Caroline Dunn never needs much convincing to spend a day by the river.
When the urge comes, the 63-year-old from Togoru, Navua, simply picks up her bamboo fishing rod and heads to the Naitata Road roundabout, where the Navua River has become both her fishing ground and her place of quiet comfort.
“I just love fishing,” she said.
“It teaches me lessons in patience and perseverance.
“Sometimes I can fish from Monday to Friday.”
Armed with a container of fresh sesea, sandworms she digs from her family home’s beachfront, or edible shrimps known as moci, she patiently waits for kaikai, ki and saqa to bite.
Whatever she catches usually ends up on the dinner table.
“Tonight, I will fry my catch and cook it in lolo with a few bele leaves. I plant them in my backyard.”
But fishing gives Dunn more than a fresh meal. Seven months after losing her husband, the hours spent beside the river had helped ease the loneliness.
“He died seven months ago and I miss him dearly,” she said.
“I am a widow now, so apart from fishing for meals, it also keeps me occupied, together with my church work.”
The river has also given her something she never expected —- friendship.
Among the regular anglers to the fishing spot is Finau Bale, a church elder’s wife.
They first met as strangers casting their lines into the same stretch of water. Before long, conversations became routine, and a friendship took root.
“Telling each other stories, laughing and joking while fishing, keeps us focused. Sometimes, we come in the morning … by the time we stand up to leave, it’s already 5pm.”
“She and I have become good friends. One day we were strangers fishing, now we are close.”
The river continues to provide Ms Dunn with more ways than one. Some days it rewards her with a good catch.
On others, it reminds her that even after a heavy loss, life has a mysterious way of bringing people together for laughter and healing.
n Full Story in this weekend’s copy of The Sunday Times.
