Camping on Fulaga
Axel Mitchell
Fulaga
is a remote island in the Lau group, Fiji. It has a population of 348 spread
over 3 villages. The only way to get there is by boat.
Fulaga is surrounded by a fringing reef,
inside is a bright blue lagoon dotted with limestone islands. We anchored at a
large sandspit that disappeared at high tide.
Day
1 of camping (not at sandspit)
The second night we were in Fulaga we went to
shore without parents and camped at beach near the pass. We arrived at the
beach later than we expected. Not everyone came today, only Johnny, Gigi,
Victoria, Luna and me. We lit a fire and cooked canned hotdogs and beans for
dinner. At 9 o’clock it was high tide, the fire had been washed away, but the
water was not as close to the tents as expected. After a bit of sitting around
in the tents, Johnny and I decided to go mooning in the light of the moon. In
the morning we lit a fire to make biscuits and hot chocolate.
Day
2 of camping (at sandspit)
Today everyone except Brenden slept on the
beach, so there were 11 kids and no adults. We found a spot cleared of trees
and bushes by fire to set up the tents. We lit a fire on the sandspit below the
tideline. Everyone brought different food for dinner and displayed it on a
kayak. After a long time sitting around the fire, one of our friends named
Seppe asked many times if he could pee on the fire. The tide came in and
surrounded us and made us have to leave for dry land before Seppe could do
anything silly. In the morning we lit a fire and made biscuits, which we cooked
over the fire and that made them smoky.
Day
3 of camping (at sandspit)
I didn’t sleep on the beach today, but I
spent most of the day there and went to the potluck. Fresh fish and other tasty
side dishes were eaten. Sadly, the banana cake was ruined because the baking
powder box fell over on it while it was being made. Luckily, my mom made banana
chocolate chip cookies.
Day
4 of camping (at sandspit)
Today everyone slept on the beach except my
sister. We ate on our boats before we came to shore for the night. That night
we sat around the fire and talked and played games. The morning was similar to
the other camping mornings, we cooked biscuits on the fire and I smeared peanut
butter all over mine.
I liked camping on the beautiful sandy beach
on Fulaga. If I could I definitely would camp with my friends again on a remote
beach. Everything about the camping adventure was awesome. I wouldn't change a
thing.
Fulaga Autobiography
Gabrielle Mitchell
I
poked my head out from the cockpit of my family's boat, a beautiful wooden
Alden 64 named Nirvana. The boat's white sail is full and the sun is shining
down onto her as she breaks smoothly through the waves. Ahead of us I see the
grey green blur that is Fulaga, and as the boat sails closer the island slowly
comes into focus. I see small islands, white sand beaches and breaking waves on
the reef that paint the perfect picture of a tropical paradise. Then we are
finally at the reef pass, where a small natural channel is carved through the
reef. We motor through it, having taken down our sails a few minutes ago. Waves
break on either side of me and they crash down on the jagged reef that barely pokes
it's head out of the crystal clear water.
We
are just about to turn towards the anchorage when I feel a jolt run through the
boat. I look over the side to see a blooming coral head right below me, and the
keel stuck onto it. My parents decide that it will be best just to wait until
the tide rises and the boat is lifted off the reef. Once the tide has risen
enough we head towards the anchorage; taking extra precautions so as not to run
aground again.
The
moment our anchor is on the ground I jump in the water and swim as fast as I
can, my arms cutting through the fluorescent blue, towards the group of kids
splashing in the space between the five anchored boats. My brother Axel paddled
in right behind me on a kayak and together we jumped into the mayhem.
"Gigi!"
I heard a voice squeal from in front of me. Soon everyone had noticed Axel and
my arrival and I was hugging all of my friends who I hadn't seen for so long.
It filled me with joy to be around my best friends who I hadn't seen for a while,
and I was smiling so hard it felt like my face might break. After everybody was
done hugging and talking all the kids started splashing around, tipping over
paddleboards and kayaks, and just having crazy fun.
For
the next two days all we did was have crazy fun, playing in the ocean and on
the beach during the day, and watching movies and playing board games at night.
On the second night that I was anchored around all the kids we decided to have
a campout on the beach. In the end there was only five campers, two boys and
three girls, but that was all we needed to have an awesome campout on the
beach. There was no parents there, only the five kids, but we were able to
start a fire, cook dinner, and set up tents on the beach. For dinner we ate
fire roasted canned hot dogs and cold beans, but it felt like a gourmet meal,
sitting there on the beautiful white beach watching the sun set over the tips
of the palm trees. When the sun was gone and our only light was the glow of the
camp fire we decided that it was time to go to sleep.
It
took us a while to actually fall asleep though. Once I was in the girls tent,
and lying next to Victoria and Luna, the other two girls, the boys decided that
they should go mooning in the light of the moon. Johnny would hold open the door
while Axel came and stuck his butt in at us. Many squeals and much laughter
later we were finally asleep. It was hard though because the night was cold and
we only had three sleeping bags, one baby blanket, and two pillows between the
five of us. I woke up countless times during the night and constantly had to
worry about the tide rising up and getting the tent wet because there hadn't
been much beach to put the tent on.
Once
we had all waken up, around five thirty in the morning, we started trying to
make a fire, but it was hard since the morning dew had made all of the wood wet.
Eventually after an hour's work Johnny was able to start the fire on which we
cooked hot chocolate and fresh bread biscuits. Around nine o'clock all the
other kids started to arrive on paddle boards and kayaks for another day of fun
in the sun. In the middle of the day Axel and I had to leave though. My family
was going to the village to present our sevusevu, or gift of kava, to the chief
of the local village. We all hoped into our dinghy and speeded over to the
village's beach. We navigated through the shallows and dragged the small boat
up onto the beach where it wouldn’t be washed away by the slowly rising tide. It
was a quick walk to the other side of the island where the village was. After
the sevusevu ceremony we were given a host family who we would be with for the
rest of our time on Fulaga.
Our
hosts were a school teacher named George and his wife Ma. They were incredibly
kind to us and made wonderful traditional Fijian food for us. The food was very
different from the food I was used to, but it was delicious all the same. We
ate the fish, muscles and lovo bread sitting on the floor with our hands.
Everything about our hosts life was simple, traditional, and natural. It was
amazing to be welcomed so kindly and warmly into somebody life and home.
Later
that day we guided Nirvana over shallow spots and around coral heads to the
natural harbor formed by the sand spit. There the white sand stretches out from
the beach like a curving finger protecting anchored boats from rough seas. I
swam to the shore, and as I walked onto the beach my feet sunk into the soft
sand, making perfect prints. I played with the other kids, looking for
starfish, skim boarding, wiping out, and laughing until we could no longer see
the sun and parents called for us to return.
The
next day we decided that we should have a big campout, with all twelve kids
this time. The sand spit was the perfect place to camp because the locals were
trying to clear the land for a resort, so there was an open area in the jungle
covered in branches that were perfect for a campfire. The branches were also
perfect for building shelters, and by the end of our campout we had built many
structures and had turned the beach into a little settlement.
I
spent my first few hours on the beach hiding from the rain under the palm frond
roof of Alex, the oldest boy's, small hut. The roof was leaky and we all got
cold and wet, but we still had an tons
of fun. Once the rain had passed I started gathering branches to build my
shelter. I built the frame, but once I started adding palm fronds for the walls
the whole thing fell down because of the strong wind.
Before
we knew it the sun was setting and it was time to start a fire and make dinner.
After eating everybody gathered around the fire where we laughed and danced and
sang Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs. Eventually the tide came up and
swept the embers into the darkness of the sea, and one by one we all drifted off
to sleep.
I
was awakened by the sound of the boys banging on the frying pan and running
around the tents telling all the sleepyheads to wake up. I slowly rose out of
bed, put on some clothes, and shook the sleep out of me. That morning we used
all the gas in two lighters trying to start the fire, but we weren't able to
start it until one of the dads took a coconut full of dingy fuel and dumped it
on the wood. Again we cooked bread biscuits and hot chocolate for everybody. I
worked on my shelter for most of the day while Victoria wove a mat for the
floor and all the other girls hid from the sun in Alex's shelter. Most of the
boys were either sword fighting, working on shelters or relaxing in the hut.
Throughout the day everybody had to keep an eye on the fire to make sure that
it wouldn’t burn out because we didn’t want to waste anymore time trying to
start another fire.
By
the end of the day everybody was starving, we had only had two crackers each
for lunch, so the parents decided to have a giant potluck on the beach. They
brought lots of delicious food, but all the kids tried to get them off the
beach as fast as we could because we didn’t want the parents stealing our beach!
Once we had hurried them off the beach we played campfire games and went to bed
earlier than we had the other nights.
After
eating a campfire oatmeal breakfast I finally was able to get my structure to
stand, and this time it stood for a long time, even through the strong winds
that blew Alex's shelter over, mine stood strong. I built a fenced garden, a
table, found log seats, and wove a mat for the floor. Victoria wove the door
mat and Fien wove a water bottle holder and once Alex's hut blew over mine
became the main relaxing hut.
The
last night everybody ate on their boats and I slept on the boat because I
wasn’t getting enough sleep when I was sleeping in a tent. I went back to the
beach in the morning to help pack up the tents and spend some more time having
fun with all the kids. We had a sword fighting contest, chopped up coconut, and
played tons of games in the water and on the beach.
We
had carved, woven, and made many things during our campout, and I had scratches
and cuts all over my body that marked the many amazing adventures that I had
gone on and that made little maps of all the new places I had explored. We all
stayed in Fulaga for many more days afterward, spending time on the beach and
in the village, but nothing could match my time spent camping on the sand spit.
I
will remember and treasure the three weeks I spent on my boat in the remote
island of Fulaga, and I will never forget my time spent camping with my best
friends on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
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