Rabi: Elizabeth's Cove to Albert's Cove

It was certainly beautiful here yesterday, after we had a wonderful snorkel in Elizabeth Bay, and moved up to Albert Cove. We rode Worm into shore and met the families here who are, of course, warm and friendly, welcoming us to their paradise. Our plans were to hike and go snorkeling today, but the rain has come to join us, once again, so I think we will just go on a hike and see what we find on the other side, a place called Smiley Beach. There is supposed to be great snorkeling there, but, once again, the weather is in charge at the moment. I am trying my best to stay spirited, but it is challenging right now.  Oh well, as I said before, I have nothing to complain about.  The weather will probably keep us here for a few days, and then we will begin to work our way back to Savusavu. Pray for sun!  Love, S


With "reinforced" trades on their way ( 20-25 knts.) out of the So. East we needed a good place to sit it out, and Albert Cove on the north west corner of the island of Rabi ( pronounced ROMBEE) sounded like the perfect spot. It's very secluded since the road doesn't go that far and the only way in is by boat. So we slithered in through the skinny reef passage and dropped our anchor on a sand bottom in 50 ft. of crystal clear water and found ourselves in the prettiest little bay Sidewinder has ever been. As the wind and rain moved in we found it wasn't only pretty but offered great protection from wind and waves and the sand bottom provided great holding for our anchor. 


After making Sidewinder ship shape we made our way into shore and found that there were 5 families that lived in the bay in small "palapas" made entirely of materials they cut from the jungle. At first glance the average American would wonder how they could exist in such squallor but upon closer inspection you would be amazed at how clean, comfy and homey they were. These people lived off the ocean and their gardens with chickens running around and pigs tied to trees back in the bush. I even noticed a few solar panels here and there and discovered they were used to charge batteries for lights at night. We were met on the beach by "Terry" and shown the way to the elders' house  so we could pay our respects. 


The island of Rabi is in Fiji but it's not inhabited by Fijians. The people of Rabi are Banaban and were relocated here in 1945 from Ocean Island which is near Kiribati hundreds of miles north of Fiji. It seems the English government discovered that Ocean Island had large deposits of phosphates on it so they loaded up all the locals and moved them to Rabi so the mining process could begin. Now this may sound a little insensitive towards the people of Ocean Island but after talking to several of the Rabi people the move was a good one. The ground here on Rabi is more fertile than that of Ocean Island and water is no longer a problem in their lives. Sometimes a year or more would go by without any rain on Ocean Island but here in Rabi the springs give off some of the purest water on earth and they are supported by rain all year around. I think it's great also that the Rabi people have retained many of their old customs as well as their language. They speak Banaban and not Fijian as their first language, but most of them also speak Fijian as well as Hindi and enough English to communicate with us stupid North Americans who only know English. One custom they have adopted from the Fijians is the appreciation of Kava. So after meeting the village elder (Banea) we found a gift of Kava would be greatly appreciated and a Kava party was planned for that night. So with Kava in hand we returned that evening to Banea's small home and with 6 of the other villagers proceeded to polish off 2 big bowls of Kava in between stories and explanations of our life and theirs. We came from such different roots but in the end we all were the same. Laughing, smiling and listening while it rained outside and this little house of palm leaves, bamboo and 3 inch dia. logs kept us warm and dry. I couldn't find a leak anywhere!!! and I was looking for them.... Around 10 o'clock Suzi and I rowed back to Sidewinder with a glow that went well beyond the Kava; we had made new friends. In fact such good friends that tonight we are having a dinner ashore with the whole community with music and dancing and yes, maybe a bit more Kava....I'll let you know how it went.
See ya,  David