Long Beach Resort
Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Saturday, 4 June 2011 20:41
After breakfast on Wednesday Ben and I went to our room to pack while the others watched the ‘coconut demonstration’. I saw another of the massive spiders that Ben had found, but this one had all it’s legs! Ben had to evacuate it with the bin and a magazine! We finished packing, and joined them for the end of the demo. Jay then took us all on a walk through the bushes and showed us the plants they use as medicines on the islands. He made up a white liquid in a leaf using sap from a leaf from a ‘dillo’ tree, which you use as any treatment for the eyes. Jay made the leaf into a perfect eye bath shape and poured it in his eyes to show us. He also showed us a treatment for itchiness, and a plant that makes up a liquid called nino? That they use for stomach problems and he even said cancer. He said it was taking off in the west now too, and the Australian couple confirmed this! He also showed us that the sap from a papaya plant is poisonous to cattle etc and can blind you if it gets in your eyes. He showed us how they cut down a stalk of it and scrape off the outside, mush it up and use it to stop bleeding if you cut yourself, to give you time to get to the hospital. The last thing he showed us was a treatment for pregnant ladies, to have a smooth and painless delivery. Mashing up hibiscus leaves which makes a sort of goo that looks like saliva. They mix it with water and drink it one a week from the 8 month of pregnancy. He said the slime helps to have a smooth delivery! Not sure I’ll be trying that one if and when the time comes! We all thanked Jay and headed back to the main bure for a cup of tea before we had to go. Ben redressed Jay’s finger for the last time, and it definitely seemed a lot better.
The weather started to turn a bit sour, and by the time we had to get on the boat it was raining, so Appy put bin bags around out bags which was very sweet! The girls waved us off and off we were again on the next part of our adventure. We were both really sad to leave Barefoot as we suspected that we would not find another place like it! We got out to the flyer and said goodbye to Jay, who thanked us, and especially Ben for doing his finger, and we thanked him for such a wonderful time. We really were sad to be leaving!
When we arrived at Long Beach the weather had improved thank goodness! There was just us and another couple arriving, and after we were welcomed we were taken to
our room. Unfortunately we were not told any of the important info about meal times, drinking water, etc, so had to ask the other couple who had been given a run down! Our three nights at Long Beach were ok, but nothing compared to Barefoot! Even though the bure was bigger and had ensuite, the bathroom was filthy and the ‘mattress’ was a piece of foam which was very depressed where many people had lay on it and you could feel the slats of the bed through it! We were also both ill with bad tummies so that did not help! We had laughed at the food at Barefoot at times, but it actually got worse at Long Beach, we were served raw chicken one night, and the food was always cold. Although we didn’t have a horrible time, it was not much to write 
home about. The beach was supposed to be one of the best, but we preferred Barefoot’s as it was sheltered and you could swim. The highlight of our time at Long Beach was the trip to the village, which took two days of attempting to go before we actually did, but it was worth it! On Wednesday we had put our names down to go on the Thursday morning, so after breakfast we asked what time, and the guy, Ruben, told us it would have to be after lunch, each time I asked if the school would still be open as that was the main part I wanted to see and he said yes. After lunch we asked, and he said it would have to be 3pm as he was very busy, so I asked about the school, and he said it would be closed! So we rearranged for the next day! Ben was not impressed to see him lying in a hammock all afternoon with a German girl he’d obviously taken a liking to, so busy!!! Anyway, we did get to go on Friday morning, so I had to cover my shoulders and knees and I was not allowed to wear trousers, so I had to put on my sarong that is usually used for lying on the beach, lucky I had it! We did not realise it was a 40 minute trek through jungl
e type landscape to get there, and as it had been raining, it was pretty muddy and slippery, I ended up taking off my flip-flops in the end and just squelching around! It was also a really hot and sunny day and we’d not bought any bug spray which would have been a good idea! But we made it, and came to the village. The village was a mix of very rustic old Fijian houses, thatched bures and tin shacks, and then some concrete plastered nice looking buildings, all spread out, with dogs and goats running around. The locals were friendly and all said ‘Bula’ which means hello.
We then went to see the church which was a Catholic Church which surprised me. It was quite big and the front had lots of symbolic pictures and pictures of Mary etc. The congregation sit on the floor on mats, except the old people who have chairs at the back. It was lovely and cool sat in their, waiting for break time at the school. Just before 10.30 we wandered over and Ruben showed us the teacher’s quarters, provided by the school. They had nice big modern-ish houses. Then the bell rang and the kids came out shouting ‘recess’! Another group of tourists had come
from a different, closer resort, and their guide took all of us in to meet the head teacher, who also teachers class 3. He was very friendly and took us into his classroom where some children were finishing off their work. They were doing rounding to the nearest 10 and nearest 100, which is something I do with my class! They were working from sums written on the blackboard. The classrooms were quite bright and colourful with the chi
ldren’s work hanging up, but obviously don’t have many of the things we have now. I think it’s alike to going into a classroom 40 years ago. The children were so friendly and polite. Class 6 sang us lots of lovely songs, including ‘you are my sunshine’ in English and Fijian! There were only about 20 of them, but they were louder than the whole school back at home! They sang with great passion and were genuinely happy to be entertaining us! I got chatting to the head, and told him I would love to make a link with our school, where the children could write to each other, and we could show them our work and our school etc, so he took my details and will have to speak to the school board. I also got his details and the school’s address as I would love to send them some resources. After taking us to all the classrooms, class 1 being the 5 year olds, and class 8 having 12 and 13 year olds (and some 15 year olds repeating years), he sat us down to talk about the school. He is pretty new there, having only been there 9 months, and he talked about one of his first assemblies with the kids, asking them what their job aspirations were. He said they all said either teacher, boat man, work in a resort, or farmer. He said what about nurses, doctors, lawyers etc, he really wants to encourage these children to reach their full potential. Many of them have never left the island, and have only seen the village. He asked the staff when the last field was, it was 7 years ago. He wants to take the whole school on a 3 day field trip to the mainland at the end of the year in November, so the children can experience things like going on a big boat, going up an escalator, seeing a large shopping complex, understanding more of the world etc. He has asked each child to contribute $50 Fijian dollars which is about £17, 
which is a lot of those families, but any donations we gave would go towards it. I am hoping to raise some money for them when I get back so this visionary head can take every child and make such a difference to their lives! The head also talked about how the government had done away with formal testing at the end of each year and were now doing ‘child based assessments’ which he said was a good thing, but lots of paperwork and getting to grips with something new, how familiar does that sound!!! He said they are trying to move towards 
teaching children a more holistic education, combining social and life skills as well as maths and English. I thought it was so interesting to hear him talking, and the similarities in our experiences as teachers! I had a great chat with him at the end, and am really hoping to keep in touch.
Our time at Long Beach came to an end and off we headed to Safe Landing, our last resort where we had booked a Deluxe Beachfront Bure with hot water, what a treat!!!!
The weather started to turn a bit sour, and by the time we had to get on the boat it was raining, so Appy put bin bags around out bags which was very sweet! The girls waved us off and off we were again on the next part of our adventure. We were both really sad to leave Barefoot as we suspected that we would not find another place like it! We got out to the flyer and said goodbye to Jay, who thanked us, and especially Ben for doing his finger, and we thanked him for such a wonderful time. We really were sad to be leaving!
When we arrived at Long Beach the weather had improved thank goodness! There was just us and another couple arriving, and after we were welcomed we were taken to
our room. Unfortunately we were not told any of the important info about meal times, drinking water, etc, so had to ask the other couple who had been given a run down! Our three nights at Long Beach were ok, but nothing compared to Barefoot! Even though the bure was bigger and had ensuite, the bathroom was filthy and the ‘mattress’ was a piece of foam which was very depressed where many people had lay on it and you could feel the slats of the bed through it! We were also both ill with bad tummies so that did not help! We had laughed at the food at Barefoot at times, but it actually got worse at Long Beach, we were served raw chicken one night, and the food was always cold. Although we didn’t have a horrible time, it was not much to write 
home about. The beach was supposed to be one of the best, but we preferred Barefoot’s as it was sheltered and you could swim. The highlight of our time at Long Beach was the trip to the village, which took two days of attempting to go before we actually did, but it was worth it! On Wednesday we had put our names down to go on the Thursday morning, so after breakfast we asked what time, and the guy, Ruben, told us it would have to be after lunch, each time I asked if the school would still be open as that was the main part I wanted to see and he said yes. After lunch we asked, and he said it would have to be 3pm as he was very busy, so I asked about the school, and he said it would be closed! So we rearranged for the next day! Ben was not impressed to see him lying in a hammock all afternoon with a German girl he’d obviously taken a liking to, so busy!!! Anyway, we did get to go on Friday morning, so I had to cover my shoulders and knees and I was not allowed to wear trousers, so I had to put on my sarong that is usually used for lying on the beach, lucky I had it! We did not realise it was a 40 minute trek through jungl
e type landscape to get there, and as it had been raining, it was pretty muddy and slippery, I ended up taking off my flip-flops in the end and just squelching around! It was also a really hot and sunny day and we’d not bought any bug spray which would have been a good idea! But we made it, and came to the village. The village was a mix of very rustic old Fijian houses, thatched bures and tin shacks, and then some concrete plastered nice looking buildings, all spread out, with dogs and goats running around. The locals were friendly and all said ‘Bula’ which means hello.We then went to see the church which was a Catholic Church which surprised me. It was quite big and the front had lots of symbolic pictures and pictures of Mary etc. The congregation sit on the floor on mats, except the old people who have chairs at the back. It was lovely and cool sat in their, waiting for break time at the school. Just before 10.30 we wandered over and Ruben showed us the teacher’s quarters, provided by the school. They had nice big modern-ish houses. Then the bell rang and the kids came out shouting ‘recess’! Another group of tourists had come
from a different, closer resort, and their guide took all of us in to meet the head teacher, who also teachers class 3. He was very friendly and took us into his classroom where some children were finishing off their work. They were doing rounding to the nearest 10 and nearest 100, which is something I do with my class! They were working from sums written on the blackboard. The classrooms were quite bright and colourful with the chi
ldren’s work hanging up, but obviously don’t have many of the things we have now. I think it’s alike to going into a classroom 40 years ago. The children were so friendly and polite. Class 6 sang us lots of lovely songs, including ‘you are my sunshine’ in English and Fijian! There were only about 20 of them, but they were louder than the whole school back at home! They sang with great passion and were genuinely happy to be entertaining us! I got chatting to the head, and told him I would love to make a link with our school, where the children could write to each other, and we could show them our work and our school etc, so he took my details and will have to speak to the school board. I also got his details and the school’s address as I would love to send them some resources. After taking us to all the classrooms, class 1 being the 5 year olds, and class 8 having 12 and 13 year olds (and some 15 year olds repeating years), he sat us down to talk about the school. He is pretty new there, having only been there 9 months, and he talked about one of his first assemblies with the kids, asking them what their job aspirations were. He said they all said either teacher, boat man, work in a resort, or farmer. He said what about nurses, doctors, lawyers etc, he really wants to encourage these children to reach their full potential. Many of them have never left the island, and have only seen the village. He asked the staff when the last field was, it was 7 years ago. He wants to take the whole school on a 3 day field trip to the mainland at the end of the year in November, so the children can experience things like going on a big boat, going up an escalator, seeing a large shopping complex, understanding more of the world etc. He has asked each child to contribute $50 Fijian dollars which is about £17, 
which is a lot of those families, but any donations we gave would go towards it. I am hoping to raise some money for them when I get back so this visionary head can take every child and make such a difference to their lives! The head also talked about how the government had done away with formal testing at the end of each year and were now doing ‘child based assessments’ which he said was a good thing, but lots of paperwork and getting to grips with something new, how familiar does that sound!!! He said they are trying to move towards 
teaching children a more holistic education, combining social and life skills as well as maths and English. I thought it was so interesting to hear him talking, and the similarities in our experiences as teachers! I had a great chat with him at the end, and am really hoping to keep in touch.Our time at Long Beach came to an end and off we headed to Safe Landing, our last resort where we had booked a Deluxe Beachfront Bure with hot water, what a treat!!!!
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