Wednesday 10 August Galoa village

Put out to dry in the rain

High St, Galoa village

The rain continues to fall on our Scottish loch and we must wait until after lunch for a break and enough water in the creek to go into Galoa village to do sevusevu with the chief. The village is beyond the bend in the creek and only comes into view when you've crossed the mud bar; it opened out into a bowl in the jungle and a large village with a bridge over the stream, double storey houses and fishing boats tied to the jetty. We ambled ashore and asked for directions to the chief's house. Unusually we weren't met by anyone and no one showed us the way, no children came out to see us almost as if they weren't interested whereas everywhere else we'd been we were objects of scrutiny. When we'd finally slithered up the muddy path to Tomasi's house we discovered the reason; the chief had died 2 years ago and as yet a new one hadn't been appointed. Anyway we offered our kava and were welcomed, given a few bananas and then we wandered off back to our dinghy.

Church

Graves, outhouse & canoes in the garden

Galoa village lagoon (?)

Our exploration led us next to the big village, almost a town, of Vunisea a couple of miles around the corner and on a narrow isthmus between the north and south coasts. It's the administrative centre and market town of Kadavu and has the only airport. No market today but we were able to buy potatoes, onions, eggs and bread and to find out the full market is on Friday morning. We'll be back.