Dravuni Island
After leaving Levuka with almost the whole crossing dealing with dead down wind, Captain Craig decided to make a stop for the night at an anchorage in front of Dravuni Island, belonging to the Kadavu group.
Just as we got settled in, we received a message from Dravuni to welcome us and remind us of putting on our light as there could be quite some “traffic” with boats here.
Buliya Island
After a good night sleep and checking the weather forecast closely again, as there’s a chance of an upcoming storm that might result in a Cyclone “Umil”… the Captain decided to move SV Russula for a couple of days, to a nearby Island called Buliya, also part of Kadavu group. After two attempts, we managed to anchor in a more or less sandy spot to avoid damaging the coral around. Not that easy afterall! Quickly we got the dinghy ready to go ashore for “Sevusuve” and meeting the Chief.
Sevusevu
We received a warm welcome of some fishermen who showed us the house of Chief Joe and his lovely wife Litia. Such an interesting couple! They only returned last year to Buliya, Fiji for retirement after living for over 50 years in both New Zealand and Australia! All their children and grandchildren are still in Perth (AUS). Travelling surely broadens the mind. Our conversation turned out to be an interesting exchange of knowledge and experiences gained over the years!
They invited us over to be part of the official opening of Buliya Village Kindergarten on Saturday. We happily accepted, mentioning that we had to leave around noon though, to find ourselves a sheltered anchorage at the nearby Kadavu Island to let the storm/cyclone pass by. “No problem, it will be due in the morning“, they said.
The community
The next day, Captain Craig went for a dive. I took the paddle board and blissfully drifted along till I reached the beach, where two ladies were snorkeling to catch some crab fish for Saturday’s ceremony. After a short chat I decided to follow a path leading into the forest. I always feel wonderful for some reason in the forest. Soon I passed a small cementry hidden behind some papaya and palm trees, followed by two pig sheds. Then I heard lively Fijian music!
Where there is music, there are people! And so it was. I was nearing nothing less than the new Kindergarten. I got flashed by the shiny bright purple and pink colours of the recently painted building. “Bula, bula Melanie” shouted Litia from behind the Kindergarten while waving at me. “Bula Vinaka” I replied, smiling happily about the enthusiasm of the ladies of this wonderful community.
Offering a helping hand, I soon found myself doing some weeding and getting nails out of the wooden structure that had served as a scaffold. Laughing together, the ladies singing a long and taking a lot of rests in between, made my little contribution, a wonderful experience. The men were working hard too, by cutting trees, preparing an open space to set up a shed, just for the ceremony. After a couple of hours I said goodbye and promised to be back for the opening on Saturday with Craig.
Buliya Village Kindergarten
Around 9.30 a.m. we arrived at the Kindergarten. Everybody was busy setting up everything for the ceremony. I got a warm welcome from “my ladies” again and introduced Craig to them. Walking towards the village, I quickly found myself a job, like bringing glasses to the table and scraping some coconuts clean. It’s so rewarding to contribute by doing those little things to me. It really fulfills me with happiness!
Soon important guests from the neighbour island Ono arrived. Mr. Martin Hilton and his wife Mrs. Liz Moorhead were the main sponsors who had initiatited the project of opening a Kindergarten here.
It was wonderful to meeting those people and the guests of their resort Oneta. All Germans, so good to speak some German after all this time. The ceremony started at Fiji Time (instead of at 10 it became noon). Moses did a very entertaining speech and introduced Decan Talatala Villmoni, and former Teacher Mrs. Ruth Valentine. Mr. Hilton was giving an emotional speech followed by cutting the Ribbon to open the building officially and cutting the cake followed by a kawa ceremony.
Captain Craig and I needed to be going. We said goodbye to all those wonderful people and got to “take-away” cartons with food to take along. Gratefully for the shared moments we said goodbye.
Matasawalevu
A couple of hours later we anchored in Matasawalevu, also part of Kadavu Island. Doing “Sevusevu” here was funny. The strongest kawa I have had so far! We are now sheltered in a small bay called Koroniilangio Wairiki Creek. Sitting out the storm to come. Hopefully we will be able to leave on Wednesday to head back to Viti Levu and finally reach Nadi again.
