BULA Fiji February; Island hopping, Party games and Karva.

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Where to start. Paradise, sheer paradise. Sat outside on the veranda of our Bure (a traditional thatched Fijian bungalow) in the grounds of an old coconut plantation, feet up on a low slung sofa , Amy inside, in the cool, taking her usual morning nap after breakfast. I’m currently trying to work out how to stay in Fiji longer than the three weeks our pre-planed ticket will allow; I don’t want to leave. Having just spent 15 days on one island and now taking 2 days out on another before moving to a third. We are more than chilled; this is how normal should feel.
When we arrived in Fiji, we had no idea what to expect, after all these are the south pacific islands that have always been, and still are, tribal with a history of cannibalism used to deter those who disagreed with them. Whilst the cannibals are long gone, the chiefs and tribes of Fiji are very much part of every life. An Aussy business man, who was sat next to me on the plane into Nadi , said that in his opinion the locals were quite low in intelligence, a sweeping statement. When the British were asked by the King of Fiji to help him out of huge debts in the 1870‘s, we promptly moved in and took Fiji over for a few years. In doing so, we made it law, which Fiji kept when they gained their independence in 1970 (and they fight for it with ferocity today), that under any circumstances, they were not allowed to sell any part of Fijian land to any other country. Consequently, today Fiji is 87% owned by Fijians. Therefore, the islands chiefs and tribes have managed to keep many of the huge American, New Zealand, Australian and indeed British conglomerate hotel chains and resorts at bay (all be it through one coups or another) that would for sure ruin these beautiful islands and the peace they offer. Smart I‘d say - but for how long? Just hope they hang on in there and keep those values they hold so dear, though I can’t help feeling that the onslaught of new technology and the need for the country’s youth to stray beyond Fijian shores, may soon see Fiji change.
Arriving at Nadi (pro Nandi) airport, we were met in the traditional local manner with a garland of shell necklaces and a great big BULA! (meaning welcome, hello. life) from the guy picking us up from our hostel. Bungled into a mini bus that should have been scrapped 10 years ago, we set off to our hostel, Mama’s Tropic of Capricorn. I have to stay, that just like a lot of towns in hot under developed countries, Nadi is no different. Its dusty, well worn and a bit scruffy, but culturally very interesting. Our hostel was lovely and our double room very comfortable and cool, given the heat outside. We dumped our backpacks and headed for the office to check in and sort out some transport for our journey into the Yasawa islands the following day, having booked 12 days in a place called Oarsman Bay Lodge, also a hostel/low budget, just 3 days prior to travelling to Fiji. We duly booked a one way ticket on the Yasawa flyer, a bright yellow catamaran as it turned out, that would take us on the 5 hour 90km journey north, to the top of the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands. Celebrating our arrival with a beer and a Mango juice, we sat on the terrace, over looking the pacific ocean, and watched an amazing sunset, the first of many. By 8.30pm, we were showered and tucked up in bed with a book and some where between then and 9pm, we were asleep. By 8.30am the following morning, we had watched the sun rise, had breakfast, caught the local bus, boarded the great yellow catamaran and were on our way to Nabula Island, Oarsmans Bay, our lodging for the next 12 days ( ……..well a bit more actually). We passed island after island and they all looked fab. Clear aqua blue water and idyllic beaches, all picture book and more than fulfilling my expectations. 5 hours later we arrived at the top of the Yasawa islands and our final destination. We identified our bags which were put onto a long boat and just the 2 of us climbed down off the big yellow catamaran after them, to be whisked off to the island of Nacula. The sea, crystal clear, looked very inviting as we drew closer to Nabula, but then we heard them. A group of 8 Fijians, standing on the beach, holding a tray of glasses of fruit juice and waving us ashore, singing a traditional Fijian welcome song. What a welcome!! We stepped out of the boat into warm clear water and up the beach to meet our hosts, who I have to say, were some the loveliest people I have ever met. How nice the world would be if all people were like them. Having had a quick chat to the manager, a lady called Oni, about the way things worked at Oarsmans Bay Resort (nothing like a resort actually, more like moving in with your favourite aunt and her family), we were shown our Bure, situated on the beach and just a few yards from the sea. Paradise! It took no time for us to find our bikinis and get into the sea and words cannot explain how delightful swimming in the aqua blue, crystal clear, warm salty, picture book ocean really was. Actually, we did a lot of floating, like starfish, still and quiet, under the sun and without a care in the world. If there was any stress left in my bones, this sea was responsible for removing the last atom of it. For a few days, we read books in the hammock, swam, slept and ate what was put in front of us and after those few days and 6 books later, we thought we ought to try to move a little further than 100 meters away from our Bure. We visited the local village several times and had several invites to childrens church services and visits to the islands school (which took kids from 5 islands), all of which were funded and built with the profits raised from our resort. The community, though very poor, were lovely set of people and offered what ever they had without asking for anything in return - very humbling. There were a few other visitors to our little island, of whom one was a live wire called Danny, an English actress who had been living and working in Australia for a while. In a day full of calm and quiet, she offered noise and chaos and an invitation to visit the caves which were used in the 1970’s film ‘Blue Lagoon’, all of which was filmed on the islands that surrounded us. Brook Shields swims in this open topped cave and many older members of the local village appeared in the film as extras, giving them some odd affinity with the film (and if you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean - Brook swimming in the sea and running around a beach at 14, with a 15 year old lad, both in the nude doing things you don’t want to see kids at that age doing). Anyway, Brook aside, (there is a pun there, Danny’s mum was one of the main characters in the Brookside soap) we visited the caves, but not with Danny. Getting there by boat, we travelled around the reef and coral gardens a hundred yards off shore, and journeyed up the coast for 40 minutes before getting to the small island where the caves were situated. Climbing up to the mouth of the cave, we saw how big it was and were invited to take swim in the waters, which we couldn’t wait to do. The water, a mixture of sea and rain, was calm and clear with no visible bottom to it. Our guide then asked if we wanted to swim into the next closed cave. He had a torch that could show us the way through, but we’d have to swim under a rock to get in there. So off we went, swimming under a rock a short distance to get us into the next set of caves. It was dark, very dark and slightly disconcerting swimming in deep dark water in the pitch black, not being able to see what was happening. Once we were all in there the torch arrived with the guide and as it shone over the surface of the water, one member of our group said ‘ there’s a snake in here’. As we all bobbed about in the open water, in the dark, the Australian phrase ‘do something that scares you each day’ popped into my head. Calmly, I asked the guide if he knew if the snake, that was now side winding its thin long green body over the waters surface towards us, was poisonous. ‘I have no idea, I’ve never seen one in here before’ came the reply. On this comment, one particular girl in our group almost walked on water to get out of the cave as fast as she could, closely followed by the guide. So, with a great amount of relief, we followed. And before you think it was the snake that scared me slightly, it wasn’t. I’d read up on venomous snakes and there are none that you are warned about in Fiji. It was being in a dark watery environment that I had to get out of by swimming under a rock and it made me feel slightly claustrophobic. On the outside larger cave, another guide said it was an eel. However, on our return to Oarsman Bay, we checked on a chart of water bound snakes and fish and sure enough, our snake was on it. We didn’t return to the caves for a second look.
Safely back in my hammock and 2 books later, we decided to make arrangements to leave this idyllic island to visit more in the Yasawa chain. We failed and ended up staying 4 more days. We weren’t the only ones. 5 others were struggling to leave the island too and it seemed to be decide that we all left around the same time so that the wrench from our new found Fijian family wasn’t as hard if we all did it together. A word on evening entertainment at Oarsmans Bay: each evening around 8.30pm, there was a different activiyt organised by the staff, each one resembling a kids party game. Best of all was musical chairs, which I have to say got very aggressive and was often followed by hermit crab racing - its hysterical watching grown adults cheer a load of crabs with a tipexed numbers on their shells, willing their number to the finishing line. Each morning we’d find the crabs further up the beach doing an escape act. Some evening were spent dancing in bare feet under the moonlight sky and some singing songs around a fire on the beach, drinking Fiji beer. But practically every night the staff and some of the guests participated in the ‘karva or grog’ ceremony. Karva is a root of a local herb that is burnt every day, reduced to a cinder then pounded into powder, added to water and drunk. It tastes like muddy water and aniseed and sends your tongue numb if you drink more than you should. Oh yes and it has a mild narcotic effect on the consumer! Having tried this on a couple of evenings, we realised it made us so lethargic, we slept through most of the following day, so we’d better not drink it too often and in such copious amounts. However, most island Fijians partake in this activity every night. Beats coronation street I can tell you! It can’t be that bad for you, doctors in some Swiss clinics now administer it for depression.
Next Island was Otto and Fanny’s place, a real family that fed you fantastic food 4 times a day and turned off the generator at 11pm so you had to go to bed early as you were in the pitch dark. The stars were just amazing. Heaven!!!! From here we went to a place called Botaira Bay. The Bure here was spectacular and had a bar man called Mr. Knox, who chatted all the ladies up with amazing feats and tricks with coconuts and basket making. 2 days at Otto and Fanny’s and 2 days at Botaira completed our time in the Yasawa Islands. As I started this section of my blog, I knew that I would come back to these islands - even if I have to swim several oceans to get to them.
Back on the main we stayed with Mama at Tropic of Capricorn, a loud happy wild grandmother, who again fed us fantastic food and loved being there to help us and all the other travellers in her lodgings. After a couple of days spent on the other side of the island in Suva, the main city on the island of Viti Levu, visiting museums and bazaars and fresh food markets, we spent our last night again with Mama. Getting up the following morning, we heard about the Chile earthquake and were told that we were on tsunami warning and to be prepared!!!! Calls were made to the airport to check if more flights had been put on to get visitors off the island and we were told to be on standby. When we first got to Oarsmans Bay, they told us that they recently observed the sea leave the entire bay, leaving only wet sand and a lot of stranded fish, which they duly ran into the ocean less bay to pick up and rescue for the freezer!!!! We hoped they’d taken their recent tsunami training seriously. Fortunately for all, the seas didn’t drop as dramatically as expected and we left Fiji and our friends in tact. Very sad to be leaving both the islands and the people. One day I know we will both return.

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Photos

My des res
Decking on the beach in Oarsmans Bay. This is where I want to retire.

Oarsmans Bay Beach
My morning walk. A really tough walk but I just had to do it, before sliding into the warm waters of the South Pacific

Beach Party
A few of us who couldn't leave Oarsmans Bay. We all tried but stayed on longer.

Village Children
Messing about with Necula village children after attending an evening childrens mass.

Coco the cat
I seem to have attracted animals on this trip.

Please don't make me leave
This sea is warm, relaxing and amazingly good for your soul - especially when sat in it with a cold beer

Bure in Botaira
The ceiling of our bure (beach cottage) was amazing

Sunset in Botaira
Sigh - why did we have to leave this land