Rain rain go away........

So today is day three of shitty torrential rain –and when I say torrential I mean torrential. Imagine sitting under a tap on full and this is how the rain has been falling. Apparently there is a hurricane to the north somewhere which is influencing the weather. Day three and I am starting to go a little stir crazy.
Nadala is generally wet this time of year anyway (it is the rain season in Fiji). Most days will be dry enough in the mornings to get out and do some work, with the afternoons becoming wet. If lucky the rain holds off all day and we get a full day of surveying in; so it has been under these conditions I have been working. Subsequently I am missing the sun and pretty over rain.
I decided on Saturday to try and get a bit less rain and a bit of sunshine by driving down into Tavua. This was a bit fun. It never dawned on me that if it is raining in the mountains, then the run off has to go somewhere, generally to lower lying areas at the base of the mountain, and this combined with ongoing rainfall on the coast leads to flooding in low lying areas. So off I went down the mountain. I was about half way down when I noticed all the “new waterfalls” falls along the sides of the road where normally there in nothing. Hmmmm.... it started to dawn on me that this maybe wasn’t such a good idea, but my mind was made up and I did need fuel for this week.
There is one point in the road where it passes through the base of a waterfall regardless of the weather. I think it is the best part of the whole drive and was going to take pics, but it looks like my camera is well and truly stuffed. Normally this is a clear, reasonably still pool of water, about 10cm deep. I arrived at this point on the road on Saturday to find a muddy brown raging torrent. Subsequently I stopped, looked at the waterway and almost turned around. By chance an FEA (Fiji Energy Association) had reached the other side of the creek around the same time as I had. “Local driver” I thought, “He will know if it is ok to cross”. I watched the guy power through, no problems, popped my vehicle into 4WD for safety and went on though. Was surprised at how shallow it actually was and whilst it looked rough, there was no power in the current. I was though (though it did cross my mind that if it kept raining I may not make it back through later on).
Lalala... I kept driving, the rain kept falling and the road kept heading down to lower lying ground. Around a few cows that had taken refuge on the road and I came to a holt. Ahead of me was about 100m of water, no road, and a ‘taxi’ stopped by the side of the road.”Damn” I thought “I have reached the end and I will have to go back”. But not so. The taxi driver looked at the car said “You have 4WD and good clearance, you can go around on the cane tracks”. (Cane tracks are the light rail system that is used when harvesting sugar cane in the region) “Where do I go?” I asked “Around the back”. I must have looked confused cause the next thing I knew the indo-fijian passenger was offering to jump in and show me the way. What could I say? In he hopped and off we went. Up a small gravel track and then onto the cane tracks. They were a little slippery (and I probably was going a little fast.....) but we made it through and back onto the road, only to be confronted by another stretch of road almost completely inundated. A few patches of higher ground were noticeable so I stuck to these and made my way through the water. Made it.
Another km down the road I hit the bitumen, let my passenger out and headed off to Tavua. I spent a couple of hours poking around the town. Bought some curtain fabric, paint and a few other bits and pieces. I was walking down the road when I thought I heard my name called out. Initially I ignored it, but it persisted so I turned around to see a grinning 11 year old waving at me. I have no idea who it was, but is obviously one of the kids from Nadala, so I waved back and headed off. Unfortunately my quest for sun was unsuccessful as it was raining in town also.
After a few hours of aimless wandering and shopping, a quick lunch of chicken and chips (I wanted chicken and cashew nuts but due to all the rain the town was having water issues.....go figure...) I decided to head home. Quick aside – hot chips in Fiji are not hot. They are half cooked and then left to get cold. I keep forgetting this when I order them.... I wish I didn’t.
So heading out of Tavua, the bitumen is under water. This area is low lying, with mangroves on the sea ward side, so not surprising it is prone to flooding. Went a bit fast (30km/hr) though a bit of water and splashed a guy on the side of the road...ooops.....was bad enough for him to have to be walking in the rain I guess, but then to be splashed....... the Fijians are incredibly stoic when it comes to rain. I suppose you have to be when 6months of the year it rains every day.
Driving back up the mountain was rather uneventful. The road had dried out enough that I didn’t need to by pass puddles, or flooding, or anything. The highlight was a Fiji gold (beer) ad on the radio, which I mis-heard the first time. Goes something like this:

The sportsman likes a Fiji gold to relax with after the game;
The workaholic (I first though they said ALCOHOLIC, was horrified until I heard the ad a few more times and realised it was workaholic) likes a Fiji Gold to unwind with in the evenings;
The World Champions will celebrate their win with a Fiji gold every time.
Fiji Gold the beer choice of the nation..... well not those exact words but the sentiment.

So, is 11am and the tap has just been turned on again. I have no idea how I will entertain myself for the rest of the day. Luckily I have an internet connection (though very slow), some curtains to sew and a hard drive of movies. I have already made a start on the report for this survey (swat) and probably should start getting the data in the computer. So shouldn’t get too bored. I might experiment with pawpaw (have some very ripe fruit but very limited cooking facilities). I do hope it stops raining tomorrow. If not I might just run away to Suva for the rest of the week. Is not like I can do anything here, though the National Womens Volleyball Team (the Kulawai’s) are in Nadala for the week doing a training camp and HIV/Aids education thing for the local youths...... might be fun to watch.

Oh yeah - remember Sweet, my neighbour who teaches Economics. His name is Remadre (pronounced Remandra).