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Published: September 17th 2006
Early Saturday morning we all assembled to set off to Volivoli beach, the northen most part of the island. Our cultural mix this weekend consisted of Aussie, Kiwi, Pom and French. The five of us piled into the 4-wheel drive and set-off, first driving across the new bridge at Nausori which had just opened on the Thursday. The bridge had been in planning and construction for a few years so it had been a fairly momentous occasion in Fiji. An hour and a half into our journey the smooth luxury of tar gave way to the adventures of narrow gravel roads. The scenery was fabulous, lush tropical jungle, vibrantly coloured flowers and animals enough to fill Old McDonalds farm. It’s always fun driving along these bumpy out of the way roads because the local Fijians are so friendly, every person we pass waves and calls out ‘bula!’.
We reached the beach by noon and were taken aback by the view as we came over the hill and took in the clear blue sea. After dropping our bags off in our dorm room we headed down to the bar/restaurant and ate lunch with our feet in the sand, the whole bar
floor area was covered in sand. With full bellies we situated ourselves down on the beach, on the sand spit which they claim is 80 metres in length and represented the most northern part of the main island Viti Levu. We entertained ourselves for the afternoon by swimming, sleeping, reading and swinging in the hammock. That night we positioned ourselves in the restaurant near the tv to watch the Wallabies wallop the All Blacks…well that didn’t really happen, so we consoled ourselves by getting stuck into the ice-slushie vodka’s and played cards. After a few drinks we followed our French musician down to the beach to relax to some singing.
The next morning we trooped down to the beach to organise a dive trip. The water was a lovely temperature and the sun was shining. We boarded the boat and speed off out to where the fishies and coral were waiting for us. It was a fun ‘flip over the boat backwards’ dive, which I haven’t done many of, then as we descended into the tranquil water and sea life I was awestruck. Which I usually am when I go diving, but this really was special, there was so
Nearly there...
This was just coming up over the hill overlooking the water and Volivoli beach. We spotted a stunnig blue house here that we decided we wanted, if we could afford it!much to look at, I could have spent hours down there (except for the whole tank of air issue!). I will definitely try to go back while I’m here.
After lunch we spent some time down by the beach soaking in the sun and paddling in the water, before piling into the car and heading back to Suva. The trip was much like the one on the way up, except for the big scary bus that hit us! The dirt/gravel roads were really narrow in some points and we’d come to a stop as a bus came around a corner and we inched along but the bus cut in too tight. We’d almost gotten past but as I was sitting the backseat watching the side of the bus get closer and closer to me I wasn’t feeling so comfortable. Lucky the damage wasn’t too bad, just some paint scraped along the back side bumper. The journey continued on, including bridge crossings, which sounds uneventful, but when you see the state of these bridges you realise that getting across each one is cause for celebration. They were very rickety with no side rails and the creaking sounds didn’t feel me
with much confidence.
All in one piece we pulled into Suva, just in time to catch another island sunset, feeling recharged for another week of week.
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Mum in Hanoi
non-member comment
Wish I was there too!!
Really pleased to see you are making the most of this STM. Wish I was there. Your car is just like our one here. love Mum