Weekend Get Away

            On Saturday, Kim and I were invited to take a weekend trip with one of the temple couple missionaries, Elder Dave and Sister Nancy Mendenhall.  We took a ferry with our vehicle to another island, Ovalau.  We were told to be to the ferry by 2:30 so we were there by 2:15, to be safe.  We waited and waited and slowly more cars came and by around 4:15 there were 3 city buses that had arrived. The passengers on the buses got off.  On one of the buses were 2 sisters, a brother and 2 young girls from our Korovou Branch where we attend.  What a joyful reunion since these Fijians are always so happy and loving.  They had the bus passengers board the ferry so they could begin loading the vehicles. To load, they had cars drive on first, backing up the ramp and onto the ferry.  That was a bit tricky but we were successful. The buses also backed onto the ferry.  I guess that way we were all facing forward to disembark. The ferry ride was about an hour.  When we arrived in Ovalau, the tide was high so the boat was high in the water making the ramp for the vehicles to disembark on very steep.  In order, for the buses to get off, they had all the vehicles drive as close to the ramp as possible to put weight at that end.  The 1^st bus was scraping it’s nose, so had to back up back onto the ferry and try again.  They got one of the LARGE ropes used to tie up the ferry and piled it under the wheels as the bus got to the bottom of the ramp to keep the nose up.  Success!  First bus off. The same with bus 2 and 3 and then the cars were able to drive off as well.  It was pretty steep but gratefully we didn’t hit our nose.  It took an hour to drive to the main village, Levuka.  It was amazing scenery as we drove.  Volcanic mountains covered with palm trees and vines and other foliage.  Much of the road was right along the ocean edge with the high tide waves splashing up on the wall next to the narrow windy road.  Plus it was lightly raining and the road was a muddy gravel road.  What an adventure!

            Sunday morning, we found the church and attended a small branch in Levuka.  There were the 4 of us missionaries, and the 5 members from the Korovou Branch which almost doubled the size of the branch! They wanted all of us to bear our testimonies but they had us missionaries last.  Unfortunately or gratefully, there wasn’t enough time and Kim and I did not have time to speak.  Then we got to watch the video about the new children and youth program.  Loved seeing that.  After church, we were all invited to the branch president’s home for lunch.  That was the highlight of the whole weekend.  As we came into the home, there were 4-5 women in the kitchen cooking.  The men were in the bedroom sitting on the floor. We were invited to sit on the floor with the men and the young missionaries who were also invited to lunch.  Soon the women had lunch ready and the dining area was ready.  They had a beautiful woven mat on the floor.  Down the center was a strip of cloth and then it was arranged as a dining table with dishes and bowls of food.  We sat around the cloth, a blessing was asked upon the food and we ate.  That is, the guests and the men ate.  The women sat in the kitchen, on the floor and visited.  There was rice with chicken and carrot curry, some type of green leafy cooked vegetable, kasava, which is a potato type dish, and chicken veggie stir fry with noodles.  The food was delicious.  When we finished, we all got up and then the women came in and ate.  The weirdest thing about this tradition, is that one of the men had mentioned before eating that that was the way things used to be done.  But now that isn’t acceptable.  Hmmm…..   

            After lunch, we decided to drive around the Island.  We’d asked a few of the members if that was something we would be able to do and most of the answers we got were, “yeah, I think so.” Or “probably”.  So we put on our brave boots and off we went.  We soon found out what “probably” meant.  They had never done it and technically there is a road so PROBABLY you could drive around the island.  And yes!  We were successful.  The further we went the narrower the 3 tracked gravel/dirt road became. Soon it was only 2 tracks and less and less gravel.  It also started climbing some pretty steep hills—up, up, up and then down, down, down.  When you’d get to the crest of the hill, it was so steep going back down  that you couldn’t see the road in front of you.  It’s one of those nightmares I use to have when I was younger!  Then it started to lightly rain which made the road slippery.  We had two things in our favor…our car has 4-wheel drive and no one else was driving this road.  Well, almost.  I think we passed a couple of trucks and gratefully they were in places where we could squeeze by each other. There were several little villages all along the way.  I don’t think anyone owns cars in those villages.  They have “transport” trucks which takes them where they need to go. They are covered trucks with benches along the insides.  The scenery was absolutely astounding. On top of high mountainous hills with the ocean glistening below and palm trees swaying in the breeze.  It took us a couple of hours but we safely made it.  Thank goodness the Mendenhalls are very calm and trusting people.  
          On Monday, we walked up the famous stairway--the longest on the island--200 steps.  There was a beautiful house halfway up that looked like it was probably deserted after the Winston Hurricane in 2015.  Such a sad sight.  There are many places in town that were damaged from the big one.  The hotel where we stayed Sunday night has a big ferry that was washed ashore during the hurricane and it still sits there today.  It's really kind of cool.  It would have been really fun to be able to go aboard and explore.  There were a couple of young men on there that night.  Several of their buddies were waiting for them on the road below.  Levuka was the first capital of Fiji so there are a few historic sights we visited.  It's really quite small so it didn't take a lot of time.  After a lovely lunch we drove up the coast trying to find a decent beach, which as far as sandy beaches goes doesn't exist.  But we stopped and explored the cemetery.  Always very interesting!  Add then we stopped at one area where there was an island that wasn't an island at the time because it was low tide.  Kim wanted to climb it.  We walked around and explored and found a few cool shells.  They have many really large clam shells here but many are broken on the coast.  Many of the residents use them to outline their yards.  As we walked along the shore some children came out.  One of them had been to church with us the day before and had introduced herself to me.  Sara is a darling girl with lots of friends and was so excited to see us again.  We took some pictures and went off again exploring.  We retired early as we had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to be at the ferry by 4:30 a.m.  The windy narrow road is even worse in the pitch dark of the early morning.  We were amazed how many people were already sitting out along the road waiting for a ride to who knows where.  We made the ferry and home by 8:30.  Just in time to do a quick change and head to school where the Primary school was having a special devotional for their 50th birthday party.  And that's a story for another day!! 

 Dave and Nancy Mendenhall waiting for  lunch on the way to the ferry.

 The ferry that took us to Ovalau.

 Branch Members we ran into on the ferry.

Young Girls from Korovou Branch.

 The drive from the ferry to Levuka.  About an hour drive.

 Our super cute bed and breakfast where we stayed the first night.

The Whale's Tale Restaurant which had delicious food. We were the only ones there.  It was like eating a home-cooked meal. Mmmmm.

 The best breakfast ever!  After all this, she made us eggs and bacon.

 The view from the branch president's home.

 Lunch is served!

L to R: Counselor in Branch Presidency, Branch President, and the Elders. One from Samoa and the other from Springville. He knows our niece Shaylee Christensen. 

 The women's turn to eat.

 This is the sight we saw as we came around the corner to our next hotel.  The little cabin on the right is where we stayed. Ship wreck!

The other side. 

 Part of the road going around the island.  This area was fairly decent and the view astonishing.

The transport trucks that takes the villagers wherever they need to go. 

 Kim's Island.

Boy we met while searching for shells.

 Sara is in the purple.  She is the one that is a member of the church.

Kids from the village.

I promise, we really aren't on vacation.  Just had such a great weekend I had to post.  I am teaching a reading strategies class to the primary teachers as they are struggling big time with how to teach reading.  Kim is teaching a Computer and Technology Class to teachers that need college certification.  We meet twice a week for that and it's been a great class.  Next post will be more about the schools and our classes!  We are blessed and are so grateful to have the opportunity to share our talents and skills and knowledge with these beautiful people.  They have hearts of gold and smiles and hugs that you will never forget!