Somewhere along the way, while we have been here, I came across a postcard which had a picture of this beautiful village that is high up in the mountains and most of the houses are the old bure style houses. I have wanted to visit there ever since I saw the post card.
This was the week-end. The Petersons were willing victims and went along with us We left on Friday afternoon and headed for Nadi. That evening we had dinner at The Hard Rock Café, and it was so nice to have
Singing at Navala Village
good American food again.
We were supposed to meet our guide there and he was going to tell us all that would happen on Saturday. Unfortunately he came down with a serious case of “Fiji Time”, and never came. And the next morning we were stood up as well.
So when things like that happens you just take things into your own hands and go yourself. And that is exactly what we did. We had an amazing ride up through all the sugar cane fields and even stopped to visit with some men cutting cane. They chopped us each a long stick of it so that we could taste it for ourselves. We enjoyed that along with the pineapple we watch an old man cut at the market in Ba, that was amazing.
We topped a hill and there it was – so cool! We drove down after taking pictures and as we hit the bridge over the river just before the entrance to the village the kids came running to greet us. We paid our entrance fees, hired a nice woman to be our guide and emptied our candy bags and off we went for a tour.
Our guide told us it takes 3 months to gather the materials to build a bure, and that they are trying to keep their village all bures if possible. The kids trailed along after us like we were the Pied Pipers until our bags were empty then lost interest in us.
The Seventh Day’s were having a service so we walked around quietly and loved all of the houses. There was one that had just been finished and they invited us in to see the inside. There was a large group of me all sitting round the Kava bowl. We asked them if they cut cane and were told a very emphatic “no”.
We visited their school, and then the village church which is a Catholic church. It was all very nice, very clean and very neat. The children sang to us when we arrived at the gate, and at the church there were just two girls who had came with us. They sang to us again, and then we sang “I am a Child of God” to them.
Then back into the van and back over those steep, rutty roads, back to Ba. It was great fun. We just lazed the afternoon away, and had dinner at the Hard Rock again. They had live music both nights and we caught a bit of the dancing show they have on Saturday nights as well.
Sunday we headed home. On the way we stopped to check out the Intercontinental Resort. Wow, just the opposite end of the world from the village. It is gorgeous, and is located on a beautiful beach called Natadola. Right next to it is the Natadola Bay Championship golf course. Beginning on August 14th they are having the Fiji International golf tournament there. Like I said, another world. Beautiful course and they were getting all seating and scoreboards, etc. set up. It’s right on the ocean and looks to be a tough course.
Back home in time for the Peterson’s to attend their YSA fireside. What a nice get away.
