Beautiful one day....perfect the next!

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27/9



Ahhh…. Beautiful Fiji again. The warmth as you step off the plane was fabulous. Unfortunately, Nikki shared her terrible flu with me and I have almost lost my voice, and my throat is very sore! I’m sure a Fiji Bitter will help though.....

We stayed at the Tanoa International and it was more up market that I had expected, which is always a bonus! It was curry night, and you might think how many different curries can you have?? Plenty, I can assure you and since this was 4 star hotel the food was divine. We needed Kava to take to the village stay and since we were leaving the mainland early in the morning, we had to get it that night. We asked one of the staff members, and in 20 mins he had returned to the hotel with a package - service with a smile.

28/9

The next morning, I woke up with a bad earache - the experiment was to see if quell helped, as it paralyses the middle ear, and the conclusion was – yes! Wonders of modern medicine. We caught the bus to Denarau and caught our boat to Manta Ray Island. (Nanuya Balevu) It was beautiful weather and the trip took about three hours because of all the stops along the way.

At Manta Ray, 3 staff members recognised us from 2 years earlier. Lunch was great and since we hadn’t eaten since the night before, we were starving. Another NZ dive instructor (Jason) honed in on us and Phil said he would do a dive. Despite the earache we went snorkeling and then baked in the sun – so nice when you haven’t seen the sun for a long time!

Happy hour is between 5 -7pm and a cold beer always helps a sore throat. Dinner was at 7pm and we had a choice of several different meals, all very nice! We met a couple who have been travelling for 8 months but as the music got louder, we couldn’t talk much and when the games for the youngsters began, we decided to leave – I know, - fuddy duddies.

That night was not pleasant with earaches blocked sinuses and a sore throat. We spoke to Emily at breakfast and she told us about a Fijian remedy for sore throat. One of the other Staff Si (Sigh) would show me which leaves to pick and chew to make it feel better.

We found Si, who was more than happy to oblige and he told me to chew the leaves and swallow the juice and spit out the pulp. It tasted bitter and dried out my mouth, but my throat felt better – maybe it was mind over matter, but anything to stop the coughing and pain – who cares!

29/9

Phil went for a 1 tank dive and I went for a snorkel. I think the fish had grown since the last time we were here and as it was a sanctuary, there were plenty of fish to see. After chewing more leaves, and plenty of alcohol drops in our ears, we relaxed the day away until happy hour, when we grabbed a couple of beers and went for a romantic stroll (including my barking cough) down the beach to the other end of the island. After dinner, we saw a show which was put on by the local villagers of Naviti Island and it was finished off by the gay bartender – Isaac, dressed as a woman. The rest of the audience got louder again so it was time to go to bed.

30/9

It was checkout day so after breakfast we packed our things and while we were paying our bill, we heard of a tsunami warning due to hit in Fiji because of an earthquake near Samoa. Thanks for that calming bit of information before an hours boat ride in a small long boat. By the time we had finished checking out, it was called off so we were safe.

Toye was early – which is unusual for Fijians, so a quick gulp of quell and I was ready. He was a great guy and he talked to us along the way. We had about 1m waves along the way and Toye was an excellent boatman, manoeuvring the tiny boat with expertise.

When we arrived at Malevu, I did a very ungraceful dismount out of the boat and fell into the water and hit my knee on the edge of the boat. Phils comment was “What are you doing in the water?” When I stood up, my leg looked like it had a second knee cap – gross! We were shown to our room, part of the main bure, and lunch was cooked for us. Fish caught that morning – yum!

After lunch we went for a walk down to the beach, and passed the next village, passing cassava crops and taro crops along the way. On Wednesdays there is a church service before dinner. Phil had to dress in a Sulu and a button up shirt before he could attend so he had to borrow them from Toye. The singing in the service was amazing. The people of this village have beautiful voices and sang better that I have ever heard before. Their harmonies were so well balanced and in tune.

After the service, it was dinner time, and a great meal was cooked for us again. That night, we were to present our sevu sevu (Kava) to the headman of the village. It was a bit intimidating because I was the only female there, in a room of about 17 men as women generally don’t join in unless it is a special occasion. We had about 5 shells of Kava but they only gave me half shells or low tide as they call it, because I’m a woman.

That night we didn’t get much sleep because we had a crying baby in the next room of the thin walled house and I was still coughing all night. The house was in the middle of the village and not next to the ocean, so no cool sea breezes. We also thought that we had lost some money in this village, but it had turned out later that I had misplaced it, but we opted to leave earlier, which we did regret after we found the money. The family was lovely and it would be nice to go back when we felt better.

1/10

We sent Toye the rest of the money by mail from the mainland for the whole stay when we found it several days later. We booked a resort from the Yasawa Flyer as we were travelling back, called Naqalia (Nangalia). It was on Waya Lai Lai – right next to the Eco resort we had stayed on 2 years ago. The place was stunning and very new. A woman called Mary gave us a hug as we got out of the boat and treated us as if we were family. Since we were in such a hurry to get off the boat, I didn’t get my snorkeling bag and that went back to the mainland by itself – bugga!

The bure had a separate bathroom, and a partly walled off bedroom and a sitting room all beautifully furnished. – Bliss! The generator went on at about 6 pm and we could charge our phones and laptop again, and the phone was in range again.That night was lovo night, and true to tradition, we were not allowed to eat with knives and forks and had to eat with our fingers. Have you ever eaten coleslaw with your fingers?

There was an older couple next to us who were there on their honeymoon. – A Fijian minister and an Eskimo minister – how bizarre! On the other side was a lovely young English couple – Matt and Dianna who were travelling around the world for a year. They might even drop in to see us in January. A Fijian travel agent was also staying there and he wanted our opinion of the place. He took photos, and who knows we may be in the next brochure!

2/10

The next morning, Phil woke up with diahhrea and sore ears – just part of the fun!! After breakfast, we walked on a narrow path to the other resort (about ½ an hour away) to reminisce about the last time when we stayed had there and to pick up my snorkeling gear which was supposed to be coming back up the Yasawas – which it did, but the boat captain was not going to give them to a Fijian without written consent, - so off they went right to the top of the islands!

When it was time for the honeymooners to leave, the sea was getting a lot rougher. I was glad I wasn’t travelling that day. The Fijian women went into the water up to their armpits to help get them into the little rocking boat. That was looking like a 3 sickness tablets sea to me. It was unusually rough for that area. After a great fish dinner, we had an early night as Phil still had a bout of the big ‘D’.

The next morning, Phil felt a little better and the staff recommended strong black tea for Phil. Nate (One of the women here) admired my sulu because the material was much softer than the local ones, so I gave her one of mine. She was so greatful, that she nearly cried.

After breakfast we walked over to the other side of the island to a secluded beach, which made you believe that you were the only ones on the island because there was no sign of any building or anyone anywhere. Unfortunately Phil wasn’t feeling great, so it was lucky that we had the emergency loo paper in the pocket. The sea was almost flat calm, and it was a pity that my snorkeling gear was going up and down the Yasawas without me.

Finally, it was time to go in the afternoon, and they had to wake Mary up as she likes to drink lots of kava which makes you sleepy the next day. She was a real character and Nate was the opposite, but together, they make a great team!

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Photos

Denarau
The Yasawa Flyer

Naviti
Toye and his nephew taking us to Naviti island

Naviti
Phil dressed for church at Malevu

Waya Lai Lai
View from Waya Lai Lai

Waya Lai Lai
The staff at Naqalia

Yasawas
Transport from the big yellow boat to the islands

Manta Ray
Si introducing me to the happy hour menu