#46 At Sea 11-19 & Lautoka, Fiji 11-20 Gotta love going native!

4995  Rod at the Burness house sitting in Raymond Burr’s chair.  The cans in the rack just to the left of my head were also Raymond’s.

4996  The yellow-red bromeliad I was describing.  Anyone know the name?

5000  This is the orchid that caught my eye.  That flower is about 7 inches across.

5007  These are some of the Fijian artifacts in the Burness collection.  The slim item on the left is a ‘brain picker’.  A fork used during the cannibalism era to eat human flesh, specifically the brain.  The item to its right is a war club to be swung or thrown.  Next to that is the whale tooth necklace I described and on the right are some obsidian adzes used to carve their canoes.  The necklace at the bottom made from whale teeth

5010  This is the oil lamp reservoir I was obsessed with.  Pretty easy to make now but much more difficult back in the 1800s.  What flower do you think these represent?

 

Nov 19 – At sea.  Doing much better today.  Head’s clearing up nicely.  Again, didn’t do much.  That’s what days at sea are for.  This afternoon I watched NFL football.  It’s Sunday afternoon there so I got the two afternoon and two evening games.  None of them were very well played and not exciting but I haven’t seen much football this year so it was fun.

 

The entertainer was Edmundo Rahme, a dramatic tenor.  I prefer both operatic and romantic tenors to the dramatic variety but his show was well tailored to his style.  He sang some Tom Jones, Sinatra, Mario Lanza and Pavarotti hits.  You could kind of tell that he wished he had the operatic voice and he did well on the arias but not great.  He was much better with Sinatra and Jones.  He sang the Moody Blues, Knights In White Satin and it was probably the best number he did.  Suited his voice to a T. 

 

Tomorrow we land in a new port for us.  We’ve been to Fiji before but always docked in Suva, the capital.  It’s a large city.  Lautoka is smaller, on the other side of the island of Viti Le Vu about as far as you can get from Suva.  I expect it will be more rural and enjoyable.  We’ll know soon.

 

Nov 20 - Lautoka, Fiji.  Well, I was right that Lautoka is smaller than Suva but it’s the second biggest city in Fiji and the second busiest port.  Still, it is more rural but I’m not sure how enjoyable as we are headed out of town once again.  Lautoka is also known as Sugar City as the areas main export is sugar and the main business that is not tourist related is growing and processing sugar cane.  The ship is docked just across the harbor from the sugar mill and it is a large facility.  Also near the harbor are a flour mill and a wood chip mill.  They have a fair pile of wood chips but nothing like the one in Eden, Australia.  The flour produced appears to be mainly for domestic consumption. 

 

I had seen advertisements for Punjas Flour long before I knew there was a plant here.  Many of the grocery and convenience stores had signs sponsored by Punjas, like Coke and Pepsi do for stores in the US.  They mill three grades of flour at the plant.  They’re called Normal Flour, Baker’s Flour and Sharps.  The ‘Normal’ flour appears to be bleached white flour, the ‘Baker’s’ is unbleached and I’m not sure what the ‘Sharps’ is.  Perhaps whole wheat or bran?  I’ll have to see if I can find out when Internet access is not so expensive.

 

We are going to the Burness Orchid Plantation.  The family has been in Fiji for many generations.  They emigrated from Scotland to Fiji by way of New Zealand.  You’re probably familiar with the DAR and other descendant organizations.  Well the Scots have a good one, named the Burns Federation.  To be members you have to prove that you are a descendant of the Robert Burns.  The Burnesses became members shortly after it was founded in 1885.  The oldest generation I heard spoken of as living in Fiji was our host’s great-great-great-great grandfather and grandmother.  I believe he said they arrived in Fiji in the mid-1800s.  The house we were visiting is his grandfather’s but was built by his great grandfather. 

 

For the most part the house was one large L-shaped space, with very tall ceilings.  There was a separate kitchen, bath and 2 bedrooms.  We were all sat in the largest space in the L as our host; Don Burness went around the room showing us family and island artifacts.  Some of the furniture was of European manufacture and was brought by the family when they immigrated.  He said the oldest piece was a bentwood sewing chair that belonged to his great-great-great-great grandmother.  He brought it to the center of the room so everyone could see it.  It was a very small chair and he did say that most of the really old pieces were very small because the people were small at the time. 

 

The artifacts on display were evidence of the changing tastes of the family over the years.  There were collections of Wedgewood, some of it modern and some of it very old (Old or new the collector had good taste; the entire collection was blue jasperware.  None of these newfangled colors for her.), ceramics, porcelain and china.

 

They also have some very impressive Fijian relics.  The Fijians never hunted whales but when one died and the body was beached they would collect the teeth and other parts.  The teeth in particular were viewed as very valuable and treasured as family possessions.  Eventually, no one knows exactly when, they started making necklaces of braided rope that included as the main ornament a whale’s tooth.  These necklaces were so prized that they became a way to make peace between feuding families.  If you offended someone and wanted to settle the grudge you offered them the necklace.  If they accepted they had to forgive you the grudge was ended.  He showed us one that belonged to his great-great grandfather.  He also showed us a necklace that was a string of small whale’s teeth that he said was a gift to his great-grandfather from a Fijian chief. 

 

The family had brought a foot-pedal bellows organ to the island that was made in the USA.  It still works and Don’s grandfather played us a little tune on it.  They also had an upright piano that was made in England, also in full working order.  Another item that caught my eye was an old oil lamp.  For some reason these old lamps hold a great fascination for me.  If you ever want to discover what eye strain can be all about try reading, writing or sewing using only the light of an oil lamp.  Yikes!!  This example was a double wick type that I’d seen before but not often.  My Pennsylvania Dutch (you know that ethnically the Pa Dutch are Germans right?) ancestors would have viewed burning twice the oil to produce more light as wasteful.  Single wicks for them, thank you very much.  The cast metal base has a nautical motif surrounded by floral designs.  Quite the mixed message there.  But the really beautiful part was the oil reservoir.  It’s hatbox shaped but slightly rounded on the bottom outer edge.  It’s glass with no seams so I assume it was blown in a mold.  The design is interesting.  Around the bottom curving slightly up the sides there’s a circle of fleur-de-lis.  Around the side there’s a circle of what look like peonies but could be roses.  Could also be giant chrysanthemums.  They look most like peonies; the petals are not quite right for a rose but the color has me thinking roses.  At the center of the reservoir where the base attaches the color is milk glass white.  At the center of the top where the wick apparatus attaches the color is deep magenta (or rose).  Between these two extremes the milk glass white gradually darkens through all the hues in-between the two.  The change is so gradual that it’s not possible to see any adjacent points where you can identify the colors as different.  Excellent glass work. 

 

Now here comes the weirdest part of the visit.  You travel all this way, to an exotic South Pacific island, you are seeing wonderful artifacts of a life style that’s long gone and what’s the high point of the visit, you ask.  It’s sitting in Perry Mason’s chair.  You all know I’m a bit odd but for some reason I think I have to keep proving you right.  Just so it won’t be as peculiar as it might seem I should provide a little background. 

 

I have been a huge fan of Raymond Burr ever since I watched Perry Mason as a child in the ‘50s.  My admiration of the actor was broadened to respect for the man when I found him sitting in our chow hall chatting with everyone.  Most people don’t know that he visited our troops in Viet Nam on several occasions totally without fanfare, publicity or entourage.  He did it on his own money.  He traveled to small bases, places totally overlooked by the other entertainers who made the trip.  That’s not to put down Bob Hope and all those who traveled with in those great shows.  I certainly respect and admire their contributions to the morale of troops badly in need of a lift.  But Raymond’s effort was so basic and person-to-person direct, that it’s in a whole different class. 

 

There’s not a lot in the general pool of knowledge about him.  He avoided the life of a celebrity, preferring to live his own life in the way he wanted.  He had a home here in Fiji.  It was located in the foothills of the mountain everyone calls The Sleeping Giant.  With a little imagination you can see the profile of a giant’s head, laying on his back, mouth open in a huge snore.  He loved orchids and, like Nero Wolf, was a respected amateur hybridizer.  The last orchid hybrid he created was named for Don’s grandmother, Aileen Burness. 

 

Raymond was a large man and was often afraid that he would crush the somewhat delicate bentwood and carved furniture of the Burness household but their mutual love of orchids brought them together often.  He had a chair custom made to his specifications and gave it to the Burnesses so he’d have a safe place to sit while he visited.  I spoke to the grandfather about my brief encounter with Raymond and he smiled as he noted that he was unaware that Ray had been to Viet Nam.  Then he added that it was just like him to do works of charity and generosity without telling anyone.  The Burr orchid collection was split between the Fijian government, Sonoma University and the Burnesses.  While he lived on Fiji he created The Garden of the Sleeping Giant to house his orchid collection.  This was the portion he gave to the Fijians.  While we spoke I could tell that the grandfather had liked and respected Raymond by the somewhat wistful look of nostalgia that came over his face.  I asked if it was ok for me to sit in the Burr chair and he said it would be fine.  I had Diana take my picture in it.

 

I went out into the small area behind the house to look at some plants.  They had a bromeliad that I’ve never seen before.  I’ve seen red, pink and a sort of gold versions but this one was bright yellow and red and has a very nice shape.  I realize that what I was seeing is not really the flower but specialized leaves, either sepals or bracts like a poinsettia plant.  The poinsettia flower is a very small yellow and white bloom.  All those flamboyant red, white and now purple or variegated or pink are specialized leaves.  But then I’m pretty sure that’s not news to almost any of you.

 

What was most interesting is that you could see that they change color as they age.  There were dark green, red & dark green, red, red & yellow, yellow, pale green and yellow and pale green leaves.  Apparently they start out pale green and wind up dark green while going through all those phases to get there.  Wild!  If anyone knows the name of this one please email it to me.

 

There was also a very large yellow and magenta orchid that struck me as different.  I’m not an orchid guy but I do love looking at them.  Also back there was a light violet colored anthurium lily.  Never seen one of those either.

 

As we finished looking around we headed down to the screened in patio for tea.  Ah, so civilized these Brits.  They had little sandwiches, no crust of course, a delicious banana nut bread and what appeared to be a silver dollar pancake with butter and jam.  The sandwiches were typical tea chow, cheese, egg salad but no water cress (thankfully) or cucumber.  The banana bread was great, spiced just right and with a strong banana flavor.  I meant to ask what type of bananas they used but forgot.  There are about 60 types but some are prepared more like vegetables, that is to say cooked in some way.  The little pancakes were the surprise and it was wholly because of the jam.  Might have been mango or another tropical fruit but it was absolutely wonderful.

 

They have a huge area behind the house.  Part of it is a lily pad lake with white and maroon lilies in bloom.  There are several large screened in areas where I’m sure they are growing orchids and other tropical plants.

 

Sated with tea and snacks we got back on the bus and headed to Nadi town.  Nadi is a resort area with about half of the 4 & 5 star resorts in Fiji.  Lots of tourist cafes and shops line the streets.  This is where the Fijians come to get away.  Before driving through the town we stopped at the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple, reputed to be the largest Hindu temple in the South Pacific.  It was, as Hindu temples tend to be, very colorful.  There are several shrines on the temple grounds.  The main one is to Sri Siva as you’d guess from the temples name.  Off to the right of the main shrine was a smaller but still very ornate shrine to Ganesha (sp?), you know the elephant headed boy.  The simplified story about that is that dad didn’t particularly like his son and in a fit cut off his head.  Mom was not altogether pleased with this situation and demanded that her son’s get a head.  Dad chopped the head off the first animal he saw, an elephant and put it on the boy.  I did mention that the story was being simplified, didn’t I.  I was wearing shorts and thus it would not be proper for me to enter the temple area even if I took my shoes off as required.  So after a few long distance pictures it was back on the bus for the short ride to the village of Vitogo.

 

Vitogo is a typical Fijian rural village.  The village square is at the center of the cluster of homes.  At one end is the meeting house, fale (sp?).  Visitors are rarely invited to this building.  It’s for village business and not in the prevue of outsiders.  On the side of the square opposite the road in is the village church.  Most ethnic Fijians are nominally Christians of one sort or another.  It’s certainly a big part of their culture.  Most Hindus are Indian ethnically and were brought here by the British to work the plantations.  Since we were here last there’s been a big increase in Muslim population.

 

At the other end of the square is the community center and that’s where we were invited to gather.  Fijian custom has some strict rules about village life.  Men can’t wear hats, sunglasses or shoes inside the village.  Women’s shoulders must be covered and their legs must be covered to below the knees.  These rules have been   waived for us for this visit.  Good thing, some of this crew can hardly walk with their shoes on and our bald heads would have taken a beating in the sun.

 

On our way to the community center we were greeted by ladies that were giving us necklaces of leaves and flowers.  This added a very festive air to the proceedings.  It’s a little easier to ‘go native’ if you are at least partly properly attired.

 

Guess who built most of the bus stop shelters here in Fiji.  Good old Ronald McDonald, that’s who.

 

After we had all entered the community center a Fijian not from the village addressed us to explain what was going to happen.  Our guide added a little more information to the presentation.  There will be a kava ceremony, and then the villagers will sing and dance for us.

 

Seven men came forward and were seated on the floor across the front of the room.  In front of the central man there was a large wooden four-legged bowl for making kava.  Kava is the local ceremonial drink.  It opens the proceedings at both public and private celebrations.  It’s a plant that is prepared in advance to be made into the drinkable liquid as part of the ceremony.  When you visit friends or another village prepared kava plant is the most acceptable hostess gift you can bring.

 

The carved kava bowl is conical in shape but shallow for a cone.  It stands on four legs.  The prepared kava plant is put into the bowl inside a cloth sack which functions like a teabag.  Water is added while the mixer, usually a man of some rank, kneads the bag with his hands.  Water is added and the kneading continues until the proper amount with the proper color (sort of a muddy tan) is produced.  At this point the chief of the village, if he’s present, comes forward and sits facing the kava maker across from the bowl. 

 

There’s a definite form to accepting the kava.  A shallow coconut shell is dipped into the kava and poured into another shallow coconut shell.  This is presented to the drinker.  He claps three times, not just any clap but the left hand is cupped and held in front of the belly while the right hand is cupped facing down and lowered to strike the left hand, at which time the presenter says, “Boola” to which the drinker responds “Boola” and drinks the entire contents of the shell while the presenter claps three times in the same manner.  After drinking you hand the coconut shell back and clap the same way but only twice, at which time both parties say “Boola”.

 

I’ve had kava before but was ready to try it again.  After the chief de jour drank they asked us to raise our hands if we wanted to try it and I volunteered. 

 

After performing the required rituals I was handed a shell almost full of Kava.  Yikes!!  If you’re going to ‘go native’ sometimes you just have to go all the way.  I drank all of it and handed the coconut shell back to the presenter.  He grinned very largely and we both said ‘Boola’.  In about 30 seconds my lips and tongue started to feel like the dentist had just given me a shot.  This feeling spread for about the next 3-4 minutes.  I never went completely numb in any area, just that slightly tingly feeling you get early on.  It was completely gone in about 10 minutes.  They say if you drink two servings it starts to make you light headed and the third puts you in a good mood.  I’ll never know because one is my limit on kava.

 

After the kava ceremony was over the villagers took to the stage and the singing and dancing started.  First they sang a welcome song, choir style.  They have a distinctive harmony that you can hear all over the South Pacific islands.  It’s a bit different everywhere but the basics are the same.  Cook Islands, Society Islands, Fiji, both Samoas, the Marquesas and everywhere else I’ve been it’s the same wonderful tones.  They sang several more songs before the dancing started.

 

First the women danced.  They came out of the choir on the stage and danced on the floor in front of it while the remaining women and the men sang and played.  They danced three separate pieces.  I’m not sure if they were the parts of a single dance or three totally separate dances but each had a different beat and pattern. 

 

Next the men ‘danced’.  Their performance was done seated on the floor in front of the stage.  Again three dances, all quite unique.  I guess the men don’t dance standing up. 

 

Then it was time for the obligatory get the visitors involved dance.  Diana loves that and is always ready to get up and join in.  Everyone seemed to have a good time, including me taking pictures.

 

After that dance the choir reconvened on the stage and sang two farewell songs.  When those concluded they hung around for pictures and chatting.  I had learned to say ‘Thank you’ in Fijian so I approached the oldest man, usually an important member of the community, and said “Ve na’ ka”.  I guess everyone from the village had been watching me come up to him because he and everyone else answered me.  I must have looked a little stunned because his grin got huge and he put out his hand to shake mine.  After that he and I posed for a picture and shook hands again.

 

These village visits are always fun.  Sometimes they seem a little touristy but often you get to connect with the locals and that I love.

 

Soon it was time to head back to the ship as sail-away time was approaching.  We’re sharing a dock with the Paul Gaugin, a smaller luxury ship that stays here in the South Pacific.  It’s a gorgeous ship and I’d have loved to take a tour but such things are seldom permitted, especially on that class of ship.  It should be nice the per diem cost of sailing on her is at least 3 times higher than on HALs best ships and perhaps a little more.  I know for sure I couldn’t be three times happier than I am here so it’s not a good deal for me.

 

Sail away was interesting from a navigational standpoint.  I spent some years in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and learned a lot about seamanship, navigation, weather, knots, etc. from their classes.  As we sailed away there were perfect examples of Island Cloud Piles all around us.  An ICP is formed when air that is heated by the warmer land flows upward and cools losing its ability to hold the water vapor it gathered at sea level.  This condenses into an often pyramid shaped pile of clouds.  There were four islands in the vicinity of our ship and each had a perfectly formed ICP.  One was longer because it was formed over an island that had a lateral mountain range directing even more air upward.  It’s thought that the ancient migrants that populated the islands all around the South Pacific navigated to new islands by spotting and sailing to these cloud piles.  You have to get pretty close to an island before you can see the landmass and if you sailed at random out here you could sail for several lifetimes and never bump into an island.

 

Tonight’s entertainer was Leo Ward, a magician.  Now I know I’ve mentioned that I usually don’t care for magicians on ships because their travel limits the props they can bring and most aren’t talented enough to get along without serious props.  Leo is an exception.  I’m glad I went.  He was great.  Just the right mix of humor and serious magic.  An excellent performance.  He’s going to do a close up show tomorrow using the lounge’s TV cameras focused on his hands.  That’s the toughest type of magic because there are no props, it’s all skill and Leo’s got it.