Jan Cornall’s writing retreat in March brought together a large, vibrant group of writers ranging from experienced and published authors to complete beginners. Let’s start with the beginners. Dinny Laufenboek describes her experience:

“All too conscious of being a complete novice as far as writing fiction was concerned (if you discount the “spin” placed regularly on poor corporate results!), I took the precaution of emailing Daku to ensure that the presence of a wannabe-story teller starting from scratch would not hinder the flow of ideas to/from more experienced workshop participants. “No problem”, the answer came back from Jan.  And here’s the thing – it wasn’t!  My personal breakthrough wasn’t immediate – indeed, I spent the first two days floundering, wondering whatever I was doing in the group.   I did not yet have any idea which of the number of stories sitting in my imagination may be the one to tackle let alone how to tackle.  It would be difficult for me to pinpoint what triggered my “breakthrough”  but my experience truly was just as promised by the Workshop write-up i.e. Jan doing what she’s so good at: focussing on what’s swirling around in your mind, accessing it and getting it down on paper in your own voice.  And that’s what happened!  My turn to read in the evening, I was told at the morning’s workshop session – so I went back to my room and I wrote.   And I wrote again.  And again.  And haven’t stopped since!”

Jan Cornall takes up the story:
Writing in Paradise! How is it possible to write like mad with breakthroughs a’plenty while still managing to sip cocktails by the pool, snorkel away the afternoons and enjoy delicious Fijian feasts each night for dinner? By being completely supported and nurtured by Fijian hospitality is how.  For one week; no meals to cook, beds to make, supermarket shopping to do,  no other people to care for, just total focus on your writing. This year’s bunch were here to work hard, you tell by the determined look in their eyes as they arrived to take up the challenge. Rising early before the workshops, using afternoons and evenings to complete writing tasks, putting everything they had into the group work sessions and bringing powerfully unique excerpts of their work to the evening readings. And we had the extra benefit of having experienced writers in our midst including fantasy author Margo Lanagan and playwright/short story writer Caroline Reid. For me it is always a privilege to facilitate such a group, to encourage the sharing of knowledge and practice, in the spirit of making our writing the best it can be. So why did they come, what did they find in Paradise and what did they take home? Here are the answers some of them gave:

Margo Lanagan:  I came here for the companionship of other writers, and to shake my mind and my writing loose from their usual patterns by listening to other people’s stories and discussing their work and my own. I found affirmation in what I was writing, and that lifting of spirits that happens when you’re being transported by someone else’s writing, whether halting first draft or polished near-done chapter. It’s not just the companionship of sitting around talking about process; there’s a particular energy and community that gets generated by being present at the source, or present at the birth, or present at the breakthrough moment for someone else’s story. I’ll take home a new chunk of writer’s network, a new set of memories of a different country (so, new fodder for story settings) and 20 pages of the story I came here to work on.
Margo writes literary fantasy short stories and young adult fiction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margo_Lanagan and https://twitter.com/margolanagan

 Caroline Reid:
I found the meditation and writing exercises gave me a way to begin writing even on those days when I felt I had nothing to write. I found multiple new ways of entering the work, that brought back a sense of play. It made writing so much more interesting and fun and also took away the inner critic so that I was free to write and trust my impulses.
I found camaraderie with other writers.
Caroline is a playwright and short story writer  http://carolinereidwrites.blogspot.com.au/

Arienne Alphenaar, fiction writer, says:
I came here to get the writer in me to come out; to stop holding myself back and to decide whether to keep writing or to give it away for ever. I take home an inner acceptance, a strengthened desire to write and a direction for the future. I’m taking home the key to unlocking my stories.

Deb Fleming, fantasy writer, says:
I take home with me a lot of great material. A sense of joy in the journey. It may be hard sometimes grinding out the words, but there doesn’t always have to be angst about it. I learned that it’s not a failing to find it difficult to write sometimes. In fact you need to go through the grindstone in order for things to get smooth. I learned how to persevere.
And asked for special memories of the week, Johanne Shepherd mentioned “sitting in the lounge each evening with a pre-dinner drink listening to fellow writer’s read their stories.  It was then that I realised, writing is not so difficult after all.”

Jan will be back in March 2014.

The year started off hot in Savusavu – although folk arriving from Australia were bringing stories of temperatures back in Melbourne and Sydney of over 40 degrees, which was way more that we were experiencing. The heat didn’t stop us enjoying the first yoga retreat of the year. Michele Jayne from Melbourne taught the class in the first week, bringing to it her customary blend of an intense sequence of  asansas in the morning and a much gentler session in the afternoon when she explored the chakras and taught a mixture of Yin yoga and restorative poses.

She stayed on after the course and offered a weekend package to locals. It’s always good to welcome visitors from Suva and we’re often astonished at how many of them say they’ve never been to Savusavu before.  We’ll keep trying to change that!

We had a couple of cruise ships visiting town.  All the local craft shops set up their stalls; some of the most innovative and different offerings were to be found at the stall of local artist who are producing brightly painted original designs on masi  (bark) cloth and coconut shells. They were also selling simple notepads beautifully bound in local fabric including of-cuts from saris, which looked very attractive. This group of artists originally came together under the auspices of the Savusavu Rotary Club who funded materials for their classes. They are now a self-sustaining group who make items that can honestly lay claim to being unique to Savusavu.

The start of February saw 4 or 5 days of high winds from the north which is unusual;  the waves in the bay were huge and most of us took our boats into harbor for protection. Luckily it all calmed down with no mishaps – although there were no fish in town for a few days as none of the fishermen had been able to get out. But that problem also calmed down!

I am mortified…..over two months since the last blog. And it’s not as if nothing has been happening. Far from it: a week’s visit from an artist from Queensland, Chris Postle, who gave free lessons to guests and locals, some great diving weather, a couple of local conferences, and the fabulous visit of the Melbourne Star of the Sea Stacella Choir in December.

This was a school group from  Melbourne  who came out as an end-of-year special treat. They spent a week in singing workshops with Rachel Hore and visiting local villages to sing with them – and of course swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling and entrancing us all with their vitality, humour, enthusiasm and charm. On their final evening they gave a concert attended by 60 people from the local community – the biggest turnout we’ve ever had. And it was a spine tingling event as they sang from their repertoire of both newly learned songs and their old favourites.

Chris Postle came to us in November, bringing paints and paintbrushes and his tremendous enthusiasm. He gave lessons every morning: a couple of days it was to a group of local kids, other days to adults. I even tried my hand at it myself and produced a very creditable beach scene – although it was with quite a bit of help from Chris!

>Boarding up the windows before Cyclone Evan

Then it was a busy run-up to Christmas with two big conferences using the Daku space.  Cyclone Evan passed through and we boarded up the windows, but thankfully it did very little damage to Savusavu, reserving its fury for the eastern islands and Nadi.

Kurtis Hubert puts the local swimmers through their paces

After the hurricane the weather was beautiful, as is so often the way. A  young Canadian visitor, Kurtis Hubert, came to use our yoga space and pontoon to give free swimming  lessons to locals – not really how to swim, but how to teach other people to swim. His group of 12 kids splashed and studied happily every morning for 4 days.

And then it was Christmas Day and our annual visit from Father Christmas.

And now it’s 2013.

We seem to have tripped into the area of Ocean Swims – and now we’re wondering why we never did it before. Warm seas, calm waters, easy entry and exit….

Lorraine and Norman after the 5 km swim

It started off a couple of months ago when one of our guests, Norman Hantzsche, decided to swim the 5k from our beach down to the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort. Norman is an experienced ocean swimmer from Canada and regularly swims long distances. At the time we had a yoga group staying, and one of the yogis, Lorraine Lau, said she’d join him. Lorraine is a super-fit athlete who runs like a jaguar, bends like a rubber band and swims like a ….yup, you guessed.

Two of the other women on the yoga week, Michelle Rutzer and Michelle McKinnon, accompanied the swimmers in kayaks, taking along water for the occasional drink for the swimmers and just being there in case….but it was a beautiful clear day and Norman and Lorraine swam steadily and calmly. The swim took two hours and at the end, the swimmers were only a bit tired.

We rushed down to meet them and cheer, and Bart, the assistant manager at Jean-Michel Cousteau, appeared with a much appreciated pot of tea for the swimmers as we cheered their arrival.

That was the first swim.

Last month, we hosted a 10k swim – down to JMC and then back again. The swimmer this time was Solveig Walkling. Sol is an athlete with extensive experience in endurance events. Earlier this year she broke her foot and has been doing a lot of swimming to rehabilitate it. She works as a Pilates instructor in Australia, and also does modelling wok with fitness magazines and TV shows plus is a journalist – an endurance career itself!
She was at Daku on a three week yoga teacher training course, and on one of the days off did this huge swim. She’d originally planned to go and do one of the big ocean swims at Mana, but it would have disrupted her course. Anyhow, she was mainly interested in swimming the distance, saying: “For me, it’s the swim itself that’s important, not the competition. I came here to escape stress – for me, swimming is about the flow and the challenge. The swim in Savusavu Bay is just perfect.”

It took her 4 hours – and once again the tireless Michelle Rutzer accompanied her in a kayak.

And now we’re working on the idea of another 10k Ocean Swim in 2013, probably in September. Drop us a note if you’re a swimmer and reckon it’s something you’d like to do. And check out Sol’s website at www.bodymindsol.com

Elena’s painting retreat was a journey to new places for everyone. The journey to Fiji was just the beginning. It turned out to be a voyage of both artistic growth and self discovery.

The landscapes and seascapes that the group painted were explorations of new vistas, experiments with new techniques and exercises in viewing the world with a new perspective. Elena teaches a highly realistic style in which you see the glitter of sand beneath the waves and feel the leaves on the trees. She instructs the group both collectively and individually, showing everyone the objective for the workshop and then moving from person to person to guide a brushstroke, suggest a colour highlight, correct perspective and give constructive feedback.

On the first two days the group went to paint at Harman’s raintree near the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort 5 km down the road. It’s a well known landmark in Savusavu: a huge spreading raintree planted many years ago by Hector Harman, one of the early coconut plantation owners in Savusavu. His children are now grown up and living overseas with kids of their own, but they still have houses on the hill above. The raintree has direct access to the beach, and Elena’s class set up their easels on the sand. As the tide went out they took chairs and placed them in

the water to get a better view around the curves of the headland. This really put an end to the speed painting mindset. When painting “en plein air” (on location), the objective is to capture the essence of the landscape as quickly as possible as nature does not stand still to pose. Shadows move, the tide goes out, clouds appear and disappear, boats move in and out of view.  Painting on location is all about observing the landscape and interpreting it as quickly as possible. But the process of sitting in the water to paint changed the experience from one of simple observation to personally interacting with the environment. It brought a great sense of calm and peacefulness to the whole group so the speed of their painting slowed down. That’s when the group really acclimatized to “island time”. But that was not a problem as they had the opportunity to return to the raintree the following day to repeat the experience and complete their painting.

Later in the week the group visited the market and took in the scene; another day they went to the harbour to capture the boats. On a rainy day everyone set up their easels on the deck of Elena’s villa at Daku and painted under cover – and enjoyed easy access to coffee and cakes!

At the end, one workshop was dedicated to completing all the paintings from the week that were slightly unfinished. It was also an opportunity to cover the topic of how to paint a figure into those scenes. The students appreciated going home with fully completed paintings rather than lots that were slightly unfinished.

As for the self discovery – that is surely half the point of a retreat – to get away and find out about your relationship with painting and in the process, your relationship with yourself. By chance, several members of this group were re-assessing large chunks of their own lives. The remoteness and tranquility of Daku and the gentle, supportive nature of the group, made this a comfortable process. This was more than just a painting holiday – it was an opportunity to make peace with life.

Elena returns to Fiji in June 2013.