The friendly north

After the Australians left, I headed up north to the second largest island of of the Fiji group- Vanua Levu. The official purpose of my visit was to visit another volunteer's village in a work exchange. I checked out the reef offshore the village and got to talking about Marine Protected Areas with some of the villagers. I thought it was a good experience, and hope that things continue to move forward.

Garrett, the volunteer I fist visited has not sent any photos home to his poor family, so hopefully they can get a taste of what his life is like from these few pics!

Garrett's house (with toilet and shower on the side)

On a little hike up to see the village's freshwater source.

The copra industry is really big up north. Copra is the dried coconut meat that results from the "cooking" of the coconut flesh in a specially made "oven." Coconut oil can then be extracted from the copra.

Pile of coconut husks. A common site up north.

A beautiful sunset. I took this photo from Garrett's doorstep.

I also got to visit another volunteer's site. She lives in a health compound with a doctor in a beautiful house on a hill with a stunning 360 degree view of Savusavu Bay. I took a few photos of the view, but can't bring myself to post them because they do not come close to doing justice to the amazing view!

Also spent a few days in the nice little town of Savusavu with a group of volunteers and had a lot of fun! Savusavu is also referred to as the "hidden paradise" and "little America." There is a large expat community in the area, which also means that there are some great little restaurants and real coffee!

I took a gorgeous 3 hour bus ride from Savusavu to Labasa on my last day in the north. Unfortunately, I've heard that the road suffered a lot of damage in the recent storms and will not be reopened for a long while. Got to catch up with a few more volunteers up in Labasa before flying back home. The flight back was pretty cool as I got to see a birds eye view of my island!

It's was a very enjoyable trip and was very interesting to see how each of us are having very different experiences in the same country. Even Garrett, who lives in a coastal village (like me) is having a much different experience. His village is quite spread out, he has a spacious living area and privacy, the village has a much different attitude and motivation level, and they barely use the sea for resources.

I'll be visiting another volunteer on another island next week, helping out with their annual coral reef survey. I'm very excited and will update upon my return!