SIMON WATKINS'S BLOG
staying awake - fiji style
There’s something mysterious about the songs you learn on Vorovoro – they get into your blood, like the kava they accompany, and bubble up at unexpected times.
Driving along the M1 to a boring meeting I find myself drifting dangerously towards a doze. It’s miles from the next service station, and I need to keep alert. Another part of my head is thinking about Fijian things, and suddenly suggests to the part that’s driving that I should sing. So, with no-one else in the car to suffer my appalling redention, I give the motorway the full benefit of a “Bilo …
finding Vorovoro at home
It’s been over 3 months since I left the island home on my way back to normality from a long travelling career break. After only two weeks it was a wrench to leave new friends who I know deserved a much bigger portion of my life than that. There hasn’t …
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Ni sa bula!
I observe closely as Pupu weaves the coconut palm frond around the timber posts of the dining shelter – a decoration in honour of the return of the Cahill family’s return to Vorovoro after renewing their visas in Tonga. His chubby but artful fingers grasp the …
Read More >>>Week 1
Ni sa bula!
Here’s an abridged version of something I sent to friends and family last week (which included more explanations which aren’t necessary for the initiated!)
The slender boat skips lightly over the stippled face of the sea as we lean into the wide arc thrown by …
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