Fiji: Life on Mana Island

During my stay of 5 days on Mana Island I was immersed in the culture and life of those living on the Island. I was interested in documenting this and the best way for me to do was to talk to the locals. I would like to thank the Kindergarten teacher, School Headmaster Mr. Seranaia Gauna, and one of the ladies at the hostel named Maria that helped divulge some information on the local life.

I learned a bit regarding the local story of the island and where it got its name. The Fijian people had a magical box that contained their language and culture. The people were boating by the Island with this box and all the Fijian people valued were also contained on the boats. When they started to approach the island a storm started to form and then got really intense the closer they got. This storm ended up capsizing all the boats and from then on they called it Mana Island(Magic Island) because of the force it had to force them to lose this box and all their valuables. 

I was able to talk to the headmaster after school was out on my last day on the island and ask a few questions about the school and life for the children. The kindergarten teacher that I spoke with briefly on more of a personal level about my travels, did divulge that the kindergarten classes all over Fiji receive aid in the form of school supplies, teaching materials, and work shops for teachers from the Fiji Kinde Project(USA). It was humbling to know that these children are fortunate enough to get off to a great start in their educations through a program like this.

She then informed me about the structure in which the kids proceed through school. The education system for elementary school is not free in Fiji but as of next year(2014) the government will be paying for free education for elementary students. Once the students finish with elementary school on the island they then must pay for High School or if fortunate enough boarding school, both of which are located on the main island, Viti Levu. After High school the kids head off to University or if they cannot afford it they return to the island to live and preform local trades. On the main island there are two Universities and also a school of agriculture.

The school on the island was called the Mana Adventist Primary School. Immediately I could tell that Catholicism and religion played a big role in the schools teachings and operation. Through further inspection the school had children of all different religions attending and one of the points on the Fijian Education Mission statement was in fact to be accepting towards and promote all religion in the schools.

The curriculum was quite similar to that in North America, at the school they teach Maths, English, Fijian, Science, Health, Physical Education, and the Arts. While visiting the school I was informed that they were in the last few days of exams before the kids are on a 7 week summer break, good for them cause it was really starting to get hot! 

Though some may not be able to move on to University or to college, they are taught local skills such as fishing, growing, building, and cooking at a young age. For the 256 locals living on Mana, Fish was indeed one of the primary diet items so learning fishing is a matter of survival. There were many locals arriving back on boats in the evenings with nets to bring in the daily catch. Among fish the other major dietary items were cassava, clams, spinach, fruit, seaweeds, and sea grapes. 

 

There were noticeably lots of plantations on the side hills which contained cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams. The fruit that grew and was consumed on Mana included coconuts, mangoes, bananas, papaya, and bread fruit. In terms of meat and protein, all I noticed was fish and a few goats lazing around in the small pasture. All the fruit, meat and vegetables that are cultivated on Mana are only for consumption by the locals. All food for the Resort and two hostels is brought in from the mainland. 

The island has a leader, Mr. Jeramiah, who looks after the well being and affairs of the village and making rules for the residents. After work activities on the island were primarily relaxing, playing rugby, volleyball, or swimming in the ocean. Most of the residents are able to join into playing a game of volleyball at night as it is more inclusive and does not require a lot of fitness like rugby. Most of the men in the village and working at the resort gather on the old airstrip to play rugby or sometimes soccer. 

 

All in all the people were very friendly and relaxed. On Mana Island it was obvious that the locals are on a whole different schedule to the rest of the world. When referring to a time to meet or do something it was usually referred to as "Fiji Time". Even some of the guests at to hostel were late for a boat while getting caught up snorkeling on Fiji Time. I know it rubbed off on me while I was there, kinda just letting things happen, no schedules, no worries. 

 W

Fiji, My Mana Island Experience

19,840 km

Bula! A few weeks ago I spent 7 days in the sunny paradise of Fiji this journal entry will be one of three blog posts that I will publish. Enjoy this first post about my 5 day experience on Mana Island; Where the weather and the scenery was magnificent, and the people were so beautiful and kind! 



Upon arriving in Fiji I was met at the airport by a Couchsurfing host, Victoria who brought me back to her home. It was not long before myself and two Italians I met there were off to the small Mana Island with some help from Victoria. 



I arrived on Mana Island by speed boat for a 5 day stay, and was immediately greeted by the pretty faces of some local children playing in the surf and the hostel staff of Ratu Kini Backpacker singing a Bula song and putting native flowers in my hair. The hostel itself was quite inexpensive, the staff are such amazing people and the food is so good. They also have lots of activities to do including some really great diving courses for beginners all the way up to advanced.





Some of my fellow backpackers and I took a 4 hour walk around the island and found that it is surrounded by beaches on all sides and picturesque rock outcroppings. After our walk it was incredibly easy to pass time just relaxing in the sun and swimming in the warm water. 

While on the island I have snorkelled twice on both sides and observed some really cool coral and lots of different colourful fish. Yesterday and today I hiked around to the various hills to take in some of the great views of the island and other surrounding islands(one was the island featured in the movie 'Castaway'). As well we I did some small hikes around the island to get the best perspective of the Island from above, and I think I took some of my best pictures up on the hills.

The backpacker hostel that I stayed at is also immersed in the local village so I have spent a few hours wandering about the village, talking to locals, checking out the school and the church, observing some really cool local crops and agriculture, and even drinking a local native narcotic called 'Kava'. For more on the local life in Mana Island see my next post; Mana Island, A Local Perspective.

While here I have been able to enjoy a few Kava ceremonies. The Kava drink itself is a past time that is practiced by a lot of Fijians, and when drank it numbs the mouth and jaw as well as calms the rest of your body, all while not really affecting your thought patterns. The drug characteristics are achieved by grinding up the root of the Kava plant and putting the powder into a cloth bag. The bag is then submerged and soaked in water until the water darkens when it is then served to each person in a small cup. 

Tomorrow I must leave the beautiful island and its people but it is a place that will live long in my memory. 

W

Las Vegas; A Photo Set

10,475 km

My last weekend in North America was in Las Vegas at a bike polo tournament called Crank Gamble 3. The tournament was a 19 team tourney and took place on Saturday and Sunday. My team was called Freewheel Burning and my teammates were Dutchmaster(San Diego/Utrecht) and Chris(Los Angeles). On the Saturday we played alright for three players with no experience playing with each other. We rounded off the day in the middle of the pack... 10th place. 

Day two was where it matters most, the double elimination round. We started off with a really hard fraught game, clawing our way back from 3-0 down to win the game 4-3 in overtime against Vegas's best. We were knocked out of the winners bracket by The Control(San Francisco) and had to proceed through the losers bracket. 

In the end we were paired up against a team from San Francisco and lost out to place a very respectable 5th place in the tournament. 

It was a great weekend of polo(sorry there is nothing about Vegas... I didn't really do anything except polo). 
Thank you to the sponsors New Belgium Brewing! And a big thanks to Vegas Bike Polo and my buddy Brandon(we would have won best hecklers of the weekend if that was such a prize)

The following photos are courtesy of Jasmine Connor-Ritchie from Las Vagas. Thank you Jasmine.

W

Los Angeles

10,050 km

One if my last stops in California was Los Angeles where I stayed at the polo house, "No Manor", which was located quite near Eagle Rock(Pictured below). I stayed in LA for about a week before the Crank Gamble tournament in Vegas, and played polo almost every night while in the city and managed to get up to a lot while trying to keep costs low.

One of the first days in LA a friend, Krista, and I drove up to Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley for a really awesome bike event. The event is called Choppercabra and takes place bi-annually and is filled with fun and crazy events like demolition derby and chariot death match(my pictures may describe it better than I can). Another fun event was the bike race where the object was to bike to a fake tree and rescue as many cardboard cats you can and return them to the little old lady(a man in a old lady costume) who was positioned on the opposite side of the course... This was of course full contact. The little old lady survived. Choppercabra was then rounded off with a great group ride around the area and a free lunch.

The next activity that I got up to was a trip on the metro with my bike out to Hollywood to do the tourist thing and take in the boulevard. I spent the day biking around the area, checking out a few thrift stores and then sitting in a busy park with a beer and my pipe to people watch. That evening after bike polo, my mate bobby drove me out to Hollywood again to grab a world famous sausage at 'Pink's' and then up to the Hollywood hills for a great view of Los Angeles by night. I only wish I brought my camera, sorry for the terrible iPhone photo...

The next day was Halloween and I decided it would be cool to people watch somewhere eclectic and different, so I took the Metro out to Venice Beach. There I rode up and down the beach and check out various shops, artists selling their work, chilled on the beach, and people watched for a while. I saw a lot of quirky and cool costumes.

Of course quite a bit of my photography during my time in Los Angeles was dominated by architecture. LA has a varied mix of Architectural styles like Pueblo, Spanish Colonial and a fair bit of Victorian style. I went to the city thinking that the architecture would be pretty tacky, but what I discovered were a lot of cool historical buildings, converted warehouses, and really cool uses of space.  

One major thing that I noticed while staying in North-East Los Angeles besides the Pueblo overload, were the number of these small business that were operating out of these "Tiendas". They were essentially small buildings built adjacent to main avenues and roads that have been built on residential properties. The properties typically back onto the main road. It was a really cool use of space to get the most out of the high traffic corridors where normally it would just be a fence and someones back yard. I couldn't but think how cool it would be to operate a brewing space in one of these tiendas.

The rest of my trip before, in between and after these various activities was filled with lots of biking and photography of LA and its surrounding areas... Enjoy these last photos.

W