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"BULA" as the grass-skirted, affro-headed locals of Fiji would say. Nothing like getting off the plane and being serenaded by huge men playing tiny guitars! Nowhere else in the world could this be considered 'normal'. Good craic all the same. As we had arrived late, we spent our first night in Nadi. We had booked on to a bus for 8 a.m. the following morning to take us to the port for a boat to the Yasawa islands. We got our first real taste of what "fiji time" means. Basically the bus shows up whenever it wants. 3 hours later we finally got on the bus after having to get a taxi to another hotel to meet this bus who had 'forgot' to pick us up. We then proceeded to miss the boat cos we were in the off licence at the port. Apparently fiji time isnt a two way thing! You've gotta be fijian for it to apply! Eventually we arrived in Beachcomber island which is supposed to be the 'party island' of the southern hemisphere. Well unless they've changed the definition of 'party' to people doing a stupid dance (bula dance--how original) to music that belongs in a Lilt
ad, this was far from a party island. The bar closes most nights at about 2am which is when you're allowed to bring out your own drink. Other activities included crab racing, and....that was pretty much it. 2 nights here is more than enough but of course we stayed for 4 just in case it got better!! The accommo is a big dorm with about 100 beds so we did get to watch scantily clad women strolling around all day. This island is tiny--you could walk around in about 10 mins without breaking a sweat. The heat was something unreal though so we gladly spent the days topping up our tans. Next island was Mana, where we stayed for 3 more nights. Stayed with a guy named Saki and his family in his "hostel". We had seen this guy a few days earlier at the port--he was wearing a limerick jersey! He wanted us to come stay with him cos he thought we were getting the same boat as him. We jumped on a different boat though and as we were leaving, the captain came up to us and said there was a phonecall on HIS mobile for us--we looked
around and it was Saki on the next boat telling us to call him when/if we got to Mana! Mad. When we arrived in Mana, we had forgotten about it but there he was anyway on the dock waiting! the lodgings were basic to say the least--hardly ever any water, not to mention hot water and the electricity only came on for a couple of hours at night. That aside, it was really relaxing and we just lay on the beach and read the whole time. Gave our bodies a chance to recover after all the bula dancing on Beachcomber. We had a kava drinking ceremony with Saki and his family the first night--this stuff can only be described as dirty dishwater but its a tradition there so we didnt want to offend. Plus, its supposed to hallucinogenic properties but the most i got off it was a numb tongue. Putrid shite altogether.
Back on the mainland again, we stayed another night in Nadi in the Nadi Bay Hotel. this is a fabulous hostel--2 restaurants, 2 bars, huge tv room, games room, and the jewel in the crown--aircon dorms! Sheer heaven in a box stuck to the wall. Onto Suva
next--capital of Fiji. What a complete shithole--city life is in stark contrast to island life. You'd fear for your life walking round this place at night. We had been warned not to walk anywhere at night--get taxis everywhere even if its only 100m. We hit a few bars on the friday night--it seemed like we were the only white people in the city. Got home in one piece anyway which is the main thing. Watched a few rugby 7's games in the national stadium aswell--there was a tournament on there for the weekend.
To wrap up Fiji, we spent the rest of the time in a place called Beachhouse resort--halfway between Suva and Nadi. Its the place where they filmed that muck 'Celebrity Love island' where a few Z-list celebs were pampered for about 6 months but still whinged everyday. Quality viewing as far as i can recall. All in all, Fiji is by no means a party destination and its not cheap. It is extremely relaxing and chilled out though which is what we needed after our hectic social lives for the last few months!
Back in Sydney now for a week or so--trying to sort out transport to
head up the east coast.
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