Fiji update

Phase 17: Week 1- 21^st April -28^th April 2009

Wednesday:
All the volunteers arrived at Nadi bay! We all got together and got to know each other by the pool. We did a brief intro on what the next few weeks had in store for them and Steve and I showed up in normal camp attire - Sulus. That night we all went and had a big meal at the Bounty Bar and filled the whole place!
Thursday:
After a heavy night at Eds bar I had to take the volunteers to buy there Bula shirts, Bula dresses, pocket sulus and other bits and bobs. That night we went to pizza king!
Friday/Saturday:
After a night on the ferry we arrived in Savu Savu where we then got our supplies of food. (That’s a lot of porridge!!) We then started the 3 hour truck journey leaving civilisation behind us. It was good fun! We got stuck in the mud numerous times and had to get out and push the truck but we finally got to Nukubalavu, our home for the rest of phase, only 5 hours after we set out!!
Sunday:

Sunday was our “spag out” day, we set up camp, sanding paths, setting up our bures and settling in, getting to know each other a little better!.
Monday:
The volunteers set off for our local village, Navatu, for our Sevu Sevu (asking permission to stay on their land, being accepted into the village and apologising for anything we may do in the next 10 weeks that offends them). The first test of being accepted into the village was experiencing grog (kava) for the first time!
Tuesday:
It was time for the volunteers to get wet! They had to swim 300 meters and tread water for a few minutes to pass the fitness test and they are now all set to start their Open Water course.

Love Always

Rosser the Trainee

Phase 17: Week 2- 29^th April – 5^th May 2009

Everyone is settled into camp life and so begins all the dive training. With Paul, Jade and our new Instructor Will.I.Am, the volunteers are put through their paces and introduced to the weird feeling of breathing underwater! The Instructors work extremely hard taking one group in after another to the point that they must have aged 50 years by the looks of their wrinkly skin!! Luckily though, we are situated right on the beach and all training diving is done from shore.

Saturday brought about my 24^th birthday. All the volunteers woke up at 06:00 to sand the path to my bure (I live on a hill and it was no easy task!). Buckets of sand falling to the ground 2ft from my face (I’m passed out! Beauty sleep is a necessity!). I then get woken by every one having written ‘Happy Birthday Steve’ in the sand with shells and singing Happy Birthday as I stumble down my nice new path. The staff pooled together and bought me a Guitar (I love it….and I love them!). Throughout the day, we all get a dive in and we prepare our costumes for the Adam & Eve/Back to Nature Party! Hundreds of Doughnut balls are made….some are stuffed full of chocolate (did I mention I love these people?!). Feeling fat…we party, and as the first proper Saturday night on camp, its loud, its crazy, it’s an absolute freefall but definitely a night to remember!

As always, hangovers are always best spent asking for forgiveness in church the next day! :-/ And once again we return to Namalata. Namalata seems to host the first church service of every month where several villages come together and spend time with each other. This always proves to be an awesome event; the food, the singing, the Kava. We are part of this community and it’s what we love about the place. However, the first service of the month is particularly long and the faces of some volunteers were begging for the end!!

Monday, we, as always, run a playschool for the kids in Navatu village. Thankfully, the kids are on a 2 week holiday from School (as usually they board throughout the week) and as such, playschool is heaving! The volunteers had their work cut out for them, but, with a few crayons, and an origami lesson, they’re rewarded with a shed load of cake!

All in all, it’s been a brilliant week for the volunteers to blend into life out here and they’ve all put so much effort in. There seems to be an awesome bond this phase between the volunteers and the community here!

Steve Fitzpatrick

Assistant Scientist

Phase 17: Week 3- 6^th May – 12^th May

The third week started with half the group attempting both deep and navigational dives for their advanced dive course. By the end of the week all divers had attained advanced open water status! YAY!
However, the single greatest achievement of the week, was the production of lentil burgers, by those on dinner duty (including me, cat) it was the greatest meal so far, although it took 3 hours to make!
Saturday was a day of rest and fun dives, followed by the weekly Saturday night booze fest. The theme was 60’s and 70’s with some of the team remembering these eras better than others (Pops).

Sunday, whilst normally a day of rest was spent celebrating mothers day with are adopted Fijian families. We dare you to eat as much tea and cake as we did. We attended 2 church services and were entertained by a Fijian rendition of what we think was the story of Moses. It was an excellent day all round. Monday morning half the group went to kinder whilst the other unlucky half had to clean camp, after this, fish lectures began, wish us luck in identifying fish that look EXACTLY the same.

Pops & Cat

Phase 17: Week 5- 20^th – 26^th May

• EFR course completed
• Fundraiser to Kiobo
• Met the Chief of Kubulau
• Thunder & rain on Friday/beautiful sunshine come Monday
• 1^st Namena trip
• Watched Twilight on movie night
• Palm tree fell down – Kodak moment for a Phase photo
• Fish Identification points

Another week gone & its hard to believe we’re nearly at the halfway point! Many of us have lovely tans to show for our month in the sun. Some of us do not!!

The weather has been funny this week; monsoon like rain drenched us on the way to a village fundraiser at Kiobo. However, by the end, it had redeemed itself with gorgeous sunshine come Sunday. The weather was so beautiful today (Monday) that the first lucky few divers got to take a trip out to Namena. They were all on such a high when the came back, telling tales of turtles, sharks and amazing water visibility that had the rest of us drooling. Hopefully the 2^nd visit will not be too far away!

Another high point of the week was our fundraiser in Kiobo on the Friday. Due to the weather it was not the outdoorsy event we had imagined, but sitting in a small room with a tin roof, drinking lots of Kava, eating cake and dancing was more fun than anyone could have hoped for! We’ve got some real movers and shakers amongst us it seems, and everyone was happy to see ‘THE GUNS’ make an appearance (Naka Sonic!) The chief of Kubulau joined us for the evening - now there’s a man who loves his music! He invited a few of us to sing along and (after an initial panic) much fun was had by all. Everyone agreed it was a great night!

Lily & Steph

Phase 17: Week 6- 27^th May – 2^nd June

This week has been an eventful one, filled with fish, coral and invertebrates revision and yet more size estimation dives!! The weekend started with a game of ‘Capture the Flag’, fortunately no major injuries, just a few cuts and bruises. Saturday night was the last night for the 6 weekers. We had ‘Bure wars’ with various games. “Good organised fun!” The first game was spin stick. This involved drinking beer from a snorkel, spinning around and running across the volleyball court whilst wearing fins.

However, ‘beer pong’ (played with beer caps) drew the biggest crowds, ending in a show down between Paul & Jade for the staff team, against George & Josh from the Chill Out Bure. It was a tense game but George & Josh won, putting the Chill Out Bure in the lead, with the Staff coming in a close second. Good effort guys.

The 6 weekers departed on Sunday morning. It was surreal to wave goodbye to them and it hasn’t properly sunk in that they’ve gone. They won’t be forgotten. The mood was picked up for Nurse Nic’s birthday. We made flap jacks, a rare treat and a better use for porridge oats!

We’ve started learning survey techniques, so it shouldn’t be long until we’re in the water. Everyone is now busy studying for fish tests. Hopefully we all pass this week. Wish us luck!

Annabelle & Hayleigh

Day 21-25 Nepal Annapurna Trek

So after our inspiring week staying with the families in Chitwan, the group split, with about half travelling back to Kathmandu to commence the Everest Trek; while the others travel to Pochura for the start of the Annapurna Trail. After a week of 100% Dhal Bhat, the Annapurna crew got stuck in to some overdue Western style eating and shopping, even managing to squeeze in a very English picnic in the middle of a road island. Very scenic indeed. Before leaving the comforts of tourist town, the group began to mentally prepare for the trekking ahead.The first day of trekking was relatively simple, in respect that the direction of travel wasn't continually upwards. Even the hot, midday sun was defeated with a 'mountain fresh' dip in the glacier river. After several hours walking we pulled up to the tea house where we would retire. After a sweat-busting shower, the group gathered to play cards. Next day was literally the stairway to heaven. With the direction up, up, up; the day was a definate thigh and bum muscle workout. General chat and singing did make the day pass. However the thought of bed and Nepalease tea more than spurred most on. Now at our highest altitude so far, the group manged to pull together for a 4am start, where we would travel up Poon Hill to get a spectacular, panoramic sunrise view of the Annapurna range. Unfortunately, the British weather crept in, but even with some cloud on the horizon, it was still well worth the extra effort. Little did we know it wasn't the early start that had this day marked; but the ongoing battle against the leeches. Though only several centimetres long, they proved more than mighty enough to make these hard-worn trekkers squirm!The group will contine for several more days in order to reach Annapurna Base Camp, and already we have seen numerous ecosystems and cultures of these mountainous regions. Who's to say what will await in the upcoming days?

Project Report Bahamas 1st Quarter 2009

Quarterly Report: 1st Quarter 2009. GMRS Phase 5, January – April.

Current Personnel:
Jason Kincaid – Station Manager and PADI Dive Instructor,
Kate Barley MSc – Chief Marine Scientist, Station Manager and PADI Dive Instructor,
Mark Tilley BSc – Assistant Marine Scientist, Paul Fuller – Trainee.
Volunteers: Stewart Morton, Katie Maurina, Liz Slaughter, Ross Collins, Nadina Hnatiw, Dean Gray, Sarah Perry, Mike England, Lisa Holton, Callum Brodie, Lucy Barber.

Update and Overview
This phase we have moved to a new location in Staniard Creek at Timothy Johnson’s property and bar (Colors). The start of the phase was full of dive training and building projects including the dive stand, compressor area and a brand new rock oven on the beach which has proven fantastic for bread making and dinners. The weather has been our nemesis this phase with prolonged periods of strong wind affecting our diving. We have however carried out many surveys with our volunteers on the reef after they learnt the fish to the satisfactory level. Three of our volunteers have also completed their PADI Rescue Diver courses at the end of the phase. Our last Sunday saw us carry out a daring forest fire back burn at Churches Blue hole, helping the BNT to protect the substantial wooden structure present at the site.

Sightings - On February 13th we were all lucky enough to swim with four Dolphins in the shallows not far from shore. The group was comprised of three adult dolphins and one juvenile (about 1m long!). During mangrove snorkels 6 large Spotted Eagle Rays
(Aetobatus narinari) were seen. Some of the volunteers were lucky enough to see two large Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) on a fun dive at our dive site Kate-atori-em resting amongst the reef formations. The Blackear Wrasse (Halichoeres poeyi) and the Gray Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) have been spotted in the shallow sea-grass in front of the station. Our trainee Paul Fuller also spotted a Silky Shark (Carcharinus falciformis) in deep water whilst snorkelling from the boat. The huge resident Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) at Amphitheatre was also observed by one lucky volunteer and our trainee.

Coral Reef Research

Number of REEF Surveys Completed
28
Hours underwater surveying REEF fish
18
Number of sites surveyed
4
Depth range (m)
5-20

After completing dive training, peak performance buoyancy and fish identification tests on land and in water our volunteers were ready to survey. This phase we managed to carry out 28 REEF fish surveys (11 last phase) for diversity and abundance at four different sites on the reef, despite the wind wreaking havoc with our schedules. The results of our surveys will be submitted on the REEF website in the near future very shortly.

Unfortunately due to the weather we were unable to complete any Reef Check surveys this phase despite training some of our volunteers. This was unfortunate but hopefully we will be able to carry out Reef Check surveys on our permanent monitoring sites next phase.

Community School Work
This phase we have been able to carry out a teaching program to three classes in Staniard creek primary school, on a Thursday afternoon. The enduring theme this phase has been symbiosis and helping out the environment so that it continues to provide for the inhabitants of Andros. Having lots of volunteers has meant that we were able to have lots of help in every class and the process has worked very well with a new topic every week for the children. We have covered the island itself in terms of defence from hurricanes and the ocean’s power. Jobs provided directly by the reef e.g. fishing (commercial and subsistence) or scuba diving guides were looked at as well as trying to push the prospect of working for the BNT in either the existing marine protected areas on the barrier reef or the west side national park. Food was a great topic with many of the kids knowing more than we did about the resources here! We were trying to explain the concept of responsible harvesting through the use of worksheets and activities. The new marine turtle legislation banning any capture or killing of turtles as well as outlawing the use of any turtle by-products (shells, meat, eggs e.t.c) from April 1st 2009 was discussed (with mixed attitudes !). Also looking at case studies of regions on a global scale which have not protected their natural resources was hoped to reinforce the ideas we had already covered in previous weeks. The kids and the volunteers as well as the staff enjoyed the process and we hope to have just as successful an experience next phase.

Staff Changeover
It is with regret that we have to announce the ending of a very successful relationship between Greenforce Bahamas and two of its long standing staff Kate Barley and Jason Kincaid. After a period of nearly two years training volunteers in diving and marine science as well as making their experience as good as it could possibly be they are moving on. The British Virgin Islands await them as dive instructors and I’m sure they will do just as well there also. Taking their place the new staff are Siobhan White BSc as Station Manager and PADI Dive Instructor, Ian Hamilton BSc as Assistant Marine Scientist and myself as Chief Marine Scientist (eek !). We aim to keep up the high standards that they have set for us in the future.

Acknowledgements
All the staff at Greenforce Bahamas would like to thank the volunteers of ‘Phase 5 GMRS’ for their help, enthusiasm, humour and work this phase, we couldn’t have done it without you (no honestly we couldn’t !). A big thanks to our trainee Paul Fuller for all of his help this phase, we will miss him and his camera but wish him all the best for the future. Well done to all of our divers who have passed Open Water and Advanced Open Water this phase we know Jason is a pain to work with but someone has to do it. Apologies about the wind – we will try and cut down on the beans next phase ! Thanks for your patience when the diving wasn’t on and we were finding alternatives. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves and wish you all the best in the future, be that travels, university, jobs or life. Thanks for a great phase.

Mark Tilley

Fiji Weeks 4 - 5

Imagine a tiny patch of sandy beach surrounded by crystal blue water, a mini paradise that can only be reached when the tide is low. The Sandspit is about a 30 minute walk around the island from camp. Its great for a girly sunbathe or a little game of football with the crystal clear water providing the chance to cool down with an all important snorkel although be wary of the tide as at high tide the sandspit disappears.

Shh....he’s coming....quickly, light the sparklers, aim the party poppers.......HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!!!! Saturday saw Paul's surprise party, he was oblivious to the planning, we had real chicken for dinner dipped in garlic butter! Yum! Chocolate cake and Mars bar doughnuts. It was sooooo good! The staff also had a little surprise for all of us.....Ice!....They made ice, they are gods! You have no idea how much you miss a cold drink, it was amazing! Then we partied the night away under the stars!

The past few days have been the best kind, lazy days involving lying out on the deck getting lost in a book or taking the raft out to the deep blue where you can dive off without fear of hitting your head with your mask and snorkel and see what's under the sea.

Church on Sunday was chilled out as usual, we got fed fresh fish and noodles then spent the afternoon with the villagers. It was an all round good day.

We had the inverts test this week, all about sea urchins, lobsters and anemones. With an afternoon of revision we all passed the test!

On a sad note Wednesday was Harriet and Chris’ last night, they were only here for 6 weeks, so we made them kava bowls out of coconuts as a farewell gift, which were signed by all. It’s a great group here and we’ve all bonded well so it was sad to see them go but no doubt we will all meet up again!

Nicola

Fiji Weeks 1-3

Week 1 – 21st to 28th Jan
By Harriet & Lily

19 volunteers arrived at Nadi Bay Hotel all very tired, sweaty & pasty, but very excited!

On arrival everyone jumped into the pool and enjoyed a nice shower. After a night of very little sleep we were put on a bus pilled high with everyone’s luggage and headed off for Lautoka. From there we bought our rations & Bula shirts for the lads & Bula dresses for the girls; all beautifully colourful & flowery! The next evening we boarded the 12hr night ferry from Lautoka to Savusavu. This provided chance to bond. A few brave volunteers even experimented with the local drink of choice; KAVA!!!

From Savusavu we got on 2 trucks and had a journey of a lifetime controlling flying mattresses and getting a bruised everything while taking in the amazing views offered by Venua Levu.

The final leg of our journey was a short but sweet boat journey to camp. The dawn of realisation occurred as we approached a small but unique Island, and this would be our home for the next 10 weeks. After setting up our beds and spending hours putting up our mosquito nets we settled down to our first meal on camp. Luckily this was made by staff members and was thus edible and enjoyable, a rarity......!

Saturday evening is where we let our hair down! Our first will be hard to beat but I’m sure we’ll give it a go! After around 3 hours of playing ‘I have never’ and drinking copious amounts of the local Bounty Rum, I feel it would be safe to say that everyone felt that they knew one another a little or in some cases A LOT better! Yes James we know everything!!

Sunday involved chilling out on the beach, with little activity from us volunteers for the rest of the day.

The following day was our first visit to the village of Navatu where we met our adopted families and had our welcoming Sevusevu ceremony aka. Grog time! This was a great way to meet the Fijians and get to know more about the Fijian way of life.

Tuesday was spent by the non-divers reading huge PADI books, and a lot of sunbathing for the already qualified divers. Fortunately everybody passed their theory and diving will commence on Wednesday.

Week 2 - 28th Jan to 4th Feb

By Rachel

Beginning of week 2 on camp and all the non divers have completed their Theory.
Big thanks to Paul & Jade!

So for this week it’s mainly completing the Open water dives, sunbathing & digging trenches.
This week saw the arrival of Steve back at camp, our Assistant Scientist, as Debs heads off to Nadi for a week.

Steve was welcomed home on Saturday night with a themed night giving the lads a chance to cross dress (to which they felt waaaay too comfortable doing!) A good night was had by everyone. The normal gossip proceeded the next morning as more couples have formed!

Sunday was the first Church of the month, which brought about 2 other villages to Navatu (Namalata & Raviravi). Unfortunately the heat proved too much for one of the volunteers, Lily, as she had to escape, running past the reverend & village chiefs, looking for ‘some fresh air’!! Luckily, 5 minutes prior, Steve had apologised to the congregation for any mistakes we may make over the next 10 weeks. Good timing really!

The weather so far has been awesome. We have all managed to complete our Open Water dives and are starting to do our PADI Advanced Knowledge reviews. Good times!

Week 3 - 4th to 11th Feb
By Imy

The first part of week three was spent focusing on getting the PADI Advance Open Water course completed which meant that whilst everyone was busy attempting to complete their knowledge reviews, the four already qualified divers had plenty of free time to top up their tans. Once the relevant knowledge reviews had been completed, the trainee divers had to complete five dives in order to qualify as Advanced. These were: Deep, Navigation, Boat, Drift & Night. Despite a few problems on the navigation, everyone managed to successfully complete the course meaning that everyone on camp is now Advanced and is able to dive to 30m!

Friday saw the first Ladies night of the phase and was our chance to give something back to our ‘Fijian mums’ who look after us sooo well in the village and ask for nothing in return. We spent the evening playing games with the ladies such as pass the parcel & bingo, as well as showing them some ‘traditional’ British dancing in the form of the YMCA! Of course it wouldn’t have been ladies night without cake, but luckily the ladies came prepared so we spent the first half an hour eating cake & drinking tea.

The next morning everyone got up at 6AM to say goodbye to Steve who had to go home earlier than expected. We all sat on the beach and took a group photo before the boat left camp.

That evening, Debs our Chief Scientist returned from Nadi. Steve sent some pizzas back which was such a nice change from camp food, even if Jon did manage to drop one of the Pizza’s, to which we still ate. The letters from home put everyone into a reflective mood, so our Saturday night was quieter than usual. Only a few games of ‘Ring of Fire’ and little gossip the following morning.

On Sunday, we went to a new village called Kiobo, where ewe met the Chief of Kubulau. Once again we were amazed by the warm welcome and wonderful standard of Fijian hospitality that we received. Church was outside this week, which was a nice change before having an amazing lunch and our much needed afternoon sleep. After waking, we drank Kava with the villagers and then left later that day to return home to camp, just before the rain.

Monday saw the start of our Science training. We’ve spent the past 3 days learning the difference between fish and how to identify them underwater.

Today (Wednesday) the sea was so still that Paul decided to reward us with all our hard work during the dive training by taking us to dive over at Namena, a protected site that plays host to a huge variety of fish and rated amongst one of the best reef sites in the world!
The dives at Namena were awesome, and we saw such an large array of marine life such as Big Sharks & Turtles of which has given us all the determination to learn our fish ASAP, and so we are going into week 4 frantically trying to learn fish using fish cards and points to help us. We hope that all this information stays!!

Bahamas Update by Sarah Perry

We started this week with our usual Saturday night party at Timmy’s bar, everyone seemed to have a good night, and there were a lot of laughs Sunday evening, we all went to Small Hope Bay for a gorgeous meal, courtesy of Stewart's parents. Everyone was loving not having to cook and having proper steak and crab instead of our ‘delicious’ turkey mince. It was a really nice, chilled out evening made even better by the fact we got to go in the hot tub under the stars and overlooking the beach. I don’t think anybody wanted to get out, the prospect of not having any more warm water for the rest of our time here was definitely on my mind and I’m sure it occurred to a few of the others as well!

Monday we all got on with fish I.D class, which we seem to be making some progress in, especially Mike who passed his fish test this week, which is ace! In the afternoon we got to get out and do some snorkelling in Stanyard Pass. Jason managed to get us two fish to cook for dinner, which we had a delicious paella, as he’d earned a forfeit for something and in return had to ‘make us all a treat!’

Tuesday we got on with more classes, it’s funny being in the Bahamas and seeing everyone wrapped up in hats and hoodies like we were back in England. In the evening a couple of the lads went night fishing in the creek but didn’t catch anything, I think next time the girls will go along to show them how its done!

By Wednesday the weather had picked up and it has been beautiful and hot since. We started diving on that day and by the weekend almost everyone has passed their PADI Open Water diving qualification, which we are all really pleased and excited about! We got to see some amazing fish and corals on the training dives, including seeing my first barracuda, which isn’t actually as scary as I thought it was going to be. Its an amazing feeling being 14m down under water, you feel so small looking up to see the boat above you but also feel really calm and content, it’s a surreal feeling and I cant wait to get back in the water to do more! Some of the volunteers saw two nurse sharks today which they were pretty hyped up about.

By far the highlight of this week has got to be when we got to swim with wild dolphins on Friday! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! The ocean was perfectly still and turquoise and we spotted some fins, never have I seen us all get ready and get in the water so fast. We must have been less than a metre away from them, that is an experience I will never forget.

So to end our week we’re having a Valentines party at Timmy’s, where we are having a three legged night and all dressing up as different things, me and Dean are going as wizards, so it should be another interesting night!

The Greenforce Blog Is Back!

Welcome Gapforce! With much deliberation and time-consuming efforts we progressed through our rebranding to become Gapforce, during which time the Greenforce blog was somewhat neglected. We're back and with more updates than ever before. First up with their contribution, the destination with a spanking new camp and beachside paradise: the Bahamas.

To find out more about Gapforce, go to the website www.gapforce.org