Our "Mystery" boat trip....

Bobo took us on a trip to Mystery Island today.  We walked with Bobo to Rukuruku village and took a boat with Boila, a local fisherman and friend of Bobo. 

Boys relaxing with Bobo on the way to Mystery Island

The boat trip was about a half an hour and when we arrived at the first stop on Mystery Island, the boys saw how beautiful the water looked and jumped straight off the boat. Then they ran along the beach and found a leaning palm tree that they took turns in jumping off. 

Louis jumped with an exuberant "Yeehaaaaaa!!!!"

....While Frankie plopped off the end....

We then took the boat around to the other side where Bobo and Phil jumped off the boat to catch some fish.  Boila got his fishing line out and was chopping up sardines as bait. He let the boys have a line too.  He caught two fish, one which Louis recognised as a “Sweet lips.” Louis wasn't keen on seeing the fish flapping around the floor of the boat though, he felt sorry for them.  

Good catch, Boila!

Frankie and I decided that the tail of the sardine was the most successful bait as it worked both times.  Then Bobo and Phil came back, Bobo had speared five trout - so that was lunch sorted then!  

Our advert for tropical shampoo.....

We headed to a deserted beach on the other side of the island for lunch. Bobo and Boila set up a camp fire to cook the fish, and the boys helped a little. Phil and I went for a snorkel before lunch and the boys played with their collection of hermit crabs.  When we got back, Boila cut us some special coconut - some coconuts have a plant that starts growing inside them after they’ve landed, it absorbs the coconut milk while it grows and creates a soft, spongy layer with a clear coconut flavour.  It was a tasty snack while waiting for lunch!   

inside the "special" coconut

We had a lovely picnic of fresh BBQ fish, breadfruit and coleslaw.  It was a beautiful beach and the water was really warm and a gorgeous turquoise colour.  We went for another snorkel afterwards and then had to head back to the other side of the island to a bar as we'd promised Bobo a beer! (Our first alcohol for two weeks!)  

The boys kept an eye on the fish while they cooked on our makeshift BBQ

"Lunch is served"

Our kind of picnic!

Frankie was very attached to one of the hermit crabs and put him in a small red drinks lid with some sand and water so he would feel comfortable.  He took him on the boat and when we got to the other side of the island, he decided to build him a little grave with Louis.  We did explain that he wasn’t actually dead yet, even though we were all very sad, so we called it a house instead.   When we had to leave I told Frankie it was kinder to leave Dwebble (the hermit crab) in his home that he'd built and he agreed but got very upset, he really wants a pet when we get back (probably not a crab though!)

Bye Bye Dwebble..........(sniff!)

Afterwards, the boys wrote "do not disturb" in the sand next their colourful house!

We left Mystery Island a bit later than we had planned to, so were trying to make up time before it got dark, even though we had an easterly wind and some choppy waves to contend with.  It was a fast, wet ride home!  The boys were at the front with Bobo and didn't get wet but loved the wave riding.  Phil and I felt like buckets of water were being repeatedly thrown at us and were completely soaked.  We put on our snorkel and mask for a joke at one point.

We were getting soaked, so only one thing for it......

Going home to Rukuruku

Thanks Bobo - it was another memorable day out altogether!

Our warm welcome at Rukuruku Primary School

Rukuruku, with the school visible on the left

Rukuruku Primary School

Rukuruku was established in the 70s when people from the village of Taviya in the neighbouring valley felt there was no more room.  The primary school there was set up a few years later and has enjoyed particularly good progress over the last 3 years since the current Headmaster, Sevanaia, was appointed. Children aged between 3 and 12 attend, first in kindergarten, and then in classes 1 to 8 where 4 teachers take 2 classes together, (i.e. 1 and 2, 3 and 4).

Louis and Frankie looking across the playing fields by the school sign

The award of World Heritage Status this year to Levuka, Ovalau’s principal town is likely to put Ovalau more firmly on the map for visitors, and Bobo, our well-respected host at Bobo’s Farm, and the Headmaster at Rukuruku Primary School are keen to explore how Rukuruku and the school can contribute to showing the traditional culture to visitors. Most people visiting Ovalau stay at Levuka, and so Bobo and the Headmaster are proposing a day visit to Rukuruku, enabling visitors to get to enjoy a morning exploring the flora and fauna of the valley, whilst swimming in the river and down the natural rock slides that exist there.  In the afternoon, it is proposed to take visitors to see Rukuruku Primary School, and to enjoy a formal Fijian welcome, drinking from the kava bowl with the staff, before enjoying the warmth of the Fijian hospitality, with the children singing some Fijian songs and performing some traditional dances, including a “meke,” accompanied by their peers on their Fijian musical instruments. 

Whilst visitors will enjoy and treasure this experience, there are also direct gains for the school; it will help build the childrens’ confidence, and give something for the younger ones to aspire to as they watch their older peers perform, whilst any donations that visitors feel genuinely moved to give will be used to contribute to books and equipment for the children to use.

So it was not without a strong sense of privilege that Jules, Louis, Frankie and I trooped down with Bobo to be the very first to experience this visit - a trial run, in a sense.  The walk to the school from Bobo’s Farm involved wading across a river, climbing up some steep banks in a neighbour’s farm and then walking along a stony hillside road for about a kilometre.

Rukuruku’s lovely children

Singing a happy song for us on our arrival

Even as we approached the school, all 50 or so children from the school were sitting down in a shady spot outside one of the school rooms singing a welcome song for us. You immediately sensed that they were enjoying this, which is no surprise -  during the 10 days we have spent here already in Rukuruku, it’s rare to pass someone and not get a friendly “Bula!” - Hello. We were introduced to Sevanaia, the Headmaster, who hosted our visit from then on. There followed several other songs, Louis giving me an urgent “Daddy, don’t be so embarrassing” stare when I attempted to join in with the actions. We were then ushered to some chairs facing the large rugby field, where some of the older girls and then boys performed some dancing.  You were struck by how much preparation and effort they must have put into this, and you could see by looking at the younger observers that they would like to be up there dancing too. As the Head put it, this also gives the children a chance practice dancing, another example of where he is encouraging children to explore where their talents lie.

First the older girls danced for us.....

....then the boys danced

...then the whole school sang!

After this we sat down for some refreshments, some delicious local fruit including sugar cane that we haven’t had yet a chance to sample. 

Our boys were a little reserved at first, it took a couple of songs before they could even break into a smile  They both gained in confidence however, and after the dancing, they went off to play football with the other kids, while the adults drank kava from the welcome bowl, had a tour of the school, and then watched the children play.  The Headmaster was accompanied by two of his teachers and Bobo. 

The library was stocked with well-thumbed books, you felt that sending in more books would be a valuable way to contribute and we resolved to keep in touch via the website/facebook. 

Our boys then came back to us, looking distinctly exhausted and asking Jules for some water. They sat together for a while and began to speak with some of the children Jules had been entertaining.Jules explained to them about the slides we had of Louis and Frankie, and asked them if they would like to see these. We noticed while this was happening, some of the children were sweeping the classrooms and stacking the chairs onto the desks, an end of school routine shared by all children. 

Everyone respects the "Flag lowering" ceremony

At that point, school was coming to a close, marked by a formal flag lowering ceremony managed completed by the children. One of the older boys calling out the instructions to the carefully lined up children, who had organised and spaced themselves out whilst being guided by a boy barking instructions into a loudhailer. Another two boys drummed a beat whilst the flag was lowered.  The silence and respect at this point as everyone stood transfixed by the lowering flag was almost tangible. This was another example of how easily responsibility sits with the children. 

Louis and Frankie talking about home

Although school was formally finished at this point, about 20 children from the classes 7 and 8 filed into their classroom where we set up our Macbook. They obediently came in and sat down on the floor in silence, looking up at us expectantly. There were no staff present.  I explained the purpose and asked the kids if they’d be interested in seeing some pictures of the boys home and school life, they were keen to do so, so we carried on.  

Louis and Frankie with a few slides from home and school life in England

Our boys grew in confidence as we progressed, adding in comments about the slides and pausing occasionally to discuss further.  They listened and watched intently and laughed as we went through it. They particularly liked the shot of Louis’ wiggly bottom on the §Galapagos boat!  We then showed our “Goodbye South America” video, the children clearly enjoying the animal video elements the most. I suggested to the children that we’d love a group shot of the class, expecting a few minutes of chaos which normally follows such an instruction.  Within literally seconds, however, with no intervention whatsoever, the children had organised themselves into three rows - and were already smiling in anticipation of the shot!

The after school club!

After school......

We sat with the Headmaster and his staff for a couple of hours, enjoying more kava,and finding out more about the school and Rukuruku, whilst watching a couple of the older boys who had stayed to do rugby practice; their shooting was amazing, converting shot after shot from tight angles. Somehow it seemed appropriate that Fiji had only last month won a World Rugby Sevens competition, in Hong Kong. 

Sevanaia is clearly an inspirational leader for the school.  He is passionate about putting children first, and whilst the curriculum is there as a guideline, he empowers his teachers to engender in the children an attitude of discovery and desire to learn for themselves. We saw plenty of examples of where the children had taken some basic instructions on an assignment and then set about completing it very effectively in small groups. 

Sevanaia is also keen on equipping the children with knowledge of traditional skills, and so has introduced, for example, opportunities for children to participate in gardening and arts and crafts, again, to help children discover their own talents. He even had them helping to lay the tiled floor in one of the classrooms!

Julia with Bobo, Sevanaia and Leikine, the boys' teacher

The responsibility and sharing we see in the school mirrors a strong community ethic in the village, evidenced, for example, by the fact that the first week every month, local adults focus on cleaning the village, cutting hedges, cleaning drains and cutting the not inconsiderable school rugby pitch - which itself takes 15 people half a day! The sense of neatness and tidyness of the village as you walk around the village shows the civic pride and community spirit of the people of Rukuruku.

Our boys were very fortunate to be invited back to spend a day in class the following day, with their new friends (see separate blog entry “Louis and Frankie’s first day at school.......since October!”)  We’d spent a thoroughly delightful afternoon at the school and came away with a strong sense of the cultural traditions and values instilled there. We are very grateful to Sevanaia and his staff and children at the Rukuruku Primary School for the time and energy devoted to our visit.

Moloi Island - ours for a day!

Bobo wandered over to our cabin after breakfast and announced that the weather was fine so we'd take a trip over to Moloi island today. We were quite excited about this trip; it's something of a highlight when staying at Rukuruku. Moloi island is in fact a beautiful white sandbank, in the middle of the ocean, that only appears as the high tide subsides. We would have our very own island!

An hour later we were pushing Bobo's boat off from the Rukuruku shore.  It was high tide, there was no beach, the water came right up to the edge of the grassy village. Bobo put a line out for Frankie to tow, to try and catch a fish on the way. We made our way slowly out to sea, away from the bay and the surrounding reef that extends out some 100 metres all along the coast and headed west. It was a warm, sunny day and the few clouds as we left Rukuruku soon moved past.

Almost there......

We motored west for over 40 minutes before you could begin to see something - a stripe of light blue set in the dark blue sea in the distance just below the horizon.  As we approached, it became lighter, more turquoise, and then in the turquoise you could clearly make out a further sand-coloured stripe within this. Minutes later you could distinguish the splashing of the water as it met across the tiny sandbank from both sides.  Perfect timing! We anchored up in shallow water a few metres from what would soon be our island paradise for the day.

Our own paradise island......for the day

The water is like a warm bath!

The waters receded surprisingly quickly,  Bobo pointing out for the boys at one end of the island where the basking sharks were moving around lazily.

Bobo showing Frankie the basking sharks

Bobo suggested that we went out for a snorkel while he prepared the picnic lunch. We grabbed our masks and snorkels, and, all our spitting and rubbing routines completed, ventured into the water. It was warm, so warm that you didn't need to make any decision about the moment you were going to " go in", you just gently fell forward and let yourself be enveloped by the sea's warmth.  We headed over some shallow coral and towards the edge of the reef. Lots of parrot fish, yellow tailed fusiliers, angel fish, it was very colourful and the best visibility we'd had for a while.  We had no fins on so we all swam slowly with our arms, rather than our usual snorkelling practice of holding hands and gently kicking. This meant that when I did see a white tip reef shark, the others were a few metres away and missed it.  By the time I'd called them over, it had moved on.  The boys practiced their diving from time to time, you could see them having to work pretty hard to descend though, without fins.

Bobo waved and we paddled slowly back. He'd prepared a lovely picnic, even using a conch shell we'd found for the cucumber salad!  It felt quite indulgent to be eating on this tiny island in the ocean on such a sunny day. Afterwards, we snorkelled with Bobo - he had his spear with him and it wasn't just for show. He caught three fish in short order which Karin cooked for dinner that evening.  One in particular was a coral trout, absolutely delicious.

Our island got bigger as the tide went out

......and sadly we had to leave 

Rukuruku just coming into view on our way back

Our rainforest haven at Bobo’s Farm, Rukuruku

We have enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the Fijian rainforest at wonderful Bobo’s Farm, near Rukuruku for two weeks. Bobo’s farm is situated in a rainforest valley, about a kilometre from Rukuruku. You cross a stream, climb a hill through a neighbouring farm and walk along a stony hillside track to get to the village.  It is very lush, and there are huge toads everywhere!

A soggy walk to the village

Rukuruku is a small village 14 km from Levuka, the principal town on the island of Ovalau, which itself lies to the east of Viti Levu, the largest of the Fijian islands where the majority of visitors to Fiji go.  Levuka was the capital of Fiji, and an important South Pacific trading town until Suva, on Viti Levu, became the capital in the late 19th century.  

Levuka is a charming, quiet town, bordering the sea, with perhaps only 4,000 people, and relatively few outside visitors - for example, there aren’t even any direct flights from Nadi,  the main airport hub on Viti Levu through most visitors pass. Some of those that do visit, stay at the tranquil Royal Hotel, Fiji’s oldest, and one of several old colonial style buildings in Levuka. Somehow fittingly, therefore, Levuka is soon to be recognised with World Heritage status, thus hopefully protecting the authentic sense of Fijian life you get from travelling around Ovalau.

If you are going to stay in Rukuruku, though, then you’d better contact Bobo first, because Bobo’s Farm is the only place where visitors stay - and they only have one cabin. 

Our cabin from the garden

.....or viewed from the path above

Bobo and Karin said on our first night: “When you are here, you are not our guests, you are part of our family” and there has certainly been a very homely feel to our time here.  In fact in keeping with the family analogy, it’s a little like Jules and I are kids again with the boys and we are all staying at a favourite Auntie and Uncle for a fortnight!  “Auntie” Karin prepares some amazing authentic, home-cooked Fijian cuisine for lunch and dinner (much the healthier option to us doing all our own meals) whilst “Uncle” Bobo takes us out on brilliant trips - a squelchy rainforest walk to a natural water slide, or a boat to a picnic on “disappearing” island of Moloi, or a ride in the back of a truck to Levuka, to name but three.

We had a formal welcome ceremony, where we all donned sulus (like saris) and sat down and drank together from the kava bowl, a traditional drink, carefully prepared from water mixed with powder derived from the root of the kava plant. 

Bobo showing us the dried kava before preparing it in the bowl

It's not alcoholic......

Our first meal......

Having a table and chairs, and a kitchenette in our cabin has helped us re-establish a routine here, preparing breakfast and then doing some travel school with the boys most days.  They’ve even managed to attend the local primary school for a couple of days!

Wish this happened a little more often

After dinner, we often sit down on the floor for a game of Vidividi, a game I’d also previously come across in Nepal, where it is known as Carimball.  It’s a little like pool, but you flick flat counters with your fingers rather than shoot balls with a cue.

The boys got the hand of it after a while

The boys love coming to Bobo and Karin’s house as they get a chance to spend time with their two friendly dogs, three iguanas and six cats!

Didn't have one that green at my birthday party!

He's lovely and his claws aren't really that sharp either!

This has been a time of calm and relaxed, down to earth family time together after the rather frenetic pace of New Zealand.  

We’ve written up about a few of our special days at Bobo's Farm with separate blog entries.