Fiji 1

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Sunday 4^thMarch



Farewell NZ, hello Fiji. We had a good flight across the Pacific and touched down in Nadi in the early afternoon, being greeted by some welcome hot and humid weather plus being serenaded at arrivals by the local Bula band.



No problems checking through customs despite declaring the fishing gear and Sue’s NZ sea shells. We found a waiting taxi and negotiated a price to the hotel about 7 kl away. A warm reception on arrival then it was a case of drop the bags off and out for a swim and chill out in the hammocks next to the beach.



The remainder of the day was spent adjusting to Fiji time and slowly putting together a plan for our three week stay. Also treated to a spectacular distant view of a series of water spouts sweeping across the bay.



Monday 5^th March



Today we took the local bus into Nadi town to speak to travel agents regarding trips to the Islands. The bus was due at 11.00 but due to Fiji time it was 20 mins late, or not depending on whose watch was being used! Very cheap to travel at $1.30, current exchange rate set at $2.66. A very entertaining ride to town in a bus with no windows and i think only two gears, 1^st and reverse.



Nadi itself was disappointing in the fact that all the shops ect was run and owned by Indians and not Fijians. All the locals appeared to of been ousted to the back streets but i guess it’s all a question of money. Like Thailand there is a constant approach by people trying to tempt you in to their shop to spend our western riches! We did succumb at one point and visited a Fijian handicraft shop were we took part in a Cava ceremony with me playing the role of village king. Cava is a traditional drink made from the root of a local plant which is ground down then placed in an old sock and swished around in a bucket of water producing a chalky liquid that tastes a bit like cold tea. This was then passed round and drunk by each of us amidst much clapping and Poetry. We were told this drink eventually make your tongue numb and causes hallucinations!, at this point we left promising to return in three weeks and by our souvenirs, not.



A visit to the tourist info office was next to enquiring about the Island trips. Here we were referred to Mary who took us to her office in a shop across the street and proceeded to hard sell us a trip that obviously involved large backhanders for her. We agreed to return in an hour a book after we had visited the bank. In the bank we met an absolutely charming young cashier who not only cashed our travellers cheques but also offered some good advice on Fiji travels, taking this on board we didn’t visit Mary but got the bus back to our hotel and arranged our trip with them instead. The bus trip back was great as it was also the school run and we chatted to the local kids who are charming and very smartly dressed, especially the lads who most wore skirts, shirt and tie. At one point the bus driver decided to short cut along the beach at high water which to us was a little alarming but to the locals a perfectly normal thing to do.



Tomorrow we depart on the first leg of our Island adventure visiting Mana for four nights and then transferring to Bounty Island for a further four nights.



Tuesday 6^th March



Had to pack quickly this morning as our ferry time was only confirmed an hour before we were due to join it. At this point we didn’t realise the ferry was in fact a small speed boat made in about 1960 and departed from the beach in front of the hotel. We arranged to leave most of our baggage at the hotel and only took basic supplies, cash, suncream, a pair of short and a couple of T shirts. I like to travel light. Sue to be fare was much the same apart from the added make up bag!



Anyway we climbed aboard along with 16 others travellers, mostly youngsters and set off at 20 knots across the bay and out to sea. The trip was amazing and local knowledge was essential to avoid the many underwater coral reefs. After passing many small paradise Islands consisting of half a dozen palm trees in the middle of a small sand island we arrived at Mana Island and were again greeted by the locals who serenaded us of the boat.



On the way across Su spent most of the time chatting to a youngster ‘Shannon’ and her mate Rebecca, both from the Midlands, UK. These two became our surrogate daughters for the next 4 nights and were great fun with a wicked sense of humour and some great stories of their travels.



After a quick greeting by our hostess Sue and i were shown to our luxury accommodation set in the middle of the local village. This was a simple room with bed, chairs ect plus adjoining on suit bathroom, i will let the photos tell the story!



After settling in and unpacking our small bag which took about 30 seconds we joined the others for lunch. Lunch was some very nice sandwiches of various fillings, egg salad, fish and Sue’s favourite, cold baked beans. Gosh we don’t mess around when we book our accommodation?



We spent the rest of the day swimming, walking the beach and with the girls anticipating what the evening meal would be. As it turned out it was ok, a huge stir-fry with rice followed by the evening entertainment which consisted of the local lads dancing semi naked while covered in coconut oil. This appealed to some of the girls in the group and especially to the two German guys who were in the room next to ours whom the girls had classified as being gay! The dancing was followed by a knife dance and finally a fire show which didn’t quite live up to the Phi Phi show in Thailand but they did their best.



We finished the night with a moonlight walk along the beach watching hugely comical crabs burrowing in the sand along the way before popping in to a bar for a couple of Rums as a night cap. That’s us in the bar not the crabs.



Wednesday 7^th March



Oh dear our tropical paradise has overnight become a tropical river. We must be sitting underneath the biggest rain cloud ever as it hasn’t stopped raining since about midnight, the time as i write this is 11.00am. This is not just any old rain, each drop equals a bucket full, quite amazing.



Any way breakfast was civilised with homemade bread rolls, pancakes and coffee from a flask. Sue has now disappeared off with her new mates and is being all motherly while learning how to basket weave, i was invited but unfortunately was busy blogging and watching the rain!



Later we are hoping to visit the local school to meet the kids who i must add are delightful.



Well as it turned out we had no school visit and it continued to rain until about three. Sue whiled away the time weaving wristbands and baskets while i played drafts with other camp members. During a break in the rain a group of us walked across the Island to have a look at the named Sunset Bay, so named as it faces the setting sun! This route took us along the beach then across the island via the grass airstrip. It really was like Coconut Airways with the terminal building being a 10’ x 6’ shed and the busiest the ground crew get is moving the sleeping dogs of the runway. The beach on the other side was nice but as the tide was up it made it almost inaccessible so we made our way back through the local village to our accommodation. Sue decided she needed a treat on the way so we stopped at the shop for crisps and biscuits. The rest of the day was spent reading, chatting and looking forward to our evening meal!



Thursday 8^th March



No rain today but we did awake to a disturbance in our room! We had a visit from Roland the Rat and a little while later Mickey the Mouse who were attracted by the sweet biscuits bought yesterday. Now both these little critters are not my favourite so the place of safety was standing on the bed whilst given Sue instructions to remove them. When i thought it was safe i ventured through to the loo to answer the call only to turn round when finished and come face to face with little Roland the Rat who found this too much and scurried back to his place under the bed! After a bit of noise and rattling of furniture we saw him disappear under the partition door into our German neighbour’s room. Five minutes later Mickey the Mouse appeared for his run around the floor and he too made his exit via the neighbour’s room never to return, i hope.



By this time the sun was well and truly shining so after our meagre breakfast of seven slices of thin brown toast we walked to the other side of the island for a bit of Shark spotting. Allegedly small young shark enter the cove on the turn of the tide to feed for a short time, unfortunately for all our patient watching we didn’t see anything.



The rest of the day was spent lazing in the sun and swimming and later in the afternoon we hired some Snorkel gear and explored the coral reef just of the beach. This was amazing, just like swimming in an oversized tropical fish tank. We didn’t realise there would be so much marine life and the colours of the fish and coral were incredible. We were swimming about 30 mts from the beach in about 7/8 ft of water to start with then pushed out further to were the seabed drops away over the edge of a coral cliff. A very strange feeling swimming over the edge and not being able to see the bottom and also apprehensive about meeting the odd Shark! On our return to shallow water we were lucky enough to spot a large Stingray sitting on the seabed.



We finished the afternoon with a cold beer and Chips on the veranda of the adjacent bar before cleaning up for dinner.



The entertainment tonight was drinking games with Mana shots! A lethal combination. Mana is a dark rum based concoction similar to a student sh*t mix. We taught everyone how to play Spoons with a record 12 people playing; surprisingly it turned into chaos with a few injuries. Following this mayhem a lad who looked and behaved like Will from the In be Tweeners taught us the Horse race played with cards. Can’t wait to get this going at the V Fest in August.



All in all a good night and a few sore heads in the morning.



Friday 9 March



Today was spent happily sitting around on the beach, swimming and Snorkelling. We also dropped in to the local school to spend time with the children for an hour or so which was entertaining. The school sits at the rear of the village and consists of one building with three rooms and an outdoor classroom which is where we sat and listened to the kids read and helped some with their school work. Nr the end of our visit we were entertained with some singing and dancing by the older children accompanied on the guitar by the Head teacher.



As we had a new batch of inmates to the island today the entertainment was once again the Fijian dancing and Fire show which very nearly ended in disaster when one of the fire sticks ended up on the roof of the building. Quite serious for the locals but very funny for us watching.



Saturday 10^th March



Today we escape from Mana Island and head to Bounty Island for four nights. We join the boat along with the girls and head off calling in on the way to Beachcomber Island to drop them off. Here we said our farewells and presented them both with a tin of peanuts each to help keep them going.



We arrived at Bounty and again were greeted with singing and guitars then promptly sat down for a huge lunch that had been saved for us. Oh how that food tasted so good after all the soggy stir fry’s of the past few days.



Following lunch we waddled our way to our B sitting on the beach with its own hammock outside and chilled out for the afternoon. Before supper we walked around the island which took about 20 minutes then sat down for roast Beef and roast Chicken with veg, pots and gravy, delicious. While sitting at the table which was only a matter of a few feet from the water we watched young Black Tipped Reef Shark swimming and feeding in the shallows.



With dinner done we had a couple of beers in the small bar and a game of Rummy before retiring for the night.



Sunday 11^th March



A short blog account for today. Awoke, got up, breakfast, sat in sun chair and read books, swim, snorkel, read, dinner, read, sleep, swim, walk, dinner, beer and chat, bed. All in all a very busy day.



Monday 12^th March



Today is very much the same as yesterday except we both had a go at Scuba diving. We were both a little apprehensive but made it out into the shallows with our bottles on without mishap and practiced breathing techniques. We both struggled a bit and found it very difficult to master and at this point after a few go’s Sue decided to back out and sit by the pool instead were she felt safer. I on the other hand slowly mastered the technique and once the Matt the instructor to me in tow it all became perfectly natural. We disappeared under for perhaps half an hour with no problems and witnessed some amazing marine life and also my first shark, a one and a half metre Black Tip which was more scared of us than us of it!



A fabulous experience and something i shall have a go at back in the UK for certain in preparation for more tropical holidays.



The remainder of the day was spent relaxing in true Fijian style, eg asleep.



Tuesday 13^th March



Another Island day today doing a bit of Kayaking round the island, more Snorkelling and relaxing on the sun bed with a book. Weather today was very warm indeed up to 16.00 when the afternoon storm front swept through giving us torrential rain for approx half an hour. It fined away soon after to give us a spectacular sunset with Beachcomber Island in the background.



I took another beating from Sue when playing Rummy in the evening and to make things worse i am suffering from a painful back ache due to the Kayaking. And just to make things worse a dodgy stomach also!



Wednesday 14^th March



A very uncomfortable night for me with my dodgy stomach, spent most of it in the loo. Managed to get up at 05.30 to see the sunrise then promptly went back to bed for an hour. Feeling a lot better now after some Tea and toast and the back ache has eased also. This is our last day on Bounty and are due to be picked up at 12.30 by the boat ‘Mana Flyer ‘and taken back to Smugglers beach and our original hotel.



The boat eventually arrived at 13.30 and whisked us back to the mainland. On route we heard from a young girl that her boyfriend was savaged by a pack of wild dogs on Mana Island the previous day, quite serious injuries to the backs of his legs. She said the Islanders were now going to cull the dogs, to little to late i fear. Sue looked after her when we got ashore while i checked us in to a room and recovered our large bags. The rest of the afternoon we spent booking LA to Vegas flights and looking at hotel deals on the strip. Also booked a hire car for the morning so we can explore the Coral coast down to Suva.



We had a Pizza each for tea; eat only half as i was still feeling a little dodgy. Decided to have an early night to catch up on lost sleep.



Thursday 15^th March



Oh dear, feeling pretty bad this morning. Again, up during the night for the loo a number of times and also suffering very painful stomach cramps. Stayed in bed until 09.30 then checked out of the room and were taken to the Coastal hire car office to complete some very dodgy paper work!



Half an hour later we were off along the kings highway which is actually no more than a farm track with potholes. About 10 k out we stopped and booked ourselves in to a resort we had heard about for 4 days from next Wednesday, it looks very nice so we are looking forward to that. I was now feeling pretty bad again so after a quick stop at the town of Sigatoka for some supplies we found a room at the Crows Nest Resort a little further on down the road where after unloading the bags i promptly collapsed on the bed for the afternoon and slept. Not much company for Sue so she disappeared of to the pool with her book.



Early in the evening we walked to a local restaurant for some supper, while there we were entertained by the large number of Toads that was hopping about and the walk back was a mission to avoid standing on them.



Friday 16^th March



Feeling really bad now, up a number of times in the night again, really painful cramps and a vision of a hospital visit looming! Managed to gather enough strength to drive back to Sigatoka where we found a Chemist. After describing the symptoms we were told to visit the local Doctor for a diagnosis and prescription. After being prodded about he declared i was suffering from acute Gastro enteritis and prescribed some tablets as big as dustbin lids.



Back at the Resort i took a first of these along with a drink to replace essential minerals ect and within minutes i was out for the count only waking up after two hours feeling very drowsy but a little brighter.



I spent the rest of the day dozing and reading and making the most of a sh*t situation.



Saturday 17^th March



A much better night, thank goodness. Slept at last and feel a lot brighter with some energy. Took the morning dose of pills and potions and checked out of the resort and headed off to Suva. It was extremely hot and humid and within minutes we were both dripping with sweat even with the cars aircon on full. Made a stop at Pacific Harbour for a fruit shake and look around the cultural shops. Came across some amazing wood carving done by the local villages, all done in Mahogany. Also enjoyed a long chat with a local lady, Emma about the area and culture ect.



Eventually made it to Suva and are worst fears were realised, it was a tip. A road system that that had no markings, no signs and was full of even bigger pot holes than the main highway and that was bad enough! We managed a circuit around the city centre looking for some accommodation and only came across some pretty dismal guest houses, not very inviting. It was impossible to park anywhere which was a shame as i wanted to look round the National Museum and Government House. We agreed to head back about 3 kl to Lama and found a Holiday Inn Hotel reasonably priced so settled there for the night to reconsider our plans.



Sunday 18^th March



Up late today taking full advantage of the 11.00am checkout time. Decided to head back to Pacific Harbour and find accommodation there for a couple of nights. Again, really hot today and we were both glad it was only a short drive. We checked in to some cheap backpacker accommodation which at the time of booking as ok ish. Then went to a nearby cafe for some lunch and were promptly hounded by a moth eaten dog which had a large wound to its skull. Now we both love dogs but after listening to the story of Mana Island i especially felt very uneasy about staying in the area. And to confirm my fear as we started to eat lunch the bl**dy thing came and sat directly under the table giving me the evil eye. On finishing we went back to the reception and found it following us, probably sizing up which one of us it would take a chunk out of first. I explained our reasons for wishing to leave and the two girls didn’t seem to see the problem of stray dogs being around, and i had to show them how to do the refund on the PDQ machine.



After making it out unharmed we tried another couple of resorts without luck before booking in to the Pearl Resort a little further down the road, this was a little more expensive but appeared dog free.



We dropped the bags off then did a quick laundry wash in the sink, real backpacker style. Then it was off to the pool to cool off and chill out on a sun lounger. This only lasted an hour or so before the afternoon thunder clouds rolled in so we retreated to the room and watched a suburb Sea life documentary. We shall attempt to Skype family later and hopefully publish this blog.



I am afraid the blogging may have lost some of its sparkle over the past week due to feeling rough but hopefully full service will resume shortly!



We only have only two weeks left of the trip before we arrive back in the UK. One week here in Fiji and a week in Las Vegas to see if we can win back what we have spent, ha ha.



That’s all for now,



Cheers, S & J

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