Coups, Crime & Some Beach Time

At the time of writing the Fijian military has staged a coup and seized control of the country. When we arrived in Fiji there was a lot of talk about a potential coup but contrary to travellers' tales and foreign press, there were no visible signs of such activity or indeed any civil unrest. The people in Fjii are truely nonchalent about coups so we adopted this attitude!

As Fiji was on the list of countries we could visit on our ATW ticket, we thought that it was a great opportunity to catch up with the estranged members of our London/New College-onian network, Sam Benstead and Laura Chappell. We wanted to see the great things these guys were doing for Fijian national TV and Pacific economics, respectively. As it transpired - very well, although we're unsure if Sam was the best ambassador for Anglo-Fijian relations after Bobo, the host of a farmstay on Ovalau, recalled that Laura was very sweet but Sam had stolen the key to his room and also his torch! Unfortunately the buggers left their jobs before we got there, but they did leave us with a comprehensive list of things to do, helping us to choose what to cram into the two weeks that we'd assigned.


Nadi (Airport town on West of Viti Levu)
I think we were ready for a bit of sunshine after our back to back winters in Northern and Southern hempisphere and Fiji certainly didn't disappoint. As Fiji is comprised of one central land mass, Viti Levu, surrounded by 321 other islands, unless you travel on the main island you have to consider flight or ferry options and accomodation, before going anywhere. We spent our first morning doing just that with the help of Nadi Central Backpackers and ended up missing the morning ferry to our first destination. Rather than staying in Nadi which is a little grotty, we were presented with the option of relaxing for a night in the 4 star resort, Sonai Sali, for a third of the price advertised on the internet! We sipped cocktails in the pool bar, watched two weddings take place on the beach and were "entertained" by a very cheesy resort-style cultural dance performance in the evening. Quite fun, for a night!


Yasawa Islands (North West of Viti Levu)
We'd heard that the Yasawas were a beautiful collection of islands surrounded by several belts of coral reefs and largely uninhabited by permanent populations. These islands are therefore popular with the backpacker crowd, snorkellers and divers, so purpose-built resorts appear on pretty much every inhabitable island to make the most of the gold rush. Some of the resorts are basic, some are plush, some are just a plain rip-off, but each island has its own distinct beauty. To begin with, we stayed on Bounty Island, otherwise known as "Celebrity Love Island", which has a fantastic reef to snorkel on - a little too good as we were so captivated by our first sights of colourful marine life that we both burnt our backs in the water and T developed a case of sun stroke. Typical Brits abroad! With factor 30, a hat and t-shirt on, we went to the Sea Spray resort on Nanuya Lailai which took us 4 hours by boat. Of course T also suffered sea sickness and I, a groaning boyfriend, so this wasn't a high point for both of us. The resort was very basic - with traditional bures (wicker houses, thatched with palm tree frongs), compost toilets and salt water showers! It was a little expensive for what it was, but T and I were glad for the peace and quiet and slightly overcast skies and sea breeze. From here we visited the blue Lagoon (of said film fame) and also a sea cave where locals climb the walls and jump into the plunge pools to the cries of tourists below. We then stayed in Mantaray Bay resort which was overpriced and obviously foreign owned as we were made to sign a disclaimer before we embarked on "dangerous activities" such as walking on the one path on the island and snorkelling. The advantages of this resort were the many hammock options, the potential to swim with Mantarays (which we missed out on) and also a very professional diving company who gave Tom and I our first experience of diving in the sea. By this point, Tom and I were a little bored of the beach life but we'd saved the plushest resort for last, Octopus on Waya island. This place is special as the sand on this beach is brilliant white and soft on the foot and volcanic rock formations make the surrounding landscape truely inspiring. Scrummy food which you can choose from a blackboard menu and loads of activities such as a cinema screen on the beach for a Sunday night film, keeps you happy and entertained in between sunbathing.


Nadi & Coral Coast
As we arrived back on the mainland at about 6pm, it was compulsory for us to stay in Nadi so we could catch a bus to the Coral coast and then on to the East side of the island in the morning. Perhaps Tom and I were looking all too relaxed when we strolled down Nadi high street after our evening meal as we were targetted by 3 Indo-Fijian teenagers who starting talking to us, then hassling us. This all culminated in them threatening us with a piece of broken glass and grabbing Laura's bag! Not a great experience, but thankfully I had nothing more than a few credit cards and my drivers license in a very cheap bag. When we got back to the hostel we rang the police, who arrived in about 15 minutes, took an ID of the 3 guys and then invited us ito look for the guys in their jeep. We embarked on a police chase to find the crims and Tommy was made to go into every gambling den and kava joint to find the boys. When they found one of the crims (who tried to run away and threw a punch at one of the police officers) he was given a severe beating by all of the officers in the station. Although he deserved it, it did push the boundaries of police brutality! By the morning the police had found and charged the other two guys and had recovered my purse and contents. That's service - but I am not sure if they act as quickly for Fijians! They even asked T if he wanted to beat the guys involved - we declined politely.


Suva (Capital city)
We enjoyed spending a day in Suva, although there isn't much to "see" and for Sam, we paid homage to Fiji TV's office building.


Levuka Town, Ovalau (The colonial capital & heart of Fiji)
It's well worth making the bus-boat-bus journey to Levuka one of the prettiest islands in Fiji. Its touristy enough to have a couple of hotels and places to eat but you still feel like you are experiencing the "real Fiji!" For me, the tropical vegetation, tin housing and children always waving reminded me of my time in Ghana. We were taken on a tour of the island, but due to a cracked car radiator we had to abandon our tour half way through. We were extremely disappointed not to reach the viillage of Lovoni which is set in the crater of a volcano and where we were due to meet the Chief. The day was saved by Bobo (mentioned earlier) who took us under his wing, taking us on a bush walk for the rest of the day. He showed us which plants can be eaten and used for medicinal purposes, talked A LOT about Fijian traditions as well as showing us a natural water slide which was great fun. We then spent our final evening watching "The Force" at the Royal Hotel - Mr Benstead's "fly on the wall" documentary that follows the Suva police. In this episode they were chasing marijuana growers across the central highlands and burning their crops. Gripping stuff - good work Benners!

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Videos from "Coups, Crime & Some Beach Time":

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