ovalau & caqalai vs. taveuni

i have just over two weeks left in fiji, and want to spend a couple of weeks on either taveuni or lomaiviti group. basically i have very little money, and i want to do some nice trekking, and spend a couple days on a beach, and aside from that be on fiji time. is there much trekking on ovalau (aside from walk to lovoni)? is it possible to spend a worthwhile two weeks on taveuni, or will i spend half my time sitting around in the rain? is there a direct ferry from ovalau to taveuni, becasue if so my funds may stretch to a week on both? also reccommendations for v. cheap accommodation would be appreciated. chears my dears. please make a comment if you have any knowledge, merci

You are asking for a lot of subjective impressions ..

Is Taveuni worthwhile? I thought so .. even if I did spend about 30% of my time sitting out the rain. That's when I slipped into 'Fiji time'. I did go walking with an umbrella, and one time I was out snorkelling in a heavy rainfall .. weird, since I couldn't see the shore, sort of a 'grey-out' and dead calm but for the rain. So you never know what can deliver an interesting experience. There's more jungle hiking on Taveuni, particularly in the national park area around Lavena. The paths are relatively easy to follow .. otherwise freelance wandering without a guide is not very easy. I do a lot of trekking,but was not able to enjoy jungle hikes in general -- mainly because of no visibility most ofthe time. You have to like the detail of the jungle, and for that I did not need a long trek. At least there were several waterfalls to break to break the monotony.

But if money is short, you'll save on travel costs if you go to Ovalau. There are various ways to get to Lovoni, it's not just one walk. But a guide would be important. Mary's place is a friendly and cheapest option in Levuka, popular with the backpacker types and divers who wander ito town. (diving out of Levuka is apparently famous among divers for the hammerhead sharks). Whether or not you could manage 2 weeks on and around Ovalau will depend on your personality. I found 2 weeks easy to fill -- a couple of days cycling, a walk or two, and just hanging around Levuka watching daily life or chatting with people (one of the reasons why I visit places, not just to 'do' the tourity activities). Throw in a few days on Caqalai or leleuvia .. enough to do.

My info might be out of date, but there may not be a direct connection between Ovalau and Taveuni. You'd either have to go overland up the east side of Viti Levu etc, orback to Suva for a flight or ferry. When I was there, I recall that one of the Suva-Taveuni ferries did publish a route itinerary that stopping at Ovalau once a week, but only on the way back from Taveuni. So you have to check when you're there.

I loved the trek to Lovoni (and did it on my own), but still, if hiking is an important factor for you, Taveuni certainly offers far more possiblities - no comparision!
It is also much richer in birdlife.

Ovalau offers more historical sights, and easy access to cheap "beach-islands" off-shore.

Like oldpro, I doubt you will find a direct connection between the 2, but you could probably travel between them via Viti Levu and/or Vanua levu quickly enough.