Bahamas- October 09 Weeks 1-3

Week 1

From my point of view this was the beginning of paradise. We arrived at the Greenforce camp with a lot of nerves due to the fact that this was a completely new experience for all of us as well as not knowing anyone else.

For the first few days on camp we learnt about the rules and regulations and adjusted our bodies to the heat and time difference, which is bliss!

Once we got comfortable to our surroundings we began diving. Half of the group already had some sort of diving qualification. So in week 1 we did check dives just to refresh our memories and our basic diving skills. The others began their open water training.

Learning how to cook good bread for lunch was a great way for the group to work together and tasted amazing. Overall week one was exciting and interesting as we got to know the other volunteers that were with us. We also got to know the three leaders of the camp and slowly eased our way into camp life.


Week 2

All the guys that started their open water qualification managed to complete it all with flying colours. We also learnt about the marine life in the Bahamas and the fish that are a part of that ecosystem which was very interesting.

When the weather is bad for diving we usually venture out. On a couple of days the wind picked up so we went up north to Morgan’s Bluff. Here we were given an insight into the history of Andros. We also went to a blue hole called Captain Bills where every volunteer loved jumping off the five meter diving platform which was fun!

Throughout the week we were lucky enough to get to swim with dolphins sharks and rays which were amazing. Some of the group started their advanced open water course this week. On Thursday we went to a local school and taught them about basic marine life. We were teaching children between 6 and 10 years old which many of you may know can be terror but sweet at the same time.

Despite the weather we did manage to get a lot of dives in. On the weekend we managed to try a new sport called free diving. This is diving without a tank and only holding your breath, which the whole team did well and continued practising through the day.

Week3

At the beginning of week three we went on a military base called AUTEC. Here our leader gave a presentation on the marine ecosystem of the Bahamas to the school children. We also had lunch and dinner there which was amazing as food on camp is very basic.

The weather for the next few days did not look good so our leader decided to start our EFR course. It was a very interesting course and we often had a laugh doing it. We also went to the famous Androsia shop on the island and many of us bought wild clothes for the fun nights.

Mid week we saw dolphins on a snorkel on the shore just off camp. It was exciting and many of us swam with them again which is an experience of a life time especially being so close to camp. We managed to get some dives in and these were very exciting too as we got to see a couple of nurse sharks.

Everyone did more fish revising and the rest of the group managed to complete their Advanced Open Water course. Now everyone is comfortable in the water and can’t wait to do more diving and surveying.

Adrian Williams

Bahamas- October 09

A Day in the Life of a GMRS Volunteer


Settling into life on camp has been easy for everyone on our phase, certainly for me at least. We have a pretty solid routine here. On weekdays we’re up at 8, just a shade after sunrise (unless you are the unlucky one making porridge, then it is half 7).

Straight after breakky, weather permitting we can get some diving in. I don’t worry too much about the weather though, I’ve logged 28 dives in a month and my tan is looking (in the words of our Scotsman Laurie) “Braw”!

By lunchtime everyone is ready to eat a horse – we don’t have a horse, so noodles will have to do! That is, unless it’s Wednesday, when we have a treat – Pizza. We make it from scratch; in fact, we make bread 3 times a week if you include the pizza base.

After lunch we squeeze in some more diving, unless it’s Thursday, then we go to the local primary school, and try to teach the kids about marine life. I say try because sometimes they can be quite a handful, but you can’t fault their enthusiasm!

In between the diving, cooking and eating, we learn about the fish of the reef. For me there is not much more satisfying than seeing a fish and actually knowing what it is. It’s only been a month but I know my Grunts from my Snappers, Wrasses from Blennies, Groupers from Parrots and many more.

Come evening time, we always cook up a feast. Everyone puts a lot of effort into dinner, which is a moral booster. It’s amazing how much variety we’ve thought up considering the basic foods; it’s even better if we’ve speared a Lionfish and can have a little starter (the Lionfish taste superb).

The action doesn’t stop after dinner, there is always something going on. I love going with the staff down to the dock to see if we can spot some Lemon Sharks in the Creek.

At the end of a long day, I crawl into my mosquito net and sleep like a baby – got it all to do again tomorrow!

Alex Sapple

Fiji- Phase 19- Week 3

Bula all!

This week has been a great week for creativity in the kitchen- highlights including Charlotte’s meal of the week corned beef meatballs (genius considering corned beef is a cow in a blender), Anna’s birthday meal of chips, baked beans and chocolate cake and pizza with REAL CHEESE!!
So the week started off on Tuesday with an adventure to the sand spit, which is a 40 min walk round from camp. The weather was beautiful and some amazing photos were taken jumping in the air. We slept out on the deck and stayed up till 12 to celebrate Anna’s 23rd birthday.

Our great newbie (Ciaran) arrived on Wednesday morning and saw straight through our rumours of Hayliegh previously being a man and 3am rat patrols. In the evening we celebrated Anna’s birthday by playing old school party games- twister being a lot of fun.
Thursday- we’re qualified divers yay! We finished our PADI open water with dives at lovers. The almighty blue bure won the weekly quiz- which was slightly easier than the previous week’s medical round.

On Saturday everyone went on an amazing dive to Ariels- highlights included seeing a loggerhead turtle and a white tip reef shark. Saturday night was party night and the theme was Rubik cube which involved many clothing changes throughout the evening with the aim of becoming one colour. Much fun was had by all- you gotta love the bounty!
Sunday- feeling slightly worse for wear we set off in the boat to the village of Kiobo, where we went to church, ate Fijian food and had our afternoon siesta. The rest of the afternoon was dominated by a long kava session in which we were lucky enough to be serenaded by Tui Kubulau who sang many songs from his days at Castaway Resort.

On Monday we pressed on with our Advanced PADI course, which included us doing a navigation dive off the shore and a night dive. There was also a trip to kindergarten in the morning in our village Navatu and we taught the kids the Hokey Kokey.
Tuesday; another section of our advanced was completed the deep dive going to 25m which was amazing.

Lots of love,
Anna and Charlotte
Peace out!

Phase 18 Report- Fiji

Nukubalavu, Kubulau

Phase 18

Staff:
Paul Hinchliffe – Expedition Leader; Dive Instructor
Jade Chittenden – Dive Instructor
Deborah Blaik – Chief Scientist
Karen Smith – Assistant Scientist
Hayleigh Kelway – Trainee
Josh Rowe – Trainee
Rachael Harrison – Medic
Paula Veileqe– Divemaster

Volunteers:
Will Lake, James Fluker, Emily Jenkinson, Ben Thyer, Amy Darby, Ben Swatton, Chloe Whitfield, Meilyr “Gywn” Dixey, Alex Gilby, Sarah Drake, Brad Rogers, Vicky Sinclair, Dani Hayes, Suzanne Roach, Holly Truszkowska, Kristy Foale, Allyce Miller.

Village Life
Our first trip to the Navatu this phase was for Kaya’s 1st birthday party, we were lucky to spend this time in the village celebrating.
Most of our Sundays were spent in Navatu with our families, we did however visit Natokalau and Kiobo for church.
We attended fundraisers in Navatu, Natokalau and also Kilaka, a village we hadn’t visited in over 2 years. Kilaka is the furthest village from us in the district so on this trip we spent the night in the village. On all three occasions there was plenty of food, kava and dancing!

Our village of Navatu held a rugby sevens tournament at Kubulau District School, there were teams from not only our own district but the whole of Vanua Levu. It was a brilliant two day event, the biggest the district has seen in years, the ladies from our village put in a lot of effort cooking for the hundreds of people who came to watch. Sadly Navatu didn’t win but we did manage to come in second place.

For the first time since Greenforce has been in Kubulau we visited the village Cogea in the nearby district of Wainunu, the village is situated up the Wainunu river. As we were unannounced we took kava for a sevusevu and the villagers showed us the hot springs. They then kindly invited us to stay for a kava session with lots of kava, music and dancing, which is generally the theme of most parties here.
The last village event we attended was Paula’s sister wedding in Raviravi. It was very interesting experience to witness a traditional Fijian wedding, but sad to see Siliva leaving our village.
Navatu rugby team
Sightings:
We had a lot of amazing sightings this phase from tiny little seahorses to massive rays.
On a few occasions dolphins were spotted, we even got up close when they swam by the bow of the boat. There were also 2 sightings of a giant reef ray, which had a 2m wingspan and a manta ray breaching on the horizon.
This was also the first phase this year where multiple octopus were found on our own house reef.
Sadly a sperm whale beached itself further up the coast by Kilaka, a couple of the staff then had the opportunity to photograph and help to measure the whale, for WCS. It was 16m in length and by the time we arrived the locals were already removing the prized teeth.
On a positive note at the very end of phase on the way to Namena a couple of Humpback whales were spotted in the distance. One was also spotted migrating through the channel right outside of camp as it breached totally out of the water – Amazing!
On top of all this during the phase we also were lucky enough to see Giant Moray eels, the endangered Humphead wrasse and a few different species of sharks, including a 10ft Zebra shark, which has never been seen before by anyone here at Greenforce.
Beached Sperm Whale

Training and Surveying:
The dive training this phase went really well, a couple of days of bad weather meant that the confined water dives took a few more days than expected but we caught up and everyone was certified during week three.
The science training went smoothly and for the first time we managed to get the 6 weekers in for a few survey dives before they had to leave camp. The science training was the same as last phase with fish species and families being learnt along with invertebrates and coral lifeforms.

With a small number of volunteers this phase everyone got to survey almost every site (including the staff). We managed to collect all the data for both Reef Check and FLMMA and had it sent off before phase had even ended.

This phase started with 17 volunteers but by the end there was only 6 left so the last couple of weeks on camp were rather quiet but no less eventful, everyone made some brilliant friends and they will all miss the Fijian way of life.

Fiji Phase 19- Week 1-2

Week 1

Arrival in Fiji on the 6th October went smoothly considering the size of the group, with only a little bit of baggage trouble. Though a handful had been staying in Nadi, most of us were not so fresh after two days of travelling.

Our first destination after arrival was Savusavu where we experienced our last days of luxury before heading to camp and also had a chance to shop for those few essentials we’d miss before heading out. The journey across to camp on the 8th involved around 3 hours in the back of a truck driving along bumpy dirt roads with only wooden benches for posterior support. A lucky few, myself included, rode in the trucks with the bags and had a slightly more pleasant experience.

Bumpy road journeys were soon forgotten as we boarded the boat for the first time to be ferried over to camp. It was a short trip in perfect weather which put everyone in high spirits when we arrived. Excitement wasn’t over however, as a short time after making camp a tsunami warning sent us all up the hill for safety. Thankfully no killer wave materialised and we soon made our way down.
By Saturday the 10th we were more settled into camp and ready to go to the village for the first time to meet our families, be ceremoniously welcomed to the island and take our first taste of Kava. The villagers were wonderfully welcoming and delighted in filling us with all kinds of tea and cake, something which they continued throughout Sunday after we’d been to church.

Those qualified divers among us have been diving regularly including one night dive which Colin said was “the best dive ever”. The rest of us learning to dive have now finished our theory work and the skills from the first two confined water dives.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself so far and with the exception of some illness in camp, I think that everyone is happy and looking forward to the rest of their time in Fiji.

Sam


Week 2
October 12th; sun shining and a bit windy. Everyone passed their PADI Open Water theory test! Then the diving began for the new open water divers. However it didn’t last long due to windy weather. Spirits were lifted a couple of days later when the bug passed and the sun came out again!

On Thursday all volunteers became emergency first responders which prompted many ongoing jokes. We all still haven’t tired of saying “My name is ‘your name’, I’m a emergency first responder!! May I help you?” at even the most minor or ridiculous injury. For example when Vicky managed to get a coconut stuck on her finger!

Towards the end of the week half the open water divers passed the “open water diver test”. Everyone has taken to the Fijian way of life; on Fiji Time, spending time in our village at kinder and with our Fijian families and of course drinking Kava.

So far the days are flying by far too fast and no-one wants the experience to end. Lots of Love from Fiji.

Sîan & Vicky

Fiji- Phase 18- Week 6-7

Phase 18 Blog- Week 6

We started the week with another birthday, this time it was Kristy’s turn to celebrate her special day on the island. We were taught the survey on land on the volleyball court before being put into the ocean to practice surveys on the house reef. We were excited to be putting all are hard learnt science into practise by starting real surveys around Kubulau, after a few ropey attempts we all got into the swing of it pretty well. Debs, Karen and Rachel also went on a trip to help identify a stranded whale that had died further up the coast, it turned out to be a 16m male sperm whale! The smell was VERY pungent when they returned!
Measuring the 16m (52ft) Sperm Whale.

This week we were lucky enough to have our first two fundraisers. Our first was in the village of Natokalau; we had great food, lots of Kava and even enjoyed sober dancing. The money raised that evening went towards an anchor for the youth group’s boat. The second was in our home village of Navatu where we raised money for an upcoming wedding, with Debs, Karen Ben S and James putting in a truly amazing performance drinking Kava well after the others had left for bed!
Saturday was the day of camp clean and fun dives. We got to go to ‘Shark Attack’ (it’s just a name, HONEST!) where we had an awesome drift dive. The food that night was also awesome with beef burgers on the menu following fish and chips earlier in the week courtesy of Paul’s fishing skills- it was a good week for food where we were spoilt rotten! Saturday night we had a Leavers Ball for the six weekers leaving; Kristy, Amy, Ben S and Allyce.
After a Sunday spent in Navatu Monday morning came round all too quickly and it was time for the six weekers to start the journey home, which was emotional for everyone, especially as the rest of us followed Kristy’s goodbye treasure hunt she had set up before heading home. Luckily the week finished on a high note with the return of Gwyn our Medforce volunteer from his 10 day placement at the hospital in Savusavu. But even with his return camp still felt very empty =(

James and Will

Phase 18 Blog- Week 7

The week started with surveys but due to rough weather conditions dives were cancelled. This gave us time to relax in the sun and play some volleyball. Thursday and Friday we all went to the Kubalau 7’s Rugby Tournament, which was two exciting days watching rugby teams from all over Vanua Levu including our very own volunteer Ben playing for the Navatu 3rd team. There was a lot of nice food and of course Kava. A particular highlight was bread and jam. Lots of new friends were made, especially with the North Fijian army who friendly invited us to sit in their tent on day two. Sadly Navatu didn’t win but came second taking away $500, which was donated to the church.
Afternoon nap in the Fijian Army’s tent Navatu 1st’s vs. Natokalau in the semi final

Saturday was another amazing day. With the sea conditions still rough Paul took us down the Wainunu River and we visited a local village. As we were unannounced we took Kava for a Sevusevu and the villagers showed us to the hot fresh water pools then kindly invited us to stay for a Kava session. This included lots of Kava, music and sober dancing. We then went back to a nice spot along the river bank for lunch and swimming.
Farewell from the villagers as we set off for a picnic on the Wainunu River
Saturday night Jade made us chilli and garlic bread. What a treat! Then as always party night commenced with a pub quiz. Sunday we went to Navatu for church. In the afternoon there was Kava and cake to celebrate the rugby and Ben presented the prize money to the church. Monday morning was camp clean and then in the afternoon a fun dive at Lovers. That night the ration run returned with all our goodies which was the perfect end to a great week.

Dani

Fiji- Phase 18

Phase 18 Blog- Week 1

The phase started with a pretty cool beginning! 12 of us ended up meeting in Nadi airport and were disappointed when our flight to Labasa was cancelled due to the plane breaking. We were all tired and hungry and were pleased to hear the airline was giving us accommodation and food until the flight to Labasa the next day. The hotel was amazing with good food, air-conditioned rooms and a big pool. After a relaxing day and night at the hotel we were split up and put on three different flights to Labasa. The next morning we were met by the last member of the group- Brad. That day we went into Labasa to buy some much needed items- Bula dresses and pocket Sulu. That night we ate out at a restaurant in Labasa. The next morning we got up VERY early and did not have the best start to the morning with lamb sausages for breakfast! We all piled into the truck for the 5 hour journey to the nearest point on land to our camp. The journey was fairly eventful with a punctured tire and having to get out to push the truck out of the mud! We were met by Paul- Expedition Leader- who took us on a 5 minute boat journey to our island. As we drifted towards camp we were met by the friendly trainees Hayleigh and Josh who gave us a tour of camp. That evening was spent stargazing on the decking.
The next morning we enjoyed porridge for breakfast! Hayleigh and Josh showed us how to do all the camp jobs and we all worked together to make a sandy path to the toilet during a tropical rainstorm. In the afternoon we went for a snorkel and had a swim test. We also began reading our PADI manuals. Since it was a Saturday, the night was spent playing drinking games and lying on the decking! On Sunday we lazed about in the sun reading our dive manuals. On Monday we were joined by the three medics Alex, Gwyn and Sarah!

By Suz and Amy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 2

The week begun watching the very exciting PADI videos! The already qualified divers enjoyed diving on the house reef. On Tuesday we all went to the village of Navatu for our sevu sevu (welcoming ceremony). For most of us it was our first taste of Kava. This was the day that we met our Fijian families! By Wednesday we all had our completed our dive theory test! We all had a brilliant time in Navatu attending a birthday party. The women in the village prepared a feast of fresh fish, pork and many other traditional Fijian dishes. In the evening fun was had by all with Kava, singing and dancing! On Thursday and Friday the water was too choppy to complete our confined water dives. However, the qualified divers managed to fit in a few shore dives. We also had some lectures on fish anatomy, coral ecology and special species! Friday night was Steve’s last night so a few of us joined in with a goodbye Kava ceremony. On Saturday the water was finally calm and we started our confined water dives. Sadly we said goodbye to Steve. On Sunday we went to church for the first time. After church we all went back to our family’s houses for lunch and an afternoon nap!

Amy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 3

By week 3 everyone had completed their open water dives and we all started and finished the PADI advanced theory in one day! We started working on our advanced dives: boat, deep, drift, night and navigation dives and everybody did well! On Friday it was our first ladies night’ when the ladies from Navatu came to camp for an evening of fun. Many games were played including limbo, twister and musical statues. Everybody had fun and the ladies brought round some delicious cakes!
On Saturday we travelled by boat to the local school to watch the rugby. Some of us joined in with a friendly game of netball and football and Ben T and James were lucky enough to participate in a rugby game with the local team. On Saturday we had a pub quiz and played bure wars. We all dressed up in our bure’s colours and undertook challenges, it was a good night! On Sunday it was a trip round to the village for church lunch and a well needed nap.

Suz
Phase 18 Blog- Week 4

On the first day of week 4, Brad left us and we celebrated Jade’s birthday. We began our lectures studying fish and then invertebrates. We needed to learn some fish to species and others just to family. The 5th August was a MOMENTOUS occasion as Kristy and Vicky spotted a seahorse whilst washing up in the rock pools in front of camp. It’s the first time a volunteer has ever spotted one!
The week was filled with fish and invert point dives and snorkelling lessons. During our spare time, we would be revising. This week we also performed our size estimation dives. This is where volunteers have to estimate the size of many pieces of tubing suspended on ropes between 2 buoys located in the inner reef. This must be completed correctly 3 times with only 20% error in order to pass.
Friday nights dinner was AMAZING- Jade and Karen made beef burgers in fresh bread with fried eggs! This week also saw the beginning of salt water showers as we are out of fresh showering water! On the fun dive on Saturday the second boat had dolphins swimming alongside it which was incredible!
Saturdays night’s theme was ‘Superheroes’, costumes ranged from ‘Wonder Woman’ to ‘Wolverine’ and even saw the appearance of new superheroes such as ‘The Stranglers’. On Sunday, we visited a new village named Natokalau. It’s a beautiful village that practises Catholicism which meant the church service was short and sweet in a beautiful little church. A sevusevu was performed to welcome us to the village, so Kava was being drunk throughout the day. A great lunch was cooked for us including fresh fish, chips and tomato ketchup! On Monday there was the first sighting of the octopus in the inner reef by Allyce, James and Ben S. Today was also the day the staff went to the mainland and bought us back our ration items.

Kristy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 5

Another week rolls on with the return of Paul and a new arrival Rach! If only mozzie bites weren’t so itchy! Scratching = legs full of holes = no diving! This week also brought about the first two Namena days! Namena is a diving area about 40mins away from Nukubalavu (our camp), where everything is just more bigger and better! Forget spending dive after dive searching for big fish, in Namena you can’t avoid them. Half the group have also been lucky enough to see Humphead Wrasse! We also celebrated the 2nd birthday of the phase (Happy Birthday Hayls!), so we decided to head up the hill from camp and take in the view of the whole reef. Looking out from the top we could have easily been looking at a postcard the view was so amazing. Whilst most of us headed straight back down the hill, Will, James and Josh had other ideas and went for a trek through the jungle over the hills and found logs for the evening’s birthday fire. We finished the birthday celebrations on Saturday night with a super-awesome Nu rave party. BRING ON THE GLOW PAINT! A good night was had by all! The normal Sunday visit to the village was the perfect way to recover from the week- CAKE!

Will and James