Fiji Paddling Adventure – Kayaking a Sea of Fijian Song

As we haul our kayaks up the Fiji beach, pint-sized children rush into the water, laughing and forming an unruly queue, arms outstretched for dry-bags and camping gear. Meanwhile, the village adults greet us with the melodic “welcome” song, accompanied by ukuleles. Sione, the dignified chief, looks on as more than a dozen tiny youngsters help to unload a mountain of gear, and carry our kayaks up the beach – we watch in amusement and appreciation.

Exploring the traditional Fiji village, home to about 150 people, we feel like honoured guests. Villagers smile and call out “Bula”, the Fiji greeting. While others explore the plantations, I go to school – the village kindergarten. After a few minutes of disruption, with twenty pairs of eyes on the unusual white-skinned visitor, class resumes. A few songs, then the older children practise writing while I thread bead necklaces and build colourful brick towers with the younger ones. At the “meke” performance that evening, traditional Fiji song and dance portrays island life, while the stately Sione sits in the back corner, surrounded by wide-eyed pre-school children. As my turn comes in the “kava” ceremony, Averosa, our host, mischievously asks “high tide or low tide?” Al, our kayak guide who has been leading paddling trips in Fiji’s Yasawas for 14 years, grins and answers “high tide”. I struggle to down a dauntingly large cup of the dubious liquid that could easily pass for muddy dishwater. Made from pounded yaqona root, kava causes numb lips and eventually drowsiness. We sleep soundly that night, in tents pitched on the village playing field.

This traditional Fiji village is a highlight of our 7-day sea kayaking expedition in the Yasawa Islands in northwestern Fiji. Our paddling begins on a small island, about 70 kilometres from Lautoka (near Fiji’s Nadi airport). In two hours by high-speed boat, it seems we travel back a century in time, as the noise, bustle and grime of Lautoka gives way to thatched bures, coconut palms and village plantations.

On the edge of the Blue Lagoon, complete beginners and experienced paddlers alike are acquainted with our double kayaks, our craft for the week’s adventure. Next day, paddling against the easterly wind, we feel pleasantly challenged by the time we break for lunch. We swim and snorkel while our kayaks are loaded on to two support boats for the remaining distance to the village.

An uninhabited limestone island lies four kilometres away – our destination for the next day’s paddle. Gaining access to the caves here calls for a sense of adventure. Donning masks and snorkels, we dive under the limestone cliff, surfacing two metres later into blackness. Swimming and clambering through passages created by water over geological time, flashlights reveal cathedral-like caverns yawning overhead. Eyes adjust slowly as we emerge into bright sunlight to pick up our paddles again. Surfing down waves, our kayaks surge back towards the village and our camp, propelled by following winds and seas. We arrive exhilarated.

Leaving the “full on” Fiji village experience, we paddle loaded kayaks north to a deserted coral fringed island – our own private wilderness. The tide is low, so we gingerly thread our kayaks through a narrow gap in the reef to reach the long sandy beach. Camping here for two nights, we relax, snorkel amongst colourful reef fish, hike through humid forest to the island’s summit for a panoramic view of the Yasawas, and explore further afield by kayak. A tropical pink sunset paints the perfect backdrop for sipping rum punch before a gourmet dinner of Indian-style curry, pappadums and traditional accompaniments, followed by exquisitely sweet yellow Fijian pineapple. Arms and shoulders strong after a week’s paddling, the final day’s 18-kilometre paddle back to our base seems satisfyingly easy. We are sorry our Fiji kayak holiday has to end, and that our return to the “real world” is inevitable!

"Kayaking a Sea of Fijian Song" by Elaine Prior

This is a modified excerpt from an article about a Fiji sea kayaking trip in the Yasawa Islands published in Australian WhiteWater magazine.