With
much excitement we left Brisbane to fly o Fiji, my
three sons Michael, Geoff and Scott, their
girlfriends Felicity, Sonia and Alison. After having
left Ocean Island 24 years ago, we were finally
going to go back there.
Arriving in Suva,
Fiji, we went to the wharf, there was no ship, the
"Katika" was nowhere to be seen. We booked
into a Youth Hostel for the night and met up with
Stacey and the rest of our fellow travellers the
following morning. The "Katika" had broken
down in he middle of the Pacific, we had to find
another way to continue our journey.
A large ferry, the
"Sofe" was to take us via Koro to
Savusavu. From there, a bus took us on a four hour
journey to the end of the Island. Another little
boat ride, and just before dark, we arrived on Rabi.
I can only say that we spent a most wonderful week
there, one that my family, myself, and I am sure
mort people will think back on with very fond
memories. The hospitality, the friendliness of the
Banaban people was second to none.
One of the
highlights was visiting the schools, the children
touched me deeply. On a personal level I got to know
some of the children at Tabiang Primary School as
much as that is possible in one short afternoon.
Their friendliness, innocence, and lovely smiles
will stay with me forever, I will never forget them.
Our wonderful day
at the High School, so much effort was put into that
afternoon by the teachers and the children. The
play, it was so funny, our effort in trying to
entertain them, the food, the warm welcome, we had a
wonderful time.
Our visit to all
the Pre-schools, the children waiting so patiently
till we all arrive, it was hard to be everywhere at
once, and we did want to meet you all. Everywhere we
went, they shared their food with us.
The wonderful
picnic we had at Motawa, such a beautiful spot to
swim and fish. The fundraiser for the Catholic
Church, I don’t think we had laughed so much in a
long time.
Our morning at the
church, all those wonderful welcoming speeches.
On a personal level
my visit with Sue and Helen to the Banaban Woman’s
Craft Centre, my thanks go to Tatauea and the other
ladies who helped us make a fan. And all the women
at the Guesthouse, Rotaria, who let me share her
room, who looked after Geoff like a second Mum when
he was sick.
Diamond, Waitai,
Tamariti, what a pleasure it was to meet them and
spend a week in their company.
Katake, the
Kindergarten Supervisor, who took so much time to
show us around.
A most interesting
day was spent with Thomas Teai and the Elders, and
of course the wonderful evenings we spent at the
guest house being entertained by the Banaban
Dancers. We had such a good time joining in, though
some of our dancing left a lot to be desired.
My one regret is,
that we were unable to spend our time on Banaba with
all our Rabi friends, we should have all been there
together.
Our departure on
the "Sofe" was sad, we had made so many
good friends.
Back in Suva, a few
of the people in our group decided not to go on with
the trip. They were not the only ones that felt like
not continuing the journey, at times some of us felt
the same way, but we carried on, and we did miss
you, as you made a great contribution to our group.
Then a wonderful
surprise. After our story was published in the
"Fiji Times" a Japanese Business man and
his wife came forward, and offered to help us with
our finances. And what a lovely couple they were,
they opened their heart and wallet to our plight, it
helped our Banaban Dancers to finally get to Ocean
Island.
We then flew from
Nadi to Tarawa, where once again we were
accommodated by a wonderful couple, Tom and Temare
Awira. They just opened up their house to us, with
all our luggage, their kindness and hospitality I
will never forget. Nothing was too much for them,
they made us feel at home.
Then we saw the new
boat that we were supposed to go on for the trip
across to Ocean Island. Well, more despair, it only
had one engine working, and none of us fancied going
even out of the boat harbour in it.
Some quick phone
calls, a bit of leg work by our fellow travellers,
David and Sue McDonald, and we had a boat. A
catamaran.
After two days and
two nights at sea, we finally saw it, Ocean Island.
Well, I cannot
describe the feeling I had adequately, it was magic
for me to be here. Once the boat was in the boat
harbour my boys jumped into the water, and swam
ashore. Scott kissed the boat harbour steps, anybody
that has lived on Ocean Island will remember them.
We stayed at Banaba
House for seven days and it that time we explored
just about everything.
Yes, it was sad to
see all the buildings had deteriorated, but it took
nothing away from our wonderful feeling of being
there, of walking the Island, there is something
spiritual about that place, I think most of us felt
that.
Even the people
that had never been there, they felt our affinity
with Ocean Island, they too did enjoy it.
Our house in
Tabwewa was still there, of course for us, that was
such a bonus. To see the house where I spent 10
years of my life, where my children grew up, where I
brought Scott to after he was born on the island,
the emotions that went through me and the boys, it
was something else.
Once again the
Banaban People made us feel very welcome, they put
on a feast and dancing which we enjoyed very much.
Ken Sigrah, our
wonderful guide, took us up to Buakonikai, a very
sacred place, we felt it.
We explored the
Island as a family, went to the B.P.C. Camp, where
we had spent many happy hours in the past.
Our second last
night we went to the beach, what a wonderful bonfire
we had, and the singing around the kava bowl, we had
such a great night.
Then it was time to
leave, the boat had arrived, we had to say good-bye
not only to the people on Ocean Island, but to our
Banaba friends from Rabi, most of them who had
arrived that morning.
When would we see
each other again? As I was standing on the boat
harbour steps, I caught the eye of a little boy, he
couldn’t have been more then 8 or 9 years old. He
saw my tears, he too had tears in his eyes. I caught
him looking at me again a few moments later, as I
was crying, he was crying, he ran away then.
Was he one of the
boys who was waiting at the boat harbour every
afternoon for Michael, Geoff and Scott to come down
and play with them, swim with them, and talked with
them, I wonder.
To leave was hard,
all the old memories kept flooding back, all the new
memories we had made in that one week, all the
wonderful people we had met. It is a time I will
never forget.
We spent one more
night in Tarawa with Tom and Temare, they waited for
us in teeming rain at the boat harbour, we felt we
had known them forever, they were just so good. Most
of us flew back to Fiji, the rest flew home to their
various destinations. It was time to say good-bye.
One last photo at
Nadi airport, of all of us that were there, and we
went our separate ways. It almost felt like the
break up of a family, we had spent 4 weeks together,
had been through thick and thin, we had grown quite
close.
Stacey, I would
like to thank you for the opportunity of making this
happen. It wasn’t always easy, not everything went
smoothly, but without you we would not have ventured
on this journey, this "Homecoming Trip".
Thank you.
Marion
Laritz 10th. Sept, 97
