Hidden Naselesele Waterfall on Savusavu Island Fiji
Hidden Naselesele Waterfall
(on the road to Bua)
We are house sitting on the island of Savusavu in Fiji, n Sunday we decided to ‘find a waterfall’, so we hopped into the hire car – that we hired thanks to the knowledge of some luxury travel experts in the region – and headed through the hills towards the top left area of the island of Vanua Levu. (We are based at the bottom center right coast).
We needed a break as all week long we had been buying up clothes for the village donation trip scheduled for Saturday. This single parent travel adventure we are on has been hard work hauling the 2 km long hilly ground by foot to our house. Sometimes I do 3 trips a day, so that is 12 km. At least I have already washed all the secondhand clothes by now. So here is our next family travel adventure to Naselesele Waterfall.
We pass many people walking to church and love the way these two guys stand as I take their photo – dressed in their sulu’s.
The next guy we stop and ask if we can take his photo is the teacher/preacher – he is on his way to the meeting but needs some reason to bring along his beast.
We first met ‘Marylyn’ and ‘Dave’ back on the other island at Pacific Harbour – they were visiting the church at ‘Deuba Inn’ where we stayed also. We seem to run into ‘Marylyn’ nearly every day and enjoy their company. They are now living in Australia and have a farm in Fiji, and are 3rd generation Fijians.
Anyway, we somehow manage to meet their workers, so we give them a lift for about 10 km. Their farm is amidst a coconut plantation.
We hope to first go to the Waisali Waterfall, which is right in the hilltops at the center of the island, but it is Sunday and it is a locked National Park.
So we head on, and the villagers change from Fijian, to mainly Indian. We pass this interesting mother and son – how different our Sundays are to theirs.
We give the kids DVD’s to watch (they have electricity and TV’s here), and also give them some toiletries to share amongst the ladies.
We leave and continue with the search for a waterfall. A policeman stops us and tells us to go up a track. It is so rough and rocky that the 4WD starts to slip up the steep hills and my son is screaming, but we find a fork in the road and turn around.
My son prays and says he sees angels holding the car as we head down the embankment on an angle. This is a flat smooth part of the track where we stop and gather our nerves.
Alas, we give that waterfall a miss, and head back to the main road where we meet Enochi, who I think tells us he is working for a geology company?
He says his mother’s village is near Naselesele Waterfall and will come and show us. He leaves his daughters by the roadside and jumps in, and says it is ’30 minutes drive’.
After a while, it looks more like we are in the middle of Australia. It is red and orange soil and very hot and dry and barren. I am shocked. Where has Fiji gone?
After about an hour he tells me I do not drive Fijian, and it will take much longer than the 30 minutes.
I am having a hard time keeping the little car on the road. The rocks and potholes are not as bad as when it changes to slippery gravel patches. My arms ache as I clutch the wheel.
Finally one and a half hours later we arrive. It is right off the beaten track, and there lies before us a plateau of rocks and drifting water. It is just lovely. Yes, we find Naselesele Waterfall.
Naselesele Waterfall is not a rushing waterfall; as the locals have discovered irrigation and are diverting the water at the top, but still a lovely spot.
As we wander around, Enochi explains many things to my son and me.
They wander around – man and boy – black and white – teacher and student. They search and find things together, and I am pleased that learning is fun. This is one of our first world schooling experiences.
I am bruised and battered in a few spots and missing some skin, but the water then cooled it quickly.
It is hard to end the day but we have to head back before dark and drop Enochi back to his family near the Dreketi River – the widest river on the island.
We quickly head home for a shower, then off to the Copra Marina Yacht Club for a great $5 AU dinner, and to meet our cruising yacht friends and local ex-pats.
As we tell folk that evening where we went, they are pretty impressed – few Fijians have been there.
We really are exploring Fiji and finding Naselesele Waterfall was great fun.
