BULA BULA BULA! - Matacawalevu Island, Fiji
Matacawalevu Island, Fiji
Where I stayed
Aunty Si's House!
Bula!
So my lovely cousin Nancy and her Fijian husband Simo have arranged for us to stay with Simo's Aunty Si in a traditional Fijian village in the Yasawa Islands, Matacawlevu.
We arrived at Nadi airport, Fiji, to the sound of a Fijian band serenading us as we waited in the line for passport control - an exciting taste of things to come! We had to spend our first night on the mainland in Nadi as the ferry to the Yasawa Islands leaves 8:30am daily and it was already the afternoon. We bought 1L of Red Smirnoff Vodka for the equivalent of 12 pound, the conversion is 1 pound to 3 fijian dollars so we found prices significantly cheaper than Oz! Our shuttle transferred us to our hotel, Skylodge. We ventured out of the hotel to the local supermarket (nothing like Tesco) in order to re-buy all of our toiletries (we left our backpacks with friends in Sydney and brought only hand luggage to Fiji only allowing us 100ml of liquid through customs) as well as a few treats for after dinner. Feeling absoloutely knackered we had an early shower, ordered room service for dinner, indulged in our treats and watched tv in bed! Bliss!
The next morning we woke early to check out and catch a shuttle to the marina in order to catch the Yasawa flyer which would take us to the islands. We asked the staff on the boat to point out the island on which Aunty Si lived (the family are well known in the Islands, Aunty Si's late husband, Joe, appeared in the movie 'Blue Lagoon'). Full of nerves, we stepped off the flyer and onto Aunty Si's own boat (she had made a sign with our names 'Terry and Sherena' written on!) and travelled back to her own home village. The village beach was absolutely beautiful, the islands had some of the most stunning beaches we had ever seen. As we docked the boat, Aunty Si helped me dress in a sulu (a sarong) women were expected to wear these in the village, and Terry had to take off his hat. As we stepped through the door of the house, we saw the family gathered around waiting our arrival. The children, Suli and Dee, greeted us with lei's (flower necklaces) and welcomed us home! Aunty Si showed us our bed situated in the main room surrounded by lots of sheets and an essential mosquito net, decorated with flowers which spelt out the words 'Bula! Welcome home!'. We had some lunch and some black tea then had an afternoon nap! When we woke, Aunty Si took us to see the village chief who's responsibility has passed down his family from generation to generation. His job is to make the rules of the village. It is tradition to bring the chief cava, so we both wore a sulu, bought some cava and met the cheif and his wife, who were both pleased to see us and gave us their blessing to make ourselves at home in the village. Late afternoon, we went to the beach with the children and Aunty Si. The children of the village were extremely intruiged by us and our pale skin and Serena's long hair and nails and before long a crowd of children had come to show us their cartwheels and handstands! Suli took Terry to find crabs in the sand whilst Serena chatted with Aunty Si (whose English is limited, lots of animated hand signals were necessary!). Later the children took us for a walk along the beach and showed us some Fijian dancing they had learnt from their parents. Back at the house, the sun had began to set. The houses on the island do not use electricity for lighting often and so we sat around the table under a lantern. At dinner Aunty Si served fish (served at almost every meal, freshly caught each day) which Serena politely tried and ate for the first time ever! After dinner and more tea, Serena gave the children a gift of pencils and pens which they could not wait to use! After discovering Serena was a teacher they were very keen to test their knowledge of English spellings and math equations and they explained how much they loved school. After the children became sleepy (the children didn't have a set bed time) it was time to call it a night so we all settled in for our first night on the island. The youngest children slept on the floor in the next room and Aunty Si slept in a bed in the main room with us. The temperatures at night are in excess of 25 degrees so we used Aunty Si's homemade fans (made from coconut leaves) to keep us cool (no air con!).
The next day we woke and Aunty Si already had breakfast ready for us, freshly picked papaya and freshly made bread with tea. At 11:30 we got into Aunty Si's boat and drove to the next island to the children's primary school (children use a school boat to get to and from school - provided by the UNICEF charity) when we arrived at the shore the children were having their lunch (prepared and brought over from the village) under the shade of the trees, overlooking the bright blue ocean and the surrounding islands. We joined the children and had a picnic on the beach. Of course, the children flocked to see us when we arrived and Suli and Dee were very proud to tell their friends that we were staying with them. When they had finished their meal the children would wash their plates in the water and play in the sunshine. After lunch, Suli and his friends took us for a tour of their school to see their classrooms. Although the classrooms had no technology they seemed to be well resourced. We later met a teacher, Miss Vani, who explained that the school holds lots of fund raising events and that UNICEF also helps with some equipment. She also explained that there are not enough teachers on the island so some of the teachers had to take 2 classes (no more than 30 children still) and that she spends a lot of time working - Serena could relate to this! After the children went back to class (still chanting our names through the windows) we returned to the boat and went back to the village. We grabbed some towels and went to a pretty spot of beach to the far right of the village and hid in the shade under the coconut trees because it was so hot! We went for a swim in the warm crystal clear waters and watched fish swim around our feet! After a good relax we headed straight for the shower located outside the house (which consisted of a high tap and a white curtain to preserve our modesty!) then returned back to the house where we spoke to Lessie who told us about all the animals they keep in the village (pigs, chickens, cows, horses, dogs etc). She took us for a trek through the woods to see the cows! Whilst we were there we saw another villager collecting firewood, he knocked some coconuts from a tree and chopped the tops off them so that we could drink the fresh coconut milk. He chopped down 2 more then chopped them in half and made spoons from the shell so that we could eat the flesh. At this point we were being eaten alive by mosquitos in the marshy fields so we returned to the house to enjoy our coconuts! We returned to the house to find Aunty Si sitting under a tree surrounded by dried and shredded coconut leaves ready to teach Serena how to make a braclet by weaving the leaves together (similar to the way they make the mats that line their houses instead of carpet but a few women can work on these at a time. Aunty Si also sells items she makes at the local market). We sat with our coconuts as Serena got to work and the sun had begun to set. Nearby, the men of the village had gathered to practise songs that they perform weekly at the Blue Lagoon (a resort on the island directly opposite) for the tourists 'Fijian Night'. To gather, one man would blow on a conk shell so that everyone in the village would hear and know that it was time to practise. They used an instrument like a woodblock and sung together and rehearsed the dance moves. The singing rehearsals were one of our favourite things on the island and we can hardly explain how amazing they were. There was a real sense of community as the women joined in and the children danced along. We ate dinner inside the house as the rehearsal continued directly outside. After dinner and the rehearsal, we sat down on the floor with the family to have tea and chat as the children used their new pencils to draw pictures before falling to sleep again. After all the sun, it wasn't long before we went to bed as well!
The next morning, after breakfast and more tea, Ruthy took us around the island to all the beaches. On the way to the beach we stopped off in a field where they grow vegetables and Ruthy showed us how to collect cassava (a vegetable like potato) by pulling it out of the ground and chopping the roots off with a knife (a machette like knife which she carried all morning!). Terry also had a go at collecting some cassava! We walked over beaches, rocks, past caves, over hills, through long grass and Ruthy pointed out some of the Fijian delicacies! We saw some more incredible views and thought how lucky we were to be there. After the long 2 hours trek we returned back to the house and had a crab lunch on the porch overlooking the village with a view of the beach. Terry was very excited about the prospect of crab but Serena's new-found adventurous-ness with food unfortunately ended here. After lunch we took some time to explore the village. Cockerals roam around freely making lots of noise (which constantly made us giggle), a large pig wonders around the village followed by 10 playful piglets, children play outside their houses and whoever we meet in the village shouts 'Bula!' at us. All the villagers were very friendly and interested to talk to us. Next, we wondered back down to