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Published: April 8th 2010
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During the one hour drive from the airport to our home for the 1st week here, we realised quickly that Fiji is a very poor country.We drove through small villages, where the houses were constructed from corrugated iron sheets as walls, precariously propping each other up, with a few planks of wood at odd angles offering dubious extra support.
Most homesteads have a tethered animal, usually a single cow, goat or horse and a small area of untended wild grass surrounding it . All have a washing line, usually strung between a fence post and tree, and hanging with the family's laundry including net curtains and sheets (I have since learned that the net curtains screen the myriad of insects in these parts) I suspect that the laundry is done by hand as washing machines are expensive and all 'whites' are shades of brown or grey, having seen no bleach, and all 'coloureds'- discoloured!
The countryside is verdant and lush but in the area known as the Coral Coast where we were, there is not much evidence of crops or fruit, just rainforest vegetation- Of course, we have come to Fiji in the wet season, the temperature is 30 degrees+ with
high humidity and for the first week it has been quite overcast. As we disembarked the plane at Nadi, the heat hit us! For me, it was a welcome change as Christchurch had become decidedely chilly at 20 ' and much cooler in the evening!!
Rob was less enthusiastic about it as he much prefers cooler temperatures and South Island New Zealand suited him fine!
After a short discussion about 'taking the rough with the smooth' on this trip, we agreed to differ on preferred climactic conditions!
There were a few other conversations on that trip from the airport to the hotel, mainly speculating on the type of accomodation at our destination, with just a little apprehension!
We do not go for fancy resorts, preferring to choose basic places but cleanliness is important . I have an inate, and perhaps irrational, fear of cockroaches and bed bugs!
Tripadvisor.com has proved very helpful as it gives up to date reviews from other travellers which we have found to be unreservedly true. We try to remember to review our accomodation on Tripadviser too, so that we are giving something (a tiny bit) back!
Apprehension was not necessary!! On arrival at
Bedarra Inn we were welcomed with a cool tropical drink and huge 'Bulas'- Big friendly Hellos by about 5 staff dressed in colourful 'Sulas' Fijian dress who introduced themselves to us by name and called us by our first names throughout our stay.
An Australian and German couple invited us to dine with them and it was great to tuck into some lovely Fijian food.
Fijian food suits us perfectly as it is mainly vegetables and fish, very little meat unless you go for the universal beefburger!
Everywhere we go - cafes, restaurants, the town at the bus stop,in the shops there are trios or quartets of fijians playingmusic! rob always has his harmonicas with him and frequently joins in which they seem to like - and Rob gets his music fix!
We were pleased to be able to relax here and take it easy after what seems like a whirlwind tour of OZ and NZ over the last two months!
We decided to stay put at the Bedarra Inn, swim in the pool, have long walks on Coral beach - which is made up mostly of Coal from the reef which surrounds the island and is off shore by
about 200metres.
The waves crash on to ther reef and create a lagoon which is good for fishing and Kayaking.Some people swim but there is quite a lot of seaweed - where strange sea creatures lurk - obviously some are edible as, at low tide,Fijians wade out and stand for hours in the shallow water, prodding around with sticks and catching something!!
There are a few cafes, bars and restaurants within walking distance, but having sampled them,the chef at Bedarra is by far the best!!
We hired a car so that we could explore the island. It turned out that there is only one road which circumnavigates the island and any road inland is a track which requires a 4 wheel drive and unfortunately there was not one available at our hotel.
The car we hired had 88,000 miles on the clock and when we screened it to check for damage, Rob remarked that it would be easier to draw the places on the diagram where it was not damaged!!
Luckily the brakes were good although there was a huge amount of play on the steering which was alarming!
All went well - we drove slowly slowly and carefully, though
no other road did, overtaking carelessly, with out any heed of oncoming traffic, especially on corners and brows of hills!
I think we did very well, sharing the driving and visiting places along the coast. We drove back to Sigatoka, our nearest town, and just as we were almost there, we hit an extremely large pot hole-
With lack of suspension the car banged into it, and when we came out the other side, we realised we had a flat tyre!
We had it fixed at a garage and did a little shopping in town, which was very busy, with a distinct festival feeling due to the Easter Holiday when everyone has Good Friday and Easter Monday off.
The townspeople all return to their villages for Easter Sunday and family get togethers.
The Fijians are mostly Christian, Methodist , Jehovahs Witnesses, 7 day adventist, Anglican and Catholic churches in towns and villages so Easter is celebrated in a big way, including re-enactments of Christ being crucified - with real nails!! The local Fijian Times reported it all graphically! There are a few mosques and one magnificently adorned Hindi temple in Nadi.
The fijian peoples are mainly Fijian or Indian and
the different cultures live happily side by side in villages with a strong community overseen by the Village Elders and Chief.
We left Viti Levu on Easter Sunday to come to Vanua Levu on the smallest plane I have ever been on!!A Twin Otter- the type of plane which lands on the beach at Barra in the Hebrides!There were 2 crew in the cockpit and 10 passengers, Rob joked about the inflight service and asked when the drinks would be round, so that put everyone at ease and they were a friendly bunch who all sat scarily close to us!!
Rob remarked that he had never before, seen me scrutinise the safety procedures on an aeroplane, so avidly before!
We landed safely on the beach and were met by Scott, a scot from Aberdeen originally!!
He drove us to the homestay which he shares with his partner Sharon and her 2 small boys!Navaria Heights is at the top of a very steep hill accessible, only by 4 wheel drive. It has the best view in the world. The house is beautiful - a Fijian wooden lodge house with open deck on 3 sides, plunge pool, hammock, a large double height
sitting room for guest and family use - papers, magazines, games, films and internet are all available, and Sharon and Scott are doing everything to make our stay a memorable one!
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