Day 62, Year 2: Daliconi Village to the Bay of Islands
Date: Monday, June 25, 2007
Weather: Sunny Day with Periods of Misty Rain
Location: Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu, Northern Lau Group

We have been transported back to New Zealand. By moving no more than seven miles, we are in a totally different place and it looks and feels very much like the Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand. This bay is totally uninhabited except by huge fruit bats, Fiji pigeons, herons, and Windbird. And there are so many little tiny islands. We went exploring in our dinghy after arriving this afternoon and I felt like I was in a fairy land of odd-shaped islands. Very Tolkeinish. There appears to be no way to get on shore, however. There are no beaches and landing areas. The limestone cliffs just rise up out of the water. The islands are undercut like the islands in Vava’u in Tonga where the water has eroded away the base. We wove in and out of the islands and at one point disturbed an island habitat of bats. All of a sudden there were hundreds in the sky above us. Some were still hanging in the trees, but most were making their little bat noise and flying overhead. I do hope these creatures are fruit bats and not vampire bats! We are anchored in beautiful turquoise water, and if there is any disappointment, it is that there doesn’t appear to be good snorkeling here. As we rode around in the dinghy, we saw lots of rock, but very little coral and almost no small, colorful fish. There are lots of eating-sized fish, however, so maybe we should put a line out. This place is so peaceful and beautiful.

Before leaving Daliconi this morning, we visited the primary school. The school here has Class 1 through Class 8 students. There were 29 students in attendance today and 20 of them were boys. Four of the nine girls are in Class 2 and Class 1 has only six boys–no girls. When these children grow up, they are going to have to go off-island to find mates. Lako, the woman that we had dinner with yesterday, met us and walked to the school with us. It rained during the night, and the red clay mud stuck to the bottom of our sandals as we walked over the hill and down in to the little valley where the school is located. There was a nice green playing field for the children and four buildings. Two were homes for the teachers and the the other two buildings were the classrooms. One building houses Class 1 and Class 2 students. And the other building houses the school office and the classrooms for Classes 3-6 and Classes 7-8. We met Pauline, the head teacher and Class 1 and 2 teacher. She had us sign their visitor book and then introduced us to the Class 7-8 male teacher. His wife is the Class 3-6 teacher and she was out in the field with the students. The day here is started with the toothbrush drill, just like in Dravuni, and she was overseeing this activity and the morning exercises. We met a young minister who comes each Monday morning to teach a bible lesson before formal school starts. Pauline, the head teacher, had her two year-old grandson with her, and the married couple had their four year-old with them. They attend school along with the other children. Since Lako was with us, we didn’t stay long to observe. We stayed through the bible lesson, and then we were asked to talk with the children. After that, they went to class and we walked back to the village. We had forgotten to bring a dish and dish towel that Lako had sent home with us yesterday filled with fried barracuda, so we invited Lako to come to the boat with us to get her bowl and see our home on the water. On our way through the village, we were invited to come into a home for tea and breakfast. There were about eight woman sitting on either side of a long cloth runner on the floor. The breakfast had been for the Telecom crew working in the village, so we got to have more of those wonderful Fiji pancakes. Actually, they are like yeasted-donuts, deep-fried in oil. They are really good. After tea, we continued on to the beach and headed out to Windbird. We gave Lako a big jug of New Hampshire maple syrup for being such a gracious hostess and then took her back to shore.

We waited until after one o’clock to head northwest back to the Bay of Islands. Since we were backtracking, it was not one of those tense reef passages. We just went back the way we came. We have no detailed charts of this area, but everyone assured us the Bay of Islands are easy to navigate with no obstructions. We found that to be true. So we are anchored in a little cove very close to shore and the lapping of the water on the rocky cliffs is a delightful sound. I think we will sleep well tonight.

070625 Day 62 Vanua Balavu Island, Fiji–Dinghy Ride in the Bay of Islands

070625 Day 62 Vanua Balavu Island, Fiji–Daliconi Primary School Visit