Excerpt from my journal, April 20th
We load up the van in at Waidroka and head to the Tavarua Boat Landing. Another 2 hour drive through villages, down a long dirt road to a small parking area in the bush. I see a glimps of the ocean through the trees and beyond the truck that is backed up to the waters edge. There are a handful of Fijian women sitting cross legged on the ground at the edge of their blanket. In front of them lies hand made jewelry made from the shells and fish bones. I listen to one women tell me how my purchase will help the people in her village. The heat is too much and I retreat to the shade of the tree with a tinge of guilt for not buying. It is not the money, but there is just no more room for little trinkets in our already stuffed bags.
I am still not sure if we are at the right landing. There is nothing else here, no covered area, no signs, no toilets, just organized chaos as a bus of people arrive and this big truck unloads heaps of luggage and surfboards. Finally someone approaches us and asks if we are going to Tavarua. We hand over our luggage and watch it disappear on a ponga. Time passes and we barely hear the call “Tavarua”, that alerts us to the boarding of our passenger boat. We wade out through the calf deep water trying to keep our cameras and laptops dry. This is not exactly what I expected but I like the local feel and bit of adventure.
I look around at the other 20 people on the boat and the 20 people loading on the boat next to us that has Tavarua painted on the bow. These are the people we will be staying with on this heart shaped island the size of a couple of football fields. We will be sharing meals, boat rides out to the surf, and various other activities. I wonder who has been here before, if anyone, and if they are having the same concerns about whether or not their luggage and boards will arrive safely on the island. Most of all I wonder if I will like them.
Van ride to Tavarua Landing.
Roadside villages.
Vendors at the landing.
Organized chaos.
Ponga filled with surfboards.
Wading out to the boat.