Sam Snaaps

I was coming towards the end of an amazing surfing and diving trip in Indonesia (tough life, I know), when out of the blue, I was invited to become the manager of KoroSun Dive. It was so unexpected that I though this was a scam from a fake account!

Chasing waves, coral, and volcanos in Bali was my mission when I got the offer to chase waves, coral, and volcanos in Fiji instead!

For months and months throughout my final year at university, I had been sending forms and documents back and forth and collecting signatures and stamps like Pokémon cards, trying to get on top of my work permit application. Finally when I got the green light to come at start work on a short term permit, I was certain that my forms had all been completed, and it was only a matter of time before my long-term permit was granted. By this point I was quite confident that my skepticism about being scammed about the job was unnecessary.

As it turns out, the only thing I should have been waiting for was something to go wrong. At the customs desk on my arrival, was the first failure. Unbeknownst to me, my passport was blessed with the wrong stamp. This was the first headache, as without the right stamp, I couldn’t get a tax number, without a tax number I can’t open a bank account, and without any of that I couldn’t access the postal service, or the health care. I was… A TOURIST!

Maaaaany meetings passed which involved negotiation, debate, and disagreement solved by throwing yet more documents at people and finally I was making progress. I had a TIN (tax identification number) at last, which meant I could use the medical and post service, but wait! Spoiler alert, more visa issues coming! As I have a short-term work permit valid until I receive my long-term permit, I am still unable to open a bank account.

But that is not all! This week we have received demands from the immigration office for documents which were ‘missing’ from my application, and were given unreasonable deadlines to meet. It has been such a frantic few days of desperation to meet these demands as rapidly as possible, so much so that I was told not to work so that I could prioritise this matter, and keep the immigration folk happy.

I can’t lie this has upset me. I bent over backwards to complete this application process properly, and now the disorganisation of the immigration department is damaging my work. I would like to thank Janine and Colin for their support in this. The whole process have given me a brief window into how awful the migration process for many people without the adequate support must be. I am having a hard time even though I have met every single criteria many times over. Those less fortunate, fleeing atrocities, or desperate to save their families must be going through hell, and I feel they deserve more support.

The Melbourne Cup

I imagine it was a more simple process, in pre-covid years when there were fewer staffing shortages, and less of paperwork backlog to obtain long term work permits, or indeed a residency permit for those immigrating to Fiji permanently. I have this opinion because in Savusavu there is a considerably large population of retirees from Australia and New Zealand, and I totally understand the appeal. Property is a fraction of the cost, it is far more quiet, and there is a community of like-minded people waiting to invite you for the next round of Fiji Bitter.

At the end of my visa nightmares, thankfully there was some light-hearted fun as this week there was a big event in the Australian calendar – the Melbourne Cup! The Australian version of the Grand National is an excuse for the Aussie and Kiwi part of the community, of which there are many, to dress up, drink beer and bubbly, and throw some cash at a sweepstake, hoping your horse with a silly name wins something.

Janine and Ali several glasses of sparkling wine deep but still able to keep their hats on straight to cheer on the horse racing.

It was a fun afternoon at the Planters Club where I met some new faces (most of whom fall into a generation before mine) and shared some entertaining stories about how social media is responsible for the destruction of the youth and things just aren’t like the good ol’ days! (Sorry to all the old folk out there, it is just funny to listen to you all talk <3)

Watching the races with the Aussies/Kiwis. Did they care about the horses or the excuse to have a drink more? The absence of a television should give you a clue…

I was unsuccessful in the sweepstake, I think my chosen horse was waiting for everyone in Aintree by mistake, waiting for the Grand National to start. Being the only British person living in Savusavu, I am happy to concede this victory to the Aussies.

A treat to eat and a sunseat.

What do I miss most about home in England? Many people ask me this question, and I always say I miss my friends, my family, and the food. The food in Fiji is delicious, make no mistake, but I miss comfort food so much. The thought of cheese drives me insane, a Franks family Saturday night pizza could put me into a trance, and I would give almost anything for proper jam on homemade toast with my grandparents.

These luxuries seem so far away right now, and there is just no way I can satisfy these cravings. In an attempt to indulge, I took myself to the Copra Shed, a restaurant on the water popular with the sailors, and bought myself a Fiji pizza. I had doubts that this would please my high pizza standards but these are desperate times. I ordered the vegetarian; cheese, olives, mushrooms, and onions. The nearest real mozzarella is a whole ocean away so wasn’t saying many prayers to the Italians while I waited…

On the global pizza scale, this was a 5/10, but on the Fiji adjusted metric, taking into account the beautiful sunset view that it came with, a 7.5/10 is my verdict! I haven’t extinguished my cravings for home food yet, but this treat has put me in good spirits.

The sunset was brief, and the cloudy horizon prevented the reds and oranges from taking over the sky, but just like my pizza, it was good while it lasted.

Dried fruit.

Seasons in Fiji are labeled differently depending on who you ask. For some, summer and winter, for others dry and wet, but they mean roughly the same thing. Fijian winter (summer in the northern hemisphere) is the dry season, and Fijian summer is the wet or rainy season, and currently, the only test you need to tell which one we are in is by knocking on the rain water collection drum, where you will hear the hollow echo of an empty bin.

We have not had proper rainfall in over 2 months, and yet this has been unofficially labeled the worst winter in over a decade thanks to the inexorable winds. There is constant smoke rising from the parched hills where wildfires spring into their crackling flame. Fortunately none of them are large enough to be threatening but it is clear the jungle needs a drink.

It wouldn’t be a walk without my adventure hat! I found the scar of a wildfire in the hill that had carved an opening in the trees for a wonderful view of the ocean.

The drought is beginning to be a serious problem, as the main water supply is switched off for the majority of the day, and the backup rainwater collection tank is almost bone dry. I always have enough drinking water, and most importantly, I have a kettle full at all times so that I don’t go without tea for more than 2 hours, otherwise I become groggy and miserable.

I never though that as a British person, I would one day find myself saying this, but I am desperate for some rain! Not just for the sake of wanting longer showers, but because I can practically hear my fruit farm calling out for a drink. My pineapples and my bananas are stuck in their final stage of green growth, and just don’t have enough moisture to finally become sweet and ripe, and I don’t have enough water to run a hose through the garden and give them life. I am ready for a garden-explosion when the rain finally pours, as I have 2 bunches of bananas, and about 6 pineapples ready to turn golden when this horrid winter finally ceases.

There is a storm brewing (I don’t mean my next cup of tea) and I believe there is rain coming soon! Strong winds are forecast and with them we anticipate a great monsoon level downpour. In preparation we have taken our boat back to town so we can continue diving with some protection from the treacherous open ocean.

While we take our boat to town, many of the sailing yachts have fled Savusavu seeking calmer and storm free waters. The calm water of the bay is a false depiction of how rough the open ocean is right now, sail safely!

The southern cross.

Seasonality affects almost every single ecosystem on Earth. Even the deepest trenches in the ocean have seasons. Their primary food source: marine snow, which is the sinking detritus (particulate organic carbon if you want to be science-y) follows seasonal productivity patterns at the surface before sinking into the inky abyss. This annual pattern governs our whole life, and is not limited to beneath out atmosphere, as the stars also follow an annual cycle.

Some of my fondest memories are watching the stars through a telescope with my father in the garden, and I often wish I had kept hold of that telescope. The stars also take me back, nostalgically, to holidaying in Mauritius with my family one year, when I saw the southern sky for the first time in my life. Coincidentally this trip was where I fell in love with ocean giants, as we were lucky enough to share a day with the most beautiful sperm whales I could dream of.

I was excited to see the night sky in Fiji again, as there is almost zero light pollution, and on a clear night the southern cross shines brightly amongst a spectacular velvet blanket laced with distant jewels. At this time of year; during our winter, the milky way only breaks past the horizon during the daylight hours, so I am unable to admire the glow of our own galaxy just yet, but judging by the incredible clarity of the rest of the sky, it will likely be worth waiting a few months for.

In the place of the milky way, I have been totally breath-taken by the brightness of some closer celestial bodies. The full moon we had two weeks ago was so bright that is was like a spotlight on the lead actor in the theartre. There were razor sharp shadows being cast by the moon one night and I could have found a paperclip amongst the blades of grass on my lawn with no issue.

My last attempt at a moon shot was in Sulawesi, Indonesia where the full moon was also incredibly bright. I have some work to do on my astro-photography…

Saturn has also been performing for us recently, shining in a warm orange glow making it easy to locate against the other pixels of light. Even though I don’t have the optical capability to distinguish the ring, it has been a pleasure to eat my evening meals with this view knowing the sentiment I have attached to these particular pinpricks of light in the sky.

I remember so vividly the evenings in Mauritius where we would sit on the beach at night, passing around binoculars to try for a better view of constellations like scorpio. Watching the sky in Fiji gives me an almost identical sensation of being in awe of the beauty above, and the lack of light pollution makes observation better than I ever saw at home. All that I miss here is having my family here to enjoy these views with me.

One day I will have the photographic ability to capture a beautiful night sky so that I can bring a small slice of its magic to you. Until then, I hope my words can paint the picture.

Party time!

That almost wraps up my week! It has been quite an eventful mix of jobs to stay on top of this week, I just hope this visa story will end soon without many more hiccups along the way. The diving has been nice this week, nothing major to report, except that we have had difficulty finding our hammerhead friends. I am putting it down to my lack of searching, because I have mostly been teaching students, so I haven’t been taking them through any stressful or deep situations to try and find the sharks. Nevertheless the other fish have been wonderful! Loads of reef sharks and barracuda to keep us entertained!

Above are photos from Indonesia, the hard and soft corals come in such unique shapes and sizes. Some shaped liked wooden branches on an old tree, and some resemble daisies in a flower garden. The corallimorph in the centre and the sponge on the right also demonstrate the amazing variation in shapes. On the right is a curious little bamboo shark, named after its slender and stripy body.

Next week is Diwali, for which I am very excited to celebrate with many of the people I have met so far. I am expecting some fantastic food, bright fireworks, and beautiful clothing, so I hope to bring you some wonderful photographs to document this festival of light!

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks blog, but I apologise for the lack of photos compared to usual, I have not had a great deal of opportunity for photography this week. Hopefully I can make up for it in the next one!

Sending you all my love, and looking forward to hearing your feedback! Vinaka vaka levu from Fiji <3.