So after three nights on Leleuvia we headed back to Levuka. We had a rad time hanging out with our friends from Leleuvia and some Levuka residents. Running around in the rain trying to avoid stepping on toads (there are thousands of them!). Fun times.

Then we got a truck around to the other side of Ovalau to stay on a farm run by a Fijian guy and his German wife. Set on the hillside overlooking the sea with thick rainforest behind it. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Bobo calls himself a bushman and has 500 acres of land which has been in his family for generations. He spoke to us at length over the kava bowl about the importance of land to the Fijian villages. And about how he has a responsibility to the land and a duty of care for it.

His wife also served us three delicious organic meals a day consisting of foods the land had given them. Beautiful rainforest ferns and taro and fresh water prawns. We have eaten so well here. So much fresh food! Incredible.

And during the day we trekked into the rainforest up a muddy (and somewhat treacherous) path to the “water slides”. Big rocks in the middle of a stream which created rapids that propel you down the river. It was so much fun. And totally untouched (and probably totally unsafe, that shit doesn’t happen in Australia). Damn it the cab’s here. Bye for now.

Where to begin. I have major travel time warp. Yesterday morning seems like forever ago and yet paradoxically the past 9 days have flown by. So let’s start with today. Dave and are currently in Nadi at a rather nice hotel. Then again anything with electricity and hot water is opulent compared to recent accommodation. It is so weird to be back in a city again. We just had a few piña coladas at the bar and a long hot shower. Win.

It is rather crazy that we ended up here as planned. There was a big patch of time this morning where it seemed unlikely that we would make it. We left Bobo’s farm this morning for an 8:40am flight from Ovalau back to Nasouri (the mainland) on the same afore mentioned teeny tiny plane. And being the only two passengers the pilot asked us if we minded making a detour. The flight to the mainland from Ovalau is 12 minutes and allegedly the detour would only take an extra 15 to a neighboring island to pick up another passenger, so we agreed and said it was fine to take the detour. MISTAKE! So we fly to the island called Gau (which takes 25 minutes, god bless Fiji time) and pick up the passenger and try to take off again. No such luck. The left propeller won’t start. The captain tries to manually start it, to no avail. We’re stranded. On an island with no phone reception with no way back to the mainland.

Now Gau is not a tourist island. In fact according to one of the very friendly locals no tourists have ever come to Gau. It’s 4 hours by long boat back to the mainland and the “airport” consists of a grass landing strip and a wooden hut. You have to specially charter a plane to Gau (for medical emergencies and such), planes are not scheduled to fly there. In other words there is no way off the island besides our broken plane.

Needless to say we were stressed. There we were sitting there in the middle of the Pacific with a flight back to Sydney on the other side of the archipelago in 24 hours. Wasting our last day in Fiji (and Valentines day) sitting on a field even further away from out destination then before. But there were a few locals who came up to see what all the fuss was and in the incredible but typical way of rural Fijians they were so lovely and hospitable to us. They cut down some coconuts for us to drink and smiled and laughed in spite of our frustration. Finally the pilot informed us that a new plane would be arriving within a couple of hours. Needless to say that was a relief. And then this lovely Fijian offered to take us to the village in the mean time.

So we trekked down to the coast where a long boat picked us to to bounce along the beautiful clear water over the reef to the village. It was incredible. Davey and I were in this boat with all these smiling Fijian dudes on our way to Vadra Vadra village. And when we got there it was just amazing. We had lovely chats to lovely people. So close to the rest of Fiji and yet worlds away from the cities on the mainland. We were told that if you want to get back to the mainland without a plane you need to get one of the long tail boats. Apparently for most of the journey you can’t see land in any direction and the captain just uses the direction of the waves to navigate. Craziness. So in the end it was really one of the best ways we could have ended our trip. The replacement plane came and we got to Nasouri. Mind you a 12 minute flight did end up taking 5 hours but hey this is Fiji.

So we have come to a tiny “resort” island off of the island of Ovalau called Leleuvia. By resort I mean that it’s uninhabited and only has a few bungalows for guests. We spoke to an ex-pat in Levuka who told us that ten years ago before the coup Ovalau and the surrounding islands had a thriving tourist industry but since the coup no one wants to go through Suva, a necessary stop on the way to Ovalau (I can understand why, Suva is notorious for muggings and was generally fairly unpleasant from what we saw). As a result Ovalau and the surrounding islands are tourist ghost towns.

The little island of Leleuvia is the prototypical castaway island. It takes only twenty minutes to walk the circumference of its white sand beaches. It lies halfway between the main island and Ovalau about 40 minutes on a long boat from anywhere else. It is truly remote and forgotten about. Before the coup this would have been a backpacker haven with a little beach bar, snorkeling off the beach, and kava ceremonies at night. But now it has really fallen into disrepair and you get the sense that we are some of the first guests they’ve had in a while. That said there is another trio of backpackers currently in another hut. To be honest it’s quite nice to be lost in time here. This could easily be some sort of Vang Vieng deal with drunk British twenty somethings. Personally I’m happy that it’s not. Oh ok it’s lunch time now. Then snorkeling. Yay.

So I’m in Levuka, a small town on the island of Ovalau off the coast of Fiji’s main island. Levuka already stands out as a real gem amongst all of the places I have been in my life. My cheeks are sore from smiling so much. I am just so happy.

We flew in from Suva (the scummy capital city) this morning on the smallest plane I have ever been on. It was genuinely the size of a minivan with only 8 seats. And even smaller on the inside. It was amazing! A twelve minute flight from the main land to Ovalau over beautiful islands surrounded by coral reef.

Ovalau is breathtaking. A big volcanic island with soaring peaks swathed in thick vegetation. Little villages of brightly colored houses are scattered along the coast. The drive here from the little airplane landing strip was great. Everyone we drove plast waved and grinned with the biggest smiles.

Which brings me to the people. Fijians are notoriously friendly. But this is a new level. They are actually the friendliest people I have ever met. Ever. It’s insane. And not because they are trying to sell you something. There are no touts, no beggars, no underlying motives just genuine friendliness. We are staying in a beautiful guesthouse owned by a couple of Aussie escapees. And there have been a parade of visitors to see the owners and all of them have stopped and chatted with us and remembered our names and it’s all just great.

After walking around the town today by ourselves we were taken on a walk up the mountain by the loveliest guy. He was awesome. Dave has a man crush. So the people of the village cultivate little sections of the mountain with various small crops. It’s subsistence farming so the crops are small and sustainable. We saw taro, chili, eggplant, plantain, kava and more. But oh man it was steep and it’s been raining non-stop for the past two week so there was mud. Slippin’ and a sliding.

Time for drinks, more later.

So I’ve spent over 72 hours with the boys and I’ve been totally brainwashed. All I care about now is beer, porn and portal 2. Where the titty at?

So I’m in Vanuatu. Crazy right? Mum and I are here for a short trip. Fun times. I honestly came here with zero expectations. Which in retrospect is probably the best way to come. I certainly didn’t expect it to be as undeveloped as it is. We went to a village today on a small island off the coast of the main island today. Man oh man I fucking miss travel so much. Why don’t I do this ALL of the time?!? I am going to do it. I really mean it. I am going to live in a village one day. No money, no possessions, no electricity. It has to happen.

Seriously, it was so much fun. The kids running around. And the sun and the sand. It’s amazing. Such a beautiful people. I spoke to this one little girl for almost an hour. Such a little chatterbox. It was great. So yes, some day I will drop everything and live in a village on the edge of the earth.

Is living life on the edge… I just ate my cookie before my sandwich.