Phenomenon of the Vakauwava river

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Natokalau village headman Viliame Gukicicia inside the Vakauwava cave where the river runs. Picture: SOPHIE RALULU

THERE is a river in Natokalau Village in Cicia, Lau that goes through the rocks of Vakauwava and runs under the village greens and beneath the sea right through to a pond in Tuvuca Island- an island about 600 miles away from Cicia.

Natokalau Village headman Viliame Gukicicia said the river under the rocks is very cold because it is protected by the big rocks, and it’s compact, like when you put bottles of water in the fridge.

“Our ancestors told us that nobody has ever reached the bottom of the river, because of the depth, but the taste of the water never changed from that time until today.

“When there is no water in the village, we used to bath and fill our buckets, for cooking and washing from the river, but nowadays, we tell the villagers not to use the river, because we all have our taps at our own homes,” Gukicicia said.

The 55-year-old headman said that his elders told them that they are “tauvu” with the people of Tuvuca, because if someone uses the soap in the river, the people of Tuvuca would know it, because the soap will appear in their pond in the village.

Gukicicia added that the drought that affected Fiji in 1987, people of Cicia were very lucky because of the Vakauwava River.

“Most of the villagers around Cicia came to our village with empty buckets to fill it up for bathing, cooking and washing.

“That is the main reason why we told our villagers to stop using the river, in case there is another drought like the one in 1987. Gukicicia said that nowadays they look after the Vakauwava River very well, by cleaning its surroundings, and cutting the grass. “When our visitors come to the village we make sure to show them around and the last place to visit is the Vakauwava River.

“Most of them like to go there and fill their empty bottles of water because it’s very cold and tastes nice.

“When our visitors drink the water from the river, they want to keep on drinking, and most of them sit under the rocks before I tell them the story of the Vakauwava River that was passed down by our ancestors,” Gukicicia said.

He added that the funny thing about the Vakauwava River in the cave, is when it’s low tide, from the sea, the river goes down, and when it’s high tide, the river in the cave goes up and when they have heavy rain, the river flows out from the cave.

Gukicicia said that sometimes when there is heavy rain in the village, all the water from the mountains flows down to the cave and changed the colour of the water, to brown, they just wait for five minutes, and the water would be clean like it used to be.

“It’s like a miracle, and nobody knows how the water changes so fast like that.

“Maybe there’s a tunnel under it that drains away the dirt and fills it up with fresh water,” Gukicicia said.

He added that the main reason for building the ice plant in their village is because of the Vakauwava River.

The ice plant which the Minister of Fisheries, Semi Koroilavesau opened on Tuesday, January 29, in Natokalau Village needs water every day, to produce ice cubes.

“I think that is the main reason why the government chose our village to build the ice plant and a new house, office, for the fisheries officer to look after it, and Cicia Island as well.

“In case the water dries like the drought that affected Fiji that year, the Vakauwava River is there and ready to help the ice plant produce ice every day.

“We are very lucky to have the ice plant in our village because from now on, we can store as many fish as we can, and I want to thank the Government for that,” Gukicicia said.

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