Day 76, Year 2: Bus Trip to Waisali Nature Reserve and the Town of Labasa
Date: Monday, July 9, 2007
Weather: Beautiful Day
Location: Savusavu, Vanua Levu
It’s 9 PM and we just got home. We left Windbird at 7 AM to catch the early bus north across the island of Vanua Levu. We had really only planned to take the bus to the town of Labasa on the north coast, but at the last minute we decided to make a stop on the way. There are no printed bus schedules here, so after talking to the bus driver, we discovered that we could get off the bus at the Waisali Nature Reserve and then catch the next bus north to Labasa. Marie of Ranger went with us and we
all enjoyed the early morning ride to Waisali. At some point along the way, a man got on the bus and the bus driver introduced him as the man who would be our guide at the nature reserve. Actually, the park ranger was not actually going to open the reserve until later in the morning today, but since we were on the bus, he went with us and let us in the “back door.” He didn’t have the gate key with him, but he showed us how to get in by going around the gate and how to get started on the trail.
He explained that he had to leave, but would be back before we caught the next bus to Labasa. We thanked him and started off on the trail.
The Waisali Reserve is a rainforest in the highlands between Savusavu and Labasa. It is about a thirty minute walk to a waterfall down the mountain, and then another thirty minute walk back up the mountain. There were lots of tree ferns and lush growth. There were even some kauri trees in this forest like the giants we saw in New Zealand. The waterfall was not spectacular, but it was pretty. It hasn’t rained much recently, so there wasn’t as much water as usual. We got back up the mountain
and still had an hour to spare before the next bus, so we just sat by the road and talked and waited. A truck pulled up and let off a whole group of people. They were carrying a five-gallon bucket of kava and platters of food. We weren’t sure what was going on, but then we saw the park ranger and he explained that the village Peace Corp volunteer was returning to the US today and that they were having a little celebration before his departure. He was actually taking the bus to Labasa with us.
The men all went in the gate to the park and invited us to come with them, but we stayed outside the gate with the women and small children and talked. The men were drinking kava and the oldest woman explained that women still don’t participate as a rule. We took some pictures of the enthusiastic group and before we knew it, we were on the bus to Labasa.
The mountain scenery from Savusavu to Waisali was just beautiful, but shortly after leaving Waisali, we started the descent out of the mountains and into drier, flatter, sugar-cane country. It is not as dramatic as the mountains, but it does have it’s own kind of beauty. We didn’t arrive in Labasa until 12:15 and the next bus back to Savusavu was leaving at 12:30. Marie and I bought tickets and got on the bus to hold seats and Mark and Steve went to find some food. They came back empty handed
and suggested that we wait and take the 3:30 bus home. There’s not much to see in Labasa, but just the same, it did seem a little crazy to just turn around and leave. Marie made the decision to go on back, but I got off the bus and went with Mark and Steve to get some lunch and walk around town. We felt bad letting Marie go back alone, but she assured us she would be fine. We had a nice lunch, visited a Hindu temple, and walked the main street of town. Labasa is a working town and is mostly
Indi-Fijian. We didn’t want to miss the last bus back to Savusavu, so we had to turn around before we got to a Sikh mosque we wanted to see, but we did see some homes with beautiful lettuce gardens in their side yards. Little heads of bibb style lettuce sell for $1.00 here, so I’m supposing these little gardens probably bring in $30 a week. The bus ride home was not eventful, but it was much faster than the trip north in the morning.
We arrived at the Yacht Club at 7:00 and decided to have pizza and beer for dinner at the Captain’s Cafe. Ranger, Maggie Drum, and Scot Free II were already there and had decided separately to have pizza as well, so we dubbed Monday night as “pizza night” at the yacht club. We didn’t get to see them, but we found out that a whole group of boats that we are close friends with arrived here today from Tonga. Tom and Bette Lee of Quantum, Dick and Lynn of Wind Pony, Robin and Rick of Endangered Species,
and Penny and Greg of Long Tall Sally are here. Just yesterday we had heard that Penny had broken a number of ribs and wouldn’t be arriving for about a month. Evidently something changed. We are really anxious to see all of these guys tomorrow–which will be our last day here. We plan to leave on Wednesday, so we’ll have to spend a lot of tomorrow catching up with good friends.
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| 070709 Day 76 Vanua Levu, Fiji–Bus Trip to Labasa |
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| 070709 Day 76 Vanua Levu, Fiji–Waisili Rainforest Reserve |
