Journey Back to Zulu, Fiji

July through October, 2012

Via Christmas Island, Kirimati; Vuda Point Marina, Viti Levu; Pits for boats are available for the hurricane season;  Fijian service people are friendly but most operate on Fiji time; First Landing Resort; Sunset Bar.

Vuda Point, Viti Levu--Lat 17 Degrees 40.82’ S, Long 177 Degrees 23.16’E
 
July 16 found me flying from Portland to Honolulu to Christmas Island in Kirimati—just north of the equator--to Nadi and Vuda Point Marina, Fiji.

Via Christmas Island, Kirimati (pronounced Kiribas)

When numb from exhaustion I see the board reads Qantas Flight No. 1438 operated by Air Pacific is making a stop at Christmas Island? I thought I was getting hi-jacked to the Indian Ocean. But no, this was Christmas Island in Kirimati—just north of the equator about 1200 miles from Honolulu.

The Boeing 737 took off past Diamond Head and down the Hawaiian chain: Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the Big Island of Hawaii. The seas were white-capped and I was glad I was in the sky.

Bula! The flight attendants said. Hello, in Fijian. How gracious they were in their tropical attire and flowers in their hair. There was no trouble getting a vegetarian meal—compared to United’s 747 where the chicken tray is thrown at you even though you ordered veggie months in advance. Like it or leave it they said!

Wine came with the curry. I chose NZ white, and immediately spilled it over myself from exhaustion.

“That is alright. “ The attendant said with a smile. “It is white.”

I had to smile at the up side and soon enough I had another small bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc to sip as I relaxed into the first leg of the journey.

We flew low over Christmas Island, the claim being it is the largest atoll in the world—another such claim! The inner lagoon is a massive maze of saltwater ponds and channels. They look like craters on Mars, but filled with blue-green water.

They say the clouds are green from the reflections in the lagoon. I missed that for gluing my eyes on what seemed like a ribcage of sand in the middle of the ocean.  It was EXCITING. The lagoon is so wide that you cannot see the end from the beginning.

Kiribati is made up the Gilbert, Phoenix, and parts of the Line Islands. These amount to thirty three (??) islands about 4 degrees on either side of the equator and stretching over about, unbelievably, 2,400 miles!

Can you believe the Gilbertese alphabet has only 13 letters and is missing an s. However, a t followed by an i is pronounced as an s. So Christmas Island is pronounced ‘kirisimas’. Just something I throw in that flaws me in the name of language structure.

We came to a ‘dusty’ stop, a mixture of sand and coral on either side of the runway. Nowhere land! Barefoot islanders set orange cones in place to ‘guide’ those disembarking for Immigration—a few islanders and about three pale-faced,  bill-capped backpacker adventurers with looks of bewilderment about them.

You could not miss Immigration! It was a stone’s throw away and the only building in sight: a square two-door and two-windowed building with a corrugated tin roof. The handwritten sign on one side said Immigration. Next to it another sign said Executive Lounge. How absolutely precious.

This atoll sanctuary is filled with sea birds, and is a bait-filled breeding ground in the shallow salt pools. Serious coast kayak fishermen mark this place for the remote experience of all that is remote. There is the adrenalin of pulling in giant Trevalli and 100 lb Ulua—the latter reminding me of the ‘Churchill’  fish (I made this up) a roundish silver fish with a big pouty mouth sans cigar. These must be caught and released.

Along with this adrenalin comes, too, a sort of sedation from sun and blue-green sea. You feel so alone out here. Out of contact with the world, the world made up of a few friendly Christmas Islanders and three villages called—Banana, London, and Poland. What? Apparently named in the 1960s when nuclear testing was taking place. Ooooh!

The barefoot islanders finish taking luggage off the plane, and no sooner landed we take off again headed for Nadi, Fiji.

Vuda Point Marina, Viti Levu

I arrived as if I had fallen out of a Christmas present in the sky. Surprise! Did it all happen? None of my suitcases arrived with me. They were still in San Francisco and followed three days later looking as if they hit a semi-truck.

By mere fluke, I was offered a taxi ride with some Kiwis headed for Vuda Point Marina, as I debated taking a ride with an airport official who was keen to earn a few more dollars. That was suspect though.

I arrived at the Marina safely about 9:00 PM with the Kiwis. Jerry, the Fijian night security man rowed me over to Zulu. He asked who I was and I told him I was Russ Nason’s wife.


Jerry, Vuda Point Marina night security person, gives me thumbs up and rows me to a locked Zulu. He asks if I am Russ’ real wife as he had seen him with a Tongan woman.

“Are you his real wife?” He asked.

“Yes.” I said.

“Hmmmm. I saw him with a Tongan woman.” Shooooooo. Don’t say anything to him.”

Jerry was ‘looking after’ me, since Russ was not on board Zulu and he thought perhaps  he was cavorting around. Truth is Russ was at our friends place overnight—Peter the Canadian who is married to Katalina, a Tongan.  Russ had shared a beer or two with Katalina at Vuda Point and Jerry had noticed.

Later we enjoyed a few visits with them remembering days of long ago when Peter sailed single handed from Vancouver Island, Canada to Tonga on his 25ft  ‘Kailui’ and scooped up the prettiest dancer on the beach to become his bride.

 
Peter and Katalina in Fiji today with their current steel boat Tavake, which he built in Sooke, Vancouver Island in the 1980s before moving to Fiji.

Vuda Point Marina is a haven from the open waters for yachts. It is a small oasis with showers and laundry, a resort with spa, small general store and chandlery, café, yacht services and haul-out facilities.  Om Vuda Pt. itself there is a boutique, an apartment with a gorgeous view, the Boatshed restaurant and charming Sunset Bar with a million-dollar view to the sea.

It is a small marina that entrepreneur Tony Phillips Sr. dug out successfully and which is a cross-roads for boats from all over the world.  They cut through the silent waters of the pass and moor Mediterranean style to the marina wall. A time for fellow sailors to say hello, swap sea stories, and say goodbye. Life at Vuda Pt. is somewhat like being in a bird cage though. All can see your comings and goings and in a good way all know the vignettes of each others’ lives.


Vuda Point Marina is between Lautoka and Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji. Tony Phillips Sr. was the entrepreneur who had the idea to scoop out a big hole in the earth and create this marina. The building with the curved roof is his apartment we rented when Zulu got hauled out (see later post: Zulu on the hard).

            






The Sunset bar on Vuda Pt. is right next to the channel that leads into the Marina. See Zulu reflected in the water and other boats tied Mediterranean style to the Marina wall. An orange ball is at center to tie up to temporarily, before finding a berth or to make quick fixes e.g., at top of the mast. Dawn breaks in rose colour and it is still, as if the day can be framed in sailors’ reflection.

Pits for boats are available for the hurricane season

During the hurricane season—November through April--some yachts people choose to leave their boats in the protected marina waters and others make the wiser decision to haul out and have their boats lowered into a pit dug out the size and depth of the boat and surrounded by car tires. It’s as if the boats are put to bed in mother earth to be awaken when storms have abated.


 
Boats lowered into pits for the hurricane season November to April.
 
Fijian service people are friendly, but most operate on Fiji time

The Fijian service people always greet you with ‘Bula’—hello--and a sincere smile often with gaps between their teeth. They are helpful and open and friendly and proud of their island and appreciative of us visitors to their country. Although most are on ‘Fiji time’ probably because of the heat, they are hard workers working long hours with happy attitudes always eager to please.

So often they will say ‘yes’ to your needs or questions just to please you or keep you at bay. Saying ‘no’ is hard for them to do.


Milika and Miliana: store keeper and housekeeper, respectively. See the sweet touch of a frangipani flower and a cold drink just purchased from the store in the cleaning bucket!

First Landing Resort
First Landing Resort is just a 5 minute walk away and is where I find pockets of peace and shade and time to be alone away from da hot boat! 

My daily ritual is to walk the short beach in the afternoons , read under the shade of the Big Tree while sipping Tonic water with ice and limes, and swim up the small boat resort channel in the ocean—with reef on one side.

Cooling off from what can be unbearable heat is dream. Even though the sea water is often too warm at bath temperature, a breeze caresses the body. There are times while in the sea I hear the Fijians practicing their songs a capello style on a lawn behind palms. In the distance see their slow dance steps: bending and swaying like trees. Punctuating with hand claps—gentle movement. These moments are perfection.

First Landing is like a little Garden of Eden where I can meditate and refresh my spirit.  It is called First Landing, because it is believed that this is where the ‘first’ Fijians landed from ‘I-still-don’t-know-where’.

 “Most Fijian people trace their descent through some ten generations to the landing of the canoe the Kaunitoni and the chiefs Lutunasobasoba and Degei. The canoe is said to have landed at Vuda between Lautoka and Nadi where Lutunasobasoba chose to remain. Others moved towards the Ra coast and settled on the seaward slopes of the Kauvadra range. Degei, who was subsequently deified, had numerous sons. They quarreled and with their followers moved over much of Fiji until they finally settled, took wives from among the local people and founded the families that grew into the present chiefly yavusa recognised to this day. The yavusa is the largest social unit of the Fijians. According to R.A. Derrick in his History of Fiji (Government Press, Suva, 1946), a yavusa is strictly neither a tribe nor a clan; its members are direct agnate descendants of a single kalou-vu or deified ancestor; the unit originating from the Lutunasobasoba migration.”

It’s been a long while since the canoe landed at First Landing and I’ve read further that people inhabited these islands 2000 years BC!

I enter back into current Fiji time and while away my days looking at island resort life happening: guests being served food or drinks, or boarding small boats for outer islands; song birds in the Big Tree; sail boats cutting their way through the seas of varied blues and grays; dive adventure boats arriving; kayaks paddling through the shimmering water; and an odd brave guest venturing into the channel for a swim and chat with me.

Sometimes I cross over a bridge to a small island, seek out a comfortable rock—my rock-- and sit there looking to the horizon as the cool late afternoon breeze blows my hair and the sun sinks toward the horizon.

I even sit on the sidelines of a few wedding ceremonies after watching the resort staff prepare the setting. There certainly are many that take place on this sweet island shore.  And it resonates with me what an important step marriage is and how much work it takes to make it last.

In the end, when the day has turned to dusk, before the guests sit down to dine and the Fijian ‘warriors’ leap onto the stage and dancers and fire dancers leap into action and voices rise in song, I return to Zulu—and enter my floating reality.


 
 


My pocket of peace: steps to First Landing; the Big Tree for shade with blue kayaks and a Fijian at rest; the small boat dock where I swim up the channel; the bridge to the islet where I wait for dusk; the beach at low tide; a small dive boat called Kalo returning to the dock (Kalo is the name of my daughter, Sarah’s cat.)
 
    

The boutique beach in front of First Landing; preparation for the wedding; the ‘warrior’ awaits the signal to make the conch shell call for the bridal procession to start; the simple beach wedding setting with bougainvillea petals sprinkled on a pathway; the sweet procession; Peter returns from playing.

The Sunset Bar

The Sunset Bar at Vuda Point is a prime destination for reprieve. After a sweltering day what a pleasure it is to sit with a low-lying crow’s nest view of the ocean and sip a Fiji Bitter or Tonic Water with ice and lime, and melt into the colours of stunning sunsets.

One thing usually leads to the next and dinner always tempts. Fresh grilled Walu served with yams and greens or chips and salad. Delicious!  Enjoy the nourishment as the light fades and night comes on with a kiss of a breeze.

Every Sunday a band plays on this point from 2:00 to 6:00 PM. The location attracts a different mix of people from the usual Kiwi or Oz resort types at First Landing. There are both windblown yachties and more affluent locals who saunter in for the music dressed in casual chic Fijian style. 

Overflow of people gather on the lawn to enjoy their aperitif of choice while children run around and play. The music rhythms entice dance and bring smiles and laughter. Then at six the band packs up and people say their goodbyes and saunter off into the tropical night.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights are movie nights. After the sun has left center stage leaving behind crimson and orange skies people find their places in front of the outdoor screen. Cold drinks and light bites add to the pleasure of a night at the movies under the stars.

At the end of each month a Fijian market is set up on the lawn, which goes on into the night. The wares cover a large spectrum from crafts to wine.

Lastly, when the rain comes and the winds blow and the magic of colour turns to gray, people still are drawn to the Sunset Bar. A chalk board wets the appetite of passer byes listing FD$10 rainy day specials = US$6 approximately: BBQ chicken breasts on roasted vegetables; Walu fish with potato salad; hamburgers and chips.

The sunset bar is a gathering place rain or shine. It is a destination: a place to refresh, to lift the spirit, to engage in human contact or to find solitude, and to witness day turning into night. 

 
 
 


The Sunset Bar is perched overlooking the ocean and the channel leading into the marina. It is a destination for human contact, nourishment, and to witness day turning into night.

“It's been the worst cruising season ever.” Russ says as he hasn’t really done any cruising.

But what’s wrong with the pictures?  It has been a tropical vacation for me!  A time to soften up and rejuvenate. To watch the sea from the shore, before the next onslaught of SALT!

Sailing and salt take you places though, and Russ wants to go to: Vanuatu, the Solomons, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Malaysia. Throw in Corsica.

“I guess I’ll fly to Corsica.” He says.

The wheel of time turns. I, too, look back from the point of life’s end and IMAGINE what I must still do now.  What is my purpose? But for now I look at palms swaying against a backdrop of sea, feel the onshore breezes, and touch the end of each day with the finality of the green flash.

Life is short.