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Published: March 1st 2008
Fiji (Nadi) As we step off the plane, it's raining. We found out only the day before that a cyclone had hit Fiji several days before and the weather reflects this. We can't help but laugh and are soon cheered up when we go inside and theres a three-man band playing a song to welcome us to the airport. Apart from 'bula', we can't make out any of the words. Very soon, we discover Bula is used frequently and for several things- mainly 'hello' and 'welcome'.
The customs are very easy. I declare my chocolate bar but the man couldn't seem less bothered. As we're waiting for our bags, Joe points out that the men are wearing 'skirts'. They aren't skirts, but sarongs. Even the security guys are wearing them! It is a bit strange but we can understand more when we feel more of the humidity of Fiji.
As we're passing a travel agent she ushers us inside and insists on calling our hostel (Mama's- weird name!) for us. We agree and so sit in the place for about 30 minutes. We had been warned about the 'Fiji time' so we didn't mind. Whilst in there,
we met a few nice people who were also going to our hostel.
When the pick up finally arrives, we all pile in. We drive for quite some time and suddenly we pull in somewhere and realise- it's a McDonalds! In the middle of Nadi, where there has only been houses and long empty streets and no shops so far- there's a McDonalds! We all try not to laugh as the woman orders drive thru and wonder at the same time why she didn't ask us if we wanted any...
Back on the road, it's not much further to the hostel. It's set amongst several others in one street. Our hostel looks decent. Joe and I are put in a family room as apparently rooms are quite full due to the cyclone. We aren't complaining- it's big/has several beds/a nice shower and air con. Although we don't spend much time there, spending the evening with some people and enjoying the copulating frog show which was brought on by the rain. We leave early the next morning to catch the boat to the islands.
For Fiji, we decided to book an 'Ultimate Lei' pass. This pass included 7
days on the Yasawa and Mamanuca islands with all transfers/accomodation and food included. We thought it was a good deal, especially getting the double room deal as the dorms didn't seem quite as good on most islands. So the islands we were going to (as we found out on the morning we left) was Coral View, Manta Ray, Kuata and Bounty Island.
Coral View Our first trip in the boat brings on a good bout of seasickness. Despite the tablets, we're incredibly sick and spend most of the time lying down in seperate seats wishing time would fast forward. The sea was incredibly rocky and our island was one of the furthest away.
When we finally hear our island being called out, we outside and have to jump in another small motorised boat. Our luggage is taken in another boat which speeds off towards the island. As we finally pull up, all the staff gather on the beach with joined hands and shout 'bula'! It's a nice welcome and something you can begin to expect from the Fijian people.
We are bundled onto the island and all of the staff shake our hands as we are
The Fijian school children on our village visit
They were more than happy to have a photo apparentlydirected towards a building next to us. Inside, there are tables set up with nice tablecloths and cutlery. It feels like a party! The floor is covered with sand, which is an odd feature and in time, we realise wearing shoes is pretty pointless.
After a welcome talk, as is customary at all of the islands, lunch is served. It's quiche which I'm not too keen on but manage to eat lots as I don't want to be rude. There is a green bean and carrot mix in the quiche which is probably served with every meal whilst we're there, except breakfast. It's good to have some veg but slightly overkill...
We're staying in what they call a 'bure'. It's right next to the beach and it's pretty much perfect, apart from the cold showers of course! There's a private shower though, toilet, double bed, a fan and electricity. All these things seem kind of simple but compared to one of the later islands, we should've felt like royalty with these provisions!
After our long travel session in NZ and a bit of bad luck on the way out from Auckland, we seem tired and even though
it rains ALOT over the next few days, I think we enjoy the rest. We eat at scheduled times, which is good for a change as we have little routine generally. We read, play PSP, watch South Park and Heroes on Joes ipod, have a few gorgeous cocktails, have naps and generally relax.
There is so much rain at points that the outside of our bure gets kind of flooded and Joe decides this would be a good opportunity to jump into it! He had fun anyway... We did spend some time in the hammocks by the beach when the rain let up briefly.
One of the best things about Fiji is the singing! They sing for you at meal times, when you arrive, when you leave, in the evenings. And also they got us dancing! They taught us the 'Bula dance' which was a bit like the Macarena but with Bula at the end and a thrusting style movement!
At times, I feel almost guilty. The Fijian people seem to think they need to been overly nice to us and even them singing for us makes me feel abit uncomfortable but I do think they enjoy
it too. Some of the other tourists didn't even seem that friendly to the staff when the staff deserved to be treated well. At the same time, the most popular tourists were definitely the ones who spent loads on alcohol and alas, we only had a few cocktails and weren't too bothered.
Overall, Coral View was great. We really enjoyed it there, especially chilling out and feeling under no obligation to do much. Just what we needed! As it turned out, most people didn't seem interested in talking to us because we were in a double and equally, most of them seemed a bit spoilt and constantly talking about money and how they were going to demand their parents pay for another holiday for them as it was raining too much!!!
Manta Ray Island Another day, another island... All the islands are pretty much the same but there are some real differences. For instance, Manta Ray is great in terms of food and the room is quite good, yet the toilets are ages away from where the room is and not easy to go to when it's pouring with rain in the middle of the night! We
Me sporting my shell necklace
I was given it for being victorious in the hot 'coconut' game! actually spend little time on this island as we are only there for one night. The only incident involves a cat that lingers outise our bure and runs in when we're not looking! He isn't interested in our attention, he only wants to claim the bure and won't even budge when we prod him!
However, we do go on a village visit. On this we got taken to a small island village and get to walk around the community. Everyone is very friendly and says 'bula' to us as most Fijians do. There are a mix of more durable looking houses mixed with shacks. The church is an impressive building and they have solar panels so there is a combination of new technology and the more simpler life. The school has only 40-50 students and our guide tells us they have to keep reproducing or the school will close! Good reasoning, I'm sure...
Kuata Whenever we get picked up by a boat from the transfer vessel, we can usually tell straight off something about the island by the boat that picks us up. With Kuata island, all of our presumptions were fulfilled. The speed boat was
a barren looking thing, in which we had to sit on a dirty looking wooden board and that the driver liked to overwork so that there was a lot of bumping around.
On Kuata, we find that the facilities look a bit tired- the hammocks have lots of holes, the bed sheets look rather used and washed out, the floor in our bure is a mish mash of vinyl and the shower is a cold trickle. Later we discover the bures have no electricity which is a bit rubbish as we are there for 2 nights. Also we discover that we have a nice cockroach that likes to live inside our toilet roll and a giant spider that shows remarkable staying power even when Joe pees on him.
The island is strange. Sometimes the locals seem friendly, whilst at other times they just seem to shout at you and scare you slightly. Their constant jokes of not joining in resulting in no dinner or whatever get a bit tired. I assume they mean well though.
The food at Kuata isn't amazing but we do enjoy a Fijian night where we are told we MUST eat with our
hands! This is fine, except for with the gravy which is hard to pick up understandably... We also try some of the infamous 'cava' which is something the Fijian's drink after a ceremony. Apparently it's some kind of plant or vegetable (I can't remember) which they grind down to a powder and mix with water or some other liquid. Anyway the long and short of it is, it tastes like dish water... But it was nice of them to share with us and get us involved nonetheless.
Joe and I spent most of the day outside, despite rain on one of the days. We read again. play PSP's, watch South Park and on one of the days embark on a summit walk up a small mountain. The path hasn't been cleared since the cyclone so we have fun and only nearly fall over a few times. The view is amazing when we finally reach the top and it's funny realising how small the island is. It's also interesting seeing the very small islands around us that are filled with tress but no inhabitants that we can see.
On the 2nd night, with the torch reserved for trips to
One of our Scrabble boards
A good overall board I would say! the toilet, in order to scare off the cockroach, our PSPs and iPods suitably run out. Bummer.
On the morning we are leaving, we decide to swim with sharks. Apparently they're 'friendly' sharks, honest... With out gear on we speed off into the middle of the sea. The driver doesn't seem very concerned that we are bobbing all over the place and we are VERY relieved when he finally stops.
We fling ourselves over the side and set off to look at the coral. We keep being told to follow one of the men who has no mask, only a weigh belt and goggles on. He keeps diving underwater and trying to tempt sharks with a fish he has speared. He manages to stay under for some time which is impressive but for ages, no shark appears.
We are still following this strange man when everyone starts to panic and some people get back into the boats. I have no idea why. Then one of the boats starts to swing and nearly hits Joe in the head! Luckily he hears me shout. Overall, I'm not too impressed with this islands organisation either... Finally though we hear a
shout and once we swim over we peer down and see 2 sharks!
They're not big, probably about 6 feet or something like that (I'm bad with judging things like that) but nonethless, they're great to see. They keep swimming around the diving man and see frightened by the smallest noise. It's weird because I always though of sharks as scary and perhaps aggressive- thanks Jaws! Yet these sharks are quite content and swim around in circles. Perhaps they are merely judging which part of the diving man to eat...
So we saw the sharks which is certainly something new. Jumping back in the boat, we sped dangerously back towards the island, Joe and I having to catch our connection. My goodness- the man driving just crashed into huge wave after wave as we sat in the boat, bashing our backs and bums and anywhere else in the crossfire! We all feel suitably sea sick afterwards but thankfully Joe and I make our boat and we leave Kuata behind. I can't say I'll miss it...
Bounty Island After the island run by cowboy builders/electricians/boat drivers, I hope our last island will be a good
one. And isn't it just! It is simply the best one we went to. The setting for 'Celebrity Love Island' (apparently), the sand is golden, the showers are hot, the bure is clean and has electricity, there is a swimming pool and bar, the food is pretty good and there is often cake for desert! What more could you want?
It feels like Joe and I are finally getting some good luck. The sun even puts in an appearance whilst on Bounty! Most of all, we enjoy our clean room with no cockroaches and make use of the electricity to charge our gadgets up. Whilst on the island, we also learn how to play Scrabble! We have several games over the 4 days we are there.
The island takes about 15-20 minutes to walk around and whilst doing so, Joe and I discuss our expectations for our US leg of the trip. Having seen so much American culture in everyday life and on TV etc, it'll be interesting to see Joes reaction. I myself have only been to Florida so I'm curious about the cities, especially New York.
On the island, Joe celebrates a simple birthday. I
would've brought everyone if I could've fit them in my suitcase! All I can do is give him a card or two and buy him a cocktail. Alas, we don't even get cake for desert! Unfortunately, as we finish our cocktail, we hear that many peoples rooms have been broken into and many of their possessions stolen. Rushing back to ours, we find our room untouched and thank birthday luck! Still it's a downer and we can't believe it. Apparently professional thieves have been known to come over in a boat from the mainland, steal things and return with the goods.
Despite the theft incident and some nasty sun burn, Joe and I have a great time on Bounty. This is the kind of island we hoped for when we booked the package. It's even a bit sad to leave but we head back to the mainland as we must fly fly away the next day...
I don't have much to say about the return visit to Nadi except that we stayed in a horrible place with loads of cockroaches and thanks to Joe's patience and understanding we managed to secure a nicer room that was insect free
for the night. Yuck yuck yuck! Also, we shaved Joe's hair completely and he looked excellent!
So that's Fiji. A strange place where they love to sing and dance. A very friendly bunch of people as far as I saw, if not sometimes swayed by how much money you have to spend. I really did 'enjoy the Fijian lifestyle' and I could take some more 'Fiji time' for a few days at least...
Next stop USA- will we find the cheesecake factory? That's the only question I have! xxx
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