WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I ARRIVE?
This depends on your arrival date and your lenghth of stay. If you are a 10 or 20 week volunteer travelling with one of the main escorted parties at the start of January, April, July or October you will be welcomed at Nadi International Airport by Frontier field staff or Frontier representatives. From here, you’ll travel across Viti Levu by bus, truck or taxi to Fiji’s capital city, Suva where you’ll spend a day or two learning more about Frontier’s Fiji programme. Afterwards, you will take the ferry or local boat over to the Pacific island of Gau.
If you are arriving on the first Monday of the month in Feb, May, Aug or Nov, we will meet you in Suva and book you into a local hostel for one night (cost included). The following morning you can take the weekly flight on the 8 seater light aircraft to the Island of Gau (extra ~£85 cost applies) . Please ensure you book this flight well in advance (we can help you with this), seats sell quickly because of the limited availability. If you can't get a seat on the plane you can transfer over to Gau by chartering a local boat but this option is expensive.
If you are an independent traveller arriving outside the main phase start dates you are welcome to join the project mid month on a Tuesday, (please discuss your intended arrival date and duration of stay with our travel advisers, especially if you need to book a dive training course, to confirm availability), and please be aware that flights from Suva to Gau run once a week only. You can reach the island of Gau by ferry (sailing shedule rather unreliable) or hired boats. We will provide you with estimated costs and detailed travel information to help you make the transfer and the Frontier field staff team will be there on camp to welcome you.
WHERE WILL I BE STAYING?
During the project you'll live on a remote beach camp on the Fijian island of Gau. We aim to provide you with a unique and memorable living experience. The Frontier marine camp has been constructed by local craftsmen, using traditional building techniques and locally sourced, environmentally friendly, building supplies. The camp which is situated in a clearing on the shore was designed to blend harmoniously with the surroundings. Camp life is very simple, unsophisticated and fun. You will be staying in communal dwellings called bures made from locally woven vegetation. Your "shower" may be a jug or a bucket of water – perhaps even a shower of rain – and you cook over an open campfire: so prepare for the basic, unencumbered, virtually footprint-less lifestyle! On occasions you may have to travel further from your beach camp to reach a distant dive site, and then you might stay in a “satellite camp”, usually a mosquito net pitched on a beach.
As well as the diving and marine conservation work you will help with the scientific data entry and daily camp maintenance, taking turns to cook, tidy and clean the camp, clean and oil the compressor, rinse dive kit, collect firewood, prime hurricane lamps, collect and treat water, and help with a wide variety of other essential camp duties.
FRONTIER CAMP LIFE
Check out our video on Frontier Gap Year TV from Frontier-Fiji, showing you volunteer life on this beautiful island.
WHAT WILL I BE EATING?
Camp food is simple and nutritious and consists largely of rice, split peas, pancakes, flatbreads, tinned fish, pasta and fruit, all of which are purchased in-country or made on camp in order to help support the local economy. Luxuries such as sweets, biscuits and drinking chocolate have to be brought over to Gau from Suva, so make sure you stock up before heading to the field! Part of your role on camp will be to help with the cooking, so get your cookbooks out now and start practising! Also, with luck you'll be invited to local feasts and festivals – a great way to integrate with the local communities in the nearby villages and absorb the fabulous and welcoming local culture.
Some local dishes to look forward to include taro, breadfruit, sweet potato, cassava, and cassava chips, coconut and fabulous shellfish and seafood. A delicious Fijian speciality is a lovo feast, which is a meal cooked in a hole in the ground – unusual but very tasty!
