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Published: January 6th 2007
I saw three white men in sarongs on Christmas Day in the Morning
On our way to church. No underwear needed, nothing like Ocean breaze freshness. In the limited lands of the mystical Kava, where the Pineapple grows ripe, where the people once ate people and where Tom Hanks was Castaway!
Bula and welcome to Fiji, our home from home for the festive season. And what a festive season we've had!
Our first day was rather rotten. After hitting the tarmac at 6am we had an exhaustive haul through customs in sweltering heat, we picked up a free transfer to Horizon Backpackers on Nadi Beach, booking just the one night in order to find our feet. To freshen up we fancied a swim, however, the sewage wasn't so sexy and we gave it a miss...
So, we caught the window-less bus into Nadi Town to work out how we were to get off the Mainland to our destined Island paradise. However, there are lots of Islands and it is difficult to know where to go! Ze "Lonely" is not very helpful - too bland and factual when we were looking for
advice.
To cut the story short, after much procrastinating we hedged our bets on the Island of Waya in the
Sundown on Christmas Eve
This was taken from a boat as we headed home after making our Christmas call at Sunset. This would have been your Sunrise I guess. Yasawa group, booking a one-way boat in order to safeguard our independence.
Part of this dastardly day was spent in a back alley in some guy's (we now realise) phoney tourist trap. He had fished us off the street and proceeded to "honor" us with a ceremony blessing our stay in Fiji. After completing the "ceremony" we had to pass through his little shop and for some reason we all felt obliged to part with our hard-earned money for items of crap. Why the hell we did it not one of us is sure. I think the technical term for such a phenomena is "getting done". Anyway, we've lived, loved and lost and we're all the wiser for it. Or something along those lines...
The following day we awoke with the birds to catch a bus then a boat to Waya, and baby had we betted well...
Most people/travellers Island hop their way down the Yasawas. As for us, we spent eleven of our fifteen Fijian nights on Waya, in pretty much the same place. But what a place!
Waya is a medium sized Island, I couldn't tell you exactly how big, but it has a
Stanley and the Eel
On our Christmas Day gorge scramble Stanley spotted an eel in a freshwater pool. few volcanic peaks, fresh-water springs, waterfalls and a few villages of under a hundred in population. No roads, no electricity, no shops. It's fringed by lush reefs is home to pineapples, bananas, coconuts, paw-paws, bread fruit, limes, mangos, sour-sop, and some other potato like thing that we ate for breakfast every day.
The first half of our stay was at Adi's place in Yalobi. Owned by the village community they have a dorm room and a few other "Bures" they rent out in order to cover the costs of things like petrol for their fishing boats. Other than that they are almost entirely self-sufficient.
When we arrived in this sleepy village-on-the-beach we were the only ones there - us and a Finish girl called Sari whom, travelling alone, we had taken under our wing.
We mingled much the locals as more and more came home for the holidays. Like Jim who is in the British Army and has just been in Portsmouth. We didn't realise that Elizabeth II is still the sovereign of Fiji and as such, there are many many Fijians in the Royal Forces. Furthermore, the Fijians' allegiance to the Queen is unwavering. Many of
Fijian Crossing the Sand Bridge
The Bridge went North to South so the Sun strolled right over it ending in a fabulous sunset. them told us how they would be prepared to lay down their lives for her should she call upon them.
One evening Jim feasted on a boy-sized Lobster with his family he had caught. His whole face welled up, as he must have been allergic or something. Super laid-back Yalobi almost came to commotion as Jim stumbled along the beach blinded by his bloated eye-lids. Even though this may seem unpleasant, the Fijians, Jim included, never once stopped roaring with laughter throughout the whole episode.
We spent most of our time with Villy Ratua, or Bill, as he is known to the White Man. He took us all over the Island on adventurous hikes. After the first few we established a little code for trek difficulty - when Bill is barefoot you wear sandals - when Bill is in sandals you wear hiking boots - and when Bill is in boots, you're going to die.
One evening we walked up a hill to watch the sunset. Some of Bill's friends came up from another village to meet us and we all had a little smoke whilst looking out over the Pacific. As we were watching sunset, we
Happy Christmas Message
On the Island there was one Sattelite phone. We were given the luxary of 1 minute to the U.K. We drew straws and then had to wait until sunset as that was the only time the satellite would be correctly positioned. This meant we were obliged to call at 5am (U.K), so I left a message... had to walk home in the dark forest. I was pretty high and, surrounded by the scantily clad Fijians who were jabbering away in some dialect I forgot who I was. I spent the whole walk trying to reason with myself that I was a European and not a tribesman. It was a crazy experience.
As our stay in Yalobi unfolded we were joined by other Argonauts - a Dutch couple called Micha and Muche and a Belgian couple called Nila and Hans. We all got on really well and spent Christmas Day together. It was one of those travelling times everyone hopes for. When you get an organic flourishing of interesting individuals in one extraordinary place for an ephemeral moment. A moment that will stay with you.
Christmas Day
Christmas Day in the morning and the first ocean breeze of the day wafts through the door brushing the mosquito nets. Breakfast is calm, banana cake and coffee. Christmas is a holy day for Fiji and we stroll down to beach towards the village Church. The Hymns from the Choir stir both the seas and the souls of the believers. It was beautiful and
Down the Pub
A local water hole, for local people. after the service we were all pretty quiet.
Then the Pig was slaughtered, skinned and placed on a bed of steaming coconuts and boiling volcanic rocks. Covered in earth and left to cook.
After a rice lunch we scrambled up a gorge, led by eight-year-old bare footed Stanley in a quest to find the source of Yalobi's fresh water.
When evening came we were quiet again, and sat drinking Kava with the extended family. After the evening feast we danced and smoked ganja. Alec stayed up all night drinking Kava whilst Jona and I passed out under the fiery stars of the ancestors and the light of our mother the moon.
On Boxing Day we decided to move on, round the headland to "Sunset Resort". We managed to haggle our beds and keep down from F$55 toF$45. Sunset was more touristic, but it was a beautiful location, perched on a sand bridge between Waya and Waya-Lalai. Our landlady and Maitre D was Kitty - a feisty flirty Fijian Mama who nicknamed us Rambo, Jango and Fernando.
Our days at Sunset revolved around our 4pm volleyball match - Europe Vs Fiji. By this time
Samwise...
Look at that aura. Fiji times... we had acquired a new friend, Dom from Bavaria. This guy was so funny - not that he meant to be! He must have been about 35; travelling alone and looking a lot like Steven Segal. He was eccentrics and very German. Very very German. When the ball came to him in Volleyball he would rather malco-ordinately palmstrike it into oblivion, sending the Fijians and the European contingent into shrieks of laughter ever time. He never did get the hang of it and I have a feeling he never will. Good times, Fiji times...
Jona and Alec - We left just after breakfast for our fishing adventure. We were armed with spears and slings (which work a bit like a bow and arrow). It took a while to get used to the snorkelling, and holding our breath for the lenght of time required to rack a kill. After 3 hours of frustration as we watched our guide slay fish bigger than his arm, Jona proved his prowess as the dominant male. The fish wasn't massive (maybe the size of a hand). What was important was that we had found our place in the food chain, the natural
Christmas Dinner
Eaten on a Palm mat crossed-legged. Delicacies included pressed spinich, bread fruit and much coconut-smoked succelent pork. cycle of life could be felt pumping through our veins... the blood of the fish now dripping from its severed head. In the spirit of competition, Alec equalled Jona's efforts five minutes later. From there it was game on as we spent all afternoon captivated by the hunt. In the end Jona won 4-3, even though he let one go - a ginourmous puffer fish the size of a football. Now back to Sam...
We managed to blag a cheap boat back to the mainland with Kitty. People had told us that the only way to and from the Yasawas is on the expensive, Aussie owned, tourist Katermerang. It's not true.
Once back in "civilisation" on the Mainland, we hitched down the coast to port Natindola as part of our journey to Robinson Crusoe Island - our destination for New Years.
Once arrived we set about scoping out the area, trying to determine the cheapest way to get to the desert island which is only a few kilometres from off-shore. We didn't want to pay the F$70 for the tourist boat. I reckon we could have swum it and indeed I pushed for the motion.
Robinson Crusoe?
Alec comes out of his cave. Jona waded off into a mangrove swamp looking for a wild man willing to take us across whilst I focused my efforts on a bamboo raft and Alec sat grumpily in a cave telling us both it wasn't going to work. Sensible Jock...
In the midday sun and with dehydration setting in we cut our losses and found our way to the tourist boat. Our spirits were nicely lifted though, when we walked straight onto the boat without paying! Dieu Merci.
Robinson Crusoe wasn't that great an Island but it was a good location for a big party. Fancy dress was deemed to be men as women and vice versa.
We were entertained as tourists by many Fijian dances right up to the countdown. There must have been about a hundred of us congregated on the little island. Every which way you looked there was a beach. It was surreal.
At one point in the evening there was a water fight. Which, followed by a sand fight led everyone to a moonlit plunge in the Ocean. This was until jona got bitten by a Barracuda and everyone bolted from the waves. It quickly sobered
New years Eve Party
For the finale of the Fijian dance show came the fire-dancers. Apparently this is a ritual dance celebrating the bring-of-fire, man's great power, to Fiji from Somoa. him up and he hasn't been back in the tub yet. He's still alive though and he's got a manly scar on his calf.
The party went right through to the sunrise bonfire.
The next day we recovered back in Nadi - Nadi Backpackers on the high street by the Hindu Temple which we would
recommend. The following morning we flew off to Australia from where I am writing...
P.S. We wish you all sincere, if a little belated, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
P.P.S. The day before we flew out Jona realised he had left his Passport on Waya, three hours by boat from the mainland. He had a stressful day.
Samwise
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James G
non-member comment
Merry Xmas & New Year
i know its late but happy new year guys and hope your having a good one, which by the sounds of it you are. spare a thought for us while you're living it up in exotic climates while we are stuck in freezing england. see you when you get back alec, and to the others i dont know take it easy and carry on having fun. james