March 2005
G'day
Our Australian recipients of this newsletter (many who would have seen "Getaway" nearly two weeks ago) would recognise the faces of our hosts in the picture below. (Simon and Judith Batibasaga our hosts at Namatakula)
Judith organised Catriona's stay at Namatakula which included a couple of activities that time prevented being displayed! Getaway started with showing Catriona being welcomed into the village through the traditional sevu sevu after she had presented the headman with a kilo of kava.
From there she met the village children, attended a Sunday church service and heard the village's great choir, she watched the preparation of the traditional lovo feast after earlier snorkelling and watching from above as Iso (Simon's son) went spearfishing. There was some great underwater photography with footage of Iso spearing a fish deep underwater and taking it back to the surface for dinner. There was the arranged rugby match on the field where Lote Tuqiri first played rugby at the Ratu Filisi school and lots of eating while a local village band played traditional music.
It was clear that Catriona had a great time and the "Getaway" crew are most welcome to go visit another one of ou extraordinary villages in the future.
The stars of the coverage were Simon and Judith. Judith explaining how the village benefitted from the income received and who will ever forget Simon's classic interview with Catriona over the killing of the pig that came from "Iso's farm".
Thanks once again "Getaway", FijiBure.com has received the sort of publicity that we could not buy and we have had dozens of bookings as a result with the "House Full" sign hovering over a couple of villages at certain times this year!
The summary of Getaway's story on FijiBure.com and their visit to Namatakula can be seen at this link.
Some MORE classic signs seen on my travels:On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
and another....:
In a tailor's shop in Seville:
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One of our guests here in Brisbane on the night Getaway presented FijiBure.com was a prominent indigenous Fijian citizen who's son is Member of Parliament in Fiji. We had the opportunity to talk over a number of issues related to village homestays in Fiji and, as a result, are looking at the development of a special resort which will act as an initial cultural exchange venue where guests can get to meet Fijians and be introduced to their customs before arriving at a village.
Please understand that we are talking "Fiji time" so I will keep you informed as and when developments take place.
The village of the month of March: The village of the month is Namuamua with its isolation, lovely villagers and village and the two beautiful rivers that embrace it like a glove. Take this link for more
Namuamua is situated on the junction of two rivers a full ninety minute water taxi ride up one of Fiji's most beautiful river gorges where waterfalls abound. It is my personal favourite.
Your hosts at Namuamua, the irrepressible and lovable "rogue" Tomasi, his beautiful daughter and sanguine Eramasi make your visit to Namuamua very special and a holiday tha you will never forget!
Scott Balson