In the weekends we had a large variety of ways to fill the time in. There was a small island called Nukalou, about twenty to thirty minutes away by barge.
This was so popular that sometimes it took two barges to get everybody over to the island.
This was unusual as most of the barges we used didn’t have the cabin, less chance of hitting a propeller when working around the aircraft.
We had good friendly company to help us spend the time.
And a good coral sand beach with a jetty so we could get ashore irrespective of the tide.
And a nice beach for water sports.
Then after the swim you have to wash the salt off. The water is rain water and stored below ground making it quite cool compared to the air temperature.
Then if you were thirsty, a quick climb could get you a coconut.
As you can see the fresh coconuts are waterproof. They float between the islands, wash up onto a shore, germinate and start a new plantation, naturally.
After putting on some sandals/sandshoes a walk over the coral reef was always interesting, finding all sorts of life.
Sometimes we would find a yellow and black banded sea snake. These weren’t poisonous in their breeding season, but we didn’t know when that was, so we left them alone.
A slow stroll around the sea shore will take you to where you find how the locals caught their fish.
The little blobs just above the water are an arc of stones set on the beach bottom. At high tide they are well covered and the fish swim in. At low tide the area is a sandy beach.
The locals go for a walk, decide which fish they will invite for tea, and leave the rest. There will be a new selection next low tide.
They also hollow out tree trunks. This one is intended to be paddle powered to the mainland.
Some, not much bigger have a big outboard motor attached to the back, and used to travel from Island to Island, usually well over the horizon.
Usually a couple of weeks after they had set out and not returned, we would get a frantic phone call that they had gone missing.
We would fly a Sunderland in a search pattern for a couple of days, depending where the Navigator thought the wind and tide might have taken the canoe.
Then we would get another phone call, don’t worry about them, they changed their minds and went the opposite direction.
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 1
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 2
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 3
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 4
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 5
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 6
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 7
Adventures in Fiji in the 1959 to 60's - part 8