Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Hey!!

Firstly I guess I better formally introduce myself, I’m Marama Pineapple (name given by Jone, Boat Captain, long story) aka Michelle, your Marama for April!!

I guess you guys haven’t had a Chief Blog for a while as Marama Jodie left the island suddenly because of injury. I hear she is recovering and I hope she’ll be back on her feet again in no time. Get well soon Jodie!!

My first week as chief has been a short and wet one! Work on the dam has slowed down because of the weather. It’s currently full, and we are all very hopeful that it will be a great success. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to put the finishing touches on it this week and have the dam completed.

So here goes, my first blog/run down of my week as Marama, I’ll start from Tuesday which was my Chief handover ceremony, the highlight of my week! It was Sevusevu for the new tribe members on the Island, so most of the day was spent clearing and cleaning for the afternoons events.

The afternoon came and Tui Mali arrived, I was first on the agenda – chief handover. He gave a speech and presented with a salusalu then the nerves kicked in! Until this point I wasn’t nervous at all! I held it together, I think. The night went by in a whirl of songs, cakes and kava!

I returned to my humble abode knackered, then something stuck my foot, after realising no cockroach could be that hard and rat could stand that tall, I shone my torch, and there stood a gift from S1 & S2. Think statue of liberty, a tiara and a torch made from coconut husk, stones, shells and chicken wire. Unfortunately I haven’t worn it yet as it ways about 10kgs and is likely to give me a disease of some sort, but the thought was there and I am very grateful!! Thanks ladies!!

Wednesday was my first day as chief, I was raring to go! I quickly realised before the 9am meeting that it was going to be a quiet day, some of team Fiji were heading into town to buy materials and all the girls went on the town trip leaving me along with 3 tribe members to entertain ourselves. I thought the luck was with me as I participated in my first spear fishing lesson, this wasn’t the case and we all came away empty handed. The rain came and went and the afternoon was spent clearing the area near Tanoa Park that will be used for our resident pig and her new friends.

The afternoon saw the arrival of Adam and I managed to change the landscape of Vorovoro. That’s right; I have done the unthinkable and managed to tame Save’s wild afro! (photos will be uploaded shortly). At the moment I think it’s a 50/50 split as to who likes and dislikes his new look, but let me know what you think

Thursday saw the Fiji Team winding down and wrapping up for Easter. It was a nice day finally, we had a reef trip in the afternoon and some tribe members were able to go fishing Francis style! I have been fishing a few times before but never have I seen someone bite the head of the fish to send it to fish heaven, that’s right, you bite the head of a live fish crushing its skull! There is a certain knack to it, the last thing you want is to accidentally let it go, leaving the fish to jump down your throat. You should definitely watch the webcast, it’s a must see!! The trip was more successful trip catching enough for an amazing fish curry cooked by the lovely Francis herself.

The afternoon saw the departure of Team Fiji for there long weekend, it’s been quiet since they have left and I can’t wait for their return on Tuesday.

Good Friday, started off as a good day, excuse the pun. As it was Good Friday there was no school trip as the children were all off on their Easter holidays. So the lovely Semesa aka Wavu planned a Survivor day, Vorovoro style. The tribe was split into 3 teams, Boto – Frog, Moko – Lizards and Nbeka – Bats There were 8 games in total ranging from a quiz to fire lighting, Obstacle courses to coconut challenges. A mixture of skill, teamwork and intelligence. I am proud to say that I was part of the Nbeka team who were clearly the most dominant force who won 7 games, in record time, back to back throughout the day even after I stood on something and cut my foot open. What is it with Maramas and there feet? After winning 7 games consecutively we thought we would let another team experience victory. The Mokos won the final game. Little did we know that the last game was the decider with no points for 2nd or 3rd place just a MASSIVE 200 points for the winner!! The shock was clear to all, especially to the Mokos who hadn’t won a single game till this point!! But Semesa had the final say, what he says goes. Congratulations Mokos. A fabulous day had by all. Thanks Semesa!!

Saturday saw the departure of Treya and Peter and the arrival of Kate and Mark. We planned to have a full moon gathering, no party as we couldn’t compete nor would we want to recreate Koh Phangnan, just laughter around a camp fire and a little banter among friends, but yes, you guess it rained!! Only those who had trust in the Island were able to see the moon when it showed its face at 2am.

Today is Easter Sunday; I was planning a chilled day, doing nothing and becoming a member of the Hammock Society, just for the day, is that allowed? But after cooking a roast dinner for the tribe, cleaning, washing and finally finishing my book that I have tried to read without success 3 times the day and night have flown by!

So what’s in store this week? Tomorrow we are off to Mali Day – a church fundraiser on ligu levu for Easter, all of the remaining tribe are going so should be an exciting day out. We will tearfully say goodbye Ivan, Heidi and especially Matt! With the arrival of 11 people I’m sure I’ll be able to get over it.

That’s it from me for now; I need to get ready for a 10:30am grog session!!

Marama Pineapple

Xx