Vanua Balavu - the Lau Group …

July - August 2018

This remote eastern group of islands is purported to be one of the best cruising grounds in the world – if you are looking for resorts, shops and bars then stay away – you will find none of those here - but you will enjoy great fishing, snorkelling, picturesque scenery and rich cultural experiences. Island life is simple, the people being poor in material terms but rich in others, family and church playing a very important role in their lives.

Northernmost in the Lau Group is Vanua Balavu a long winding island of coral in the north and volcanic rock in the south. A 130km barrier reef, surrounds this island and the famous Bay of Islands with the village of Daliconi our first anchorage, and our first sevusevu, so we presented ourselves rather nervously but with that hurdle crossed we knew the next time would be easier!! For sevusevu the women must wear a skirt that covers the knees – or a sulu – traditional Fijian dress, and not have shoulders exposed, men a button shirt and long shorts or sulu, as well no hats or sunglasses are worn in the villages.

Church on Sunday, of course, after which we were invited to lunch with some of the villagers – a table laden with food – fish cooked 3 different ways, kasava, sweet potatoes, steamed greens in coconut milk, followed by fruit salad of banana and pawpaw, then back to the boat for a rest!!  

The village truck/bus

8am next morning saw us back in the village waiting for the village truck to travel to the nearby village of Lomolomo, the truck supposed to be leaving by 830 but the driver had to stop off to watch the closing minutes of the Rugby 7’s match (Fiji beaten by NZ, so I had to hide my NZ heritage and accent much to the amusement of all on the truck!!). On a bus, you ring the bell to tell the driver you want to get off at the next stop - on the truck you ask someone up the front to bash on the roof and he jams on the brakes - anywhere along the track!!

Lomolomo had been one of the villages hit hard by Cyclone Winston (the most intense tropical cyclone to make landfall in the Southern Hemisphere on record) in 2016. It reached category 5 intensity with recorded winds of 306km (190 mph). The village is in two parts – one side Tongan the other Fijian – separated by a small creek although the village functions as one. There were three stores (all carrying the same limited range of goods), post office and small hardware which also sold pre-mix petrol (50-1) and diesel. 

Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu, with its mushroom islands, created by the erosion of waves and wind

Next day we entered the “Bay of Islands” an incredibly beautiful area with many islands poking like mushrooms out of the water. We got out the paddleboards and did some exploring of this magical spot, staying here two days before we left for Bavatu, a pretty big harbour which is well protected and has, in the past boasted a yacht club – now abandoned and in rather poor shape but the bones still remain leaving us to wonder how good it would be to resurrect it and host the visiting yachts-people and live ‘the good life'

Locally made headwear - not the Melbourne Cup - but....

Also in Bavatu is a track up the side of the hill which leads to a grave site (Kenneth James Allardyce 1881-1937). Kenneth was a Scot who settled here and established a plantation. The best part was not the grave but its situation – walking just a few metres behind the grave to the edge of the cliff is a lookout with views that stretch for miles, we saw SOL at anchor way below us in the harbour, and looked right over the Bay of Islands - the aerial view gave such a spectacular sight of the coral reef surrounding the islands and photographs just don’t do it justice – but I took loads.

From the lookout atop the hill at Bavatu

After Bavatu it was off to Little Bay, where we squeezed into the small anchorage with another two yachts and went to do our next sevusevu. Tui and Bui welcomed us and after presenting our Kava (Yaqona) and other gifts (flour, rice, sugar, noodles, some T-shirts and reading glasses) they invited us to join them for a Lovo that evening so along with the crew of Kattum and Josida we enjoyed the traditional Fijian earth oven feast. 

Bui fishing off the stern of SOL

Tui had a meeting in Lomolomo and was going to be away the night so on Monday Bui came out and slept the night on SOL with us – being keen to fish, and to show us the local way of fishing, we sat for many hours with lines dangling and caught a creditable number of fish (salala, doulu, and trevally) certainly enough that she took a basketful back home next morning and we had quite a few meals tucked away in our freezer. It was extremely informative and entertaining - she would drop in her hand-line, hook a fish, squeal in delight then pull it aboard where she would quickly dispense with it by wringing it's neck (well snapping it's spine at gill height !!) then chuck it in a bucket beside her and returning the line to the water to catch the next one. We discovered that she had never been and slept on one of the visiting boats before so felt rather special.

Our next anchorage was Susui. Susui is the southernmost village in Vanua Balavu and here we stayed for the next three days, visiting the school and playing volleyball with the children. After the volleyball game it was time for coconut drinks - nothing more refreshing than a newly picked coconut, the top cut off so you can drink the  cool water. 

Later that afternoon we were taken to the Hidden Lagoon and Turtle Pond by Jacob, in his longboat. Oysters grow at the waterline in the mangroves and on hearing how much I liked oysters, Jacob went back the next day and came back with a huge number he collected and prepared for me – I was in heaven!!! 

There is a moratorium that prohibits the killing and eating of turtles here in Fiji and the locals, in Susui, when they find a turtle they catch it and release it in the Turtle Pond which is slightly inland from the Hidden Lagoon. They now have 30 or more turtles living peacefully here – hopefully they will continue to do so even after the ban on killing/eating is lifted!!

Along with David, Linda and Mel from ‘Josida’ we left about 9am on Friday 3^rd August bound for Fulaga, 120 nautical miles away, and an overnight sail.

Plantation houses, Bavatu, with lovely rock walls and the 'Sometimes' Store - it was not one of those 'sometimes' when we were there !!

Yamahama to the Rescue - fellow yachtie being towed back to his boat in the Bay of Islands

Village of Daliconi, Vanua Balavu

Tui and Bui preparing traditional food for our Lovo (earth oven feast), Little Bay

A quick check of the doneness of the food in the Lovo before taking it to the table

Rudimentary method of pounding the Kava roots before mixing with water then drinking the muddy looking brew

Salala, covered with banana leaves, cooking over a smokey fire - the end result - delicious

A traditional mat being woven from pandanus leaves, at least two women work together on it,

the pandanus leaves being soaked, boiled and dried before being split into strips.

 

No, not dugout canoes, but village drums, beaten with the stick to announce church times, school times etc., the drums, always two, are kept in their own house