Tribewanted: Vorovoro

There is some satisfaction in taking sugar soaked gulps from my free litre of “ sorry the plane is late – Fiji time sir “ complementary beverage offering. 3 hours have passed since the plane was due to leave the airport but I don’t mind, I’m so tired from lagging jets that this sofa I’m buried in can suffer me a bit longer. The sofas ought to be in the executive section of a BA members lounge but here their spongy leather hides are strewn a plenty, begging to steal the ache from your feet and the strap marks from your packed back. I’m sitting and lying in shifts at the waiting lounge of Nadi domestic airport gagging to get in the air and stay awake to probe the landscape with my camera. Glancing around reminds me I need to buy a seriously flowery shirt if I’m going to blend in here. I’m already lying down so I’m adopting part of the modus operandi. I’m experiencing Fiji time too early. This get’s me worried about my impending island task.

When I land on the other side I hope Labasa is how I have it described and in my head. A small town where everything is a short walk from TW recommended hotel the Grand Eastern. This afternoon I plan to dump my heavy baggage and hit the town on a hardware recon mission. I have the plans in my head for a glimmering wind turbine tower and all of the components that are needed to construct it including the tools. The wind turbine that I constructed this year in the UK and shipped to Vorovoro is sitting quietly entombed in it’s protective crate on the chief of island’s porch. Making it and getting it to this side of the world was challenge enough but it needs a hefty perch which can withstand 100mph winds, searing heat and torrential downpour. This has to be flexible enough to lower in the early warning stages of an “ in your face ” tropical storm or it will be blown to sea or worse still into land to the detriment of the natives. Can’t make any mistakes here. There will be no planning permission inspectors to peer over my notes and staged build so I only have to offer my years of engineering experience and due diligence to get this right. The tower will be roughly 15-18m high and carry the highly dynamic weight of my 500W home-built ( please read sturdy and reliable here ) 2.8m diameter baby Jesus with wings!. I plan to scout and negotiate trade this afternoon for the following parts :

- 3m sections of 3-3.5mm thick 2-2.5” diameter construction grade galvanized steel pipework.
- Threaded couplers to join each of the sections to make the tower.
- Heavy guage 6AWG steel wound guy ropes
- Cement
- Steel reinforcing bar for ground anchors ( augers )
- Heavy duty 8AWG copper wire
- Scaffold 45 degree couplers

Flight departing. Good news…..

….After a brief swan over the beautiful aquamarine petri-dish of the Fijian archipelago I arrive soundly in Labasa. Slight hitch in the plan. The cab driver from Labasa airport informs me that It’s Sunday and there are only two shops open in town so I will have to return in the week . I guess This gives me some time to survey the turbine site and plan more effectively. So I get to the great eastern and within 10 minutes of settling down I have locked myself outside the back door. I’m in no rush so I take a walk around the building and marvel at the somewhat aged luxury cruise boat sitting in the river at the back of the hotel. As I plonk through the waterlogged garden I’m distracted by a local football game taking place next to the hotel. Sunday’s here are no different to the UK!. On returning to the front door I realise that my security conscience has delivered me a foolish blow. I left the front chain on and the lady doing the room cleaning rounds says there are no keys to the back door. Doh! So if you are staying here avoid room 108. Its rear window frame security is now compromised ( in cahoots with the cleaning lady armed with a bread knife ). The maintenance boy is also off on Sunday and probably at the match next door. Safer for everybody if I stay in my room now methinks.

Secondary effects of broken window frame are starting to take shape as bites from the swarm of mozzies I have just invited in for lunch. Hydrocortizone to the rescue and a can of OFF! That I bought in the Philippines last year. Time to see what armoury the locals use in the hotel shop. Then I shall rest up in an experimental bug defeating chemical cocktail haze and prepare for Vorovoro on Monday morning. The sign next to the light switch encourages me that I should try my best…