This morning we head out to Bouma National Park and its' waterfalls. We decide to take the local bus - which appears to be operating well and truly on Fiji Time! Scheduled to arrive at 9 it finally appears at 10.45. No one complains or gets cross - its just what seems to happen here. The pace of life is so different. One chap actually lays down on the pavement and goes to sleep while waiting - (not unusal). We pile on and head out towards Bouma on the Coconut Highway - another one of Fiji's glorious unsealed roads.
We are bump and slide along the road which runs around the northern coast of Taveuni with the sea on our left and the jungle on our right. The bus breaks down - still no passenger grumbles, most just close their eyes and doze. One passenger lends a hand as, to the girls; delight, the driver opens a hatch in the floor of the bus next to our seats and whacks the gear box with a large metal pole. This does the trick and the bus starts up again. This is obviously a common occurence! We are struck by the skill with which all the bus drivers we have encounterd are able to negotiate horrendous road conditions, calmly mend their buses in the middle of nowhere and transport their passengers and cargo with no drama along the way. The distances and remoteness and isolation between villages mean that theirs is a very important and well regarded position. There are huge gaps in Fijian infrastructure but the bus system, we are discovering, seems to just work, even with Fiji Time. We eventually bump our way to Bouma and the bus drops us right outside - another bonus of the Fijian bus network!
We reach the first set of falls easily and dip our toes in the icy water, The girls play "pooh sticks" on the bridge and then we start the climb to the middle set of falls.
The broken down bus means we are tight for time and so by the time we have negotiated a stream crossing and reach the second set of falls and been ambushed by an angry land crab we have 15 minutes to make our way over the slippery rocks to a suitable entry point.
David ( unusually) takes charge of the camera, Tiegan watches from the safety of a rock away from the second set of freezing water and Nicole and Rowan head to the back wall of the pool. Rowan decides she wants to swim and we clamber over the slippery rocks before she takes a leap of faith.
The water takes her breath away and, after a minor moment of panic, she scrambles back to the edge. However, she is now minus a shoe! This has sunk like a stone to the bottom, never to be seen again - our offering to the waterfall gods to say thanks for a lovely day! She is seriously unimpressed, but not half as unimpressed as Nicole who sacrifices one of her shoes so that Rowan can proceed back down the coral lined path safely. We both look ridiculous - she begins to see the funny side of it by the time we reach the road side again.
Unfortunately we are greeted with the news that the bus (which only passes once in the morning and once in the afternoon on its' way back to Waiyevo) has broken down in the previous village and will not be venturing as far as the waterfalls. We have to walk to meet it or stay in the middle of nowhere overnight! We start walking and pickup the bus as it is restarted about a kilometre back down the road - just as it is heading back towards Waiyevo.
On our return we find that there is no water and the grumpy lady downstairs cant cook supper for us and we couldnt go for another up. We have no choice but to jump into a "taxi" which is being driven by the ex Chief of Police in the town. He assures us that there will be something will be open in the next village along and drives us there. Everything seems to close here around 6pm and our body clocks have adjusted to life here - rising very early and going to bed by 7.30pm! We arrived at Wairiki as the lady was closing the door to the only cafe which showed any sign of life - gentle pressure appeared to be applied to her verbally by the driver and she unlocked her kitchen and prepared what has been our worst meal so far. The food was very, very greasy, mostly cooked straight from the freezer and the chicken was largely bones. Poor Rowan was sick in the night.
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