Seventh Expedition to the Fiji Islands
-- May 9-16, 1998 --
Memories of Fiji
Arriving at 11:00 p.m., the excitement of
visiting a South Pacific island escapes you. Leaving the airport at
midnight for a three hour drive to our hotel in Suva was really
disappointing. I felt cheated not being able to see the landscape but
I reminded myself that I would see it on the trip back.
Finally arriving at the hotel at 3:00 a.m., Rob Stroud and I promised to sleep in and have breakfast around 10:00 a.m. There is something about the South Pacific but both of us were up at dawn and had an early breakfast.
Not knowing much about Suva, we took a taxi to the town market. With our cameras and no suntans, we must have really looked like tourists. Everyone came up to us and wanted to know where we were from and asked if we needed any help. Friendly people.
Rob and I walked the city checking out the shops and finding little that interested us. Rob did make a point of showing me a shop that arranged weddings. Women from all over the world were available. I did not think I was ready for this and suggested it was time for lunch.
At noon we attended the Suva Rotary Club's weekly meeting. Sam Forbes, his daughter, Lori, Tom Smith and Maureen Smitt joined us at the meeting. We were asked to be the program that day. I was asked to talk about our Fellowship and then each of us talked about our clubs, their size, how we raised money and how the money was spent. There were several Rotarians from other parts of the world there also and they were asked to talk about their home clubs. I found it very interesting.
My guidebook said that the Fiji museum was one of the better museums in the South Pacific. I would recommend a visit on your next trip to Fiji.
On Friday, I joined Sam, Lori and Rob on a trip to Forbes Island. If you have read Forbes magazine, then you know this is where Malcolm Forbes' ashes are buried. Sam wanted to check out the island and I wanted to visit my hero's burial place. Malcolm Forbes proved that there is more money in selling advice on the stock market than being active in the market. I will never learn.
The view from the plane was great. As we flew over the islands on the way to Laocala Island, we saw many islands and the reefs that protected them. Many were privately owned and several had airstrips. Malcolm Forbes purchased the coconut plantation several years ago. Unfortunately, farming coconuts is no longer economical so they now "farm" tourists.
Since the island is privately owned, Sam had to get permission to visit the island I am not sure what Sam said, but the plantation manager agreed to let us visit the island. When we arrived, he was waiting at the airstrip. We traveled in the back of a modified pickup truck to the plantation house. After drinks and a great lunch, we took a tour of the resort. If you really want to get away from civilization, this is the place. Scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, wind surfing, fishing, reading, eating and sleeping and NO phones. I need to rethink my priorities. The only thing that would prevent us from using this site for a fellowship trip is the limited number of guests it can accommodate. Normally only eight but under certain circumstances they would allow 14 if there are three couples.
When we returned to the hotel, Jerry Galbraith had arrived. It Is interesting to watch the group catch up on each others activities. That evening in the lobby bar, there was a lot of conversation. People bounced from group to group and the conversations were quite varied.
Saturday noon, our whole group dually got together. After three days of waiting, I was ready to start the boat trip. Our first dive was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Sunday. The crew learned their first lesson about the IFRSD. We came to dive and when the clock struck 8:00 a.m., our group was ready. Captain Sam commented that normally the crew has to cajole divers to make a dive. On this trip, everyone was very good about letting the crew know if they were go in(, to make the next dive.
Diving in Fiji is different from other places I have been. There is a wide variety of fish. Unfortunately small for my taste as I like the "BIG" critters. The coral and sponges were very colorful and wide in variety.
Our first dive on Monday was on a coral reef,
E6 It is interesting to see how the dive buddy groups start to
form. Sam and Lori Forbes have to win the "gills" award.
They seem to be able to stay down longer than anyone else.
Rob Stroud, Tom Smith and I are diving together. Rob's camcorder is not working but Tom's seems to be working fine. Tom seems to have his recorder on all the time. Captain Sam (Romey) suggested that Tom turn the auto focus off and use the manual focus. He suggested focusing on an object ten feet away at the start of the dive and then use that for the rest of your dive. Tom's comment, "if you have all these gadgets you just have to play with them!"
We did four dives on Monday with the 4th a dusk dive and my favorite of the day. It is interesting watching the ocean change from day to night. 'The nigh creatures start to come out and the day creatures retire for the evening. The ocean really looks peaceful. Of course, if you have watched the movie JAWS.. you know that it is dinner time. And 'it is time to get out before you become a tasty tidbit on some critter's menu!
Monday was Rob's birthday and the boat's chef, Elvis, baked a raisin cake for the occasion. Elvis then lead us singing Happy Birthday. After that, he changed the words Happy Birthday to "Long Life". U Unfortunately I thought he said "Long Love' and sang a different song. I think I prefer my version.
Tuesday started with a beautiful sunrise. Like pagan worshipers., there are several of us up early to watch the sunrise. "Captain" Sam Forbes is always the first on the sundeck. I usually am second and today we were joined by Judy Kaufman Maureen Smitt and Rob Stroud We did four dives today on coral heads the locals call "bommies". Marine life on the bommies is fantastic. Both the hard and soft corals are so colorful and the varieties exceed your imagination.
On Wednesday, the crew moved the first dive from 8 AM to 7 AM. And it stayed that way for the rest of the trip. I had discussed our underwater group photo shot with our Photopro, Brian and he wanted to take the picture today. With the help from the crew, we organized ourselves on the boat before we started the dive. Every underwater camera made that dive. Each diving crew member had three or four cameras. With the bright colors, they looked like Christmas trees I think have been doing this too often. We actually got the pictures without a lot of effort.
It finally happened. With the repeated diving, I ran out of bottom time. Forty‑one minutes and 1,400 pounds of air and I had to come to the surface. I almost cried. Jerry Galbraith was on the boat lamenting the fact that he dropped his camera when he tried to board the boat. Brian, our Photo‑pro, was able to find it in 90+ feet of water.
Captain Sam had been talking about our Village visit all week. On Thursday, he limited us to three dives. After our third dive, we had to change for the visit.
Tom Hosey and Mary Ann Leone had taken this trip a month earlier and suggested that we use the island as our charity. Bob Thompson started this tradition with our Fellowship in that we donate money to a local charity as a way of saying thank you for allowing us to dive in their waters.
The Village of Nacamaki is trying to raise money to replace their medical clinic. The government will fund the operations of the clinic, but the Village has to provide the building. The Village's budget is Fiji $12,000 (about tUS$6,000). Though the villagers live a simple life. each house had a garden, they catch fish and raise pigs and chickens. There is little opportunity for them to accumulate cash. The little money the villagers earn is from gathering coconuts, smoking the meat and the growing of "Kava". Kava is used to make a native drink that is very popular in Fiji. Like a lot of things in life, it is an acquired taste.
We received an enthusiastic tour of the village ending up 'in the community center. Upon entering the building we had to remove our shoes and we were greeted by an interpreter. He told us that the village was many years old and told us some of the history of the village. Our dive master, Fiji Bear, a village chief, was our speaker. He told the village how much we enjoyed diving the waters surrounding it and our tour. As a token of our appreciation, offered the village several "Kava" plants. Our plants were accepted and we were each offered a cup of "Kava". We had been *instructed to clap our hands once when we accepted the bowl and then three times after draining it. The clapping is for the gods.
After the traditional drinking of Guava is completed, the dancing started. The villagers danced for us and then invited us to join them. The dance is fairly simple; four steps forward and four steps back. I was told to "swing" my buns. The dancing was fun and the evening ended much too soon.
That evening after dinner, the nurse from the island clinic came aboard. She told us that the clinic had no electricity or running water. Even though she was trained on modern equipment, without power and running water, there is no place to go for immediate medical help.
Friday, our last day, was overcast and rainy. We had two to three feet of chop and visibility at forty feet. A poor way to end a wonderful trip. The friendship and fellowship not to be forgotten. Yes, memories of Fiji...
Dan Lockwood, Past President