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Published: March 7th 2011
On Thursday, I left my host family home. It was a bit hard to leave. I have grown quite close with the grandmother and am going to miss you. She told me that I'm not like one of her daughters and that I can come and stay with her anytime I want. I will keep a piece of her with me always.
I went into Nausori to do a bit of things on the internet. Then hit up a few stores to get some cheap snacks, then hit the market for some more apples and then caught a taxi to Suva. I went to the Holiday Inn on the bay, which is where the bus was picking up from. No more buses without windows...no more hearing the man selling some sort of homemade snack to those sitting on the bus and waiting (he spoke in the funniest voice and I still wonder if these men practice at home to sound as they do!)...no more running taxis in the morning...no more walking over the old bridge...no more little children saying good morning teacher Courtney...I'm not going lie, I was very sad pulling out of town. The Holiday Inn was very nice and I had a couple of hours to kill before the bus. I ordered tea and sat in the lounge and read. As it turns out, the Japanese rugby team was staying there. I've never seen such large Japanese men! The tea was good, my book was interesting and I enjoyed kind of just sitting and reflecting on my time in Nausori. The bus picked us up at 3 pm and there were quite a few people on it. I got a seat near the front (after my first experience with the AC breaking, I knew to stay by the door for emergency ventilation!). I settled in and we were off through Suva on our way to the Queen's Highway. Along the way I tried to suck in everything that I could. I didn't talk to anyone or try to read, it was all about seeing the sights. We passed the large cemetery and I was amazed again. The cemeteries here are beautiful. They people are put into a half in/half out of the ground concrete type slab. Then, they are decorated by using long sticks at each corner, multi-colored fabrics and flowers. The graves are a work of art. The fabric flows with the winds and its as if the person is forever at one with the wind. Its an amazing site to see and I was glad there was a bit of traffic and the bus was going slow as we passed. The next thing that we passed was the large prison. Get this...there's no fence. Its up on a hill and the buildings look like apt buildings. What keeps the prisoners there is what I wonder. I had heard about this place, but this was the first time I had seen it. Very interesting...
The drive continued and was much like my first day and drive in Fiji. Beautiful mountains covered in green. But this time I saw more people working in their fields or whatnot. This time I saw the beauty of the country in a completely different light. We stopped at several resorts to drop off/pick up guests. About 1/2 way thru the drive I got nauseous and ended up sleeping for the remainder of the drive. It was not a fun couple of hours. By the time we arrived in Nadi it was almost dark. I got off the bus at one of the hostel resorts and caught a taxi to my place for the night - Bamboo hostel. Its the cheapest place to stay and very basic, but it was clean and quiet and that made me very happy! Met Henry the owner, what a nice guy and settled into a four bed room with a private bath. Such a hostel treat! I ended up talking with one of the girls staying in the room. She's just starting her journey. From Australia, on her way to Canada where Australian's can get a 2 year work permit. Um, hello, I need to look into this for US residents...in a country other than Canada of course! She's 30 yrs old and much like me, was looking for a change in her life and decided to take some time off just to explore. Ok, so she's taking a bit longer than me, but good for her either way! I wish her all the best on her travels! I was in bed early, still not feeling the best and up early for the transfer to the boat to the Yasawa Islands.
I wake up with a start and realize that again, my watch alarm has not worked. That's it, I'm going to have to buy a watch. No way I can miss a bus/train/tour while in Australia or NZ. Must do this on my return to Nadi. I quickly pull all of my stuff together and head off to meet the bus. Being at the hostel and getting on the bus had a very strange feeling. This is the first time I've seen/interacted with so many tourists since I arrived and it feels so strange. I sat with a British police officer on the way to the port and she was quite nice. Just doing a quick stop in Fiji then off to NZ. We talked about things to do there and she, like me gets sea sick so I told her to buy Sea Legs...the best anti nausea medicine I've ever found. She was quite happy to hear the tip. Getting on the boat, the Yasawa Flyer was quite interesting. You have to drop off your bag and it gets tagged. That's because this boat stops at several islands along the way and you want to ensure your bag makes it to your destination. I've heard they often do not. With having so many of my gifts in my bag (I have too many to hand carry), I was especially nervous. I checked in and then headed to the boat and settled in on the deck at the back. I had 3 hours at sea ahead of me and wanted to ensure my breakfast did not come back to visit me. The trip was lovely! The clouds opened up and it was a beautiful morning. As we pulled away from the mainland you were really able to see the scope of how large the mountains are and how pretty it is! The boat was full of tourists and again, I felt a bit out of place. We stopped at many islands along the way (too many to talk about) but they were all beautiful. White sandy beaches, some with mountains that seemed like volcanic rock (not sure if they were) and I was enjoying the ride until about 2 hours into the journey it started to rain. I made my way inside and found a seat. Well, the seas also picked up, so now my stomach was not feeling so well. So, for the last hour our so, I had my eyes closed and dozed. When they announced my stop, I was happy to be departing! All my fears were also put to rest when I found my bag and it was tossed onto the little boat sent out from the resort to meet the big boat. Get this, all the resorts have small, like my Caqalai boat, that they use to meet up with the Flyer to transfer the guests. The crew on the Flyer and the resort crew are like well oiled machines and pass bags, supplies, food and guests back and forth like a symphony. I hopped onto the boat and of course was greeted with a loud Bula from the crew. We drove ashore which was a few hundred ft away and we were greeted by more staff and them singing the Fijian welcome song. I love this song! Off the boat and into the water/sand we were. The resort sits on a small island that has a mountain of sorts that is all black rock. I'm guessing volcanic. The main building is more like an open lounge area. There are several beach loungers in the sand, a small hut that houses the luggage, a small building that is the bar, several picnic tables and hammocks. I'm in heaven! The beach is white sand and so soft. There is a lot of coral on the beach, but it adds to its beauty. The water is crystal clear and shades of blue and turquoise. I might never leave.
Check in is easy and we are giving all the info about the resort. I actually had to sign a waiver type thing and its then that I felt like I was on vacation and not just enjoying this country, but I don't dwell on it. We meet Joe, the dive shop guy and then head up to our rooms. Lunch is going to be ready in about 20 mins and I decide to settle into my bunk in the dorm first. The dorm is huge, 20 beds, but broken up into 4 bed cubicles. Each bed has a mosquito net and a fan. I'm super happy! I have never seen a place to clean! I put my valuables into the main office where they have a safe. I immediately feel at home here. The bathrooms are a riot! The showers are cold water but really nice. They are grouped together and clean and large. Where the shower head is, there is no roof so its mostly open air. As the weekend wears on, I love the showers! The toilets are self composting. It was a little interesting at first, no water, no flushing, so you felt like you weren't doing something right, but after the first day, it was really nice and eco friendly! The food was OUTSTANDING! I will not eat this well for the rest of my trip. And I made up for all the undereating I was doing in Nausori. My pants fit a bit better again. LOL So lunch on Friday, I sat with an Irish couple and really enjoyed talking with them over the course of 2 1/2 days. They are traveling for 5 months and nearing the end of their trip. They started in South America and just loved it. I really think that will be my next continent to travel to. After lunch I went down to the main area for the basket weaving class. That's right...I finally put my college degree to good use! (For those of you that don't find this funny, my college degree is Recreation and Leisure and the joke was that you could actually take under water basket weaving in this major.) Laugh all you want, but after the second day of taking the class, Solo, the Fijian instructor said that I needed to stay at the resort and take over teaching the class. He even agreed that I was a basket weaving master! So, no fear Mom and Dad, I know how to make money when I get home. I just need a few palm trees and I'm good! After making a basket, it was into the water for me. I went to the island of Manta Ray because I heard that it had the best snorkeling the Yasawa's had to offer. It did not disappoint! Not only was the reef really cool and varied, but the fish were amazing. I will say that Caqalai has better coral, but Manta Ray has better fish or at least FAR more of them. On my first dive I headed straight out to the white buoy to see if I could catch a glimpse of Bob, the resident reef shark. Now, I never did see him and have to admit, I probably wasn't looking that hard. But I did go out to the buoy every day. The coral was mostly the hard coral and a bit more split up than I'd seen before. The great part is that you can just wade out from shore and swim around. The thing that I came to enjoy about this location was that the way the coral was laid out, there was always something new to explore. After my first afternoon of snorkeling, I showered up and got ready for dinner at 7 pm. Before hitting up dinner, I went into the office to meet up with the one lady (don't know how to spell her name) to properly teach me how to tie my sulu's. I'm coming home with three of them, I want to be able to use them properly! So, with my newly tied sulu, I was dressed and off to dinner! Dinner was Lovo stuff, when they cook in the ground, and I was so happy. My plate was spilling over with fish and veggies and bread and I went back for seconds...fish cooked in the lovo with coconut milk...I can't get enough of it! After dinner we went down to the main area and sat for a little Fijian entertainment. The village nearby sends some of their people to the resort and they perform traditional dances and songs. Its all so lovely! The dances were fun, the songs were beautiful. They use guitars and yukilailies and bongos and then this base like instrument that was a long stick, with a string on it and then it was put into a large wooden box. Very interesting! The guests are then invited to join in on the dances and of course I was up and in there. There was a lot of singing and laughing and fun. It was unique and quite a cool experience. They also sang the Fijian farewell song. The same one the children's parents sang to me. It brought a tear to my eye again. After the entertainment, we had kava. It still tastes bad and I still only drank a little but I had to have some. This is such a Fijian thing to do and its quite fun to sit around and talk and pass the Kava. The Fijian guys I'd been talking to all day kept encouraging me to have more. They were like, you know you like it...you like Fiji too much not to like the kava. It was pretty funny! I ended up taking a picture with Semi, our kava master for the night.
Day two...breakfast was super and after I headed out for a kayak along the coast. It was a bit cloudy so I was waiting for the clouds to break before getting in some more snorkeling. My plan worked well. The kayaking was quite beautiful. I went up the coast and explored the rocky areas and with the water being so clear could see the coral and fish below. With so many fish in the area, they were often jumping out of the water. It was fun! The island itself was so pretty...white sandy beach, then rocky black areas, then white sandy beach and so on. Quite a contrast and yet gorgeous! When I got back to the resort, the weather was better so I got back in the water. I was just loving what I saw. This time, I was seeing schools of fish! I had no idea where they were coming from but there were hundreds of them. And I was seeing some individual fish that were huge! Again, no idea what they were, but very pretty none the less. My favorite purple starfish was here too and it made me smile every time I saw it. I was in the water well over an hour. Again, the coral here is just so vibrant. Its also do diverse that you don't ever want to get out of the water. As I was coming up on the beach after my swim, Tim, one of the dive guides stopped me to see how my swim was. I had asked him and Joe earlier about turtles...I really wanted to see one and he was checking in to see if I got lucky. Not so much, but we talked about all the other things I was seeing. He had his underwater camera and I flipped through it saying, I saw that and that and that and that. Every now and again Tim was stop and laugh as I recounted how a big fish would startle me or how amazing this coral was or that was. His biggest chuckle came when I said that I still hadn't seen Bob but that I may not have been looking that hard. He followed his laugh with, no worries, Bob is a vegetarian. He sees plenty of white meat every day and never takes the chance to eat it. Now I was the one laughing.
After this, I laid in the sun a bit, then had lunch, then took the basket weaving again (hence where I became a master!) and then got back into the water. I was in the water for more than an hour again. It was incredible. I couldn't stop myself from enjoying it more and more every time. And for the first time I'm thinking, I should have learned how to dive. Why didn't I learn how to dive. Over the years I've had a hell of a time popping my ears and I still have trouble now, but in Fiji, I think I'd just deal with the blown ear drum to see all the beauty that the reefs provide. It'd be worth it!
Dinner was again fantastic. I chatted up with some of the other backpackers again and its always nice to hear the stories of where people have been and where they are going. I have encountered many people that have already been to Australia and it seems I'm taking the Oz road less traveled. Most people run the coast from Melbourne to Cairns. I'm skipping that to do more inland stuff in Alice Springs and whatnot. Maybe its because I live in FL and see beaches year around...or maybe its because I'm just a little more wired to experience the outback...not sure, but I'm looking forward to finding out!
After dinner it was down to the main building again and this time Solo was organizing games. This was a bit like summer camp and college spring break rolled into one. I chose to have a few beers and chill with Tim, the dive guy, instead. More fun to talk with a Fijian then to play a game while drinking a beer. Tim and I did laugh pretty hard watching them though. Tim has become my favorite Fijian. And on this night, I did probably the dumbest thing and best thing all at once. After spending much of the day talking to Tim about diving and the coral and the fish, he says to me, want to go for a night snorkel. Um, I'm one of those people that thinks they hear bears in the woods when really its a bird landing in a tree...I'm not sure snorkeling at night is something I can do. After I ask about 2000 questions and Tim even says, my goodness I can't believe how many questions you have and you are not living up to your adventurous zodiac sign, I concede. Tim promises to give me the big flashlight and so I figure how dangerous can this really be. I mean, the reef is right in front of us. I throw on my suit and meet him at the dive shop. As we make our way into the water I'm feeling a bit more at ease. I know how to swim and as long and I keep Tim in my sight line, I can't get lost. We gear up and dive in and its at this point that I feel how strong the current is. It immediately twists and turns me and I'm easily 20 ft down shore. Now, a note on the current...they tell you when you check in to be very careful of it because the resort sits next to the channel and you can easily get sucked into the current and then out around the end of the island and into the Pacific. Its really conceivable and I can tell how it could not be that hard. The next bit of land you'd come upon would be Vanuatu. Look it up on the map...its not that close. This is the only thought now going through my mind. I'm going to end up on an outer island in Vanuatu. On the positive side, I've heard its very pretty there but I'm fairly certain is would not be the best way to see it. I quickly get my bearings, locate Tim and grab on to his rash guard. If I'm getting swept out to sea, I'm at least taking him with me! I get the sense from him that he also realizes the current is quite strong and we start to turn ourselves around. Its at this moment that a huge stingray enters the picture! I'm not kidding, it was literally inches from my face and with the flashlight on it, it was glowing! I completely forget about our current issue and am squealing looking at the ray. It has these electric blue and green spots on it and momentarily checks us out to see what we're up to. I was so excited! This completely made it worth getting in the water for. Once he swam away, Tim got us situated into the current and we began kicking against it. I'm pretty sure where in the water for about 20 min but I felt like I'd run a marathon. I have never kicked so hard in my life. Once we got into the flow of the current we were able to make some head way. It would suck us back and then push us forward. I kept a tight grip on Tim and all was fine for a bit. I was able to see some other glowing coral things and these shrimp that have red glowing eyes. But then that was it. My legs were getting very tired and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep our kicking pace up much longer. I looked down and stood up. I was in more than waist deep water and even had a hard time gaining my balance. Tim stood up and I said, that's enough, the current is too strong. He laughed and agreed. I was like, you are a crazy Fijian! And proceeded to tell him that I would reference him as such in my blog. So to my crazy Fijian, thank you for a really unique underwater experience! I'm glad I went, but not so sure I'd do it again...or at least, I'd check on the current first :-) I stood there for a while and excitedly said thank you several times, talked about how cool it was and that once under water I wasn't scared of what I would see but only nervous of the current. Tim finally conceded and said that yes, the current was far stronger than he thought it would be and that getting out of the water was the best idea. Again, crazy Fijian! After I showered and dressed again, I had a beer and sat back with Tim and the others for more laughs. I stayed up with them until well past midnight just talking and chatting and learning more about Fiji in general. These are just the most wonderful people! I don't think I wanted to go to bed because I knew my time was almost up here and I really didn't want it to end. When I was close to falling asleep on the picnic table, I finally headed back up to the dorm. What a wonderful day I'd had!
The next morning I was up and ready for breakfast. I think my late night work out made me extra tired! As it turns out, daylight saving ended and we, all the guests, were up and waiting for breakfast and hour too early! Not to worry, it made it all the more delicious! I was leaving today (Sunday) and knew that I had limited time to snorkel, so immediately after breakfast, I was in the water. The tide was pulling strong so I had to walk really far down the beach and get in. I was almost immediately consumed by stinging all over my body. I thought, hell, I've swum into a jelly fish. But then it subsided and so I kept going. A little while later, I encountered it again, and then again and again. It was the strangest thing. I thought about getting out of the water but then decided to just push forward. The deeper out I went, the better it got so, for the time, I was fine. I'm so glad I stayed in too! Since it was high tide it was feeding time! I saw schools of fish. And when I say schools I mean I was literally swimming through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of fish! I've never seen so many different kinds of fish in my life. And they were right next to me. It was incredible. Some of them would just turn themselves into the current and almost dance with it. I decided to do a bit of this myself. There I was, dancing with the fish in the current against the coral. And then I'd find some of the soft coral floating in the current and I'd do the same, hover over it, dance in the current and literally loose myself in the sensation. This is the most calm I've ever felt in my entire life. I never wanted to leave the water. I finally got sucked down to the far side of the reef near the channel and made my way to shore. I took about a 30 min break and noticed that I was covered in small itchy red dots. Nessa, the irish girl, was having the same problem. Over to the dive shop we headed...with arms extended I was like, Joe, what the hell is this? He's like, oh yeah, sea lice. Its high tide, they'll be gone in a bit. Then walked away. Tim was laughing. Nessa was quite upset about it. I was like, yeah, but is it dangerous? Am I'm going to die? Can I get back in the water? More laughter from Tim. Turns out, it is just annoying and cases no harm. Awesome! Back in the water I went. Nessa went to find the white vinegar that Tim suggested to help with the itching. I already smelled of sun screen, bug repellant and the fact that I hadn't washed my hair in like 5 days. I didn't see the point of adding vinegar to the mix. Once back in the water I was stung more, but this time didn't care. Like all my bug bits, these would fade. I had limited time in Fiji and I was spending it in the water. Another hour or longer of coral, big fish, schools of fish and my favorite starfish...I was in heaven. I took a break and laid on the beach to get some sun on the front of my body. Otherwise I was going to look a little silly. Then, back in the water. I was in the water almost 3 and 1/2 hours that morning. It was absolutely fantastic! The only thing that would make this better is if it was Manta Ray season and I could have swam with them!
I cleaned up and had lunch. I gathered my bags and brought them down to the main luggage building. I was leaving in less than 2 hours. A sadness set in. This was it. My time in Fiji really was coming to an end. I laid in a hammock and sucked in my last bit of time. I made a mental memory of my island and will take it with me forever. Before we left, Solo tried to tell me that I needed to stay. I tried to think up a reasonable way to "accidentally" miss the boat back to the mainland. But alas, it was time for me to move on. I have another amazing chapter this journey ahead of me and I need to see it through. If I'm meant to come back to Fiji, I will. But for now, I hugged the staff and shed a tear as they sang the farewell song. This is the last time I'll hear that song but it will be with me always.
The ride on the Flyer back through the islands is beautiful. I'm filled with all of my experiences from the last month and just think about how in love I am with this country. Back to Nadi I land and back to the Bamboo hostel and with a goods night sleep, today I am able to see a bit of this town. I sit here now, hours away from my departure and think about how this country and its people have left their mark on me. My heart is so open. My mind is at peace. I am so lucky to have had this experience, this chapter in my life. It will be with me always and I will never, ever be the same. Thank you Fiji!
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Rachel
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Part I: Fantastic Fiji!; Can't Wait for Part II!!
Court, Fiji thorugh your eyes has been quite amazing and I am so greatful that you have shared the experience with me! I know you are looking forward to the outback and I can't wait to hear your stories from down under!! Take care! Rach