BULA!
Bula and vinaka are two of the words that we learned in Fiji meaning hello and thank you.
As soon as we arrived in Fiji we jumped into a helicopter to get out to the Mamanuca islands where we started the holiday off just right...we spent all four days in the pool overlooking the gorgeous beach and at the swim-up pool bar. Katie was stuck on the mudslides while Jared stuck to the Fiji Bitter beers. After soaking up the sun all day long, we made it out of the pool just in time for happy hour and to watch the sun sink into the ocean. While Katie was enjoying every minute of this, we all know that Jared has a slight case of ADD and needed some entertainment. Of course, the island had great snorkeling with a reef wall drop off only 40 meters off the beach. We also booked in for a day trip to the island where they filmed the movie Castaway...HELP was still spelled out in rocks across the beach and the flag was still standing in its spot.
The Yasawa's were even more gorgeous but some things were always the same no matter where we went in the islands:
There is always a Kava ceremony everytime you arrive to a new resort. If you do not join in then it is considered disrespectful. Kava is the traditional drink and it tastes like dirt and water...because it is! It is ground up root from the pepper tree mixed with water. You have to take a whole cup full and chug it all at once. After a few, it starts to make your lips tingle. Most of us could not get more than 1 down anyway.
Each resort also played a drum (made out of a hallow log) to mark all events such as dinner time, played typical polynesian songs for happy hour or after dinner drinks complete with ukulele and guitars. One of the best parts, was the fresh juicy papaya...papaya everything (juice, fruit, and salsa relish). And lots of fresh pineapple too. One of the worst things...Tin boats. Thats how you got anywhere in the islands, by the dingys... each time jumping out and wading to shore. But there is a reason Jared calls me clumsy and it certainly wasn't such a graceful act. Not to mention the few white knuckle rides when the sea was a bit choppy.
First we stayed at Octopus resort in the lower Yasawas. We had purposely booked our holiday for the dry season after our last few holidays. There had been no rain for 4 months in the mainland per the Fiji newspaper but at least a year on the island per the local village. The village elders spent a whole week fasting and praying for rain (just our luck, of course). It rained the entire time we were there. It was a shame too as we had upgraded for the bure on the beach which was still quite lovely dripping with flowers and an outdoor shower which meant that we had to shower in the rain. Instead of the beach, we spent two days sitting on the porch and reading.
However, Octopus resort had amazing snorkeling...walls and walls of coral gardens; blue, pink, yellow, and green mushrooms, trees, fans, and brain like formations with tons of tropical fish in a range of colours, stripes, polkadots, and sizes. Way better than anywhere else we have been yet. And the islands looked right out of the movies with their turqouise waters, sandy beach, palms, and volcanic like peaks.
It's here where we went on a village visit. The villages are still very traditional with farming and fishing as the main way of life. Fijians were actually originally cannibals but there have been long lasting effects of christianity since the missionaries arrived with churches for each village and a conservative lifestyle. Now though, working the local resorts bring them their main source of income and the resorts also usually fund the local schools. On the day of the visit, the women of the village put on a craft market. The crafts are amazing...beautiful seashells, jewelry, hand painted fabrics, and hand-carved bowls and other trinkets. All money earned by any member of the village is shared among all. The houses of the village look devastating compared to our standards...one room sheds with no windows or doors, fire pits out back for cooking, and electricity for only 2 hours a day (which is provided by the government). We also visited the island's school...there was just 1 school on the island for the 4 different villages. The children must live at the school from age 6 -14 and after that have to go to the mainland. Despite all, the children had fantastic spirits (full of smiles and giggles) and sang for us. They learn both english and Fijian. We took a tour of the school as well and saw that they sleep in one long house with mats on the floor only.
It was on this trip that we met Jonathan and Lydia from England who were on their honeymoon. They were heading to the upper Yasawas with us for the next few days. We finally left the little tin dingys behind and were taking the big Yasawa flyer boat for a 2 hour ride. With the non-stop rain the sun deck was not appealing so we all upgraded to captains lounge where we could spread out inside with as much as we could drink.
We arrived at our next destination (and the sun decided to come back out for the rest of our trip!)...Nanuya resort located on the blue lagoon (as famous from the movie Blue Lagoon) which was great for swimming and more snorkeling. We had a treehouse bure complete with mosquito canopies. The resort was couple only and only 12 bures in total so you felt totally excluded...a great place for relaxing. There were candlelight dinners every night (delicious lobster dinners!!) and evenings of swaying in the hammocks on the beach or laying out across the couches under the thatched roof and candlelight listening to the polynesian bands playing their ukuleles...drinking and relaxing the night away.
Heading to the blue lagoon would not be complete without a trip to the somsaili caves. They are beautiful swimming holes and caves under the island. Some of the caves have openings of light but some you needed to swim into with flash lights. We only saw a few of the caves but apparently it would take you a week to see them all.
Unfortunately we would have to leave our new found friends for a 4 hour boat back to the mainland but this time the sun was shining so we could sit on sun deck and enjoy the views as we pass back through the islands. The boat only travels back in the afternoons and our plane wasn't leaving until the next day so we had to spend one night on the mainland. We opted for the Sofitel in Port Denerau (you don't really want to spend any time in the city). Port Denerau does not have much of a beach but a great marina with shops and restaurants. The Sofitel was a big resort especially compared to little Nanuya and we were in people shock! But the resort was beautiful and had a great pool.
The next day we took a taxi, which is actually just someones car who must just decide to earn some money for the day. But we made it to the airport in one piece...only to find out that the airline sent a 50 seater instead of a 300 seat plane. Of course, we dont have kids and dont have health problems so they dont put us on a plane until wednesday! This is what they call Fiji time. It would have been beneficial to know this on Sunday but we were told that we would get a flight on Monday. So we took the voucher for the night at one of the crappy hotels in the city only to wake up again on Monday to do it all over again. This all seems to be right in line with our luck lately and certainly just adding to the long list of issues we have with airlines! At least we decided to take another so called "taxi" back to Port Denaru for shops and dinner at the Hardrock to get some proper food. After spending another $70 in phone charges with customer service we did end up getting a flight home for Tuesday. The only problem was we just realised that we had left our passports at airport, as if this situation could get any worse. Sick at thought we may not go home at all, we scrapped a taxi and ran back to the airport and thankfully they were right there at the check in desk. After all this on top of our last several holidays, I can only assume that God is either trying to teach me some patience, that i cant control anything. or preparing us for some of the realities of traveling and life.
Luckily we make it back safely to Sydney three days later in time to meet up with Jonathan and Lydia for drinks at the opera bar Wednesday night on their way back home.
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