Trautz' travel saga: Denerau area Fiji Sept 2012

Denerau is a yachtie marina hangout with cheap bus access to Nadi for shopping. We also sailed back down the coast to Robinson Crusoe Island where we joined in a feast and day of festivities. We had a kava tasting ceremony on Sirius, where Jules made the kava for us and shared the proper way to drink kava as she learned from Semi, a Fijian.

Beachcomber Island off of Nadi, Fiji

Casava plants; this root is a staple in the islands.

The sandbank out by Musket Cove as it dries out. A very popular place for kiteboarders.

A man selling eggplant at the Nadi market. Loved his white specs. About $1 for a pile of eggplant.

Hindu Temple in Nadi, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.

Hindu Temple in Nadi

Jason with coconut shells/bilos at kava ceremony.

Jason husking a coconut at Robinson Crusoe Island resort.

Jason drinking kava on Sirius.

Jules drinking kava on Sirius.

Jason at sandbank near Musket Cove.

Jules making kava in her new kava bag.

Karen drinking kava from a bilo--1/2 a coconut shell. You don't sip; drink it down all in one go.

The kava bowl almost empty.

Karen buying kava in the Nadi market.

Kava piles in the Nadi market. It smells and tastes kind of peppery.

Man with white face paint in kava market.

Powdered kava. Jules bought this for us to taste, but the root is proper for sevu sevu when presenting kava to a village chief.

Nadi market scene

Nadi food stalls outside the market

A ruined building in Nadi just a block from the main road. The floods earlier in the year drove many businesses out of business.

pre-packaged bundles of kava root for sevu sevu.

Rolled tobacco in the market at Nadi. Such artistic presentation; at first I thought it was a woven basket!

Robinson Crusoe Island beach

Hermit crabs for the race. A 2-liter Coke bottle houses them until the start.

And they're off! Mine came in about 5th I think. No prize.

The 'lovo' or stone oven in a pit. They put the food on the stones and cover them with banana leaves and wet burlap bags and sand to cook. Then the firewalkers walked on the hot coals after the food was taken off. The firewalkers here are pretty famous.

Blowing the triton shell to start the activities on Robinson Crusoe Island.

The Japanese troup practicing with the natives to be part of the show that night. Japanese students of English come here for 4-5 months to learn English and they were learning the native dance moves here.

A chunk of Lapita potter that was on our nature walk. Estimates put the Lapita at 3500 B.C.

The nature walk guide in a grass outfit he said the cannibals used to use to hide in the bush to ambush people.

Me lazing in a hammock chair on the beach--my feet.

Turtle shell from "turtle viewing" A guy buried himself under this shell in the sand and when the group came by for a turtle viewing he heaved himself out and scared the crap out of all of us!

There is a person under here and he moved the sand like a buried turtle breathing. The guide told us they keep the turtle covered to keep it hidden from locals who might hunt it to eat.

Then this guy jumps up and out and the laugh was on us!

A beach at Musket Cove, near Nadi, Fiji

A sunset at Musket Cove

Local seaweed called nama that is edible. I mixed it with tuna, tomato and onion and it was quite tasty. Couldn't eat a lot of it though. I just gathered it at low tide at the sand bank near Musket Cove after asking a local what he was doing and he explained.

Low tide at the sand bank

An old outrigger raft on Musket Cove

The BBQ fires on Musket Cove. Yachties bring their food to grill and the marina provides plates, cutlery and a bar. They do the cleanup afterwards, too.