When Tomasi asked us all to follow two rules during the R+R stage of the project everyone was very receptive,
“Guys please, after you’ve had a few drinks please stay away from boats and stay out of water.” “Sure! No problem!” we all said.
A simple enough request on the face of it but as it turns out it is literally impossible to stay out of swimming pools after a couple of mugs of Fiji Gold. Perhaps the heady flavour of this beverage brings people out in a sweat, but I doubt it. Of course the miscreant Emma Hay is at the forefront of most of these aquatic misdemeanours and whilst at Club Oceanus she took a major part in a late night water aerobics session. After moving to the Beachhouse she has been caught diving into the pool in the early hours of the morning. She also still hasn’t paid her KitKat Kasino bill.
Thankfully the Boat & Water Embargo didn’t extend to the rafting experience which was one of the stand-out days of the whole trip. In spite of the barbarically early start we arrived at the Upper Navua river in good spirits. After the briefest and most Fijian of ‘safety briefings’ we were ready for the off and all hopped into our respective boats. Jack, Gill, Anna and I we’re very pleased to discover that our guide for the day was Joe the man-mountain, who aside from having the biggest triceps anyone had ever seen was a top guy and regaled us with tales of cannibalism and the filming of Anaconda 2. As we travelled down through the gorgeous canyon we saw some truly beautiful scenery with a breathtaking waterfall round every corner and stunning views up at the dense jungle that the gorge winds its way through. The lunch provided on the bank halfway down the run was absolutely delicious and probably provided us with more vitamins in one meal than most of us got in the village in a week. My top tip to the Batiki team who go next week is try the Guacamole.
The last few days have been absolutely awesome. Club Oceanus and the Beachhouse are really great places to stay and the whole team have sunk into the holiday feeling with customary enthusiasm. Of course at the back of our minds there’s always that nagging feeling of missing the village and our families and personally I’m not sure that will ever go away completely. We might be sipping Pina Coladas in the sunshine or paddling the surf in a kayak but there’ll always be a piece of our hearts that longs to be back on that tiny island with terrible weather, hop-hopping into the night.
Tomo
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Boils and Babies
As the noise of the boat engine dies away, like the sound of the last helicopter leaving Saigon, those of us staying behind are left to come to terms with the enormity of what has happened. Tom C, Alyse and Gill are being taken to hospital in Levuka in varying states of disrepair and we are left with the stark evidence of what has happened in Yanuca village. We have accidentally painted the hall blue.
Fast forward a week though and things are looking up; we’re getting good news about Tom Claydon every day and expect him back at home in the village tomorrow for the fun day and hall opening and the girls’ tests came back without any major concerns. Even better news, the Fijians seem to quite like the colours of the hall and although a few expectant mothers have turned up in the village asking to buy a pushchair from Fiji’s first ever branch of Mothercare we’ve slowly become accustomed to the sight of the big blue house at the edge of the village.
The hall has finally been finished and with its completion there has been a much more relaxed air around the village. Volunteers are frequently out of the village with their families, fishing and gathering fruit or in one case taking a picnic over to Daku beach for an afternoon of sun-worship. Others can be found frantically sanding down coconut shells into grog bowls with one hand whilst writing down the recipe for Sammy’s Papaya Juice with the other, frantically trying to finish a to-do list of things before we leave the village.
In the maelstrom of exciting events that has been the last two weeks, and Claydon hogging the skin infection related limelight it has gone unrecorded that last week (well before Tom’s) I had a bloody great boil growing on my leg. A healthy dose of anti-biotics and some bed rest later Escobar the Boil was no more. His life was short and violent, much like his namesake Pablo, but it was also rich and full of experience.
Yesterday Tomos and I went out fishing with the men from the village, it was an awesome afternoon and it really brought home exactly what we’ll be leaving behind in a few days. The stunning blues of the water around the reef, the amazing greens of the jungle stretching all over the islands of Yanuca, Moturiki and Ovalau were all complimented by the riot of colours that made up the ‘fishing outfits’ of the Fijian boys. My favourite ensemble was Lalli’s – a pair of basketball shorts, a ‘welcome to Dubai’ t-shirt all topped off by a rather jaunty Merry Christmas From Winnie the Pooh baseball cap. Watching the Vakatoa, not the most agile looking of blokes at the best of times, outswim both Tomos and I in a pair of wellies and some rainbow coloured swimming goggles must have been quite a sight.
Escobar Rest in Peace
x
Fast forward a week though and things are looking up; we’re getting good news about Tom Claydon every day and expect him back at home in the village tomorrow for the fun day and hall opening and the girls’ tests came back without any major concerns. Even better news, the Fijians seem to quite like the colours of the hall and although a few expectant mothers have turned up in the village asking to buy a pushchair from Fiji’s first ever branch of Mothercare we’ve slowly become accustomed to the sight of the big blue house at the edge of the village.
The hall has finally been finished and with its completion there has been a much more relaxed air around the village. Volunteers are frequently out of the village with their families, fishing and gathering fruit or in one case taking a picnic over to Daku beach for an afternoon of sun-worship. Others can be found frantically sanding down coconut shells into grog bowls with one hand whilst writing down the recipe for Sammy’s Papaya Juice with the other, frantically trying to finish a to-do list of things before we leave the village.
In the maelstrom of exciting events that has been the last two weeks, and Claydon hogging the skin infection related limelight it has gone unrecorded that last week (well before Tom’s) I had a bloody great boil growing on my leg. A healthy dose of anti-biotics and some bed rest later Escobar the Boil was no more. His life was short and violent, much like his namesake Pablo, but it was also rich and full of experience.
Yesterday Tomos and I went out fishing with the men from the village, it was an awesome afternoon and it really brought home exactly what we’ll be leaving behind in a few days. The stunning blues of the water around the reef, the amazing greens of the jungle stretching all over the islands of Yanuca, Moturiki and Ovalau were all complimented by the riot of colours that made up the ‘fishing outfits’ of the Fijian boys. My favourite ensemble was Lalli’s – a pair of basketball shorts, a ‘welcome to Dubai’ t-shirt all topped off by a rather jaunty Merry Christmas From Winnie the Pooh baseball cap. Watching the Vakatoa, not the most agile looking of blokes at the best of times, outswim both Tomos and I in a pair of wellies and some rainbow coloured swimming goggles must have been quite a sight.
Escobar Rest in Peace
x
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