Fiji - On nature (2)

Fiji Travel Blog

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February 11th, 1994 – by: vincentdepaigne

The light is declining, the end of the day approaches. By now, I have seen a lot of Fiji, the sea, the mountains, the clouds, the rain and the sun.

I see this island as a big boat, where I spent most of my time out on the bridge, unable to penetrate its mysterious depths. This boat is immense, inhabited by tens of thousands persons, it is full of recesses, sceneries and shapes

In the lit up cabins, human forms move around, talk, live. There is only simplicity, people and their lives, but all appear to me surrounded by an irreducible mystery, on the island where I was sent by the fortunes of life.

This boat is strangely shaped and has several levels and each level has its own life.

People seem free to move from one level to another, but always remain attached to their original level.

I walk along the sea, along lines of coconut trees. I pass on bridges, in villages, along bays where the sea is peacefully reaching the shore, in front of hotels and empty tennis courts.

Dark blue clouds, their white tops, are rising high in the sky, leaving behind a dark blue sky.

The sea is now quiet and dark, as the sun disappears behind the mountain. The silhouette of a shark appears and disappears, in silence, like an old spirit.

The shark I had seen, who had silently slipped through the surface of the sea still gilded by the sunset, was he the soul of a great Fijian chief ?

I was lying this afternoon in my bed, in the hotel room, surrounded by the maritime humidity.

In the room, the old wardrobe next to a rusty window, made me think I could be somewhere else.

The rain was making a light noise, I raised the curtain to see a small church with its two palm trees. A big Fijian woman was walking alone on the small road. The sea was grey.

I had crossed a bridge above the brown and slow moving river, along which a small city was built, standing still under the relentless light of midday.

Towards the interior of the Island, clouds were accumulating. At the foot of the hills, deep green fields were spread along the steep river banks.

The landscapes was changing, the climate of the island was becoming dry, the forest, under its grey clouds, disappeared and the immense fields of sugar cane appeared, green masses descending towards the sea.