Page 31 - Fiji Traveller 2023 Issue 5

as we would have lamb, pork, stuffing, and sweet potatoes.” this umbrella.’ Lastly, he gave the Bible and told the chief
As a Pacific Islander family, Shania said they wanted to visit everything about God in the book. Tora said the chief accepted
Fiji “not for the hotel food; we wanted to taste the authentic God and the whole village followed suit. “It took one month
[fare].” and six days for all to be converted to Christianity.” He said on
The Vaalele family have visited Indonesia, Vanuatu, and every 10th of October, the village of Viseisei holds an event to
New Caledonia, “but Fiji is the best so far,” Denis said. commemorate the peoples’ acceptance of Christianity.
“What’s it like travelling as a small family?” I asked. As an indigenous Fijian who loves God, learning this small
“It’s a bit hectic, because the small ones still take naps in the but very significant piece of history is something that I’ll always
day at around midday,” Denis chuckled. cherish, especially when Tora beautifully sang the hymn,
The talanoa (conversation) continued as Samu brought out Amazing Grace, to us, which echoed through the walls of the
the next dish for us to make. massive Jone Wesele (John Methodist) Church, that’s located
“Falawa, which means flour in English, is a staple in my in the heart of the village.
village in Ono-i-Lau. We hardly have bread in the village, so After the insightful village tour, we headed back to The
we make our own," Samu shared. Lookout, anticipating the taste of our lovo-cooked foods.
"The ingredients for falawa include coconut, sugar, flour and Coming straight from the pit, the food was extremely hot to the
water. It will be more enjoyable to eat when it's baked in the touch, but Denis managed to pop the packages into our woven
lovo, and you can have it with tea. When preparing this, it's all basket and transport them to The Lookout’s balcony.
soul cooking. You do it by sight… no measurement." From this vantage, we soaked in sunny skies and turquoise
The falawa is wrapped in coconut leaves, which I found waters, and dished out our lovo-made chicken, fish, palusami,
quite tricky to do, to be honest! The fish and chicken were also root crops, and kokoda (traditional Fijian dish prepared
wrapped in coconut leaves. And all of those delicious foods with raw fish marinated in coconut milk and lime), laying
were placed in the lovo pit to cook for an hour. them out on a long wooden table. It was a perfect homely
The Vaalele family were enthusiastic to learn, especially meal. The juicy palusami with taro was my favourite.
their youngest son, who helped bury the food in the lovo pit. “I love cooking and I cook a lot,” said Anna, who is of
While the food was cooking, we had the privilege of visiting Malaysian heritage, and grew up in Australia.
one of Fiji's most chiefly villages called Viseisei, which is a Anna is a psychologist by profession, and has been living
short drive away. Historically, the village is known for the arrival in Fiji for four years, but said she was ready for “something
of the first Indigenous Fijians about 3000 years ago. different.”
We were shown around the village by Josefa Tora, and “My work [as a psychologist] is very accommodating because
the Vaalele family bought a few creative souvenirs made by I work online. I worked for a few months then I decided to move
the villagers. Tora said Viseisei today has about 1000 people here.” She first lived in Rakiraki before moving to Nadi.
residing in 250 houses. “I fell in love with the Fijian culture because it’s so community
Most houses have undergone changes. “In the past, -based. There is a very big sense of belonging in Fiji which
we used to live in thatched huts. Nowadays, we have built you do not really get in Melbourne. Melbourne is just very
standard houses because of cyclones. Yet, there is still one materialistic and concrete, so I just made that change for
Fijian hut remaining in the village, which belongs to the village myself, and I met Samu.”
chief, located at the centre of the village,” said Tora. The inspiration for Vavavi came as “a lot of my friends from
"In the village, we live as five tribes. You can have a good Australia would visit Fiji and they would always suggest we
qualification from school, and become doctors, teachers or do a lovo,” Anna said. “We would sit in our garage and do all
engineers but when you return to the village, you still belong to the prep like we’re doing now. I was like... 'These guys have
a tribe like the fisherman's tribe,” he added. no idea how special lovo is because Fijians do it every week.'
Like other villages in Fiji, there is no wearing of hats in the “The whole process [of making lovo] is so different to any
village, ladies are only allowed to wear well-covered clothing other cooking method you find in Western culture and Asian
such as long skirts and dresses, there is no running and culture. It’s very unique and very different from going to a
shouting in the village, and drinking alcohol is only allowed cooking school.
outside the village boundaries. She added: “Fiji also has that beautiful connection to the
Viseisei, Tora says, was also the first village to convert to land. Given the majority of tourists are from Australia and New
Christianity in 1826, where “the priest of the village saw a Zealand, they really connect on that level and appreciate that
vision of a man coming on a ship who would do good things outdoor connection to land, family and culture".
for the village.” The missionary from Washington, America The Vavavi experience was definitely a great time, even for
gave the chief a Bible, a coat, an umbrella and a lantern. He me as a local and regular eater of lovo food. As we parted
covered the chief with the coat and said, ‘God is a comforter, ways, Denis said: "It feels like I'm leaving my family."
he will comfort you.’ He gave the lantern and said, ‘This is the
light for the darkness'. Then he gave the umbrella and said, Vavavi Cooking Experience
‘God is your protector, he will protect you and the people like

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