Out to the Lau’s

Bula Bula Boatblog ® Fans,

In Fiji, even the plants are welcoming.

Our last instalment left you just as we had arrived at The Bay of Islands in Vanua Balavu which is the main island in the Lau Group. It is all very remote and stunningly beautiful, and we were the only boat there. 

Well almost – our friends on Atreju were in the bay round the corner which was nice – but apart from that we had The Bay of Islands to ourselves.

We stayed a few days there and then went round to the other side of the island, eventually ending up in a little village called Susui. 

Fortunately for us, the day the we arrived there was an important festival going on. The roving church minister was coming to the island and they were all looking forward to hearing The Word of God. As part of the preparations for his arrival, they had arranged an enormous feast, and Domini and Atreju were lucky enough to be invited. They asked us to dress for dinner, so using some of Lyn’s sarongs we improvised a traditional sulu, which is the Fijian skirt that the men wear for special occasions.

The feast was mostly fish caught that day or freshly harvested taro and coconut,

…all cooked in an underground earth oven.

It was absolutely delicious,

… though we were a little squeamish about eating the turtle.

The next day Jacob who is one of the village elders, said he would take us out on an oyster hunt.

The oysters grow on the mangroves and you have to dive under the roots and then whack them off with a hammer.

To the untrained eye, they are almost impossible to see.

But with a bit of perseverance,

…and a lot of help from Jacob,

…it wasn’t long before we had a bucketful of oysters.

Add some lime juice and bongo chilli and you have a really delicious slap up meal. 

Even for an oyster-phobe like Ju.

Thank you Jacob!

But now we have to race back to the main Fijian Island of Viti Levu, so that Lyn can get back home. 

Because the most exciting news of this blog is that Alice & Ben have had another baby.

Bula Bula Magnus!

Ju & Lyn

What – no sunsets? – Ed

Oh, go on then.