Kabara, Matuku then Suva….

We had read that the island of Kabara (pronounced Kambara) was where they did the woodworking and handicrafts from the wood of the Vesi tree. Vesi is one of the most popular and famous trees in Fiji. This is the tree that is the source of all the wonderful carvings of Fiji, like the tanoa or kava bowls, the turtles and fish. This hardwood tree grows up to 40 to 50 feet high and has great spreading branches. It was formerly a sacred tree of Fiji. On the island of Kabara, vesi trees grow in abundance. These are the source of these carvings that has made Kabara well-known around the world. So, we wanted to make a stop in Kabara for sure, being right into things made from wood!!

A visit from the village men, who enjoyed our hospitality while 

the children swam and paddle boarded

Surprisingly, Kabara is not surrounded by a reef, and the lovely long white sandy beach would be exposed in most wind directions, but luckily, we had next to no wind on our arrival there so we anchored just off the beach and headed in for sevusevu. This would be the poorest village we have been to, houses with dirt floors, some with only three sides and although we asked about woodwork and tanoa (kava bowls) they were reluctant to sell us anything – they send all they make to Suva for sale there, being paid about $20-$30 a bowl – we would have happily given them $100 but they didn’t seem to know how to maximise their worth so were not interested in selling to us. 

We took a walk up the hill overlooking the village and when we got back to the boat we gathered all the extra food and clothes we had and took this back to them. It would appear not many cruisers stop here and next afternoon we had what seemed to be the entire village aboard SOL, adults and children having a super time on the paddleboards, using the masks and snorkels and fishing – it was such a treat for us and them.

From Kabara we set off on an overnight sail to Matuku, 75 nautical miles away. We were expecting a good sail, but sadly the wind didn’t turn out as forecast so it was a motorsail to begin with, one engine and the jib only until the wind filled in and we were able to douse the engine and we sailed all night with just the jib, going along pleasantly at 4-5 knots boat speed. As morning broke it was up with the screecher for a couple of hours then back to no wind and we motored the last 5 hours through the reef into the lovely secluded and protected Matuku Harbour.

Village children, Matuku, all dressed in their Sunday best for church

We spent four days in delightful Matuku, doing sevusevu at Lomati village. The local people so welcoming and friendly, taking us into their houses and their lives, giving us tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers- one evening we even had a visit on SOL from Jesse bringing us some fresh caught fish (Jamie had given him some lures and wire trace, so this was his ‘thank you’). I spent a morning catching up with laundry, then Jesse took us up Korovava (four peaks), a high mountain behind the village – not a walk in the park – it required ropes to climb at some places!! On the way down, he nimbly scaled a coconut tree, threw down a dozen coconuts and a coconut frond, then proceeded to open a couple for us to drink the delicious water inside while he wove a basket to carry the rest back for us to take to the boat. And, all this with only 1½ legs (one leg shorter than the other with a very deformed foot).

From the top of Korovava, SOL just a speck in the bay

After church, Sunday morning, the chief invited us to lunch at his house, a feast to which all the houses in the village had contributed a dish. We, the visitors eat first, then the men, and lastly the women and children. There is no waste, no picky eating, no “I don’t like/want this” and the manners of the children are impeccable. Such a joy to see.

Lunch after church at the house of the chief

Tuesday 28^th August we said our farewells and at 2pm we again hoisted the jib and night sailed towards Suva.

A beautiful sunset over Matuku as we left

Jese, our guide up the peak of Korovava, to whom we gave some fishing supplies

and he brought us a huge slab of tuna after a nights fishing

I gave the children my camera and was rewarded with these lovely pictures from inside the church (amongst others)

Jese's son's dog, Stella,
who was pulled down a crab hole as a pup and had her ears and one leg eaten by the crabs

The school bus, Matuku

A bevy of action when the supply boat arrives, all the longboats are in action to load and unload

Fulaga – the Lau Group…

Fulaga (also spelt Vulaga and pronounced Fil-ang-a, ang as in ‘hang’)) is in the Southern Lau Group. It is crescent shaped and surrounded by a fringing reef, like so many other Fijian islands. The pass to enter is fairly narrow and information we had read advised entering at certain point of the tide, with good sunlight – so we followed that plan, arriving just on high tide at 9am with a perfectly clear sunny sky. As we arrived we saw a yacht trawling along up and down outside the reef entrance, ‘Pacifico” with Herman on board, who very kindly offered to lead us through the pass – Herman had been in Fulaga for 7 weeks so was ‘almost local’. We later found that entering/leaving the pass was not a problem, although narrow, as long as the sun and wind were right.

Arriving at the pass we saw it wasn't as daunting as we had been told, however Herman guided us through

Our beautiful host family - Josua, Tedi and Ma

Anchored at The Landing we readied ourselves for sevusevu, dinghied ashore and by lunchtime we were officially welcomed into the village. 

Fulaga has a unique custom – on arrival at the village all visitors are assigned a host family. Your host family takes you under their wing, showing you round and acquainting you with the village. After church on Sunday lunch is at their place, in fact anything you need they will try to find for you. Tedi, Ma and young Josua became our Family for the duration of our stay. We shared a delicious lunch on Sunday which included fish, cassava, taro, Fiji cabbage cooked in coconut milk, noodles with corned beef and even cooked pawpaw. 

Although not essential it is traditional to bring gifts to your host family so before going to church we packed up some toys for Josua, clothes, flour, sugar, rice, noodles and canned food for them.

Looking along "the Spit", we anchored inside on the right

Monday it was up anchor and off to the Spit – a sheltered anchorage inside a long narrow sandspit which uncovered at low tide where we walked around and found a heap of fossils clearly visible in the rock, then a bonfire party for Lauren’s (Revilo) birthday along with a further dozen other cruisers in the evening. 

An incredible view from the site of the old village - you could see for miles and miles

Back to the landing Tuesday and we watched as the supply boat arrived, and unloaded, with all the village people coming out to collect goods in their long boats (all powered by 40hp yamaha engines). We had a couple of days there, walking to the other village with Ma and Josua where I spent the afternoon making a traditional Fijian broom, and watching mat weaving. On returning to the village we detoured up the hill to the site of the original village – situated at the top of the hill with perfect view of any invaders, and saw the cave which still has many bones from the past cannibal days.

Cave of bones

Later in the week we left for another anchorage, Yanuyanukalau, still inside the Fulaga reef, where we had fun walking around the island, investigating the ruins of an old village and peering into caves in the rocks. I asked Jamie to venture far back into one so I could get a photo showing its depth but he declined upon spotting a nice striped sea snake had taken up residence!!

The calm before the storm!!

On the weekend we took Tedi, Ma, Josua and a couple of other villagers out for a days fishing, trawling outside the reef, but to our great disappointment we only managed to hook a fairly small tuna – oh well, it was fun anyway and interesting to see how close to the reef we could go as it dropped sharply into deep water. We had a nice sail back too rather than motoring all day. Deciding not to attend church the next day we left for ‘Big House Bay’ so named by us as the only place in the bay was an abandoned but very European two storeyed house – the only one we have seen here. The weather packed up in the afternoon and we were treated to a storm which came up from nowhere, rain and some lightening but even then, was gone in just three hours. Next, we moved to Hurricane Shelter, a bay so named as it is protected from all directions and although no hurricane passed through we had a very peaceful two days here.

Back towards the Landing we stopped in ‘Twenty Island Bay’ or ‘Alternate Track Bay’ where we explored some of the many small islands and walked to the village via a steep track over the hill, passing by the old village and bone cave. Today we took some reading glasses and sunglasses back with us to give to the villagers, they are so appreciative of these and you know they will be well used.

Farewell feast before leaving

Being school holidays, the village had organised a beach picnic to be held Friday at the Sandspit for all the cruisers and families, so in the morning we ferried our family and some of their friends there and on reaching the spit we lowered the paddleboards into the water and within minutes they had been commandeered by many young children all vying, very politely, for turns. They had a ball; the paddleboards were not left without a child or three aboard for the whole day. We along with the villagers all took a plate to share, and I even helped weave plates from coconut leaves – we were picnicking island style!! A super day with beach volleyball and touch rugby as well as frisbee. A very tired couple of children slept all the way back on SOL to the Landing.

Sunday was church again, then lunch, and as we had decided to leave Fulaga Tuesday we had our family farewell meal on Monday afternoon, with delicious food, once more, kava, singing along with some other villagers who had come to say goodbye. The men of the village do the most terrific wood carving which they send to Suva for sale, we found a pile of sandpaper on the boat which we donated to the men and we asked Tedi to make us a Kava bowl, and Ma to weave me a mat, (which we paid them for and were very surprised, and kind of disappointed, to learn they gave most of the money from us to the church). At our farewell they also gave me a woven bag and Jamie a beautiful carved bowl. Such a generous people who have what seems to us to be so little, but they appear to be so happy and are certainly ever so generous. We have learned so much – thank you Fulaga, three weeks spent there is not nearly enough to see all and experience all Fulaga has to offer.

At the top is the Kava bowl Tedi carved, the pointy bit faces the chief.

Below is another bowl they gave us as a farewell gift

Anchored out by the Spit in just a couple of metres, water so clear

A lucky find amongst the rubbish as Jamie had left his jandals back on SOL !!

A fish fossil, my father would have loved this place