Taveuni Island

The day began with another 7:00 a.m. dive ... I'm finding it a wonderful way to start the day, and an opportunity not to be missed. According to my dive computer the waters have been consistently at the 27C mark, while the air temperature has been anywhere from 26 to 36C, hot but not uncomfortable, and not nearly as humid as I'd have imagined (at least not out on the water where there's almost always a slight breeze to cool things down). When we get back there's big breakfast waiting, usually a fresh omelette, or pancakes, or French Toast, so it's nice to have the opportunity to earn the calories ahead of time. Speaking of calories, I learned that even though scuba diving can be an extremely relaxing sport, it's also very energy consuming. I guess I'll have to test the scales when I get back...

Mid morning the bulk of the guests headed out on a long bike ride on Taveuni which ultimately ended at a national park and a wonderful waterfall. I opted to go on another dive, given I had the option to meet up with the group when the crew packed up lunch to meet them at the waterfalls. Once again the diving was terrific. Once back on the ship, the crew gave me a chance to change and then it was onto the launch for the trip to shore, and then climb aboard a truck to transport us to the meeting area.

Taveuni Island is known as "the Garden Island of Fiji", and it doesn't take long to see why: fruit plantations, very lush greenery, and the dense humidity that you know just keeps things growing month after month, year after year. After a 15-minute hike in from the road where we were dropped off, we met up with the gang. The spot was very picturesque, one of those scenes you'd see in a commercial: a long (100 feet?) drop into a deep pool, but warm enough to swim in. Some of our gang managed to climb the rocks behind the falls to dive 15 feet or so into the pool. The lunch was a somewhat elaborate picnic, with fixings for sandwiches, salads, and of course lots of tropical fruits.

We were back on board Tui Tai by 2:00, and then it was back out for my third dive of the day.

As we were out on the dive boat the Tui Tai had repositioned itself just off the Island of Qamea, so we had a bit of a return trip in an effort to catch up. Fortunately the water was fairly smooth. When the water is a bit rougher, I'd already experienced the feeling of being airborne as we bounced not-so-gently over the wave tops.

At about 5:00 we headed ashore to the village of Togo, home as it turns out, of our ship's captain. We had a tour of the village, then gathered in a large open air hut for traditional dance performances by kids, teens and adults. We also enjoyed a welcome through a Kava ceremony hosted by the chief. I don't think I could ever say I'd get to like kava, but at least I'm now learning to tolerate it and look very pleased when I pass back my empty bowl.

We headed back to ship well after dark, a process that was further complicated by the low tide conditions. We had a long wade in the dark out to our boat, and even once on the boat the motor couldn't be used because it was too shallow as we navigated through the reef by flashlight, while a crew member "poled" us out. Then it was cocktails, dinner, and once again, an early bedtime.

Sep 19, 2007

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