Fiji

Oceania » Fiji » Viti Levu » Coral Coast » Pacific Harbour
November 21st 2011

Published: November 30th 2011

Bula Bula everyone!

In my last update I’d just arrived in Fiji at 5.30am…so let me tell you what I got up to whilst I was there… well, what I can tell you of what we got up to…what goes on at The Beachouse stays at the The Beachouse… 😉

FIJI – Thursday 17^th November 2011

I’d lost a day on the plane. I left Los Angeles at 9.30pm on Tuesday 15^th November 2011 and after a 10 or so hour flight arrived in Fiji on Thursday 17^th November 2011. Bit random. As I’d managed to sleep so much on the plane it was just like having a night’s sleep and I didn’t feel too much of the jet lag. We entered Nadi airport to the sounds of singing, a lovely local band was playing for us (as seems typical on these South Pacific Islands, Caryl and I were greeted by singing on Rarotonga last year) and all the Fijian airport staff were so welcoming and friendly. I was quickly through immigration but had a long wait for my luggage, and then it got a bit hectic going through Customs, where all of our luggage had to be scanned. There wasn’t a formal queuing system so I joined the one queue that was there, and then people started trying to push in and create their own queues. It started a few arguments and was quite amusing really, there were grown adults ‘telling on’ other grown adults to the security guards and glaring at each other! In the end of the security guards stepped in, told everyone that the queue I was in was the right one (relief!) and that as we’d been queuing longest we’d be allowed through first. So we got through, I found some sun tan lotion, a towel and the much needed batteries for my head torch and headed for the local bus to my hostel. I had been a bit frustrated about the thought of having to wait until 7am for the first bus but in the end I only got out of the airport at 6.45am so it was good timing. Drew had kindly text me instructions as I hadn’t been able to get on the internet in LA so I was in the right place ready and waiting for the bus. The bus ride was nice; a mixture of tourists and locals, air-conditioned, comfy and they were showing Lord of the Rings so that and the beautiful scenery kept me occupied for the 2 ½ hour journey and to be honest; I didn’t want to get off! My first impressions of Fiji were that it was warm (at 6.45am I was thinking it was hot), lush and green. It felt a happy place, there were children heading to school and adults heading to work, there were tall trees and grasses everywhere, green fields with cows grazing, pretty coloured houses and dark green rivers that seemed to be leisurely moving their way throughout the countryside. On the other side of the bus was the coast, beautiful bright clear blue! I was sat for some of the journey next to a little Taiwanese girl who was practicing her English on me, she was only about 7 but spoke it perfectly. It was all quite happy until we had a bit of a ruckus on the bus over a ticket; the conductor checked our tickets what seemed like every 5 minutes which was frustrating but that’s his job. A guy sat behind me took real offence (think he’d lost his ticket and was trying to make a point that it’d already been checked a million times) and got into an argument with the conductor…we ended up with several bus conductors at the back of the bus and it culminated with a stop at the community post (local police station). The lost ticket man was made to get off the bus and talk to a policeman wearing shorts and a vest top with ‘Police’ written on it (the police station had the Fijian flag with the Union Jack on it; the Queen is also on all Fijian money). They must have sorted it out as he was allowed back on the bus.

Before long the conductors were calling out to me as I was at my stop for ‘The Beachouse’, my hostel for the next 4 nights, the one I’d been worrying about and had taken me so long to book (it looked great but I was paranoid it was a bit remote and I don’t like feeling remote on tropical islands because I have weird dreams - Caryl might remember my screaming in the night during our stay in Rarotonga!). I was dropped off on the road and had a little walk down a track (later found out that I was lucky, as a lot of accommodation in Fiji is a long way off the road) to reception. They were very friendly. At reception I met Floor who was also just checking into my room, she knew where we were going so led the way and we had a nice chat and I couldn’t figure out where she was from. At first I thought she was Australian, then Irish then I realised she was European so I had to ask and she turned out to be Dutch, but as she’d been living in Australia with some Irish people she’d picked up some accents. We got organised had a shower and a look around (the place was beautiful, had been used in the series of Celebrity Love Island that Calum Best was on, the 2 way mirrors are still in place…!) and before long Floor was encouraging me to go snorkelling! I wasn’t sure at first (still a bit freaked out from my bad experiences last year) but she encouraged me along. We went out onto the reef with Bryony (from York) and her boyfriend Caleb (Australian) with Nick (Australian, works at The Beachouse). Again, I was scared stiff! The water looked really choppy and I didn’t have my security blanket of the life jacket (even though I can swim!) and I nearly didn’t get in. The guy staying on the boat promised to look after me so I did but as soon as I did I nearly got out again because I’d stupidly not put my mask down! That panicked me but I got myself sorted, told Nick I was being a wimp so he told me to stay close, and then I had a brilliant time. It was nice snorkelling, the coral itself was ok (some of it looked dead) but the fish were pretty and there were stunning bright blue starfish! We saw Clown Fish (although if I’m honest, I didn’t see one, I’m never really sure what a Nemo looks like) and a Reef Shark (again I missed that!). I was quite proud of myself, it was really choppy water and very deep and I’d normally completely panic but I didn’t this time, kept myself calm even when I started thinking that the water seemed plenty deep enough for some big sharks. Nick later told me that he’d been impressed, as he was expecting worse when I told him I was a wimp; it was reassuring to have him looking after us! We got back to the beach and to our room and met Sylvia, a lovely girl from Germany and before long Sylvia and I had arranged to go horse riding along the beach at 4.30pm. It was tipping with rain but we went ahead and it was nice but although we can both ride but we had absolutely no control over the horses because they were so used to doing the same thing over and over again and nothing was going to stop them. That’s great if you’re a novice rider but when you can ride a little bit it’s not nice because you don’t like feeling out of control. The weather was terrible and we were soaking wet within minutes, and I was worried about my horse because he was getting very hot and kept putting his head right down to the floor. It was a bit slippy over the rocks and I was slightly concerned that when we turned round for home they’d be gone (despite the assurances of the local boy walking with us that they wouldn’t) so I got off and walked! I got back on again at the slippy rocky bit because I figured the horse wouldn’t be daft enough to gallop over that and he’d do a better job guiding himself anyway. They were lovely horses and once we’d got back safely we headed back to get dry and changed then went to order some dinner. At The Beachouse there is a kitchen where you can cook for yourself or you can have some of the lovely (and very reasonable) meals The Beachouse makes; there’s usually 3 options and you order by 6pm and it’s ready for 7pm. I had chilli pasta and it was sooooooooooooo nice but my lips were on fire! It took some nice Fiji beer to calm them down! I sat with Sylvia, Floor and Ann-Sofie and Victoria (two lovely Danish girls in our room) and I shared a couple of bottles of wine with Nick and Floor and as I sat there I thought there was no need to worry about this place, it was lovely, and everyone (backpackers, locals and workers alike) were all so nice and friendly.

FIJI – Friday 18^th November 2011

I was up earlyish for the lovely complimentary breakfast (peanut butter and jam on toast and tea) and was due to go on a jungle trek with Sylvia, Ann-Sofie and Victoria. But it had rained all night (it was so loud, I had needed the bathroom in the night but didn’t want to go as I would have had to have gone outside in the rain) and it was still raining very heavily so I took a rain check (lol!) a) because I knew I’d struggle b) because I didn’t have any shoes to wear (I didn’t want to ruin my lovely new trainers in the mud) and c) because I didn’t actually have anything suitable to wear (I didn’t think a skirt would cut it (when they came back the girls confirmed it wouldn’t have been a good idea, the waterfall at the end looked awesome though from the pictures!). So Floor and I slept until lunchtime and woke up to find it was still raining (!). I had lunch of vege burger and fries (did I mention the food is amazing?) and took advantage of the pretty quick internet to upload some pictures. At around 4pm every day there are free scones, jam and tea which are lovely and then it was time to carry on uploading photos (it took ages, and it was still raining) and order and sit down for dinner (local Lovo dinner this time; local meats and veg cooked underground) which was nice. We all sat chatting into the evening, the lovely dogs who live at the hostel (all beautiful Labradors; a Mum, her son, and his son) were pottering about looking lovely until they started humping each other! And I did some Australia trip planning for our new friend Jamie before watching a fire dancing guest (he used to do it professionally) perform. It wasn’t late night…we’d planned a game of Ring of Fire for the next night so had to be well rested! As I was going to sleep I heard this beautiful choir like singing, it was nice listening to that (over the rain!) whilst going to sleep (later learned it was the Fijian Red Cross, it wasn’t a choir, they just sing like that).

FIJI – Saturday 19^th November 2011

It was raining again, I’d had to brave the toilet in the night but had been prepared ready with my rain coat! I had breakfast and a chat to a New Zealand Dad and his daughter who were on holiday for a couple of weeks, I felt terrible for them, with it having rained for most of the time on their only holiday of the year. We did a bit of weaving; Mali the guy running it was so lovely, but we were all pretty useless. It was so hard despite Mali doing his best to show us, I did make a snake however, even though it wasn’t meant to be a snake! Ann-Sofie and Victoria were leaving that afternoon so Sylvia, Floor, Jamie and I walked them to the bus and got off in the nearest ‘town’ to get supplies for that night’s game of ‘Ring of Fire’. There wasn’t much in the ‘town’, three tiny tiny shops in a row, all inside big cages (just enough room to put your money though a gap and receive your purchases), it was a bit random but the people were lovely, especially the mothers and their children waiting outside for their bus. The Fijians really are such lovely people, so smiley and friendly and wanting to find out things about you. They’d been at a school fundraiser but were allowed to leave early so they could get home before dark. We got some Vodka and local rum (Bounty, is lovely!) and headed back in a local taxi that was like something from ‘pimp my ride’. I then did some more photos, had some more scones, did some more photos (it was still tipping with rain!) and then had some lovely dinner (fish n chips, stodge in preparation for ‘Ring of Fire’). It was soon time for Ring of Fire/Stephen/Kings Cup or whatever else you want to call it (we were calling this one Stephen, because of a rule Jamie introduced to us). It’s my favourite game because it combines lots of my other favourite drinking games and really helps people ‘bond’ and make friends (!), if you’ve played it, you know what I mean. Somehow in between me finishing my dinner and getting changed Jamie and Sylvia had managed to gather a big group and there were about 20 of us playing. It was AWESOME! We had a great night…it was such fun and at the end we were all in the pool (I normally hate being thrown in a pool and night time swimming but I loved it, we were all wet from the rain anyway) with the Red Cross doing their beautiful singing in the background. It got a bit messy and we’ll just leave it there…what goes on at The Beachouse stays at The Beachouse! But don’t worry Mum and Dad…I wasn’t too drunk…I was still sober enough to know that I needed to dry my hair before bed much to Sylvia and Floor’s amusement who said that my main priority at the end of the night was finding my hairdryer!

FIJI – Sunday 20^th November 2011

I was up early, again. And it was tipping with rain, again. So it was a day of nursing our hangovers (although mine wasn’t too bad), talking about the night before, uploading more photos, eating scones, sorting out Jamie’s Australia itinerary and having a little sleep before watching the sunset. The rain eventually stopped at about 5pm and we had the most beautiful sunset and got some lovely pictures on the beach. We had another lovely dinner (vegetable curry this time) and spent the rest of the evening chatting with Nick and the other leftovers from the night before; Jamie and Joshi (our German friend) had left earlier so it was just Sylvia, Floor and I and some of the boys, like Ricky and Dale from Tasmania). Soon an idea had formed…to use the big long table we were sitting out as a slide into the pool. I was the camera woman so spent a very funny half hour watching some of the boys and Sylvia flying across this table into the water! We headed off to bed at 12ish (as it was a clear sky we noticed the stars, so many lovely ones!) but weren’t tired so I sang Floor and Sylvia my German songs (Ich habe ein pony, ich habe zwei pudel etc etc and eins zwei drei, vier funf sechs etc etc) and they found them hilarious and got me to sing to the German guy in the room next door. We had a nice chat Floor, Sylvia and I. They are lovely girls, I so enjoyed spending time with them and we became good friends, I am going to miss them! I was not very happy about going to sleep that night; there was no rain I could hear the sounds of the wave on the reef and the really strong wind. I was having a real worry about the way I panic about everything; water, remoteness, flying and how I need to get it under control! It’s not usually that I’m scared of the actual thing, more about how my asthma will react to it and then how near I am to a hospital if needed! In the end though, I had a good sleep!

FIJI to BRISBANE, Australia – Monday 21^st November 2011

We were up at 6.45am, because Sylvia and Floor for going diving with sharks! Yes. Sharks! Big scary Bull and Tiger sharks! With no cage or anything! I’d thought about going with them to watch (I couldn’t do the diving, as I’d never scuba dived…shame!) but wasn’t sure. In the end I went and I’m so glad I did. We drove through beautiful scenery, dropped the American girls off at another resort so they could go normal diving (they’d already done the shark dive) which added 20 minutes onto our journey (10 minutes to the resort off the road, that’s why we were lucky with access to The Beachouse) and to Pacific Harbour. It was all big lush green leaves and trees covering big pointy mountains and deep valleys, with the odd glimpse of blue sea in the background. We met up with Aqua Trek who kindly allowed me onto the boat to watch (they looked after me so well considering I wasn’t diving …I was ‘Co Captain’ and go to sit at the front with the Captain Bill. I was initially starting to regret going along just because the sea was soooooooooo rough! I was a bit nervous (until I told myself to get a grip, the others were going diving with sharks!) but I also felt a bit sick, but thankfully wasn’t sick (some were!). It took about 10 minutes to drive out to the dive site where we moored up and the guys had the briefing from the lovely Joe (all the divers were locals, and there was something about them!) and were quickly into the water. Sylvia was looking a bit nervous, Floor was tired, I was excited but a bit scared for them but tried to be brave (Aqua Trek really impressed me, they know their stuff, if I ever wanted to go shark diving I’d go with them, and would try and get there to learn to Scuba too)! I find it random watching Scuba Divers from the boat, how one minute they’re all there on the surface and then how they gradually disappear from view. They were following a rope down to a wall that they sat along to watch the sharks. They were gone for about 30 minutes and whilst they were down there Captain Bill somehow persuaded me to feed some sharks that were at the surface. They were only little ones, but as some were baby Bull Sharks I can at least now say I’ve fed some Bull Sharks! I asked Bill why they weren’t down there with the rest of the food and he chuckled and said they wouldn’t be because the BIG sharks are down there! I spotted the bubbles as the divers were coming back up and enjoyed listening to their excited chatter about what they’d seen. They had a 45 minute rest with squash and biscuits and a sunbathe (it was finally sunny!) before they headed back down for their second dive and the main event, the shark feeding, where they sit along a wall whilst the men actually feed the Bull (and if they’re lucky Tiger, although none turned up) sharks. Whilst they were down there Bill and I had a nice chat about our different home lives. Then the guys were back and we were heading back to shore. They’d had a great time, hadn’t seen as many big sharks as they’d have liked but appreciated that wild fish don’t appear to order! We watched some of the video from their dive and I had a chat to one of their dive buddies about diving with asthma (they’d inspired me and I was considering learning!). He told me there are three main dangers 1) that an asthmatic will react to the air in the tanks, which is slightly different to normal air and 2) that panic under water will cause you to rush for the surface but the biggest danger was 3) (I can’t remember what he called it) this thing that happens if your mask comes off underwater and the cold water hits you between the eyes, apparently it tricks your mind and then body into think you’re underwater (which I guess you are) and in danger (which you’re not always) and the airways completely constrict, apparently that’s most dangerous because you can’t control it and can’t surface quickly enough to calm yourself down. That’s totally what has happened to me when swimming, either when snorkelling or when a big wave hits me, my windpipe constricts and because I can’t get any air in I panic! Anyway, he said you can go see a diving physician who can test you for how you’ll react whilst diving so I thought I might do that (I have since had a look online, and from what I’ve read they wouldn’t let me because of the way my asthma is triggered by panic!). Once we’d finished at Aqua Trek Nick, Floor, Sylvia, our lovely driver and I headed for town where we got a lovely lunch; I had BBQ fish. It was then back to The Beachouse to pack quickly, check out and say bye (I was really sad to say bye to Floor, Sylvia and Nick…please don’t let it the last time I see you guys!) and run up the road to catch my bus! It was boiling hot (nice the rain had stopped…thought it was typical it happened the day I was leaving (I did later find out from Floor it started again…shame for them) but a lovely local lady who wasn’t even getting on the bus helped me with my stuff and as the bus was air conditioned it was nice and cool. I sat at the front, watched the end of some random action film, read my magazine and then they put Passenger 57 on which kept me occupied until we got to the airport (you couldn’t see out the window, they had some strange shade on). A really lovely Fijian policewoman got on and sat next to me, she so friendly, we had a lovely chat about our lives (the Fijians love knowing about how different people live, they ask about parents, brothers, sisters, friends, job…) and they ALWAYS remember your name. I really enjoyed talking to her, she was so lovely and gave me her address and phone number so that on my next visit I could contact her, she said I had to come back for a local dinner at her house and that she’d take me to an Island her family owns. Your first instinct might be that it’s strange, but these are what the Fijians are like, so warm and welcoming. I was sad to see her get off the bus. What amazed me even more was that her policewoman friend, who’d been sat across the aisle and not even talked to me, said ‘Bye Rachel’ when she got off a few stops later. They’re amazing lovely people.

The airport check in was fine ( I checked in alongside the Fiji Sevens team who were on their way to the Gold Coast for a tournament) and I had a look around the shops and tried to find Drew, Hannah and Ants a present that was authentically Fijian but everything was either tat or made in Australia. I settled for a handmade card for Han and Anthony to say thank you for having me to stay (Drew would just have to be happy enough to see me!). I concentrated on trying not to get too worked up before the flight and I was nothing compared to how I was before the flight to Fiji. I did get called out over the tannoy, unfortunately I was not upgraded, and I just had to change seats so a family could sit together. And had to put up with a screaming little girl; I know I’m not a parent and shouldn’t judge but why does a 7 year old feel the need to run around an airport screaming?!!! Her parents were trying their best but she was just would not stop screaming! By the time I got on the plane I realised my preventative asthma medicine counter was on 0, indicating it’d run out, so despite knowing there was still some in there and that I had my relieving medicine I kept thinking ‘oh no’ so I took another Valium. I was sat in the aisle next to the loveliest Fijian woman who sounded Australian because her parents were from Australia, she was born in Fiji and again so friendly. She was travelling to Australia for a course with her colleague who’d never been out of Fiji or on a flight before, so he was excited! We had a really really good chat and a couple of glasses of red wine. We tried to watch the film but it was TERRIBLE, the Tree of Life. The synopsis sounded terrible but thought it sounded better when I saw that Brad Pitt was in it but WTF, it was awful, I had to stop watching after a few minutes as it was so depressing, most people complained but they didn’t turn it off, it wasn’t what you wanted to watch on a place. My neighbour came back from the toilet with another red wine for me so I had that and passed out. It was a relief as they 7 year old had stopped screaming but now we had a 3 year old that wouldn’t stop. He didn’t look or sound genuinely upset, he kept smiling in between; I did feel sorry for his parents but they didn’t seem to know what they were doing, they were trying to pacify him by getting him to watch a film which he kept pushing away; I’m ashamed to say I glared at him. I woke up again to screaming just before we landed and chatted again to my neighbour. She told me to be wary of sharks in Fiji; they are there, not so far off the tourist beaches! Never swim at night! She offered me a place to stay next time in Fiji, and gave me her contact details for if I had any questions about anything Fiji related. I was sad to say bye to them Brisbane airport!

Fiji is a beautiful country, full of beautiful scenery and beautiful people and so laid back. It’s also usually part of the British Commonwealth. I hadn’t realised that initially but it makes sense with the Union Jack on the flag and the Queen on the money. According to a local, Fiji has been proudly part of the Commonwealth for many years, but has recently been suspended because it’s currently under a military government (not voted for by the people) that refused to hold elections as promised. Most Fijians want to be in the Commonwealth and when the next expected elections occur in 2014 they’re hoping they’ll be allowed to re-join. It was interesting though, that despite being suspended from the Commonwealth young Fijians are still allowed to join the British Army.

My overriding memory of Fiji is of all the lovely people I met; from the smiley friendly locals who always remember your name to the fantastic fun friends I made, the beautiful lush green and of course the rain. Which whilst a shame gave more time for making friends J

Next stop…Australia and my reunion with Drew (who I was hoping was waiting the other side of Australian immigration and customs) and nice times with Hannah, Anthony and all in Brisbane! And of course my attempts to find a job…something I have never had to do (having been with the same employer for 12 years) so it’ll be a good experience for me!

Xx

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