Two At Sea

August 1, 2013

By the time we arrived back at the lower waterfall, a few people had arrived. No matter: it’s a big pool with more than enough room for a lot of people. We met a large family, half Fijian, half English, and the English half was visiting the Fijian half and getting the grand tour of Taveuni. Wow, two great places for relatives to visit each other!

The water in the pool was initially quite cool but felt great once we were in. Rich and I swam by the base of the falls and watched as a young Fijian man climbed the rocks and dove in. Soon, he was showing the kids how to climb up and do the jump. It was fairly high, and the objective was to run a few feet to gather forward momentum, then leap off an outer rock to land well into the pool below.

The young teen girls did the jump successfully, and I figured if they could do it, I could do it. After getting some coaching, I ran to the edge and leapt off. As I fell, I realized this was higher than I thought, realizing it mostly because I had so much time to think about it before hitting the water.

I slammed into the water, got some water up my nose and actually hurt my ear some as it was probably too fast a descent without clearing. I guess I should have done as the girls did and held my nose. This was definitely the highest jump I’ve ever done. I surfaced and felt a bit stunned, but I was also glad I’d done it. Never again do I have to wish I had the nerve to try something like this; I can happily sit and watch others now.

We swam more around the base of the fall, just reveling in the cool water and beautiful scenery. But we couldn’t stay forever. We exchanged numbers with the nice family before heading off to change and go find our driver chief. –Cyndi

August 1, 2013

We had another 15 or 20 minute walk from the pavilion to the middle Tavoro waterfall, but it was an easy trail, with a final short, steep descent.

The path comes out right near the base of the waterfall, giving an up-close (aka wet) view. While this fall wasn’t as tall as the lower waterfall, it had tremendous force, creating wind and spray at its base. The thundering crash of water was so loud we had to shout at each other to be heard.

We sat on a rock and let the waterfall wind and spray whip around us, getting us pretty wet. It was very refreshing, and pretty exciting to be near such a powerful force.

That middle fall was neat to see, but the highlight was the beautiful forested walk we took to get there. We saw lots of blue-tailed skinks (lizards), frogs and even parrots. Trees, tree ferns, and vines grew abundantly around the path. Butterflies flitted around, black with white dots. It was like an enchanted forest.

After briefly considering trying for the upper falls, we decided to heed the advice we’d been given and not attempt it. Maybe we’d be back to try again someday, but sometimes you just have to let things go. We headed back to the lower falls, happy to have even gotten this far.

Above is a gallery of photos from our walk (click to enlarge and scroll). –Cyndi

August 1, 2013

After admiring the falls, we decided to continue on to the next waterfall, then return to the lower fall for a swim on the way back.

The next part of the trail ascends pretty steeply uphill to a lookout pavilion. The walk took about half an hour, but we were able to stop every once in awhile and enjoy the thoughtfully-provided benches at various lookouts. The final part of the walk was the steepest, but when we emerged at the lookout area, we were rewarded with fantastic views of lush mountains, scenic coastline, and nearby Qamea Island.

We stayed at the pavilion awhile, recovering, drinking plenty of water, and admiring the incredible views. This hike had been well worth the effort. Even Rich thinks so.

Below a gallery of our hike to the pavilion. Click to enlarge and scroll. –Cyndi

August 1, 2013

The Tavoro Falls are three waterfalls in Taveuni Island’s Bouma National Park. The lower waterfall, at about 80 feet high, is the biggest of the bunch. The middle waterfall, a 30-minute uphill hike from the first, is the second largest. It’s a somewhat strenuous trip but worth it for the fantastic views of the coastline and ocean.

The third falls, the smallest but split and very pretty, is where the hike gets really interesting. The trail is more rustic and overgrown, and it involves a lot of clambering over slippery rocks and boulders. At best, it’s a long, slippery, and difficult trip, and people who’d gone were very divided on whether or not it was worth it. After it rains it gets even worse, to the point of being un-doble. Both our driver and a park attendant warned us not to do the upper falls today; and we reluctantly took their word for it. (Well, for me it was reluctantly, but Rich’s inner god* was doing the Irish jig.)

The trail started near the pavilion at the park entrance, and it was a pretty easy walk to the lower Tavoro Falls. Taveuni was living up to its reputation as “the Garden Island” here; this place looked like a tropical botanical garden.

We were amazed when we arrived at the lower Tavoro waterfall. Located in a spectacular tropical setting, it’s surprisingly large with a big pool at its base. Seeing this, I let go of any disappointment about not being able to go to the highest falls. This was about as beautiful a waterfall as we’d ever seen. Below a gallery of our walk and the falls (click to enlarge and scroll) –Cyndi

*Smart-ass reference to Fifty Shades of Grey. It may be hard to believe, but statements like this are scattered throughout the book.

August 1, 2013

Today, with light winds and sunny skies, was the day to go to Bouma National Park and see the Tavoro Waterfalls at last. It was about 16 miles away, so we’d need a cab.

I’d worried that it might take awhile to hail a cab because there are so few cars in the area. It didn’t turn out to be a problem: before we even finished tying up our dinghy, a truck stopped and the driver asked if we needed a taxi. We told him yes, and explained what we wanted to do. He told us his fee, which would include driving us to the park, hanging out there while we hiked off to experience the falls (which could take a few hours), and then driving us back. It was a fair price; so we hopped in.

Meanwhile a real taxi, having witnessed some of this, pulled over and really gave our driver the stink eye. It turned out our guy was not an official cab driver but a village chief who picks up extra cash by doing things like this. It’s quite an honor to be carted around by a village chief, who also happened to be a very nice guy (and apparently not the chief of the guy who gave him the stink eye)! We ended up passing his name and number along to another boat who came here; he took them all over the place and they had a great time with him!.

The paved road soon gave way to a dirt road, but the truck handled it fine. Our 40-minute route took us along coastline, through jungle vegetation, by villages, and over bridges. It was a very pretty drive, and our chief driver was happy to pull over when I wanted a picture so I didn’t have to take very many from the car.

Below a gallery of photos from our drive, click to enlarge and scroll. –Cyndi