A Date with Britney
Ihad a memorable date with Britney last week Friday. An afternoon spent exploring one of Sigatoka’s hidden gems that I knew of but hadn’t taken the time to experience yet. And Britney, not the Britney that sings ‘Oops… I did it again’, was my tour guide that day.
My friends, Alfred and Mamatuki, had decided to spend their Fiji Day weekend with me in Sigatoka.
We wanted to kickstart our weekend early so we booked a Friday afternoon tour with Ecotrax Fiji.
Before I get into our adventure, I need to give you some context.
Ecotrax Fiji is an outdoor adventure company based in Cuvu (Sigatoka), owned by a Kiwi couple, Howard and Mandy de Vries.
They employ a local support team to help them run the company. Since its establishment in 2018, it has become quite popular.
However, like many tourism-associated businesses in the Coral Coast area, it too was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Britney had jokingly said: “We stepped out of 2019 into 2020 with a few notable Tourism Awards under our belt and right into a global pandemic.”
Like Ecotrax Fiji, the national park has had a similar experience. It’s a frustrating time but it’s one we will have to ride out and hope for the best.
Ok! I am derailing a bit and need to get back to the adventure.
ECOTRAX ADVENTURE
We took a taxi to Cuvu from Sigatoka Town that day and arrived at the appointed place by 1:30pm.
Britney was already at the entrance to the building that housed their operation. She greeted us with much gusto and showed us in.
Once inside, Britney checked us in for the tour. I scanned the inside building. It was obviously old, with a few recent modifications. The building itself was built in the 1900s by the Fiji Sugar Corporation, to house the locomotives that were carting sugarcane.
Today, Ecotrax Fiji is giving new purpose to this old setup and the railway.
After we checked in, Britney introduced us to the VELOCIPEDE. I had heard from a source (somewhat unreliable now) that we ride bikes on railways as part of the tour. Well, what I saw before me were no ordinary bikes.
They reminded me of sturdy dune buggies, fitted with pedals and metallic wheels. Designed specifically for railways. We were all excited to try it out. Britney was having none of that until we had our safety briefing.
With the briefing done and our helmets on, we finally got onto our rides. Britney and I got onto the first velocipede and behind us, in another, were Alfred and Mamatuki. Britney quickly introduced us to some important hand signals.
These were to help with communication during the tour.
She recapped on the use of the pedal and speed lever to kick in the electric function.
We started off slow as we were trying to familiarise ourselves with the velocipedes. Once we got comfortable, we pumped a little more gas on the pedal. Riding the velocipede offered us a whole different perspective and like tourists, we clicked away on our smartphone’s camera to capture some of it.
The old FSC railway (towards the Nadi direction) cuts through some nice, densely forested area. There were many native and endemic tree species I recognised.
The forests were alive with birds and butterflies. We also passed patches of mangroves and I could see land crabs sunning themselves outside their burrows.
We passed over a few short railway bridges and one had a river running under it.
We passed many homes and of course, there were cattle, goats and horses tethered close to the railway. We also had a few excited dogs barking at us as we passed by.
There were a few small sugarcane farms close by and this was to be expected. I was surprised to see Namuka Bay Resort deserted.
Britney informed me it had been closed for over two years now. It’s a beautiful property and I hope someone rescues it soon.
One part of the railway ran through a cut in a massive rock formation. This cut is man-made, and it must have taken a lot of effort to make back in the late 1800s.
Once we exited the cut, we came out into a clearing that overlooked Naidiri Bay. We stopped here to take in the beautiful vista. Britney reflectively said that it was this very spot that made her join Ecotrax Fiji. I could see why.
We passed two village – Naidiri and Malomalo. There were some adults and children outside their homes, who waved frantically at us. We waved back. Britney told us they used to do village stops before the COVID-19 pandemic.
She added that Ecotrax Fiji was very supportive of the local community and were always looking at ways to help.
Once we passed the villages, Britney announced that we were coming to the end of the tour. It had taken us about 11 kilometres to reach this end. At the stop point, we got off and explored the area Britney called, Vunabua.
It has a very scenic beach frontage. We took many photographs there and had a drink of fresh coconuts. Britney mentioned that if we continued following the railway for another 300 metres, we would reach the famous Natadola Beach. I told myself that will be for another time.
BACK TO BASE
Britney then turned the two velocipedes around to face the Sigatoka direction and we boarded them again. This time around, we knew what to expect on the journey back. It also meant that we could re-look at places that caught our interests earlier.
There was a patch of forest I really wanted to check out, where I had seen many Fijian Swallowtail Butterflies. And on the return trip, I got to see many Fijian Swallowtail Butterflies again.
This forest has many of these butterflies’ host plants and it made me think of how the national park could connect with Ecotrax Fiji.
I am looking forward to developing this connection.
The ride back was still as adventurous, with us secretly wishing it could be a little longer. Another 11 kilometres and we were back at the Ecotrax Fiji base. We enjoyed the tour tremendously and Britney is such a magnanimous guide.
I picked up a few pointers for my tour guiding sessions.
Thank you, Ecotrax Fiji and Britney for the work you do in protecting our natural and cultural heritage. It is important that our people get to experience this side of Fiji too. If you have time on hand, this is one adventure you should try.
For more information on Ecotrax Fiji, please click on the link: