Bula from Tavarua!

We are back in Fiji for our third annual trip to the small island of Tavarua where they operate one of the world’s best surf resorts. The island was discovered for its amazing surf in the 80’s by some surfers from Hawaii seeking perfect waves and they found the reefs around Tavarua offered that consistent perfection and quickly met with the local villagers who controlled the rights to the island and reefs via their ancient Qoliqoli (fishing rights to the region), so they then established a long term business so both the village and they could be prosperous. Twenty plus years later they have built out an amazing resort with 15 private bures and a central restaurant, beachside deck, pool along with tennis courts, gym and games room. The island hosts the annual World Championships Tour for surfing each May and is fully booked year round by private groups in the surf industry (we were lucky enough to get in on a trip two years ago and are holding onto our seats!). Surfing is the focus for most, but there is lot’s to do otherwise with great snorkeling, paddling, fishing, reef walking (see picture of our trip doctor, Brian Doonan, at extreme low tide at "Restaurants Reef") and touring surrounding islands. The island is staffed by the local villagers (exception is the managers and lifeguards) from Nabila & Momi villages and are the nicest happiest people we have ever encountered in our lives. Some stay on a small village on Tavarua and others commute daily about 15 minutes by boat to Vitu Levi (main island where their villages are). With the recent coup that now has a military dictatorship “temporarily” in power, there are travel warnings for Fiji and tourism has been is a nosedive for the traditional hotels and resorts, but these villages have sustained and are very healthy as the surfers have kept coming through all the instability (risk takers by nature!).
The group was 37 in size this year and mostly southern Californians, a couple Australians and us Canucks! Over three years of knowing many of them we have become good friends – great to have familiar faces on some of these stops of our trip. The transport coordination from plane to bus to boat to bure is a feat the villagers have dialed – see picture – most surfers come with 3 boards and some with as many as 10! Some notables on island too were Tom Servais (one of the world’s best surf photographer) who was shooting Timmy Reyes (on lelft in fishing picture - is ranked top 10 in the world on the WCT Surf tour – taking a week off for shooting and vacation with his girlfriend), Shane Dorian as guest lifeguard (Shane is former world tour competitor and now famed as surfing the biggest and gnarliest waves in the world….he actually left today for the big wave riding competition ceremony where he hopes to win $50,000 for one of the heavy waves he rode this winter. Robert Gerard, our trip leader (lawyer for the Association of Surf Professionals (ASP) and heavily involved with many major surf industry brands) has had a week on the island for 15 years now and is regarded very highly by the Fijians making this week a favourite for them to work.
On the first Sunday, Paula and our good friends Robert and Stacey, along with a few others from the group, took a day trip to Nabila village to their church service. An amazing service with singing and thanks to their travelling surfer friends with the villager kids very entertained with their funny looking visitors (see top photo). Although the invitation to church is extended to all visitors, most don’t take advantage, so when the few do attend they are appreciative and love to hear about us and where we’re from. The pastor offered us each the microphone to come up and introduce ourselves, talk about where we’re from and offer and words to the group. It was a treat to meet with so many villagers at once in their beautiful church on a hilltop surrounded by rolling green hills and palm trees and overlooking the ocean. When we had arrived by boat the pastor himself had met us at the landing with his little pickup truck, and he put the women in the cab and piled the men into the back and drove us to church, and after the service did the same back to the boat again. That probably doesn’t happen too often at other churches, so we felt pretty special!
The week was hampered with a little more wind and rain than normal. This made for very dramatic backdrops (see picture of Mark on a stand-up paddleboard with rainbow...and Mark with Robert having a shower "Au Natural" in a downpour) but unfortunately buggier too and our bure was across the island in the guest house of one of the owners so we had to traverse a jungle each morning and night - thank goodness for Deet! The island is also home to one of the most poisonous snakes in the world, nick-named the “ten step snake” as that’s as far as you get – fortunately they are non-aggressive and fairly elusive, so not a big concern, but they do come on land at night so we had to keep our flashlights handy for the walk in the dark.
A huge highlight of each week is “Fiji Night”, where the entire staff gathers for their weekly gathering and performance and they engage the guests with the song and dance that they love. The night begins with a ceremony where everyone has a drink of kava, which is a root that is mashed into a powder and put into a bowl of water that ends up looking and tasting like dirty sock water gives the locals a mild narcotic effect after several bowls. All is hosted by the village chief, Druku, who gives speeches in Fijian and English and is presented with gifts (more kava) by Robert, our trip leader, on our behalf. A Fijian feast is next and followed by some amazing song and dance by the villagers whose singing is so powerful and amazing. See the video below - this is the Bula Bula song (it's dark but the sound and energy hopefully still comes through).
The week was over way too fast and we have to say goodbye to our new and old friends (see picture of Robert Vince, originally from Vancouver but now produces movies for Disney and lives in Malibu, with his girlfriend Stacy and his son Tyler) and yet another place we have grown to love. We are onto our last three days of the adventure – now staying in Matanivusi Beach Eco Resort!
SURF REPORT: A rare north wind started the week and made for some bumpy conditions at their two most famous breaks: Cloudbreak and Restaurants. This wind though worked well for Tavarua Rights and we scored 3 great days of fun head high surf there. The SW trades came back later in the week and the swell went huge – 15 foot faces at Cloudbreak! The big day had Shane Dorian and Timmy Reyes put on a show for Tom Servais to shoot – but with a little too much west in some of the swells they had to pay heavily. Watch the mags in a couple months for shots for sure!. There were a lot of broken boards and heavy workings that day. Shane said to me describing a huge wipeout where he broke a board: “I got worked so hard….it was fun” – fun for him would have killed most of us! Timmy also came home with a broken board and some serious reef cuts. I retreated to Restaurants that day for surf that was 6-8 foot faces and pure magic – running fast and hard for 400meters. The next day I ventured out to Cloudbreak with a big lump in my throat and got out with one mission – play safe! Earlier in the week I had been taken out my a 10-footer that closed out in front of me (too slow!) and then ripped my leash right off my leg and left me in the impact zone for 3 waves 10-12ft where I had to swim to the bottom and hold the reef, push off grab a breath and repeat 2-X’s more. I swam for 20 minutes in a heavy current making no progress and the boatman finally picked me up…..so my mission was not to have that happen again! The word was it was smaller – but when we arrived we found the “clean up sets” were still pumping just as big but not as often as the day prior. It was a day full of the adrenaline and you had to paddle into the bombs with so much aggression and confidence. I ended up with a couple of the biggest waves of my life, faster than I have ever gone on a surfboard and on one wave I got deeper in a barrel than I have ever been. Unfortunately that perspective from that deep in a tube is so foreign to me I panicked and jumped off after about 5 seconds and not sure if I could make it out – but our boatman said I would have made it if I held on (maybe next year!).The tavi trip ended today with a fun day with 6-8ft faces and after that heavy day, this was totally fun and playful. Surfing backside with a lot more confidence and speed has actually turned me into enjoying lefts now – a big breakthrough of this trip! I unfortunately don’t have any good pictures of the big stuff – and only a pic’s of the surf from the boat after I returned and a video of empty big waves. I hope to get some sent to me from others to show you Shane and Timmy’s action.