SUNSETS IN SAVUSAVU

When my good friend Epeli Tuibeqa asked me to go on this trip with him and Vly I, without hesitation, said “YES”!. Yes, because I haven’t been to Savusavu (or Vanua Levu) in my 27 years of living in Fiji. I couldn’t say no to this offer. I had to go and I had to make sure the dates fell on a free week. No regrets AT ALL! Day One: We departed Suva at 4am enroute to Natovi. The ride was beautiful and although we couldn’t see much because the sun wasn’t up yet, it was nice to just drive down an unfamiliar road to me - Kings Road. We made a stop at Korovou for some hot cocoa and a stretch and made our way 20 minutes to Natovi. MV Spirit of Harmony by Patterson Shipping was our vessel to Savusavu. It was comfortable and there was so much room to move around. It was one of the most comfortable rides I’ve had on a marine vessel and I’m definitely coming back again. From Nabouwalu we made our way towards Savusavu. Let me just say, the view was AMAZING! It was nothing that I’ve experienced in Viti Levu. The lush green mountains and hills and the winding roads made a good set for a photo shoot or, like us, an adventure. We got to Savusavu shortly after 2pm and made our way to our accommodation and the venue for the charity Fashion Show, Daku Resort. We settled in to our cute little rooms for the two days we were there, had lunch and started organizing and establishing outfits for the show. With me was Epeli Tuibeqa (Creative Designer for the brand KUIVITI), Vly Navoka (Entertainer and Online Influencer) and Navneet Narayan (Creative Photographer and owner of NStudios), while our other team member Aisea Konrote (Designer for his brand Hefrani) came a day earlier to organize logistics for the show. Models fitting and hair and makeup began around 4pm. Our models were local Savusavu girls together with a Yoga team who were checked in to Daku Resort as well. There was a great collection of models from Savusavu and even though they didn’t have any runway experience, the girls looked beautiful and made the clothing look great. The H&M Team was also from Savusavu and did an incredible job with the girls. The designer lineup for Thursday was Cherish Designs, Epeli Tuibeqas Kuiviti and Aisea Konrotes Hefrani. Cherish showcased half of his Fiji Fashion Week 2019 Collection on the night which made up seven looks. Kuiviti collected pieces from Fashion Week and his latest collections while Aisea Konrote showcased beautiful Kaftans and his signature wrap-dresses. The crowd loved the show and although the weather wasn’t in our favor, the show went on smoothly with a poolside fashion show. We wrapped up back-of-house by 9pm with a photo shoot of three pieces from each designer. Navneet Narayan of NStudios together with Walter Jarred of Connectiviti (Savusavu based photographer) snapped some shots of the models in their designer wear around the poolside area. After our little photo shoot we took the garments back to our room and had a beautiful dinner together. We shared some Fiji Gold Beer as our night-cap to celebrate not only a successful day-one, but to also celebrate our journey to Savusavu, friendship and great energy.

Day Two: We woke up on Friday morning, chilled for a bit and started getting ready to go in to Savusavu town to have breakfast and buy some last-minute pieces for the final day. The charity event was for the Lupus Foundation and part of the event was a cocktail, dinner and a Fashion Show. On the breakfast menu were tea-buns with milo and the famous ‘pasela’ which Vly insisted on having. I met a school mate of mine st the bus stand and Vly also met some of his Vanua Levu fans while there. After breakfast we roamed around shop after shop looking for yarn, earrings and other small things to help with the fashion show later that evening.

Lunch time came and we were back at our villa sipping on the new Fiji Gold Moli Beer with Beyoncé’s latest hit ‘Spirit’ on full blast. Artist and also the fifth member that came from Suva with us, Waqa Vuidreketi, also joined us while we were prepping. We all got to know each other more and it felt great to be able to know other people within the Arts industry. Waqa has been an Artist for almost ten years now and was invited to showcase some of his Art during the charity event. 6pm came and we were already back-of-house. Hair and Makeup was finishing up and models were slowly beginning to change into their outfits. Designer lineup for the night started with Cherish, followed by Hupfeld, Savusavu based designer Lorna and closing with Kuivitis Resort Wear and Masi Couture. Part of Kuivitis Show was a performance by Vly with his famous song “Muju Cola”. The crowd cheered as he took the stage and everyone backstage were dancing to his music. It was full of energy.

It was definitely a memorable first trip to Savusavu. Days leading up to this plan I kept asking myself, “should I go? Or should I sit this one out?”. I’m glad I chose to go, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had this experience and I also wouldn’t have met some amazing people in the process. There is so much that Savusavu has to offer. Although their fashion community is still very new, there is space for improvement and I am glad that they invited our Suva team to be a part of their event. We didn’t go to take over, we didn’t go to ‘show off’. Instead, we went to share our ideas, share our experiences in Fashion, Photography and Entertainment and most importantly network and make connections for the long-run because for me it’s all about capacity building. So with that said, I’d like to thank Aisea Konrote and Epeli Tuibeqa for giving me a chance to not only visit Savusavu but to be a part of an amazing project, to Aubrey Whippy and the team at Daku Resort for hosting the Suva delegation and everyone else I met along the way. To my Bure 1 and Bure 2 family - Vly, Epeli and Navneet. You made this trip a memorable one - since our bus ride at 4am to Natovi to our bus ride back lol. Yes, there were setbacks and negativity during the trip, but we made our own fun and charged everything we did with positivity and great vibes and that is why we returned with nothing but great memories. PS: The ending part of our trip I’ll leave it out of this blog for many reasons, but we can laugh about it when we next meet. Lol Till my next writeup. Moce mada. Xx