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Published: November 16th 2008
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Well we were lucky enough that the cheap flights we got back to Aus were through Air Pacific meaning that we could stop over in Fiji for no extra cost. We only had one week there but what an amazing week. We are so glad that we were able to visit the islands and hope that we can come back to Fiji and other South Pacific Islands in the future.
We spent the first night in Nadi as we had a huge travel day to get over. This gave us one taste of Fiji on the mainland then it was off to the Yasawa Islands to take in island life. The Yasawas are a chain of islands on the west of the biggest island Viti Levu . We discovered a deal where a big catamaran would take you anywhere on the Yasawa chain everyday and you could choose from about 12 islands and 20 “resorts” to stay at. I say resorts because some are really simple and it is like you join the village for your stay. Anyway lets get into some of the highlights of our “Fiji Time”.
Fiji Time
Fiji Time is that type
of time where things will happen when they happen. You quickly get into Fiji time and it is a good place to be.
Lets go for our favourites!!!!!!
Swimming with white tip reef sharks
We stayed at one place called Kuata Beach which was yet another piece of paradise. Apart from the 3 beaches to choose from and the great hikes and volcanic formations this island offered a trip out to a patch of reef that was full of white tip reef sharks. Now they say that the sharks are nice and friendly which is all well and good until you are out in the middle of the ocean with half a dozen 4 foot sharks with a mouth full of bloody sharp teeth (note that the small sharks we caught mentioned below were biting through 60 pound fishing line). Well once the local boys had speared a few fish and got the sharks all keen they started to swim all around us getting within a flipper or a finger of you. Then the locals start to dive down and grab onto their tails and heads and have a friendly wrestle with the sharks but
you start to see that the sharks don’t want to bite anyone if they can help it. One of the boys had a piece of fish in his right hand and did not see a shark come from his left and nip his left hand by mistake. Well all the Fiji boys started laughing and having a great time because one of there mates almost lost a finger but he was ok. Well after seeing the boys in action I could not help myself and had to dive down and managed to grab the biggest shark by the tail, certainly something I never thought I would do in my lifetime and a big buzz.
Swimming with Manta Rays
Well probably one of the best things we did in Fiji and one of the best experiences we have had was to swim with the Manta Rays. There was a stretch of water between 2 islands that had a load of plankton and coral spawn flowing between and during this time of year the Manta Rays come to feed and breed. Well we were out there on a particularly good day and saw maybe a dozen or more rays
in the area sometimes swimming with 4 rays at a time. Some of the rays were well over 3 metres across and a metre thick. We got to swim above, below, beside, behind and in front of them, until they take evasive action, and I was even able to touch one on the tail. They were so graceful in the water and tolerant of us intruders and really put on a show. Add to this the fact that the coral reef below was awesome and there were loads of other fish species schooling up and going crazing on the food made for a great snorkelling experience.
White Sandy Beach - postcard beaches
White Sandy Beach was our favourite place we stayed. The people there were so nice and one of the guys who worked at the resort, who was also the grandson of the village chief wanted us to come and live in the village with them after only 2 days. The snorkeling right off the beach was the best we have ever seen in the world that you can get to just by swimming off the beach. I learned how to catch local sand crabs from
and old man on the other side of the island which we used for bait for fishing. I managed to catch a nice trevally on a lure that went straight to the kitchen to be cooked for the Fijian night along with the Lovo (Hungi, underground oven). Then we were able to catch 6 nice black tip reef sharks in one evening right in front of a beach bonfire. And if we can add more they also had some baby green turtles hatch on the beach that they were looking after until they were big enough to survive on there own. We were able to clean them, feed them and take them for a swim in the ocean so they could get some practice.
The Queen and Debora
There was one place in the Yasawas that we heard about before we arrived that had a reputation that preceded it. Apparently it was run by the campest Fijians there are and we were not let down when we arrived there. Well the queen was quite dainty and ruled the roost and was a bit of a hoot. And then there was Debora. Imagine the biggest stockiest Fijian man
you can think of with tree trunk legs and metre wide shoulders. Add some caked on nail polish, a lovely hair band and the softest feminine voice who laughs at anything long and/or hard and you just can’t help but be bemused. Worth the entry price alone.
Sea Snakes and Stingrays
Well it is about time Carrie went and got into a bit of trouble for a change. After a heavy session of cockle collecting with the locals out on a sand spit Carrie was easily able to avoid stepping on a stingray but while dodging that ended up coming close to getting into big trouble. Carrie was unlucky enough to stand on the tail of a sea snake but lucky enough that she was not bitten else she could have been in trouble on an island with no form of medical help. Stepping on sea snakes is probably one of the worse things you would want to do so far away from medical help but she gets to live to tell the tale.
Lovo and Kava and Goat
Well the food was pretty simple most of the time. For some reason due to
the coup a couple of years ago there was an embargo from NZ stopping the import of Potatoes (that will teach ya) so we had to eat plant fruit, yams and other bland stuff as a replacement. The food was good when the locals cooked a Lovo which we call a Hungi in Aus. It is where the food is cooked under ground buried in banana leaves surrounded by coals and hot rocks. We ate "lamb" from the lovos a couple of times and it was not until I went for a big hike one day and found a herd of goats that I realised why the "lamb" tasted a bit different to what I was used too. It was ok though. We tried the Kava, as you do and although it does not taste great it was not that bad if you knock it back quick. We never drank much so could not tell you how messed up it can get you.
Well we are now just about finished our time back in Aus and back on the road in Sth East Asia. This one is going to be interesting as we have absolutely nothing planned as of
today and we leave next Wednesday. Suppose we better book the first nights accom in Bangkok as a start.
Until next time,
Cheers,
Troy and Carrie
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