Vana Levu and Taveuni

It was a short cruise across Bligh Water (Captain Bligh and the mutiny fame) to Savusavu on Vana Levu, and time to get off the boat for a walk through the town, I had hurt my foot on the first day of the cruise and it was still hurting so I passed on a walking tour for 2 hours and just hobbled along the road to the town. I didn't go to the JB Hunter pearl shop as pearls are not really my thing and they are overpriced as well. Had a great coffee at a place that had a recommendation from Brooke Shields on the wall. It was fascinating to see these Lions (there are two facing each other) near the entrance to the market, If you look to the left of the photo there is a green pyramid on the table and that is Duruka (Fijian asparagus), I bought some to take back to the boat hoping to supplement my vegetarian fare and also some bananas, when I went to get back on the boat I was told 'we have a policy and do not cook things people bring on board', but someone whispered in my ear to ask quietly of the chef and that produced several days of interesting Duruka recipes,














The Savusavu area has been an old volcano and its a still active enough to have steam rising from the sand at several points along the bay. Look to the right of the third plant from the bottom and you will see the steam. With my sore foot I didn't want to venture down onto the dark sand, so will have to explore more next time.




















Next morning we pulled up anchor and cruised toward Taveuni, it was cloudy in the morning and had rained, Taveuni is called the 'garden island' and not wonder if its tropical and wet all the time. The weather cleared for us to go by bus to the Bouma Waterfall. Its certainly beautiful and there are two more waterfalls further up the mountain, two of our group walked to see them. The crew and others were jumping from the ledge into the water, and just to prove Aussies are not squibs, a senior lady in our group did a perfect dive in.


















The roads in Taveuni reminded me of my early days driving at Taylor's Arm, pot holes and mud, I didn't have to pass another bus like this driver, I had timber trucks to contend with when learning to drive. Its convenient for photos that the bus had no windows.













Taveuni exports a lot of produce and this is dalo, the root is a bit boring to eat but the leaves make a great soup, Lucky at the Suva house there are plants growing nearby and even Alex gave the soup a 'thumbs up', I'm determined to find some in Brisbane and today, its a few weeks later, I may have found a supplier at the West End market.