AFTERNOON OF DAY FOUR: Yay! It's
finally time to start to paint! Can't wait to see how my design will look in
colour! I have a general idea of what it's going to be like, but I work
intuitively, adding and blending colours as I go along, and I always end up
being surprised at what evolves!
DAY FIVE: Drinking
yaqona (also known as kava - a drink made from the crushed roots of the Piper
Methysticum plant) is an integral part of Fijian culture. This 'muddy water', served in a coconut shell
from a communal wooden 'tanoa' bowl, is our national drink, used in solemn
ceremonies of welcome, burial, and the sealing of various alliances. Kava-drinking has now evolved into a social
past-time, with many of Fiji's multicultural population now unwinding around a
tanoa after a long hot day at work...
In deference to this aspect of Fijian identity, a heart-shaped
yaqona leaf is added to my painting!
The wonderful thing about painting here, just a few meters away from
the beach, is being able to wade into the water and go snorkeling whenever I
need a break or some new inspiration!
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| My temporary studio: the porch of one of the lovely garden villas at Blue Lagoon Beach Resort |
The children have
made friends with the kitchen staff who generously donate surplus bread for
their fish-feeding escapades. We swim out to the edge of the coral, where
schools of silvery green chromis, zebra and parrot fish swarm in around us...
incredibly beautiful!
They get a mention in my painting as well - with a bit of poetic license thrown in as I can't resist a flash of bright red to offset the blues!
They get a mention in my painting as well - with a bit of poetic license thrown in as I can't resist a flash of bright red to offset the blues!
DAY
SIX at Blue Lagoon Beach Resort: We have to head back to
the mainland today (sigh!) - but there's still time to hop onto a small boat,
and head out to a reef a little to the south of this island. Donning flippers and masks, we make the ungainly plunge into the
turquoise water - and enter a world of mesmerizing grace and beauty! This reef
has lots of soft coral, and patches of anemones, inhabited by various versions
of Nemo! But the highlight for me is watching a long black and white striped
sea snake (dadakulaci) - by far the biggest I've ever seen, weaving it's way
through the coral in a slow-motion underwater dance, seemingly oblivious of the
onlookers hovering a few feet above!
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| Moce Mada - Sota Tale! We will miss the tranquil beauty of this place! |
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