Blogs from Viti Levu, Fiji, Oceania - page 14

Hi everyone! I think Joe left off at our trip in Nasivikoso which, if you hadn't picked up on, was amazing and life changing. Fiji is, if nothing else, full of the most amazingly selfless, kind, happy and entertaining people i've ever met. So far the most enjoyable aspect of life here is the relationships i've made with the Fijians I work with and live with. I'm not sure how much joe said about it but around here, all over Fiji actually, everynight consists of sitting around the Kava bowl, singing Fijian songs (which we've fallen inlove with and are getting alittle better and trying to sing along with), laughing and relaxing. I'll definitely miss that when i get back. So, staff training was fun but it ended abruptly with the first shipment of highschool ... read more

Everything about the trip to Nasivicoso was memorable, including the ride there. The means of transportation we used were old Toyota pickup trucks with bench seats in the back and a cover. We simply call them "carriers". The roads we travel on are dirt and in horrible condition, so you can imagine how bumpy the ride was in the back of a truck with no seatbelts. But the view was incredible. Going into the mountains was a totally different experience. Looking back at the lowlands and the coast made us feel so high, in all sorts of ways. We arrived at a small shelter off of the road after about three hours of bumpy, dusty driving. We hiked about 45 minutes where we arrived at Sa Sa village. This village had 4 houses. It was ... read more

To those of you who have been to Fiji, how many of you have been east on the mainland? How many of you have rafted down trepid white water, how many of you have visited a local village, how many of you have travelled the entire mainland on public transport alone, how many of you have watched the all blacks play fiji with a local, how many of you have managed to dive for free, how many of you have swam in natural rock pools deep in the rainforest, how many of you have trekked through the rainforest for free??? I have no idea how I did it but I have and I had such a great time! It rained and rained for the first week or so, I had many a set back, I ... read more

After the gorgeous sunrise cruise from Ovalau, we were off on another 5 hour bus trip, this time taking the Kings Road, which runs along the northern coast of Viti Levu. Our bus ride along the Queens Road on our first day in Fiji had seemed sort of rough at the time, but it certainly didn’t prepare us for this one. The first 56 kilometers of the Kings Road were unsealed (unpaved), narrow, twisty, and riddled with rickety, half disintegrated, one lane wooden bridges. Again, we reassured ourselves by repeating what had become our new Fijian transportation mantra, “They do this every day. We’ll be fine.” And then our bus driver took the wrong fork and had to reverse for about 400 meters. On an unsealed, narrow, twisty, one lane road. Had he done this before? ... read more

I just wanted to share with you a little get-away near Suva. It's a rainforest park, just a 20 minute drive from the city and perfect for a quick escape from town at the weekend. I've been there just a couple of times but it is lovely and I intend to visit as often as possible. It's easy to just turn up and go for a walk among the trees, along the river and stop to admire lots of greenery and small waterfalls. Plus if one feels like it you can always jump into some of the bigger pools for a tropical rainforest swim. At the entrance there is a lodge - the Raintree lodge - where some pretty good food can be had. On Sunday they do a brunch which is especially delicious. I ... read more