Nicola and Bens Big Adventure: Tuesday

Once again a lovely morning spent on the beach, and out on the reef snorkelling. We figure everyone must be tired of the ‘fish’ pictures by now, so here are a couple of our favourite coral formations…after swimming this reef for 2 weeks we know them off by heart!

Lunch at the restaurant today was once again delicious, we even pushed the boat out and had a change from our glass of water, instead having a milkshake….ooooh, aren’t we the adventurous types!

After lunch we went back to the room and changed, as we were going on an excursion to Nacula Village, and had to be dressed appropriately. This meant a long skirt and covered shoulders for the ladies, and no hats for men or women.

We boarded the boat at 2:30pm and made the short journey around the coast to Nacula Village, the largest of the 4 villages on the Island. We moored up by the Police Post and followed our guide Vacilly into the village.

As we entered the village we walked past a traditional Fijian bure, a rarity these days, as most Fijians live in concrete or corrugated iron structures, as they last longer. A traditional bure has to have it’s walls and roof replaced every 5-6 years.

Next stop was the Chief’s traditional bure, which he does not live in (photo on ‘Sunday-Service at the Village Church’ blog). As it is used for ceremonies we went in for a look around, and to learn more about the local customs. Below right you can see the chief’s kava bowl, with small coconut shell drinking bowls inside.

As we wandered around the village we recognised quite a few of the staff from our resort, as they come from one of the two clans that live in the village. It was also great to meet all of the village children, they seemed very happy to see us.

We also visited the Methodist church, which we had previously visited for Sunday service.

Just over half the population of the village attend this church, the other half split equally between the Catholic church, and the AOG (Assembly of God). As there are only 150 people in the village it felt like there were quite a few churches for such a small population!

The Catholic church was the oldest church in the village, and very weather beaten by the cyclones that pass through each year.

We next walked to the village hall, where the villagers performed a Meke for us. The first song was one of greeting, where the ladies from the village presented us all with a flower garland.

It was definitely the best Meke we had seen since being on the island, as there were double the amount of people that normally perform at the resort, and their children were sat watching and singing along on the sidelines.

Of course there was an audience participation song and dance, and Nicola finally managed to coerce the camera out of Ben’s hands in time for him being invited onto the floor!

The final ‘Fijian Conga’ (sorry we don’t know the Fijian name for it) was excellent, with everyone laughing, dancing and singing together.

After the festivities we visited the local ladies to look at their handmade crafts. Of course we bought a few bits, as the money goes straight into their pockets – and after 2 weeks we felt we had gotten to know them all.

Last stop on the trip was Ratu Meli Memorial School, the only school on the whole island. The children attend this school until they are 13, and then have to board on the mainland to continue their education.

The school day was over, however the children from the 2 villages on the far side of the island live there during the week, as it is a 2 hour walk each way. They go home on a Friday night, and return to school on a Sunday night.

It was these ‘boarders’ that we met, along with the Head Teacher. They sang some traditional Fijian songs, and then launched in to ‘If your happy and you know it’…which we obviously joined in for!

We then had a look at the great paintings they had done on the classroom walls, before wandering out across the playing field to meet with our boat home.