More Kayaking

Deborah and I rented a double kayak again yesterday to cruise around Savusavu Bay. Once more we mostly stayed close to the islands within the bay, but this time the tide was high enough to allow us to explore more of the mangrove areas. The water was nevertheless shallow enough to offer nice views of the coral reefs passing below us and their colorful little residents. We were also able to see up close the remnants of the two boat houses that were blown away in the cyclone, now mostly submerged save for a few ragged poles poking up from the water.

We stopped at an island beach, not realizing until later that we had pulled up within close proximity of the bloated carcass of a cow – probably another casualty of the cyclone. It was missing a head and a few other extremities, but when the wind was blowing in the right direction its presence was hard to ignore. Despite the decaying bovine we had a fine time collecting shells, looking at strange aquatic life forms, and taking photographs. Unfortunately, our computer has died again so getting the photos onto the blog is much more difficult. I’m hoping our laptop will once again resurrect itself (it is almost Easter after all). I’m less confident the dead cow will do the same.

Boil and Trouble

Nurse Deborah was called into action again as Semoko returned from his trip to Labasa with a large festering boil on his back. Like most Fijians, I think, he is not so big on doctors or hospitals and instead prefers self-treatment. While visiting his family in Labasa he enlisted their help in treating the boil, which he of course can’t reach. But apparently the children, including the youngest niece (aka The Monkey), were keen to be involved and ended up doing more harm than good.

I think all three of us cringed as Deborah tried to clean out the oozing wound with cotton balls dipped in hot water. Then she used a hot compress, followed by an application of the same medicinal leaves we used to treat his cut finger. The leaves were left covering the boil and held in place by a covering dressing. This procedure will no doubt be repeated each day until the ugly boil is sufficiently healed. Deborah also gave Semoko some Advil we had brought with us (haven’t found it here) to dull the pain so he can sleep. It’s too bad you can’t just gather Advil in the forest like you can the therapeutic leaves.

The boil in question

The magic leaves

Leaves are rolled to release the juices, then unrolled and laid on the wound

Final dressing

Sharon and Mick

Yesterday we had a visit from Sharon and Mick, who are originally from Chicago but have been living here in Fiji for 15 years. They are friends of our neighbor Paul, who thought Sharon in particular would like to meet us as she is also an artist in the surrealistic style. Despite their status as Fiji veterans they were amazed at the magnitude of our local mosquito population at the house (they have been particularly bad the last few days). After numerous interruptions to the conversation to point out mosquitoes parked on Mick’s arm or Sharon’s forehead, Deborah offered to just spray them both down with bug repellant. This successfully allowed us to continue conversing with less slapping, flicking, and swearing.

We talked a lot about art and how to make do with the limited artist’s supplies available in Fiji. It was also interesting to get their perspective on living here on the island. Obviously they like it well enough since they’ve stayed here for 15 years, but they liked it better when they only had one neighbor. Now they have eight, all Indian, and they have strained relationships with some of them. They’ve thought of selling their home but this isn’t a good time, both because of the depressed market and because of potential capital gains taxes. We were also surprised to learn that they had been burglarized several times, although mostly small stuff was taken. We haven’t had any problems and have felt very safe here, but we live up on a ridge at the end of steep 4WD road whereas they live right next to the main road. But white people from a rich country living in a Third World country will probably always be a target for petty theft.

Sharon and Mick agree with us that living here on the island has definite limitations. The small quantity and low quality of roads means you can’t drive far, and when you do drive it’s always on the same few roads. The goods offered in the stores are inexpensive but of generally poor quality (Deborah calls this the Dollar Store Island). And cultural opportunities are sorely lacking – no concerts, no museums, no theatre, the only cinema is in Labasa. Sharon and Mick are actually going back to Chicago for 5 weeks in June to get a cultural fix. We are definitely feeling the need for that as well, which has us thinking about Europe for our next winter trip. But for now we’re still enjoying the sunshine and the friendly people and the rich experience of living in a foreign place. We just aren’t so crazy about the mosquitoes.

Inexplicably, Deborah tries to look even more white.

Return of the Hammock

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that we brought with us a new Mexican hammock for the homeowner to replace his old one, which was falling apart. Deborah took it upon herself to try to fix the old hammock, and I’m happy to report she has succeeded. She spent about a month working on it. It took that long because a) it was too tedious to work on for very long at a time, and b) Semoko’s puppy kept playing with it and unraveling several hours worth of effort with each burst of mischievous canine energy. Deborah really had to remake a large portion of the hammock, including splicing in some new string, and somehow keep track of its intricate woven geometry – not a trivial task. But the result looks near as new. So now we have a second hammock and find we are using it just as much as the larger one that we brought. We seldom share the big hammock anymore, which was always a bit awkward anyway, but instead just wave cordially to each other from opposite sides of the deck.

The west deck becomes a work surface

(photo by Deborah)

(photo by Deborah)
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(photo by Deborah)
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Semoko and the puppy take the repaired hammock for a test drive

(photo by Deborah)

Money

I’ve mentioned in previous posts how cheap the cost of living is here, at least for the basics like food and clothing. The exchange rate is favorable for us now with one US dollar equal to nearly two Fijian dollars. Frequent coups and the political instability associated with them tend to have that effect on the value of your currency. According to the CIA World Factbook, Fiji ranks 158th in GDP per capita at $3,800. For comparison, Mexico is 83rd at $13,200, USA is 11th at $46,400, Norway is 5th at $59,300, and Liechtenstein is 1st at $122,100.

Like most countries (not the US) the currency notes of different value are also different colors, and in come cases different sizes as well, so it’s easy to spot which bill you want to pull out of your wallet. They reflect the country’s status as a former British colony in that one side of every note features the smiling face of Queen Elizabeth. The other side illustrates something native to Fiji like a famous mountain or a noteworthy building. This is true of the coins as well. They have a $1 coin but no penny. Every purchase is rounded off to the nearest 5 cents at the register.

There is a 12.5% value added tax included in the posted prices (some types of goods might be exempted from this; it’s hard to know since it’s already included in the price). I’m not sure how easy it is for the government to collect the tax though, since almost every purchase here is a cash transaction. We normally only use our credit card for large purchases at the main grocery store or the big store selling housewares. Those are also pretty much the only places to give you a receipt. To illustrate how informal the accounting is here, sometimes the vendor will just dig into her purse to make change. Fortunately there are three ATMs in town so that crucial cash is always easily at hand.

Is There a Bug in My Ear?

Although Deborah has been feeling better since she started to take antibiotics, she has lately been having a strange sensation in her ear, as if a bug had crawled up into it (I know, yuck). She actually did have an insect fly into her ear recently, just before she had put in ear plugs to help her sleep. Apparently the bug found the inner ear atmosphere a little too hot and stuffy with the ear plug blocking the exit and buzzed inside discontentedly until Deborah, sensing this, removed the ear plug and saw the little intruder fly out of her head. Not surprisingly, this freaked her out and she has since been hypersensitive to even the slightest sensation in her ear canal. She frequently insists I shine a flashlight into her ear to see if I can spot anything crawling around in there. So far I’ve observed nothing. It doesn’t help that Semoko just told us the story (or fable, more likely) of a man who had a centipede crawl into his ear and start to eat his brain. Yeah, thanks a lot Semoko; Deborah feels much better now.

Today we walked into town and stopped by to see Dr. Ishaque, who has replaced the eighty-year old and recently retired Dr. Joeli. Dr. Ishaque complemented Deborah on how clean her ears were, but joked that such cleanliness only makes them a more inviting target for wayward insects. Hairy ears with lots of wax make less appealing homes. But not to worry, there’s nothing crawling around in her head apart from paranoid thoughts of cranial infestation. She simply has some inflammation of her inner ear, which is tied to the other symptoms of her current illness. He instructed her to continue taking the antibiotics for another two days, and he gave her Prednisone and an antihistamine to take as well for the next several days. Deborah is very happy to know both that there are no insects in her head and that she isn’t completely delusional that something was going on in her ear. Still, she has informed me that she never again wants to live anywhere where there are this many insects.

A different kind of leaf bug than I showed in an earlier blog. Too big to fit in Deborah's ear though.

Heal Thyself

Deborah is on antibiotics again. She developed a severe sore throat a couple of days ago, along with a headachy, swollen gland sort of feeling. This has been a tough winter (actually summer down here) for her in terms of physical ailments – certainly the worst since I’ve known her. This latest illness just adds to the list of head colds, indigestion/gastroenterological problems, stomach cramps, bladder infection, constipation, diarrhea, and Globus Hystericus. It hasn’t been my best season for health either, with two head colds and intestinal issues. We’ve stopped drinking tap water at the restaurants in town, which doesn’t seem to bother the locals but could be a problem for us – better safe than sorry. The house has filtered rainwater so should be fine as long as the homeowner changed the filter before our arrival as he said he would. At least the self-prescribed antibiotics (we brought our own supply) are helping Deborah who is much improved.

On another medical issue, our neighbor Semoko put a deep, nasty cut in his finger with his sharpened cane knife while doing some post-cyclone brush cleanup. Nurse Deborah, even while ailing herself, has been helping him bandage the impaired digit, but only after Semoko applies his special Fiji Medicine. There is a particular plant that grows around here from which he gathers leaves and rolls them into a ball. He then squeezes the ball of leaves until green juice drips out and onto his gauze-covered wound. I’m not sure exactly what medical properties the green goo has but it seems to be working as his cut is healing nicely and without any signs of infection. Still, I think I’ll limit my own time with the cane knife.

Haven't needed this yet.

Cyclone Cleanup

Cleanup after Cyclone Tomas, said to be the worst here in 30 years, continues throughout Fiji. For all the reports of flattened houses, blown-off roofs, ruined plantations, and entire villages destroyed by sea swells, it’s amazing that only two people died. Of the 18,000 evacuated, many have returned to their homes. We were lucky in that we had our power restored Tuesday evening. Others on our island were told it might take two weeks to get power. It helps to be close to town.

People in Savusavu were cleaning up even before the winds had completely died down. Now things look pretty much normal in the town. But the farms and vegetable patches so many locals rely on took a real beating. The owner of one of the guest houses and restaurant we frequent said his vegetable garden was completely wiped out. We did see many resourceful locals make the best of the situation though by picking up all the coconuts blown off the trees.

By the way, there is no real difference between a hurricane and a cyclone; it’s just terminology based on where the storm is located. They are called hurricanes if they are in the North Atlantic or Northeastern Pacific Oceans, typhoons if in the Northwest Pacific, and cyclones if in the Southwest Pacific. One difference though, is that down here in the Southern Hemisphere storms spin clockwise rather than counterclockwise.

After the Storm

Our little town of Savusavu fared relatively well in the wake of Cyclone Tomas. The cyclone did reach Category 4, but it shifted just far enough east to spare us the worst. Other parts of our island of Vanua Levu, the neighboring island of Taveuni, and the smaller islands of the Lau group suffered much worse. Our location is fairly well sheltered by surrounding hills, particularly when storms are to the east of us. Still, we had some excitement.

We were safe and snug in our concrete hotel with a nice view of the action. There was plenty of wind and rain, but not quite to the degree we anticipated since we were originally expecting the storm to come right over us. Nevertheless, it’s impressive how much abuse a palm tree can take and still remain standing. Monday was the worst day of the cyclone, but even Sunday night we had a hard time sleeping with all the sound and fury raging outside. We lost power that night also, which made Monday all the more difficult because we were stuck in our hotel room with mediocre books to read from the local book exchange and without any of the little electronic diversions to which we have become accustomed, so we didn’t even have any news on the status of the cyclone. What’s worse, I forgot to bring a sketchbook. Apart from the storm itself, our biggest source of entertainment was watching bits of sheet metal roofing fly off the building in front of us as a father and son continually tried to patch it, weigh it down with concrete blocks, or hammer it back into place, all the while crawling around on the second story roof with bare feet in raging wind and rain.

By Tuesday morning the winds started to shift and it was evident the cyclone was moving away from us. We still didn’t have power at the hotel, and therefore none back at the house either, which meant no light, no water pump and no electric screw gun to remove all the cyclone shutters so we could get back inside. But we were sick of being cooped up so we called Semoko to see if we could stay at his place if necessary, or at least make use of his plumbing (he doesn’t rely on a water pump), and he agreed. We checked out later that morning.

We took a walk through town first to assess the damage. All in all the town was in pretty good shape: some broken signs, toppled fences, snapped off tree limbs, downed telephone lines, and piles of leaves and branches everywhere. But nothing major that we saw. It was a similar story for the houses lining the road back up the hill to our house, although it must be said that many are so ramshackle that they always look as though a hurricane had just come through. There were a few houses missing sections of roof, but mostly over carports or sheds. Lots of tree and vegetation damage though. Back at our house the landscaping took a beating as well, with a few major tree branches snapped off and many other plants toppled or at least leaning heavily to one side. We spent most of the afternoon cleaning up the yard. It actually felt good to be outside doing something physical after our time of cyclone-induced immobility, and I got to feel like a real Fijian as I wandered about wielding a cane knife.

The good news is that the house is completely undamaged. None of the surrounding trees landed on it and all the metal roof panels are still happily attached. The other good news is that Mother Nature’s pruning job has opened up the view a bit more. We can see a bit more of the bay and the overall feel is a bit more open and expansive. One more cyclone and we might really improve this place.

Hotsprings Hotel - our concrete bunker

view from our hotel balcony during the cyclone

Big waves on normally tranquil Savusavu Bay

Toppled sign

Toppled fence

Toppled coconut tree

Lines used to successfully secure petrol tanks

Lines used less successfully to secure a yacht

I know it's hard to tell, but this place is missing some roof sections

If you want to keep your roof from blowing away you can weigh it down with heavy timbers...

...or one big ass rock...

...or just tie the thing down.

Remember this handsome carport from a previous blog post?

It's gone now.

Remember this quaint little boat house from a previous blog post?

It's gone now too.

Too bad it isn't Palm Sunday.

The cleanup crew

The road to our house

Landscaping by our front deck (what's left of it)

One of the larger casualties

Another stunning sunset to send the cyclone on it's way

Cyclone Update

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the cyclone has passed, we are back at the house, safe and sound, and the power just came back on. Yippee!

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I'll have an extensive post-cyclone report (with pictures) tomorrow.

Cyclone Prep

The predictions this morning for Cyclone Tomas show it tracking slightly further west now, but still just a few kilometers from where we are. And it is still predicted to reach Category 4 with mean winds near the center of the storm near 100 knots. The center of the storm is now expected to pass over us late Monday or very early Tuesday. It was getting increasingly windy yesterday and the clamor from the rustling trees and sporadic intense rain showers made it difficult to sleep last night. Our neighbor Paul, who lives high up on an exposed ridge had an even worse night with buffeting winds and horizontal rain coming through his louvered windows.

We decided to go ahead and board up the house this morning (Sunday) and will check into a hotel in town (one the homeowner recommended for sitting out cyclones) later today. We might end up spending up to three nights there depending on how fast or slow the cyclone moves through. Our neighbor Semoko is staying put, although we offered to share our hotel room with him if it gets too hairy. I don’t know if the hotel has internet so we may be out of touch for a couple of days. Should be interesting...

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Semoko's puppy boards up the house (with help from Blake)

(photo by Deborah)

Semoko lends a hand

All boarded up tight

You Can Call Me Tomas

The tropical depression threatening us is now officially Cyclone Tomas. The predicted tracking shows it heading right for us. And it is predicted to intensify from a Category 2 to a Category 4 cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 105 knots and gusts to 135 knots. That's actually a bit more meteorological excitement than I hoped for. The center of the storm is expected to pass over us Monday afternoon. It’s a bit windy today but actually feels really nice and fresh. I suspect we’ll start to really feel the storm tomorrow. Unless the tracking changes it seems very likely we’ll be boarding up the house tomorrow as well. The hotel option is sounding more likely as well. Hopefully we won’t lose power and/or internet access so we can keep everyone updated.

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I'm not sure how well you'll be able to read the graphic below, but it shows the cyclone moving southwest and changing from a Category 2 to a Category 4. We are on the second largest island just south of the second to last circled 4.

Cyclone Watch

Word has it that a tropical depression is hovering out to the northeast of the islands. That in itself is not unusual – such storms are always floating around here this time of year. But this one is supposedly headed straight for us and is expected to intensify into a tropical cyclone, possibly a big one. We headed into town today (Friday) to drop off our laundry and noticed all the school kids had gotten out early, although the reports I heard say the (potential) cyclone won’t hit us until probably Sunday. The grocery store was unusually packed as well, presumably with people stocking up for any potential outages.

Of course, I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt, but I wouldn’t mind a little meteorological excitement right about now. We missed out on the tsunami so a little cyclone would only be fair compensation. If this thing does materialize and is severe enough, the homeowner has left us instructions to board up the house using a screw gun and some sheets of plywood kept below the deck, turn off the gas and electricity, and go to a hotel in town. Semoko, like most Fijians I assume, has no plans to abandon house and says we should stay with him in one of his guest cottages. There aren’t any big trees around his place so that’s a possibility, but if the storm looks like a doozy, we might go for the hotel instead. Of course, what typically happens in these situations is that everyone gets all excited, and then the storm takes a left turn and misses everything, leaving only a bit of rain. We’ll see.

Hmmm. Our islands look kinda small compared to that storm...

Riding With Strangers

It looks like we will be without wheels for the remainder of our time here. The mechanic did find a replacement engine in Suva (on the big island), but by the time they get it over here to Savusavu and install it we will be gone. The homeowner did make a point of telling us the engine cost $4910 – presumably Fijian dollars, which would be US$2550, not counting installation – but I think he has now accepted that he is not going to get us to pay any part of the bill.

We are getting by fine with just walking and taking taxis. We are missing out on a bit of cultural exchange though. When we had the car we often gave rides to locals, who typically don’t have a car. They walk where they need to go or rely on the bus system, which is extensive but often not on schedule, leaving folks waiting for long periods of time. It’s considered rude to drive past someone walking in your direction and not offer them a lift, although Iretta says some expats here never do offer. It’s one thing to drive past a young man with a cane knife (although he would almost certainly be safe also), but to deny a woman carrying a child or an elderly person with a heavy load seems a bit cold hearted. Now that we are relying on our feet we have often get offers of rides ourselves, particularly on the steep road to town. If we are heading downhill to town we usually politely decline; if we are heading uphill in the hot sun, that is a different story.

Sometimes goats need a lift too.

Fiji Critter Profile - Fruit Bats

The fruit bats here keep us entertained many evenings. The show up mid to late afternoon and fly from tree to tree eating fruit or sucking up nectar from whatever happens to be blooming at the time. When two of them get too close to each other they squawk at each other in a rather cantankerous fashion. The bats here aren’t as large as those we saw in Australia last year, but they are still pretty good size as far as flying mammals go. I think of them as meerkats with wings.

Myra Has Left The Island

Yesterday was Myra’s last day with us. Semoko gave to his “tenant” as a parting gift a beautiful shell necklace. Marie from the market gave her a nifty little woven change purse. (The purse is just about the right size to hold a pack of cigarettes, and we suspect Myra is considering taking up the habit just so she can make proper use of it). Myra also said her goodbyes to Mariam from the souvenir shop, with whom we had dinner and cooking lessons last week. Semoko’s puppy may miss Myra the most as she was the recipient of baths, nail clippings and frequent tick removal, not to mention obedience lessons. Now, unless we pick up the slack, the dog will no doubt return to her usual dirty, poorly behaved, parasite-ridden self.

The three of us plus Semoko had a nice lunch out before heading to the airport so Myra could catch her 2:00pm flight, which left promptly at 3:10pm. During the wait at Savusavu airport we amused ourselves by measuring our weight on the airport scales. Myra had a long layover at the international airport in Nadi so the delay wasn’t really an issue. She is flying to Hawaii first and will stay there a couple of days before heading back home, the same strategy we intend to employ in two months time.

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Deborah gets a pedicure (after the puppy already had hers)

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Myra discovers hammock camouflage

Her chariot awaits...


Bye Bye, Myra