BULA, I am in Fiji and am sitting out the front off a two storey bure watching a massive electrical storm happen in the distance with screeching bats and mad humidity.
I met some of Troy (and soon to be Lee’s) relatives on the plane, we all shared a bus to the coral coast while hearing and seeing about the devastation which the floods had caused 3 months previously.
After arriving at Outrigger or for the cheap skates Tabukalau just down the road a bit we found ourselves at the “Zip Line” which is a fancy set of flying foxes. Twenty of the crowd in town for the wedding came along; it was a bit of a token tourist thing at first but ended up being good value.
There are 8 or 9 lines all connected through the trees which ranged from 50 up to 100 meters, it’s all in a rainforest so needless to say it was hot and humid as buggery. After stepping into a harness and a short bit of instruction and a walk up the hill we got amongst it and shot down through the trees.
Saturday saw Troy and Lee tie the knot up above the Out rigger resort it was a nice casual and short ceremony and Lee and Troy looked good. The reception was at the hotel function room and the speeches where a testament to how Troy and Lee are.
Oh, also my beard was removed for the wedding and the heat. Twas a sad day for the beard off with Tim and Jared (although probably Kryshla would have been happy) at least I wasn’t the first one to fall.
A few Fiji Bitters later common sense prevailed and it was decided that would be a good idea for a swim in the pool, perhaps my memory doesn’t serve me well but it you have ever seen one of the episodes of the Office Linebacker where he spear tackles the office worker for stealing the last piece of cake from the fridge. That’s what I reckon Todd did to me to get me in the pool, needless to say my Camera wasn’t water proof and didn’t survive the trip.
It was time to see some of the “postcard” Fiji so a couple of bookings later the Moody’s and myself booked a couple of day trips to the islands.
South Seas is a small island (Walk around in 20 mins at a dwardle) which also had back packers on it we were there for the first half of the day. They provided a meal and all you can drink Fiji bitters, the water was crystal clear and I managed to get out on one of the beach Hobie cats.
Bounty island was a little run down and the wind picked up towards the end of the day so made the beach less attractive but was still nice to swim in some sea with waves.
The final day saw the departure of Brian and Judy back to Western Australia to get the Campervan and start the drive around to Darwin. Todd, Dana, Clinton and myself left Tabkalau with Ali at the wheel he drove us to Denerau and we boarded another day trip to Mala Mala Island (after a mince and cheese pie of course)
This island was amazingly un commercial and still mostly un touched, it’s strictly a day trip island and no one could stay out there over night. We went fish feeding and saw hundreds of Zebra fish snorkelling and had a bit of a read on the beach. All in all a very easy-going day.
It seems a lot of the Fijians have amazing voices and like a sing a song. On the boat home the guys which ran the day sang a song for each country on the boat, Waltz Sing Matilda, Po kere kere ana, we all live in a yellow submarine.
Todd, Dana and Clinton left to fly back to Auckland and work the following day, I stayed in Vai Vai Tree bed and breakfast in Nadi. I had a box of Fiji Bitters left over from Coral Coast and so offered them around to the people at Vai Via (Wish i could remember their names).
I asked for a recommendation for dinner that night after saying i wasn’t really interested in the golden arches they offered to let me eat with them and so i accepted. At around about 9pm they asked me to let them know if I got hungry. I figured out they were waiting for me and I for them. Being the bigger man I told them I was hungry, was slight awkwardness. They brought out taro, snapper and a boiled vege . . . . . . . . . . for one. Long story short the watched me eat and said they don’t eat while they drink. As soon as i had finished (not knowing how much i could / should eat as i didn’t know how much they had) they brought out the rest of the food and added to what i didn’t eat and ate.
Additional thoughts about Fiji
- · Falling Coconuts kill or at least make alot of sound when hitting the roofs
- · Foreign Owners of tourist resort and attractions take all the profits off shore and it seems that Fiji gets a bit run down
- · What happens when boats get hit y lightening
- · What is the Fijian version of a fa fa phene
- · The Fijian Warriors jump in and out of the pool before i have jumped out of bed
- · Fijian Indians are still not allowed to own land in Fiji and back in the day (maybe still) they got paid less for goods they produced and paid more for goods they needed than native Fijians. Sounds like a shitty deal to me.
- · Next time i am stocking up on Deet so I don’t get caned by the mozzies. Brian suggests Berocca and marmite for the Vitimin B.
- · The guys running the kava ceremonies are drinking machines would they get a AA subscription as a perk
- · Seems the country is run by the women and the men are very laid back.
Cheers Brian, Judy, Dana, Todd, Clinton for sharing time in Fiji.
