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Published: November 7th 2008
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Fiji - Land of Smiles....
So Nadi isn't really what you expect when you disembark the overnight flight to Fiji. For myself.. i guess i was expecting leis and flowers, not the dull worn tiles of Nadi Airport. But on the outside it is a different story.
Opening the door and getting smacked in the face by the heat of the tropics is one of my most vivid memories. I also remember the smiles of the Fijiians as I walk outside.
The intense tropical heat agrees with me. My hair loves it and has a life of its own in a warm climate. The waiting driver of our car has a life of his own too...he is a very fast driver.
The clouds loom ominously over the horizon as our "limo - a 1984 something" bumbles along the roads of fiji's main gateway. The red bathmat on the dash is a bit of a sign of things to come I recognise later.
We are dropped at the Denarau marina for our high speed cat to Beachcomber Island. The cat is waiting and the tourists chat in various languages excitedly. The breeze when the cat pulls away
from the dock is fantastic and a welcome relief.
We coast past tiny coral fringed islands and eventually come to rest at one with lush green forest in the middle and white sand beaches. On the beach where our small tender boat docks is a group of native Fijiians strumming the ukelele and singing a welcome song. Now this is the Fiji i imagined.
A gorgeous little bungalow with 10 steps to the beach, a hammock swaying in the gentle breeze, a bar built straight on the sand...A spa overlooking the beach, filled with natural seawater...
.....heaven....
The buffets for meatimes are devine (complete with baby worms in the guavas) - with lots of basic but yummy food. After dinner the band plays and we sit at the bar and run our bare feet in the sand underneath our chairs. We sing the Bula song and play daggy games. We dance and sing and play.
The days bring massages and snorkelling, sleeping and cocktail tasting. Paradise... alas we have to leave for the rest of our journey...
Back on the cat , staring remorsefully at the Island dissapearing behind us into the blue horizon.
Vanaka Beachcomber. See you again someday...
We spend a few nights at the fabulous First Landing Resort and by day explore the fresh food markets in Lautoka. Crabs, mussells and chillies. Rubbish, dirt and big eyes.. not too many tourists here. we dine on fresh fish at the Yacht Club and have breaky on the beachside tables.
We catch the local bus with much trepidation up and around to Raki Raki, up the top of Fiji. A small wooden speed boat waits to take us to
Nanu'n'ira. The driver nods at us and hands us yellow raincoats. Huh??? At this point I am thinking he is a bit crazy. A few minutes in to the trip and I am glad to have the shelter of the coat from the stinging waves and rain.. ok.. so the locals may know best....
We make ourselves at home in our little cabin and don our snorkels for the jetty. Man, the fish!!!! We accidentally feed them all our bread and discover later that the shop has no more for 3 days. Ooops. Eggs it is then.
We meet the nephew of the owner of McDonalds (the bungalows,
not the resturant) and he offers to take us out to the reef for $10each. The next day we line up with 8 or so other people and board our vessel. On the way out he asks us if we want to the the ok one or the really good one. What do you say.... the good one of course...
He informs us that he will take us out if we don't tell his aunty. OK. Are we going to be kidnapped? Will we ever return?
We head way out between the 2 biggest islands of Fiji and lose sight of land, when he turns off the engine and states that we can hop out. We all anxiously drop ourselves over the side into the most amazing coral reef I have ever seen. I have never, ever seen such an unspoilt, beautiful reef as the one he took us to. Caverns and craters, anemones and coral. Such vivid colours and big fish. The boat drifts away from us and we catch the current behind it working our way along the very edge of the reef. WOW!
We catch up with the boat and he hauls us in
Lautoka Markets
Snails, crays, chillies and..... - we need to be dragged because we are exhausted from the effort of current riding. That reef was absolutely unparalelled.
A few days later we are in the taxi we have managed to hire for the day long trip from Raki Raki (in the north) to Suva (in the south). Our road takes us through a steep mountain pass and small villages made from tarps and corrugated iron.
The rain has been heavy and there are landslides. Half of the roads are collapsed and the taxi slips and grinds on the boggy grainy ground. The driver grimaces with each scrape under the car.... I wonder what we leave behind us as I look out my back grimy window over to the sharp drop of the mountain. (We are inches from the edge and there is no rail). Very scary stuff.
We arrive with relief in Suva, the nations capital. It is busy and grotty compared to where we have come from. And it is raining.
And it rained and rained. And we just happened to have the worst floods in 20 years. Wading through the flood waters to the bus stop we see boys wheeling
their barrows (you can't see the wheelbarrow - it is underwater), shopkeepers bailing out the floodwaters and rubbish floating down the street. I briefly wonder what it is I am wading through, but I push the thought out of my mind. We are drenched peridically by people bucketing water above us over the balconies on their apartments.
We manage to squeeze on a local bus and get back to the hotel, a lovely rainforest retreat just outside Suva. Rain and mozzies and good hearty breakies.
Another taxi down the Coral Coast at 120k's per hour in the wrong lane in the rain and you can see why the headline on today's newspaper says "Fiji drivers voted worst in the world." MMM...the white knuckle ride."
A lovely little A line bungalow and a rainy beach makes for a good nap time and kick back for a few nights.
Some last minute shopping in the tourist haunts of Nadi and we are away. Bula Vinaka Fiji, Morthay Fiji.
You are friendly and I am welcome any time.
Emma
ps watch out for the sword sellers in Suva. They'll get you if they can...
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Olga
non-member comment
Bula
Thought you might appreciate a small but significant correction - it's "vinanka", not "vAnaka" :)