Supplies  Being at the end of a windy gravel road meant shopping was not done with ease.  Options: Deve's shop (where the boys would buy their cigarettes) where I would buy rice, kerosene, cigarettes (yes, I did smoke back then) and pop (sold in recycled beer bottles and my favorite was sort of a tropical/cream soda).  Further down the road was Tong Lee's bakery (they delivered bread at 10¢/loaf and buns [1¢ each] to the school daily).  Across the road from the Catholic mission was Philip's shop where one could also buy petrol (if one had a vehicle).

Supplies II  Next option was the town, Korovou, that had a pub, and several larger Indian general stores.  If one didn't feel like going all the way into Suva, then you stopped at Nausori which had a decent size market, good variety of shops including a proper grocery store, movie theatre and a decent restaurant.  During school the bus was not an option but on Wed afternoon there were no classes allowing staff to get into Suva.  If you left straight away and the car didn't break down you could get there just before the banks closed, get some money and hit the shops.  Usually followed by a meal at a chinese restaurant.  For those who couldn't get into Suva, supplies came to the school.  Milk delivered each morning straight from farm's cows. Twice a week you could send an order for groceries into Wing Jang and meat to Continental Meats in Suva.  You put your orders onto your front door and at 6AM a boy collects them and they get put onto the 7AM bus.  The goods arrive back on the 5PM bus and are delivered to you door step.  So even without a refrigerator it was possible to get fresh meat. Eggs came from Compain, down the road, once a week to a staff member who delivered them and collected the payments. I did it in 1972 when they cost 55¢ a dozen.

Supplies III  Another source was local villagers. Children would arrive at the door selling "moli" (green citrus fruit for about 1¢ each), bananas, pawpaw, things from the ocean (lobsters at 50¢), dalo, shell necklaces, land crabs... Bialu would try to sell old vegetables (usually long green beans as ancient as him).

Washing Clothes  Washing clothes etc... was an all day affair. Outside the house in the back was the "boiler". Fill it with water and light it up - kerosene dripped into the flame which then heated the water. You used a piece of wood to move, pound and stir the clothes. Then you put the clothes into a sink of cold water and tried to get as much soap out as possible. This is probably why we hired a "house girl" to do it once a week, plus ironing ($1/wk).
You may ask where 300 boys wash their clothes. There were a couple industrial size boilers down by the dining hall. That's Joji Rabete doing his (or is he de-stilling homebrew?).

Leisure From a letter Feb 14, 1971: We get a movie on Saturday night for the school. I play bridge about twice a week, and parlor games once in awhile, mainly Scrabble with other staff. I play ping pong and cards with the boys. Staff has regular get togethers/parties. I play drums in the staff band and we have regular jams. I draw, I read, write, work on my gardens and listen/tape music. About the only things I miss are bowling, basketball and miniature golf. Cricket is too boring for me and rugby is too rugged. I join in on soccer, hockey and volleyball games.

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