Location: Ono, Fiji
Hello all! This morning, we completed our first passage and anchored at Ono, a small island shrouded in mist with palm trees and pine trees growing next to each other on the mountainsides. We all agreed it looked otherworldly and so different from the other Fijian islands weve seen so far! While those of us on night watch last night took much-needed slumbers until noon, Watch Team 1 anchored Argo and took down her sails. After a great lunch altogether, we put Argo to bed by putting her sail covers back on, taking down her halyards, and getting our scuba gear out of storage.
Steph, Kelcey, Anna, and Iain then took our dinghy to shore to make contact with the tribe living in the village. They brought with them powdered kava root and a whole kava root wrapped in paper and ribbon. When visiting local tribes in Fiji, it is customary to present this gift to the village chief as a sign of respect and good faith. On such short notice, it was arranged for 20 of us to visit the village! This was the highlight of our day and, for many of us, the highlight of our trip so far!
We dressed in long pants, long skirts, or towels wrapped around our waist and brought our full water bottles with us. We met a few of the locals and the kids before walking barefoot from the beach into the village. We gathered in the chiefs house and sat on woven mats in a large circle with the chief and a few of the locals. After welcoming us into the village, we gave the locals our water bottles to pour into a large bowl with the powdered kava root. The chief mixed the water and kava root to make a kava drink, which is a traditional drink in Fijian culture. The locals taught us how to accept the bowls of kava we were given to drink, and we all sat for a while and talked, asked questions, and drank kava. Afterward, we toured the village and saw the church, more dried kava roots, and even a hot spring! We finished off the visit with a few more bowls of kava and a beautiful island sunset. We returned to Argo for dinner (shout out to Gabe for absolutely cheffing it up while we were gone). Although we were invited to stay the night and attend church in the village tomorrow, we had to politely decline due to our itinerary. However, we will never forget the kindness, camaraderie, and warm welcome we received from the people in the village. Weve met many new friends and will cherish the amazing experience!
Tomorrow, well head to our next destination, the Great Astrolabe Reef, for some diving and (fingers crossed!) more manta rays!