RUGBY teams and officials travelling to the Garden Island of Taveuni for the Fiji Bitter Wairiki 7s braved a 22-hour boat ride from Narain Jetty in Suva to arrive ahead of kick-off today.
They were ferried from the Capital by inter-island shipping provider Goundar Shipping Limited on the MV Lady Daya, the same vessel carrying teams to Wairiki for last year’s tournament.
The Fiji Times senior media production specialist Sophie Ralulu and I are covering the tournament.
We stepped onto the vessel shortly after its reporting time of 4pm on Tuesday, as staff had just finished preparing the vessel for the long trip to Taveuni after off-loading passengers and cargo from Kadavu earlier in the day.
Heading back to the Garden Island was a full-circle moment for both of us.
For Sophie, she returned after two years, the last time on assignment for The Fiji Times with then-North Bureau Chief Serafina Silaitoga as they followed Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on his tour of the North.
As for me, I returned to the place where my baptism of fire as a cadet journalist occurred in covering last year’s tournament and a year later, I return as a senior sports journalist.
After a brief stop at Savusavu, heavy rain poured and passengers stood from the decks and headed for cover in the first class and economy sections.
The rain and fog cleared and the distinct 60ft cross celebrating the Catholic Mission’s 100 years on the island and the Holy Cross Parish in Wairiki loomed into view.
The vessel berthed at 2pm at the Waiyevo Wharf and the facility was abuzz with passengers embarking on and disembarking off the vessel.
The next three days are expected to be an intense rollercoaster and Sophie and I will be around to document the spills and thrills of it all.
