Friday, 23 March 2012

Return from Palmlea Farm Resort


Living at Palmlea Farm Resort, Julie and Joe Smelser are now retired from their life at sea.  During their sailing years, they acquired “Apogee” a 40’Beneteau, one that was specially built for her previous owner.  That owner sailed her to Spain in horrible conditions and he was forced there to buy his wife a new land-based home and sell the yacht.  Joe got quite a deal.  Joe is an architect by profession and he and Julie are both certified captains.  Joe is now 76 and content to be living on the estate he designed and built himself.  He is proud to say that he used Fijian and Indo-Fijian labour from the neighbouring villages and built it to suit the skills of his labour force.  They appear to have a loyal staff of Fijians to staff their resort of four bures, extensive gardens and family of goats.  Julie was like a proud grandma as she announced that while all her female goats were pregnant, one had just given birth.  This is supposed to be the dry side of the island but February / March weather has been unusually wet.  A downpour during the afternoon proved the point.  The roads are deeply rutted and the road into Palmlea was cursed by my taxi driver as I came up from Labasa.
Labasa itself is very much an Indo-Fijian commercial strip of shops, just as Lonely Planet describes it.  I took photos only of a school and the 2’ narrow gauge railway line that supports the sugar cane mill.  No sign of any of the rolling stock.  I had a fish and chip lunch at a place which advertised itself as a cyber café but did not actually have internet access.  From there I negotiated a $25 taxi ride to Palmlea Farms Resort.
Joe welcomed me and I quickly told him that I had come at the suggestion of Vin & Annetta.  Joe immediately knew their boat.  A group of four were just finishing up their lunch as they had to quickly return to the Sun Princess before the last boat at 4:30.  Young adventurous folk obviously well informed of good things to do while in port.  Not sure how they got their car over the last part of the road.
The resort's 240 volt power is supplied by solar panels and batteries.  In the evening, they use a very quiet generator for a few hours, but there is enough power in the batteries to run a fan all night.  My bure looks out over the gardens, fields, palm trees, the mangrove along the water’s edge and the sea.  It is a 10 minute walk to the dock where, in season, many visiting dinghies will approach from anchored yachts that have successfully negotiated the reefs.  Below the deck chairs and hammocks is a 15 metre lap pool surrounded by lush vegetation and flowers.  As I was the only guest, their season doesn’t really start for a few weeks, Julie and Joe joined me for dinner.  Breakfast is included in the room rate but other meals are not.  They have a good varied menu and everything is made or grown on site. 
Ants are a problem most places.  As soon as man has built a wooden structure, ants begin to destroy it.  All wood must be treated in the tropics.  Untreated pine will last 14 months only.  Joe uses vinegar to keep ants out of the bures with some success.  Joe does not like pesticides and says that repeated vinegar every week works as well.  Not sure of the origin of the ants that are crawling through this computer but I will be importing all my clothes and goods into my home very carefully.  I will also stop at a store and get some vinegar for my hotel room.
Joe had the bus times written on a piece of paper and calculated when they would pass the end of their road.  Julie drove me to meet the 1:30 bus and dropped me off at the Indo-Fijian store at the junction.  Problem was there is no 1:30 bus, it actually left at 12:30 and while I left Palmlea early, I had missed the 12:30 bus.  But I had a book to read and could wait in the shade of the store for what the locals thought might be 3 hours.  However, my presence on the porch of the store was a concern and a curiosity to many and different ones would emerge from the store to find out why I was there and then report back inside.
I moved up the road to a point where I could sit on a curb in the shade.  The bus, when it came would be on the other side of the street but it was too hot to sit there.  Several local busses passed but none to Savusavu.  I was, however, still attracting some attention.  I was camped outside a high school where kids came out to play soccer.  I was about to pull out my camera when an official looking man approached the school fence and asked why I was waiting there.  I know a Principal when I see one.  I explained that I had missed my bus and fortunately he told me that there would soon be a white mini-bus coming by that would go to Savusavu.  It would not be marked in any way but was part of the bus system.  At that moment, a white van crested the hill, I grabbed my stuff, thanked the man for his advice and dashed across to street and flagged down the van.  I do have such incredible good luck!  I was squeezed into the last seat at the back of a 10 passenger van.  Later we would have 14 on board.
Fijian men will sometimes strike up a conversation but women will not.  I met Pio on the bus on the way to Labasa.  He was a well travelled and well educated industrial electrician.  Also very religious, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.  He would have me converted before we hit the last pot hole in the road.  Never let your tongue pass between your teeth as you speak as you will bite yourself on the next bounce of the bus.  So except for the Indo-music blasting through the rear speakers, the van ride was  both quieter and smoother, devoid of conversation, sandwiched between two shy Fijian women.
I will have to look hard to find any Fijian music.  This hotel plays mostly American music, Simon and Garfunkel at the moment.  Indian music is loud in the shops.
Clouds continue to roll in.  One heavy downpour as I enjoyed an omelette breakfast from the deck of the Hot Springs Hotel.  If I can see my way clear to walk to town between showers, I will send this blog.
Boules tournament again this afternoon at the yacht club, a last chance to connect with many new friends.  There will be others at Sunday’s music night at Waitui Club which is just down the hill from this hotel.  If the weather is good Monday, I will consider renting a scooter and going back over the Labasa road to take photos of some stunning views that I could not get from the bouncing bus or the crowded van.
Saturday is a busy day on the streets of Savusavu.  In the bay, children are learning to sail on Lasers.  Cols and showers roll through but there is always a way to duck out of the rain.
Dropbox
If you are reading this and do not have access to my Dropbox of photos, and would like them, send me an email, dcraigmyle@shaw.ca.  I will need your address to give you access to the Dropbox.  Just be careful to not drag photos out of the Dropbox, simply copy any you want to keep and paste them to your own folder.  Dragging them out means that they are lost to everyone else.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great experience, perhaps seeing and learning more by land than you would by sea. Love, Dave

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  2. I agree with David. You are having a very unique experience that few visitors to Fiji will have had. Thanks for making us all part of the adventure.

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