The old capital city
After sailing dead downwind combined with a lot of motoring we arrived around lunchtime at Levuka, the historicaly old capital city and so the oldest modern Fijian town. Levuka is located on Ovalau Island and renowned for its 19th century colonial architecture and as the former hub of Pacific maritime trade.
The first thing we spotted, even before anchoring was the Church of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic Church established in 1858 by Marist Fathers. As it was Sunday, I kind of expected the Church to be open. It wasn’t though. Once we got closer some dogs came barking at us. We had a peak, but the door wasn’t open.
The village felt deserted. Not one single restaurant was open. We were lucky, to find a food truck selling some Mi & meat and Samosa’s. We both decided on Mi & Meat. Bad choice as the meat was fat and bones. A stray dog had a feast instead!
History
Established around 1830 by traders, Levuka became a bustling, rowdy port for whalers and settlers. Years later in 1874 the town was ceded to Great Britain and made the first colonial capital. Levuka became the town with the first post office, bank, public school (1879) and the first newspaper The Fiji Times!
Wandering around Levuka, I quickly learned that it hosts nowaday more schools than I have seen so far in Fiji. A variety of primary as well as secundary schools can be found around. There’s also a school for children with special needs. Very impressive!
Strolling around Beach street, lined with original restored wooden buildings, we enjoyed some memorial sites such as the Fiji War Memorial, the European War Memorial and there is a German cementery. We also saw the Garden of Peace at the former Masonic Lodge.
Religion
Another interesting fact was that in and around Levuka all sorts of Religions are present. Such as Mosque “Levuka Masjid“, a Shrine “Shree Sanatan Dharam Ram Mandir“, besides the more common Methodists and Catholic churches. People seem to live happily together in a respectful way.
In a lot of villages houses or parts of the village are connected by bridges. It gives it a quiant charm. Sometimes I felt like being in a Pacific version of Venice! And right when I thought about it, I crossed a bridge with a view of a big house named “VENICE“. Magical moment to me!
Waterfalls
Baba Waterfall
It was one of those extremely hot days with a high percentage of humidity when we arrived. After lunch we decided go for a hike to find the Baba Waterfall for a refreshing dip. Captain Craig still didn’t feel great, and the heat wasn’t helping. We went slow with several stops in the shade. At one point we found a tiny fall, which could hardly be called a fall, next to a bridge were children were having fun. By asking if this was the famous Baba Waterfall they told us we needed to continue.
We got higher up and took several steps. Down in the river we could hear children laughing and splashing around in the water. We wanted THAT! At some point we spotted a lovely lady called Alison. She told us, it was still way to go to reach the Baba Waterfall and due to the high temperatures, there would probably not be enough water there to cover us. She called a young shy boy, to escort us to the place where we had heard the children playing in the water. Finally a welcoming “pool” to cool down.
Waitovu Waterfall
On our second day, Captain Craig went to the hospital to get himself some antibiotics, I had another “sightseeing day” on my own. The bus to Lovoni, where an old Fort can be visited wasn’t leaving till 11 a.m. so I did what I have always been doing in the past when I don’t want to make a choice where to go myself: “Take the first bus that comes along, and that will be your destiny”.
A schoolbus dropped of some kids, so I asked the bus driver, who introduced himself as Chris where he was heading to. He told me, he would drive to Vuma and was happy to take me for 1 FJD. I jumped in, right next to him in the airconditioned driver’s place. Luxury on another humid day! On our way he pointed me out where the famous “199 steps” started and some houses of Chief’s at the village we were passing.
I got off the schoolbus at Vuma, where I greeted the Chief and another villager, who had just catched some small fish. I asked him for directions to the “Center of Fiji” and he pointed out, that I could walk along the beach due to the tide untill I would find a rope to climb up the last part. Optimistic I parted from the beach… never found a rope, so I turned around, passed the cementery and made myself on the way back heading towards Levuka again.
Passing the first house in Waitovu, I heard the welcoming words “Bula, bula” again. Bill was coming out of us house and we chatted for a while. I mentioned going to see the Waitovu Waterfall and he offered to be my guide. A few minutes later we set off for a lovely hike, alongg the river, crossing a bridge and passing a wonderfully shell decorated garden of a big farmer’s house before entering into the forest.
I was happy to have a local guide again. Once we reached the Waitovu Falls, I was very much impressed by the big majestic trees and by the magnificent waterfall. The setting was stunning, with a lovely little “pool” to swim with some tiny fish, “we just call them fish“, according to Bill. The refreshing dip felt like heaven. Of course I went in with my clothes on and Bill did aswell.
He told me that Prince Charles (now King Charles) had swum here when he visited Waitovu in 1970. A lovely anecdote, which made our refreshing bath even more special! We shared some stories, Bill turned out to be 49 and single without kids! That made him the first Fijian person I got to know without having children! After a while we made ourselves ready to return with an additionstop at a stunning spot in the river. His favourite one. Returning to his him he offered me a fresh coconut before I headed back to Levuka.
Mission Hill
As it was still early in the afternoon, I felt like climbing up the 199 steps to Mission Hill for the view. It was still hot and humid, but not so bad after all. I guess I am used to going uphill from all my years living in the Zillertal alps as well as in Picos the Europa. The view was slightly disappointing to me. I could overlook the bay, saw SV Russula sitting in front of Beach Street and saw the Port busy with ferries parting to different Islands.
I found the school next to this viewpoint more interesting! Lots of children in grey and green uniforms were leaving the school and I sat with some of their teachers under a tree eating my Samosa’s from the day before. After a while I said “goodbye” to visit the local market before heading back to the boat, curious about how Craig would feel after his check-up at the hospital.
