Tribewanted: Vorovoro

I’m not quite sure how to convey this, but I’m going to try anyway so you’re just going to have to humour me. I’ve now been back in Germany for 24hrs, and it’s now 0530 Sunday here. I am wide awake due to my body not quite grasping the changing time zones thing, so I’m going to try to write this now as it’s probably the only chance I’ll get anytime soon.

When I went to Vorovoro the first time, it was surreal, like one of those dreams you have where everything works out but you know that you have to wake up. I figured the fact that I was thinking about it so much on my return was because I didn’t spend enough time there, and so, decided to return asap. This I did, convincing my boss, booking flights, and eventually (only a couple of months, though it seemed like forever, later) returned.
Now I’m back in reality again and I thought I would’ve got it out of my system by now. Not really surprised to find that I still feel like I need to be elsewhere (more specifically, in Fiji) but I know that now I can’t return til next year, if then. So I’m going to try to capture in words what it is about it that has me hooked.

I’m sitting in accommodation that has hot showers, a city 5mins away, whatever food I want, whenever I want it, and a big comfy bed. To be honest though, I’d swap it all right now for a place that, should I feel like it, I can nip up a coconut tree and be eating coconuts for breakfast. The fact that every morning in that place I got to get up, watch dawn break and lay in a hammock with a friendly smile from everyone before I did anything then have breakfast with the sound of the sea in the background definitely beats anything I get here.
I thought I knew what to expect on my return to Fiji, and for the actual travelling part, I pretty much did. But from the moment I sat up in the boat and saw the island I realised that I hadn’t expected for it to feel like I was going home. I don’t live at what I would class as my home but I do visit, so I really do know that feeling, when the taxi (or in this case boat) starts going through an area you recognise you start to picture what’s changed since you were last home. When you get out and go to the front door (or beach- you get it), it’s like stepping into a sanctuary. It’s yours, ok, you may share it with other people (both house and island), but you know where the teaspoons are kept, you don’t have to worry about putting stuff down because you can just go back and fetch it, and you can have a wander or just sit and stare at the view and enjoy the feeling of time passing when you don’t actually have to do anything. I’m not sure if when you live at the place you class as home you’d get the same appreciation for the place when you return, but I’m definitely going to try it one day to find out.

It was amazing the way that everything seemed the same, there were a few changes to the set up, and the people were different, but the place that had been my favourite daydream for 2 months was still here. Some of the team who were there last time knew I was returning, but the others were all about the double take, it’s nice to know that you were remembered and can just slot back into a spot even if most of the people on the island don’t know you. As I had been before, it wasn’t so overwhelming and I could take in more and do more if I wanted from the word ‘go’. From when I dumped my bags, to the moment I left, I achieved at least three ‘I am on the beach in the south pacific, how great is this!’ thoughts a day (some verbalised, which must have made some people think I was fairly mad – probably a fair estimation!) I also ran the four peaks (it’s not a competition, it’s training), learnt to play chess really badly, helped weave bamboo for walls and prep vines for the roof of a bure (whilst destroying my hands in the most effective way possible), played football with an amazing lack of skill and had more random conversations than you can shake a large stick at.
From murder mystery, to grown men going hyper over face paints at a birthday party, the atmosphere was awesome, and in no way caused the island to be knocked off the pedestal in my head.
I think it really hit home that I was back when I was on the grog mat and filled the role of ‘guard’. I would’ve never dared to go anywhere near the middle of the mat last time for fear of messing up and ruining the moment. But this time I filled the role with what could pass for confidence and a generosity in serving that was more than once repayed by people flicking the bilo so I had to drink the contents!
Tribewanted is dedicated to working out sustainability, but I’m not entirely sure that it’s possible to sustain the wonder and appreciation I have for that place, and the people who make it work, over a long period of time. But I believe that by going away and returning again, I appreciated it more. Or that’s what I’m going to tell myself now I’ve had to wake up for a second time.

If one Isa Lei is hard, the second Isa Lei is harder, but if I can I’ll return again. The being there makes the leaving worth it and you have to leave everywhere eventually, but at least you still have the daydreams.