Taveuni tour

 Stardate October 9, 2023

Marina at the Dive Academy in Viani Bay had suggested we contact Jass for a tour of Taveuni.  So today we had the tour.

We started with the waterfalls.  They are on the opposite side of the island from Paradise Resort.  Think of a reverse question mark with PR as the dot.  Or you can look at the map below.  The red arrow is not the boat - it's the position of my cell phone at the waterfalls.  Paradise Resort is at the lower left.

Now this is not a big island; about 26 miles end to end.  Now the road...  Jass had a Prius and we were traveling on Press on Regardless roads.  The first ten miles was gravel, ruts and rocks.  Did I mention potholes?  I asked Jass if the road was ever graded.  He said "Once every six months."  You could tell.

It took us two hours to reach the waterfalls, but we got the entire island history, which houses were owned by which rich foreigners.  (The guy who owns Red Bull owns an entire island.).   The road was paved a mile or so either way of the foreign enclaves, then reverted back to ruts and rocks.  

Jass pointed out the fruit bats hanging in the trees near Somosomo.  Look at the top of the tree - you'll see big black things hanging down.  Those are fruit bats, and they're huge.  They looked like crows flying around.

So we did the waterfalls.  Hiked up to the second waterfall.  Nick actually passed on going up to the top.  (The sky is falling!). It was another forty minutes past the second waterfall.  When we got back Jass was surprised that we hiked to the second.  "How old are you guys?"  Asked and answered.  "If I had known that I would have told you not to go to the second waterfall."  Yeah, it was pretty arduous.  They had steps carved in the hillside, but they were in bad shape most of the time.  The gal at the gate house had warned us the trail was steep.

Your scribe at the overlook half-way up to the second waterfall.  I think I need new swim trunks.

A view of the breakers on the reef.  Apparently they hold surfing competitions on these breakers.  Somehow I can't see surfing onto the coral reefs as a healthy pastime.

Second waterfall through the trees.  I may post video to Facebook, but it's just a waterfall, folks.  

On the way back down, we took the route that went across the outflow creek.  They had strung a rope across to help you balance on the rocks.  Video on FB.

This is a representative picture of the valley next to the waterfalls.  

We got back to the first waterfall and took a swim in the pool.  Then back to the car and Jass.

We bought bananas from a roadside stand and wine from Jass' favorite liquor store.  The top (north) end of Taveuni is full of very ritzy resorts (and AirBnBs), with the accompanying smooth asphalt road.  The town is called Matei.  This is also where the Taveuni airport is located for all you folks itching to get to your AirBnB.  Plenty of resort restaurants and bars as well as independent places.  Jass suggested a place to eat and we stopped for a late lunch at Tramonto.  Had the best beef and veggie stir fry I've had in Fiji.  At $30 FJD it was a bit pricy, but you couldn't beat the view.  This is also a recommended anchorage with a sand bottom and good protection from southeast winds.  Nick and I are kicking ourselves that we didn't come here from Viani Bay.  If I'm ever back, this is where I'm anchoring.

And no tour of Taveuni would be complete without doing the goofy tourist thing of standing on the International Date Line.  It takes a local to find the damn thing - you have to drive into a ditch off the road leading to the hospital, go around an unused rugby field, and park in a church's back yard.  I asked Jass why site the marker in such an out of the way place?  He replied that it was government land and that way no one could restrict access to it.  I thought the access was pretty darn restricted as it was.  

Anyway, here's your scribe being a tourist.  The groove in the concrete floor is the actual 180 degree meridian.  

I felt younger in this picture:

Quite a day.  Back to the boats for wine and snacks on Fleur.