terry (co-proprietor)
and Terry's mother, Linda (who was there
from Seattle) we enjoyed our meal. Over
lunch, I told the story of our
Air Pacific flight ordeal, including the
venerable 747 playing the roll of a "flying
baggage car". Only later did I learn that
the lunch guest was the chief pilot for
Air Pacific Airlines.
.jpg)
1:30
PM - Back to our room for what seemed like a
minute.
3:30 PM - Two hours later,
our time-warp ended and we found our selves
alone in the saltwater pool. In order
to keep the saltwater fresh, a pump brought
seawater up from Natewa Bay and directly
into the pool. An overflow pipe returned the
excess to the Pacific Ocean. In the buoyant
saltwater we swirled around and around its
lava-rock center island. Soon, we realized
that we were the only guests that day at
Lomalagi Resort. We had our own
private resort in our own tropical paradise.
Now what are the odds of that happeni... really?
4:30 PM - We returned to our bure, looking forward to a hot shower. We
turned the faucet and felt the cold fresh
artesian water splashing down. We wondered
if here in the Southern Hemisphere perhaps
the faucets were reversed. Maybe here water
ran uphill and the hot water was falling
behind in the race. We finally realized
that no matter what we tried, there was no
hot water. I put my clothes on and trekked
back to the office, where I told Terry of
our plight. He said something about having
turned off the pilot light to save fuel.
There was, he said, a tankless,
on-demand water heater beneath our bure
and that he would get someone out to relight
it. Being in a tropical zone, I had the
feeling that if we were lucky, we might feel
hot water sometime before dinner. So I
indicated that we were really looking
forward to a shower, NOW. Ten minutes later
it was up and running. What a glorious
feeling.
4:45
PM - Now, it is time to write a few words
about
Fijian water. When we arrived, there
was a glass pitcher in our fridge, filled
with ice-cold water. Upon using it, we
would refill it from the tap, which might be
a risky thing back home in Santa Monica,
California. At Lomalagi they have an
artesian well on the property, which they
filter and send direct to your tap, for your
pleasure. The real pleasure was to see the
water run out of the faucet and form tiny
bubbles as it hit the water in the pitcher.
Each time I performed this act, I was amazed
to see water as clear, clean and bubbly as
the type that Adam & Eve had available in
the Garden of Eden. This was excellent,
pure water. Where else can filling a
pitcher with water be so entertaining?
5:30
PM - Since it was winter in Fiji, sunset was
a little after 6:00 PM each night. In
keeping with its tropical location, twilight
was brief, By 7:00 PM, it was dark. That
first evening, we began our tradition of
sitting out on the lanai each evening and
taking pictures. It was a spectacular sight
to see the Sun make its way down behind the
mountain across the head of Natewa Bay.
There was peace on the land and the sea.
The coconut palms planted forty or more
years prior framed the bay. Large-leaf
vines clung to each trunk and the fronds
looked like skyrocket bursts against the
fading light. Soon it would be time for the
Kava Ceremony.
This is Chapter Four of ten chapters.
To view the
previous article in this series, click
HERE. To view the following article
in this series, click
HERE.
The Kava Bowl Connection - Fiji and the George Harrison Guitars
Tuesday August
21, 2001
6:00 PM - It was
almost dark when we made our way
along the wooden path leading to
the pool area and the dining
room at Lomalagi Resort, Vanua
Levu, Fiji. It was winter in
the Southern Hemisphere and the
air was cooling slightly. Even
so, short sleeves and shorts
were the perfect dress. As we
approached the pool, we could
hear guitars playing and men
singing softly. Between our
hosts, Collin and Terry, plus
Terry's Mom, Linda, Cagey and
me, we became an audience of
five.
"The Boys", as
Collin calls them were about
eight of the various native
Fijian workers at the resort.
With them was one of their
elders. All of them sat near
the lava rocks on several woven
mats. They sat facing in
various directions, loosely
making up two groups of four.
The elder sat facing us, with a
large Kava bowl in front of
him.
Regarding Kava
Bowls - The bowl is
traditionally carved in one
piece, from the trunk of a
Raintree, or other forest
hardwood. Some of the bowls
(such as the one in the picture
above at the Tenoa Hotel, Viti
Levu) were carved from truly
massive trunks, none of which
exist today in the forests of
Fiji. Fir the tourist trade,
locals offer moderate sized
bowls for $10 - 12 USD.
Needless to say, I bought one,
complete with a coconut shell
scoop.
Back to our story
- The elder's assistant mixed
the ground-up root of a native
pepper plant with water and
wrung it out, through fabric,
into the ceremonial bowl. A
polished piece of a dried
coconut shell became the
communal cup. Terry explained
that the Kava Ceremony is the
fabric that holds the Fijian
social and spiritual community
together. The ceremony,
conducted only among the men of
the village, involves some
simple but solemn rituals of
offering and accepting one's
share of the slightly muddy
looking liquid. Its effects are
described variously as mildly
narcotic or as a slight natural
sedative. If you could call the
affects a "buzz", it is at a
frequency that is well below the
audible level. You know you
have experienced it, but you are
not sure exactly what, if
anything, has changed.
The assistant
makes the rounds, offering a cup
in turn to each of the guests
and then to The Boys, as Colin
called the band. Then a song or
two are sung before another
round is offered. In their
traditional settings, the
ceremony occurs when there is an
event of significance to
celebrate or deliberate. If
there is a conflict between
neighbors or even enemies, the
gift of a kilo or two of Kava
will erase all conflict and
peace and friendship will be
immediately restored. Powerful
stuff, this Kava.
Between songs,
Collin told the story of when
George Harrison visited
Lomalagi,
soon after the resort had had
opened. As we now know, (but
did not, at the time of this
writing) doctors had diagnosed
George Harrison with what turned
out to be a life-ending
illness. However, those were
happier times and he still had a
measure of good health to
enjoy. He had been traveling
between England and Australia,
where I believe he had
property. On his visit to
Lomalagi Resort, Harrison was
scouting Fiji as a place to buy
some property, kick back and
enjoy life at a slower pace.
Lomalagi,
soon after the resort had had
opened. As we now know, (but
did not, at the time of this
writing) doctors had diagnosed
George Harrison with what turned
out to be a life-ending
illness. However, those were
happier times and he still had a
measure of good health to
enjoy. He had been traveling
between England and Australia,
where I believe he had
property. On his visit to
Lomalagi Resort, Harrison was
scouting Fiji as a place to buy
some property, kick back and
enjoy life at a slower pace.
As George arrived
at the Lomalagi Kava Ceremony,
he immediately decided that his
place was among The Boys. So he
sat among them and played guitar
with them as they sang. Noting
that their instruments were of
undetermined vintage and held
together with tape and glue, he
said that The Boys deserved
better than the sorry
instruments that they had.
Several months
after his departure, unmarked
crates arrived from
England.
Inside were new guitars and a
ukulele for The Boys. From that
time forward, the instruments
have been known throughout the
Fiji Islands as, "The George
Harrison Guitars".
England.
Inside were new guitars and a
ukulele for The Boys. From that
time forward, the instruments
have been known throughout the
Fiji Islands as, "The George
Harrison Guitars".
And a beautiful
sound they made. Sam, the dive
master and guide to the dolphins
always played his guitar a
little flat. Even so, the bluesy
influence of his playing fit
right in. Often there appeared
to be no leader for a song,
while individual tunes would
diverge and converge in a lazy
way. Somehow they always came
back together at the right
moment. Maybe it was the Kava
and maybe it was the songs, but
between the voices, words and
guitar melodies, it was easy to
let your mind drift and your
body relax.
I just searched
the Lomalagi website for the
word to the Lomalagi Song, which
was written by one of The Boys.
Alas, it was not posted there,
but the "best line" from that
song goes something like, "Lomalagi, where the views are
brighter than you." By the end
of the Kava Ceremony, it all
made perfect sense.
7:30 PM - With a
couple of "stiff belts" of Kava
under our belts (Is that a mixed
metaphor?), it was time for an
elegant dinner of Wallau, which
is a light, not quite flaky
local fish, along with all the
best of accompaniments.
Hmm... that's about all I remember
regarding dinner, other than our
friendly hosts and servers.
Could it have been the effects
of the kava? As George Harrison,
might intone, "My sweet Lord".
9:00 PM - We
found our way back to our
villa.
10:00 PM - It is
five hours earlier (as you will
recall) in Fiji, but we were
ready for bed at what would be
5:00 PM back home in
California. So that wrapped up
what seemed like three days in
one. There were the two days in
suspended animation in L.A., the
overnight to Fiji and the long
day's journey into Lomalagi.
Soon, we went to sleep on a
moonless night.
Vanua Levu, Fiji - Morning Breaks
on Another Day in Paradise
Tuesday August 22, 2001
4:00 AM Fiji Time - Since it was
9:00 AM back home in California, Cagey awoke,
hungry for breakfast. She arose and the fruit
plate, which contained some juicy leftovers from
our arrival, the previous day. She ate while I
slept.
6:00 AM - The Sun comes up
shortly after 6:00 AM and sets shortly after
6:00 PM. The dawn and twilight are shorter in
the
tropics, leading to the impression that you
are in something like an old
Walt Disney cartoon, where day breaks, the
rooster crows and life in the barnyard is moving
at full speed in just a few seconds.
7:00 AM - Somehow, I was able to
stay asleep until about 7:00 AM. By that time,
our "barnyard" was so full of bird squawks,
chirps, squeaks and caws that I had to pay
attention and finally get up. As usual, it was
not cold, but not hot either. I made my way
out on to our Lanai. There I discovered the
Myna Birds who had awakened me. Their habit
was to make a lot of noise after sunrise, then
to disappear about thirty minutes later, when
there was no chance of our going back to sleep.
7:30
AM -
Natewa Bay, which takes up the foreground,
background and the middle ground of our view
from the Lanai is one of those natural phenomena
that takes some time to figure out, but
absolutely no time to appreciate. "Discovered"
hundreds of years ago during early English
voyagers, it was called "Nateva
Bay" on reproductions of the original charts
that we later saw at the
Museum in Suva, The capital of Fiji.
The
Lomalagi Resort website has a few wide-angle
shots of the bay and its sunsets. Before we
arrived there, we had read on the website that
Lomalagi was the only resort on the Bay, which
encompasses 600 square miles of water,
surrounded on three sides by lush volcanic
mountains of varying topography. Just like you,
I was trying to picture a bay of that size with
only a spot or two of human habitation. I just
could not picture it, or maybe I could not
believe it.
When we arrived, it was at
New Moon, which made the nights very dark
.jpg "Fishing Family, traversing the shallows to their billybilly (fishing raft), upper Natewa Bay, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)")
and
the tides of the Bay come in and go out at
levels known as "astronomical".
We tend to use the word astronomical to mean
huge or large. The term takes on its true
meaning here when you wake up and see sand bars
miles off shore and an empty bay at you feet,
only to find it brimming full only a few hours
later. Similar to
Mont Saint-Michel, a castle in France that
sits on a
tidal island, you can almost watch the tide
fill in or recede in the bay, depending on the
time of day. As the Moon entered a fuller
state, the tides moderated and the bay did not
go through the major highs and lows, as it did
for the first several days of our visit. As our
host Terry said, "I have never seen a bay that
looks good at low tide".
_lg.jpg "Fishing Family, traversing the shallows to their billybilly (fishing raft), upper Natewa Bay, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)")
and
the tides of the Bay come in and go out at
levels known as "astronomical".
We tend to use the word astronomical to mean
huge or large. The term takes on its true
meaning here when you wake up and see sand bars
miles off shore and an empty bay at you feet,
only to find it brimming full only a few hours
later. Similar to
Mont Saint-Michel, a castle in France that
sits on a
tidal island, you can almost watch the tide
fill in or recede in the bay, depending on the
time of day. As the Moon entered a fuller
state, the tides moderated and the bay did not
go through the major highs and lows, as it did
for the first several days of our visit. As our
host Terry said, "I have never seen a bay that
looks good at low tide".
I know it is only 7:00 AM, but I
must tell you about the nights on Natewa Bay
during the time of the New Moon. Before our
arrival, I was disappointed that we would not
have a
Full Moon during our visit, figuring that
the Moon over the water was probably a sight to
see. Little did I know that the most beautiful
nights are those with no Moon. You must
remember that "light
pollution" has not yet occurred along Natewa
Bay. Most of the surface area is ocean, which
emits no light. What land that exists, is
mainly not "electrified", even in many places on
the main island. The few cites that have been
built have neon and streetlights and many cars.
However, they are over an hour away by airplane!
Upon
returning to our
bure (or villa) at night, turning out our
room lights and looking out across the water it
is a remarkable sight. The
Milky Way is above, brighter than anywhere
else you might see it (other than
Antarctica, I suppose), casting enough light
to dimly illuminate the basic features of land
and bay. Across the water, we could see three
or four lantern lights at our end of the bay.
We saw several more lights from a village across
the bay, which apparently has a small
generator. That was it. The entire bay had a
couple of electric lamps and half a dozen
lanterns.
Later we found that the lanterns
on the water were from the fishing families who
ventured out on "billybillys",
which are watercraft made by lashing about eight
coconut logs together. They "pole out" into the
shallows, where they drift until dawn, with
their fishing hand-lines in the water. We
learned that a few years earlier there had been
a fishing craze, with many billybillys on the
water each night. Predictably, the villagers
had over-fished the shallows of the bay and thus
they reverted to the "specialists", who fished
for all within their villages.
If
you have ever sat and contemplated a Japanese
painting and seen the vision of the artist come
to life, you will know what it is like to stand
at our window at any time of the night, even
3:00 AM. Reassuringly, the fishers were there,
each billybilly displaying a single lantern as
it glided along in the shallow bay. Peace,
harmony and beauty prevailed.
