1 May - 3 July 2004

Saturday 1 May 2004

Awake in Raffles Gateway for a 6am start, meet up with the rest of the new vols joining today and catch the bus (30 mins?) plus boat (Tiger IV, about an hour) to Castaway Resort.

The friendly reception that welcomes all to Castaway Island Resort (even us, only passing though).

From here, there's a further 15 minute boat to Raviniake. Initially seems like a pretty cool place. This afternoon is spent 'settling in', such as that is, as there really isn't much to this. Find a place to sleep in a corridor between the main room and 'East Wing'.

Each Saturday night here has a themed party; tonight's theme is 'Bling, Bling'. A lot of the new starters are a bit tired given their flight from the UK the last day or so. In the spirit of this though, manage to find some fairly 'bling' clothes to wear for a short time at least.

There's a beer system here, bar tabs run each week for them and we're allowed only four per day when diving the next. As Sunday is generally a 'no dive' day this goes out the window on Saturday and people really let their hair down as it were. A bottle of Bounty Rum appears - I note that it doesn't taste very nice, but at 58.9% alcohol what would you expect? Wonder to my 'bed' in the corridor around 2am I think, but a little vague on this.

Sunday 2 May 2004

Awoke 5am and got up briefly, saw the error in this immediately and tried to get more sleep, before a 6am rise.

Today's schedule is filled with Algae lecture, buoyancy dive check (erm... yeah, Sunday is a no dive day, but the buoyancy test doesn't count as it's limited to 4m), snorkel on the first of many pointies, this one on algae (a 'pointy' here is a dive/snorkel where us new vols are shown various aquatic life in situ. Helps immensely compared to just viewing pictures in the books).

An algae test follows this evening (various bowls and plates filled with various erm... algae), which is thankfully passed (despite the need to name stuff in Latin!), and more things are explained. We learn that it's quiet relaxed here at Rav, on most Sundays, vols are allowed to visit the resort on the other side of the island. Of course, this won't apply to us until the third weekend as science training is so intensive. For those that crave communication with the outside world we discover that Vodafone Fiji has coverage here.

Have a brief beer on the beach, and hit the corridor by 11.

Monday 3 May 2004

5:30 start today as am on breakfast chores, porridge and bread is the order of the day (everyday!) for breakfast here. Simple enough to prepare and clean up after. What's a bonus at Rav is that we are so close to the beach that plates are washed by everyone in the sea after meals. Washing with sand this way makes things like a huge porridge pot, that you would think may be hard to get shiny, almost laughably easy. Of course, we still have to give them a once over in the sink, but this is no hardship after all that.

Science week continues with Hard Coral Day. We have lectures and snorkel and then dive pointies. Yay - first dive in Fiji!

Help prepare dinner as part of chores, and feet are eaten quiet a lot by mozzies - think I might have to consider using repellent, which is troubling as am here for rather a long time. I recall a few people complaining how the food here is a little scarce, but don't feel hungry myself so see no problem Actually, the place seems to be very crowded so perhaps this is something to do with it, who knows?

To add to the 'expedition' feeling, the generator fails this evening and those who failed the previous day's algae test have to retake by torch light.

Tuesday 4 May 2004

The chore group has me on 'house' duty today, but up at 5:30 again anyhow (erm, perhaps this is what one gets for sleeping in the corridor?).

There's a bit of a 'water situation' (to quote EL Henry from the first day) here so this evening take the first shower since arriving. As it turns out this will be the only one I have at Rav in a whole week of living there!

It's a full moon tonight so lay on the beach with a beer or two and relax before a reasonable hour (10:30). Dumbly manage to smash my head on a branch of a tree wondering down to Fraggle Rock - doh! A little blood oozes, but this will be the least of my injury worries here!

Wednesday 5 May 2004

Awake 5am, but snooze 'til 5:30. Get up and capture a very impressive sunrise. Thing is, we often see the sunrise here while cleaning plates after brekkie, but this one is outstanding.

Another amazing Raviniake sunrise.

First taste of grounds chores - having seen the others struggle with this can now sympathise with the disaster that is cleaning the veranda. This is the main area out front of the house that we spend most of our time in. Mopping here is a sadly sole destroying pastime as there's no rinsing aid for our bucket and mop so impossible to get the thing very dry at all. Add to that, everyone is straight back in there when you're done, feet covered with sad and/or water, etc. etc.

Quiet easy to relate this to the shower situation really - feel more dirty this morning than since I arrived, despite last nights fresh water wash (don't forget we're in the sea everyday). Resolve to not bother wasting fresh water on this as I don't find salt water a problem to be honest.

We make a start on learning fish, which I personally find a lot easier than hard coral at least. I'm pretty crap at languages though, and fish being in common English names (all the other stuff has been in Latin so far) helps a lot I think.

Thursday 6 May 2004

Yup - just about every day at brekkie, here's what we see.

Awoken by 'the waker' (one of the guys on brekkie duty) today, after initially waking at 5am. Am beginning to think that getting a full night's rest here will be impossible. Might not mention anything more then about this, just to say that my thoughs were quiet true.

More fish studies today, and what I hope will be the last of the science ('cos we have survey techniques, etc. to come) lectures.

Managed to fail hard coral test again! Grrrrr... I blame the pictures the science gang have!

Friday 7 May 2004

Spoke too soon - there are more lectures today, and more pointies too. We really are now on the final leg though, soft corals and inverts.

In a bizaar feat of skill (erm?) turned around the failure on hard corals to become one of only a handful of people to pass the fish test first time!

Saturday 8 May 2004

Mission of a day today! We learn that there are places open in the satellite base in the Yasawa islands, but that to stand a chance of visiting we must pass a whole lot of science stuff before leaving tomorrow. I had heard this might be a possibility before starting the expedition and really like the sound of this so am very keen.

Manage to finally kick hard coral over with 94% - about time too! On the first dive of the day manage to pass the fish validation with science officer. There are more invert pointies and a test which is the last obstacle to Yasawas. Thankfully inverts are not _that_ tricky, it's a pass and confirmed that I will leave for the Yasawa islands the next day.

Sunset, from what is affectionately known as Fraggle Rock.

The corridor from lounge/reception area to the east wing at Raviniake. Erm... also happens to be my bedroom for a week.

Other happenings today include a few silly accidents, the most serious of which was dropping a tank on my right index finger (yeow!!!). Happened loading tanks into the boat and as one fell tried to catch it. Don't try to stop a full 12l tank an inch or so from the floor with your hand would be my advice! Luckily this missed the joint, but the end managed to swell up nicely. Even if this is broken, there's nothing much to be done 'cept grin and bear it

Never mind, the party this evening doesn't seem to have had a theme chosen in time, given the science rush today so as is the usual in these cases (or so I am told) there's a bit of cross dressing going on.

Managed to drop a bottle of beer on my foot during this, but that's quickly taken care of, then forget am not wearing contact lens before going to bed so have a kindof painful eye as a result - doh! Seem to have lost half a litre of Jim Beam and a set of keys also, what is going on? ;-)

Sunday 9 May 2004

Party night brings on the need to sleep in and laze around this morning. Feel good about getting all the science stuff out of the way yesterday given the real need to rest.

Hammocks slung outside the main veranda at Raviniake. I hear a sad end came to all these through various 'bundle' (aka. overloading) activities.

We (the SI, 3 other vols and I) take the 2pm ferry back to Nadi as first leg to Yasawas. There's some confusion over bags and one of us (no - not me) miss the ferry, but all is OK in the end.

Leaving Raviniake, home for only a week, and a complete madhouse!

Castaway Island resort. The boat in the foreground (Teivov) is allegedly the fastest in Fiji. Around 28 feet with twin 200's, our MO has experienced a medivac onboard at speeds of up to 125mk/h!

Very nice evening in the Nadi Bay Hotel with excellent food and a couple of beers. We are staying at the cheaper Sunseeker hostel, but to be honest, the $24FJ (for NBH) versus $8.80FJ (for Sunseeker) does seem worth it. Bumped into a girl from last month's Darwin to Alice Springs trip here too - yup - small world and all that!

Monday 10 May 2004

Hire a taxi to take us briefly into town to try and find some supplies (at the local dive shop) but sadly this is pretty small and only a couple of guys find what they need. Take this back to the hostel, where there's a change of passengers before it carries on to the marina. I stay at the hostel, taking the bus (with no windows - like, open air affair) later. This is all to do with the baggage mix up from previous day, one of the girls needing to get to the marina, hoping to find a backpack we accidentally left the previous day. Like I said, all was well in the end though and this was found. Even had time for a quick brekkie at a coffee shop here before boarding the Yasawa Flyer.

We pass by many islands on the way, and arrive at Nacula and Safe Landing Resort a few hours later.

This resort is very small, and has three 'luxury' bures (with hot water showers and the like); a very small bar/dining area for the guests, and a couple more kindof grass hut things for further guest accommodation.

For our part, we discover there are two WCs and two cold water showers (limit of one per day for us, mind) that we share with the dorm guests, running water (not for drinking though), etc. The only source of drinking water round here is a large green 'tub' next to our bure, which is filled directly from the roof with rainwater. We have a laugh about this and one of the old vols here recounts how they found a fully decomposed bat in the freshwater supply at Rav!

Living arrangements are in a 12 bunk, 2 single bed dorm attached to a large bure (the one catching the rainwater) and the kitchen. Mod cons here are almost 24 hour electricity (the hum of the generator can be heard, but I figure we'll soon get used to that), a fridge/freezer in our kitchen, and a nice chef type local named Abraham who cooks 2 meals a day, 6 days a week, much to our delight.

Funnily, there is an alleged health hazard here from falling coconuts, but this has it's advantages as we can eat/drink as much coconut/milk as we like.

Tuesday 11 May 2004

Get stuck into the final part of our preparations for surveys with two dives - hard coral pointy and then a validation which all us new vols pass thankfully.

Things here are a lot more laid back than Rav and find time to do some laundry for the first time in Fiji. Also take a short run on the beach, although it's so small can't see this becoming a habit, four laps taking around 20 mins and proving a bit monotonous.

The other Rob here (who was of course here before me, so I become known as Robin from now on) was bitten by a mystery creature in the dorm tonight. I think I saw the thing slither away and it looked to me like a small snake (non-venomous), but after this, jokes of biting earth worms and the like circulated for some time. Either way, whatever it was didn't re-surface and we're all safe and sound.

Wednesday 12 May 2004

Invert/Algae/Soft coral pointy and validation today and again passes all round. Discover a game of volleyball after dives is the order of the day, but I can't join in due to pain in my finger from the tank injury, grrrrrr!

Our bure, kitchen, dorm and (under the blue tarp) medical tent kindof at the back of the Safe Landing Resort. Home for eight weeks.

Thursday 13 May 2004

Had quiet a restless night and found myself very tired today (actually, a theme that would continue for a long time here). The surveys here (at Coral Cay sites that is) are performed in two buddy pair teams, four people of course and we all need to practice the techniques in water, and form filling afterward before being let loose on the real thing. So, today we start of and I'm in the coral position. Actually, this means I'm looking out for hard corals only (not soft) and noting species, life forms, percentage cover of each and the like. We're doing this on a rather sandy area though so there's not much to note and things go smoothly.

Chilled out in a hammock by the beach after lunch (of salad!). Also tried to go swimming, but discovered that this is pretty much impossible at any time other than high tide, oh well.

Another practice survey in the afternoon, followed by great dinner of homemade burgers, baked potato, pumpkin and Chinese cabbage to end the day.

Sunset from outside our Bure, Safe Landing Resort.

Friday 14 May 2004

Last of the practice surveys today, and we (the new vols) are all fully validated. When Monday comes we will be surveying for real. Encountered a free swimming banded sea snake on one of these, which was pretty unusual!

Managed to go for a swim in the afternoon having figured the tides out (not that hard given the chart we have in our kitchen).

Saturday 15 May 2004

Finally, after two weeks of training and study we get to partake in a recreational dive. Visit the world class site, 'The Zoo' and are not disappointed. Second dive is round at our 'training' site, the Learning Support Room and is also very nice.

A hole in some coral, while diving at The Zoo. The 'dots' seen though this gap are actually schooling fish a further 10-15m below.

Rob on our first rec. dive at The Zoo (courtesy of Stuart).

A couple of staff show up from Castaway, delivering a new radio and other goodies and our chef puts on quiet a feast for us.

Abraham, our very talented chef poses with a buffet banquet prepared, I believe, in honour of a visit from Raviniake EL Henry.

Rather a drunken Saturday night ensues and the finish is around 3:30 from what I hear, although recollection of this is pretty shoddy ;-)

Sunday 16 May 2004

Up relatively early to get the choirs out of the way. Spend what seems like an eternity shifting sand by the wheelbarrow full from beach to bure. As a result spend the afternoon snoozing in a hammock by the beach while some of the group walk to the nearby Oarsman's resort.

The main beach at Safe Landing Resort.

Have a huge pizza dinner and JC (staff member from Rav) gives a small talk on Remote Sensing - the technology that is used to make some sense of our survey results and apply them to a larger area than we could possibly cover.

Monday 17 May 2004

Today we embark on first two real surveys, and all goes nicely to plan. Rav staff will be leaving shortly so write a couple of postcards for them to post in Nadi, take a short swim, relax, etc.

On bread making duty this evening and start a little late, so get to bed a little after the rest of the gang - around 11-ish, which for a 'school night' (ie. not Saturday) is quiet late.

Tuesday 18 May 2004

Awake feeling really rather ill with a dodgy stomach. There's way too much porridge available in the kitchen at brekkie so take a lot of that to see what effect this has. Also pleased to report my first batch of bread tastes pretty good (even if I do say so).

Although a dive is managed this morning, still not feeling tops after lunch so volunteer to miss a dive as the boat is required to take a staff member round to a local school. Luckily though am feeling better by the afternoon.

Do some more laundry today, and discover this is probably going to become a weekly chore, not bad given the meagre supply of clothes I brought wouldn't even last a long weekend at home! However, you must remember that most of the day is spend wearing swim/dive gear and the like.

Wednesday 19 May 2004

Finish reading 'Mostly Harmless' today, which doesn't really deserve mention, aside from to point out such is the hectic pace of life here (not!) that there is a lot of time for reading. In fact, many vols seem to do a lot more than myself and plough though books at an extraordinary rate. Luckily we have a small shelf of them that turns over regularly.

Thursday 20 May 2004

Two more surveys today, which should be the case from now on (stomach and weather permitting), and a stint at boat marshalling in the afternoon - which on a fine day is rather nice, on a bad day, obviously not so. The survey team accidentally 'drop' their fish buoy, but luckily they are in 8m of water at the time so was able to free dive down to deliver a new one.

Some 'outside' reading material finds it's way to camp, and although nothing special at all, anything out of the ordinary here seems to provoke a lot of fuss. There's a copy of 'Harpers Bizaar' (March 2004), 'Belle' (Feb/Mar 2004) and 'The Weekly Express' (May 11).

Personally, I flip through the magazines, but aside from a tiny proportion of the sports pages find the newspaper rather annoying. Having not been in the UK for six months, discussion of all the politics, social columns, etc. thrown around the table is a little annoying to say the least - nothing much seeming to have changed, and having grown tired of this as a result long ago.

Grounds outside our dorm, kindof behind Safe Landing Resort. See the volleyball court? See the palm trees, constantly dropping coconuts!

Very picturesque hammock hanging by the beach at Safe Landing. Many a sleepy Sunday afternoon was spent here.

Abraham (the chef of course) and a huge Jack about to be cooked up for our delight. Lovely in steaks covered in garlic butter. Well, that's how we ate it fresh, but the rest of this fish was frozen and actually fed ten-ish people for three meals!

Friday 21 May 2004

Couple more surveys again today, but this evening an idea has evolved that we are to have a 'romantic evening', so extra effort is made to set the table, etc.

The setting for our 'romantic dinner'. Notice the sunset in the background? Ah - nothing special - just part of the daily grind here

Erm... one slight problem is that there are too few girls, and aside from the obvious couple there's not much romance in the air. Cunningly, the male part of this couple decides to cross dress in order to balance out the girls number.

Saturday 22 May 2004

Two more very nice rec. dives today, although got really rather low on air in the first due to towing the SMB into a current while down around 25m.

Tree soft coral, while on a dive at The Zoo.

Glass Fish, while on a dive at The Zoo.

Pink Aneneme Fish, while on a dive at The Learning Support Room.

Reticulated Dascyllus (above branching acropora), while on a dive at The Learning Support Room.

A Sea Whip, while on a dive at The Learning Support Room.

In the afternoon a few of the locals were testing some PA equipment they intended to use for their church service the next day. Anyhow, they seemed to be having a bit of trouble so lent a hand with this for a while, receiving an invite to the village the next morning for my troubles. Didn't want to make any promises though, given this is Saturday night and all.

Sunday 23 May 2004

Erm... just as well promises weren't made last night, slept in and had pretty much a repeat of the previous Sunday lazing around after the chores are done.

Monday 24 May 2004-Sunday 30 May 2004

Mid-jumpy, twisty stuff... part of the leaving ritual that goes on when people... erm... leave.

Daily life is certainly very relaxing and as a consequence spend quiet a lot of time reading (as do most of the vols to be honest). Luckily our little bookshelf is constantly re-stocked with the comings and goings so think this might see me through (that and my slow rate of reading - although did 'The Davinci Code' in five days if this is any guide to the amount of free time?).

It really is diving come rain or shine too. Had to dive in my full length suit this week (normally wear a 2mm shortie in this 27-28 degree water) for no other reason than to keep warm in the boat on the way to the sites. In driving rain we sat, masks on faces even for our trip out, the bilge pump couldn't cope and the sea was so pummelled with rain that the surface looked almost solid! I make a comment about how cold it is, at 26 degrees out of the water!

Also discover the joys of the snorkel survey - when depth doesn't warrant a dive (and sometimes we do dive in just a few metres of water) we snorkel and survey from there. Trying to conserve fuel (apparently the budget is a bit tight of late) this happened a couple of times as these snorkel sites are quiet close.

Rob, taking it easy while waiting for the first team to finish their snorkel survey. Very nice it is here too. The resort behind is Oarsman's Bay, BTW.

Had a few troubles with my mask too, but as I always say, there's nothing that can't be fixed with a cable tie - and on two occasions (the first not so successful, obviously) made good on broken parts. Yup - you should definitely bring along spares and the like on this kind of trip.

The week finished with a couple of nice rec. dives to a couple of experimental dive sites. The first - Bonzai - was very nice, but the other Rob & I got quiet lost on the second dive and both managed to negotiate perfect squares in an underwater search for a known survey site. No big deal though - we have a good laugh about this.

Saturday night is spent playing silly games and even some charades, while Sunday is spent recovering. And the week ends as it started with yet more new vols to join. Quiet unexpectedly to be honest - they were due the following day, but were 'thrown out' of Rav. a day early through lack of space - which must have been a desperate situation as people often sleep on the 'lounge' and kitchen floor there at times.

Monday 31 May 2004-Sunday 6 June 2004

The weather really is deteriating at the moment, and although we are able to dive Monday morning, by the afternoon the wind is so strong our skipper (Tevita) thinks it's not a good plan to go out. Cunningly, he says the last time like this was when the older buras blew away. Hmmmm... I enquire more, and seems he's talking about a month or so ago when a cyclone swept though, demolishing said buras and the (at that time, tented) camp of Coral Cay. Oh dear - luckily his predictions are wrong this time and we are spared a similar scenario.

However, things are quiet bad and diving is out for some time this week (I think a day and a half, but somehow this seems like a lifetime, given the other entertainment options here). We spend time best we can (mainly reading, playing cards, etc.) and at one point organise a algae hunt/beach cleanup.

The group gathered round to inspect the results of an algae search on the beach. Note the coats worn by all - it does get chilly here sometimes. Must have been... ooooo... 24 Celsius at least

Rob serving bread for breakfast, as cooked by his own fine hands.
Recipe: 4 spoons yeast, 8 spoons sugar (mix and leave 30 mins), 1.5 spoons salt, 3 spoons oil, 6-7 cups flour (mix in, kneed & leave for 30 mins). Kneed once more, leave for further 20 mins before banging in hot oven for 35-40 mins. Reheat for 20 mins in the morning and voila!

Friday evening this week sees a rare treat... the local school headmaster visits the resort and brings some footage shot at a sports day, and the village round the corner. Quiet interesting, but there's more - we are treated to a showing of Austin Powers - Goldmemeber! I know this sounds silly, but after weeks with no TV/Radio/Cinema, etc. it's quiet nice. Did I already mention that any change from the norm is nice?

Our on site Medical Officer (MO) leaves on Saturday so no diving in the afternoon (yup - in fact no diving at all when there's no MO on site). Luckily there's been a spot of good planning and an early start sees two very nice rec. dives in today regardless.

Rather arty curvy piece of Black Coral, from rec. dive on N5 survey location.

Feather Stars, from rec. dive on N5 survey location.

What's that thing on the reef with the big shiny teeth?... it's a Moray!
There are many more lines, but I won't bore you. The consensus was this is probably a White Mouthed Moray, from rec. dive on N5 survey location.

Very nice tree soft coral, from rec. dive on N5 survey location. I have rather a lot of pictures of this tree stuff, it is very abundant in this area, and all looking really nice too.

As see on rec. dive on N6 survey location.

As see on rec. dive on N6 survey location.

There's chores to be done by way of boat maintenance to fill the arvo though, and spend this time in snorkel gear scrubbing at the bottom of it, preparing for new anti-foul paint. Saturday night is quiet tame by the standards set so far too, end up chatting in the bar 'til 1-ish or something before crashing out.

Another spellbinding subset at Safe Landing, Nacula.

Just as well there was an easy going night though, as Sunday is chock a block with usual chores, then more work on the boat. The new MO also shows up so diving will continue as per norm on Monday.

Boat maintenance day on our trusty vessel Cheeky Monkey. Slightly amusing to some locals is the fact that in Fijian, 'Monkey' means... erm... one who pleasures oneself... if you know what I mean
Obviously there is a plan to rename her, but we just didn't get round to it yet.

At this point, seems appropriate to mention that a good source of conversation and general interest (well, more so for some than others I guess) was generated by the local Safe Landing cat, affectionately (sometimes) known as Oreo. Although Oreo has been known to catch mice in the past, today we (the other Rob and I) tried to teach her some more about the skill... and after a while she got the idea. Hmmmm... not sure quiet what a good idea this has been, as she is beginning to think more and more that our dorm is her home, and not long after this incident dragged a dead mouse in there, in order to devour it under a bunk!

Oreo, the safe landing cat, and a mouse who's not having a very good day!

Oreo relaxing after a nice Sunday lunch

Oh well, sure it'll all work out for the best (although I can tell you - this wasn't so true for the mouse!). Anyhow, if you could believe the luck, Nigel (Mr boat, and everything else really, maintenance) who has been around all weekend (of course - we needed some guidance!) happens to have a laptop with him and numerous DVDs, so it's movie time again - this time the topical 'Finding Nemo'. Watch this, and hit the sack (erm - sleep sheet) pretty quickly.

Monday 7 June 2004-Sunday 13 June 2004

I read in my notes that this week, things seemed to be falling into a bit of a pattern. Sadly, part of this pattern seems to be a slightly dodgy stomach once in a while. Had to miss a day's diving this week as a result - not much going on so read almost the whole of Michael Crichton's 'Prey' that day.

On Thursday the weather is too bad to dive in the morning so we go for a bit of a walkabout. The afternoon is a real treat though as out on survey we pass a heard (erm... there was much debate about this, but allegedly that's the correct term for a group, not, 'pod') of about 90 Dolphins. Sadly there's no time to hop in and snorkel with them, but very nice all the same.

Saturday and we get to rec. dive The Zoo again. As always, this site doesn't disappoint.

As seen at the world class dive site, The Zoo.

As seen at the world class dive site, The Zoo.

As seen at the world class dive site, The Zoo.
Fishy fact: Members of this genus are characterised by having two penisies!

However, that's the only rec. dive this week as Tevita (the skipper) is busy at the local village (Naisisili). There is a fund raising event on, to allow new amenities to built. As part of this we are invited, and visit with other guests from the resort.

Lunch being prepared for us in Naisisili village.

Guests and Coral Cay guys eat away after being invited to the fund raising day, here at Naisisili village.

The Coral Cay dorm on Nacula. My home for eight weeks is the single bed, far end on the right. Mozzies aren't really a problem here, the net is only up to keep the flies off during the day. Actually, it also helps mark one's territory which is rather limited to say the least.

Monday 14 June 2004-Wednesday 16 June 2004

Was ill and miss a day's diving again this week. It's getting a bit annoying so pop a couple of pills to try and sort this. 2 x 500mg Ciprofloxacin certainly do the job and wasn't ill again! Nothing much new to report this week though, things are still going well, it's routine, but a very nice routine at that.

Playing volleyball as the sun goes down, Safe Landing Resort, Nacula.

Thursday 17 June 2004-Sunday 20 June 2004

As is the rule in Coral Cay, after seven tough (ahem!) weeks on expedition, vols are allowed a long weekend break from the rigours of camp. After another excellent survey (round at N5 - always good) in the morning it was time for me to take advantage of this, and left on the Flyer for a few nights away.

Given how far Nacula is from mainland Fiji the plan was to pop down to Waya (just two hours on the Flyer), partake in a spot of hiking in the hills thereabouts, relax a little, and generally do something other than dive and snorkel for a bit. Good plan, eh? Only once on the boat discover that bookings really are essential and there's not much choice of accommodation on offer - oh well, do I care? I mean, so I have to take the place with cold showers and no drinking water - how is this any different from anyplace else so far? So, after a few hours, rocked up on the beach at Ade's Place to see what was in store.

Actually, this was a top little... erm... hostel if you will (but not really), next to the beach and local village. Pluses include: No chores! Female company! (biggish) hills to climb! No 5:30 beer o'clock! Top scoff (although, to be fair, you can't really beat Abraham)!

After the first evening, talked a couple of the other guests to come for a trek (if that's what you can call it) up to the highpoint overlooking our bay. Actually, this was pretty tough going in places, but only an hour and a bit later the views were really rather rewarding.

A moss covered tree, here on a peak on Waya.

Not the highest peak on Waya, but pretty impressive all the same.

The view from a peak high above this cove, Waya.

Returning for lunch (and a few beers!) meant a brief spell of topping up the suntan, before another excellent diversion - a local rugby match.

The Fijians certainly do love their rugby, here's the local ground on Waya, a short distance from the local village, I think this was kindof in the school grounds.
A very good game it was too.

The gang of happy backpackers enjoy dinner at Ade's place, Waya.

Some sort of local monument? And the peaks above. The smaller peak on the left is where we climbed the previous day.

Sunset by the beach, Waya.

It's weird to think that during this time, the other guests were talking of 'home' sometimes, and all this made me think of, was my little corner of a dorm stuck in the back of the island slightly north of here. Bizaar but true, this really had become my home of late and I did rather look forward to returning by the time Sunday afternoon came round.

Rob leaving Ade's place, Waya.

Mmmmmmmm... Beeeer!

Monday 21 June 2004-Sunday 4 July 2004

Such is the pace of life here, that while thinking about the last week and a half of the stay, I thought of it as such a short period of time as to be completely insignificant.

This was also quit a turbulent time for the base at Safe Landing though. Firstly we had a changeover of ELs, then the other Rob left, making me the only 'old' vol on site. Coming full circle this left the job of doing a couple of in water validations down to me!

As tradition dictates, the Lovo dinner is served to the women first. Here at Safe Landing it's quiet a good spread.
That's outgoing EL Nancy on the left and the replacement Lene in the centre/

Coral Cay vols, and guests at Safe Landing alike, all tucking into the traditional Lovo dinner.

It's weird, but the last few days before other Rob left he was commenting on how everyone he arrived with, or who was onsite at that time had now left, and things were pretty strange for him. I didn't realise until he left, how true this is... being the person who's been at a site the longest sure was a strange feeling. In addition, I was handed the mantle of Fish Scribe and had the dubious honour of introducing this, which I did by way of a little ditty. To bring a little audience participation to the fore leaving the last syllable or two on each line to the gang to guess and complete. Original? Who knows, but it did go down pretty well.

On the 23rd I wrote in notes, 'Completely screw up right arm lifting kit from boat. Nasty cracking noises from elbow, but appears to be just muscular.' Missed three dives as a result of this, and had to be dragged onboard from then on in as lost just about all the strength in this arm.

Update: July 8 this injury was diagnosed via ultrasound as complete rupture of bicep distal tendon, had surgery to repair it July 12, in a cast for 6 weeks and will be 4 months before any real exercise can be done. Oh dear!

To show the acclimatisation that goes on too... the whole of the last week here I wore my full length wetsuit. This is a 2mm titanium lined jobbie, which has been worn in 17-18 degree water in Sydney, yet here it felt only just acceptable in 26 degrees! Yup - Life in Fiji will make you soft!

Update: Caught a bugger of a cold first day I landed in Sydney, given the 'freezing' late teen temperatures. More proof of Fiji softness!

Our survey 'scoreboard' at Safe Landing on the day of my departure.
Three divers out of the water, my Rabbitfish finally won Fish of the Day, and am quiet pleased to have racked up the 50th survey that morning.

Sunset on my last night at Safe Landing.

As is the tradition, my send-off sees the rest of the gang spelling (or rather trying to) out my name as the boat leaves.
Left to right: Keith, Luis, Adrian, George, Nick, Drew, Will (top effort!) and Lene. Cheers guys!

The final part of the trip involved a return to Nadi, and a very pleasant day and a bit at The Nadi Bay Hotel, where the crowd are friendly, and I spent a couple of evenings chatting with the collection of random strangers you'll meet at such a place. Random, yes, but always with interesting tales.

From the Yasawas Flyer, on the way back to Nadi.

The pool at the Nadi Bay Hotel, not a bad place to lounge around.

All in all, I'd had to say the time on this expedition was very worthwhile. Towards the end think I was looking forward to moving on, possibly because of the 'colder' weather, possible as everyone I came with and met along the way had been replaced by new, unfamiliar faces.

I really hope to be another expedition in the future, at another site of course, and really hope I can retain some of the marine knowledge gained upon the way.

Pics