Fiji

Kia – The Remote Island Paradise of the Great Sea Reef

10 - 14 April 2013 Kia Island in the horizon surrounded by the Great Sea Reef. Google Earth Map - Kia island It was a long 4 hour boat ride from Nukusa Village to Labasa Town where we stayed overnight before heading to Kia Island. We armed ourselves for the next stretch [...]

Udu Point – Freediving the Great Sea Reef

7 - 9 April 2013 The first time we saw the village of Nukusa from the boat, I thought how wonderfully situated it was. It is not a beachside village like the usual but one that is about 10 metres elevated from the sea. And then on second thought, I looked at all our luggage [...]

Udu Point – First Sunday at the Farthest End of the Great Sea Reef

7 April 2013 Google Earth Map - Kavewa to Udu Point, the farthest east we got in Fiji. (Click for larger map) Nukusa Village is the 4th to the last village from the tip of Vanua Levu. It is so remote that the villagers need to use up to 40 gallons of fuel [...]

Kavewa Island – Mangrove Reforestation and the Reefs

4 - 6 April 2013 A charming activity took the children of Kavewa by storm one overcast Saturday morning. All the school children from Kavewa Village had just come back home for the weekend from their boarding school in Drua Drua (another nearby island) when they were assigned to go pick as much propagules in [...]

Kavewa Island – Turtle Monitor

4 - 6 April 2013 Emosi Time, son of Kavewa Village chief is known as a Dau ni Vonu or Turtle Monitor. Emosi used to be a turtle hunter, catching turtles for turtle meat offered in traditional Fijian celebrations. Since 2011, Emosi has turned from the dark side and is now a guardian of turtles. Lifting [...]

Village Life in Kavewa Island

4 - 6 April 2013 Google Earth map of the Great Sea Reef showing distance we travelled from Mali Island to Kavewa Island. We departed Mali Island soon after our last amazing crab lunch to make it to Kavewa Island with the incoming tide, so we could dock right in front of the [...]

Mali Island – Diving, Spearfishing and Sea Snakes

2 - 3 April 2013 Google Earth - Mali Island, Fiji We had a grand opportunity of checking out the Great Sea Reef underwater while in Mali Island. Our Ligaulevu Village host Leone Vokai operates a brand new dive shop called the Great Sea Reef Divers and he invited us to go diving with him. [...]

Mali Island – Mangroves and Crabs

30 March - 2 April 2013 When we first received our shot list from Patricia Mallam of WWF South Pacific on what to document in the Great Sea Reef, one line jumped out like it was in ALL CAPS and in BOLD LETTERS. MUD CRABS!  Split level image of a mud crab (Scylla serrata) in the [...]

Days with the Chiefs – Mali Island (Nakawaqa Village, Vorovoro Island and Ligaulevu)

30 March - 2 April 2013 Mali Island Google Earth - Mali Island, Fiji The nearest island to Labasa Town is Mali Island, comprised of 3 villages on the island (Nakawaqa, Ligaulevu & Vesi) and 1 (Matailabasa) on mainland Vanua Levu. We visited 2 villages and experienced real Fijian life head on. [...]

Life in Navakasobu Village with Kava, Weaving and Fishing

30 March 2013 Navakasobu Village, Vanua Levu, Fiji Our wonderful guide and companion Koli Musudroka, WWF Field Officer for Labasa invited us to his village on Black Saturday. He had been telling us about the women in his village weaving a special kind of mat and traditional Fijian wedding costumes made of a reed locally called kuta. So we [...]