Day 1:
After a long day of travel from Brisbane to Sydney to Fiji,
Lauren and I finally arrived in Nadi at around 7PM Fijian time. There was no
stress getting through customs and collecting our luggage then meeting our
driver back to Bamboo hostel. We were greeted with “Bula! BULA!” from every
direction (meaning hello or welcome) and shown to our 12-person dorm. The
accommodation here is clean, and the other travelers are friendly, so I feel
very safe.
We went across the street for dinner to a resort, and
although the food ended up tasting good, the hour and a half wait and prices
were not worth it. While we waited, Fijian dancers and people who had slurped
one too many cocktails entertained us. The night ended at a reasonable hour,
and our bunk beds and pillows felt wonderful beneath our tired bodies.
Day 2:
Waking up to the bluest sky, the greenest grass, the
brightest sun and the friendliest people was the most beautiful experience when
I opened my eyes this morning. I’M IN FIJI!
I washed my face and walked downstairs out to the main court
to purchase a small breakfast. Two poached eggs and some pineapple was enough
on my traveling tummy to fill me up, and Lauren and I planned to buy more food
for the week at the store. We walked down the road with the intention of
walking all the way to the market, but a taxi driver convinced us at only $3
(Fijian dollars, that is - $1 US ~ $2 Fijian). Then, on the way to the market,
our driver began to tell us about the island and where to go visit. I’m not
really sure about the exact transition, but some how we worked out a deal where
he took us to three different locations and acted as our guide for the day for
a grand total of $30 Fijian each!
Kris, short for Krishtna (our driver) first drove us to the
top of the hills at the landing spot, where we got out and could count every
single island from this peak. It was phenomenal! The entire drive there was
breathtaking as well, and of course I had left my camera at home! (I’ll try to
later incorporate some of Lauren’s into this entry). After standing in awe for
several minutes and snapping tons of photos, we descended into the first
landing village, where a woman gave us a tour of the area that was first
inhabited and the history behind it. The most interesting – and scary – thing
that I learned was the fact that Fijians used to be cannibals! We were
introduced to the many killing devices such as the “neck breaker” and the “eye
fork.” She told us that when it was dinnertime, it didn’t matter if it was your
mother or sister or brother, you were all of a sudden the meal if someone was
hungry. They had ended this lifestyle when they were converted to Christianity,
and she sang about how happy they were that Jesus saved them from their ways.
After the tour, Kris drove us back up the mountain (what a
view!) and we took some of the bumpiest roads up to the Sleeping Giant Garden.
There, over 200 types of orchids bloomed left and right, and the beautiful path
extended back into what seemed like a tropical rainforest. The walk wasn’t too
long, but the complimentary passion fruit and orange juice was a wonderful way
to end the short hike.
On the way home, we stopped at a grocery store and the fresh
market and picked up things like oats and rasins, tuna and sweet potatoes, and
some peanuts for snacking.
We went back to Bamboo when we were done with our
activities, and it was just past 12:30PM at that point. Time was passing
SLOOOOWLY, and we felt like we were moving just as slow, so we went across the
street to the beach and took a nap. We didn’t pass out for too long in fear of
the powerful Fijian sun, and shook off our sleepiness with a walk and a dip in
the pool.
Lauren took a nap when we went back to Bamboo and I
patiently attempted to gain access to Wifi so I could message friends and
family. I probably ended up sending a grand total of 6 iMessages and one email.
Lauren came down and sent a message to a friend, and then we headed upstairs to
make dinner. She made a boiled sweet potato and I made sweet potatoes, carrots,
tuna and we enjoyed some beverages as well. After socializing and watching the
stars on the hammock it was time for bed, and my bunk felt just as wonderful
the second night in a row.
Day 3:
My breakfast was made up of oatmeal with raisins, an apple,
peanuts and a poach egg and scarfed it down before 9AM, when Kris met us to
drive us once again. He was kind enough to arrange to be our driver almost
every day for no extra charge. Our first stop was a tourist office where we
booked our full day cruise to Beachcomber Island for a great discount. Then we
ventured back up the mountain to the hot springs and mud pool to get messy and
relax. It was the weirdest feeling as I sank down into the hot mud and water.
Susu, our assistant (the guy who makes sure you don’t down in mud), was really
nice and put our mud masks on and told us a little bit about the area. For such
a massive man, he had the highest and softest voice and he spoke at a very
relaxed pace; it was like a lullaby. Then, after we were done experiencing the
mud pool, we hopped out to get covered from head to toe in mud! Lauren threw a
huge glob on me and we had a short mud fight before being nice and helping each
other get covered in sticky black mud. We then dried out in the sun and took
some funny pictures before rinsing off in the mud pool, then giving our bodies
a better rinse in the hot springs. And as if our experience couldn’t get any
more relaxing, we decided to get massages with coconut oil for half an hour. I
fell asleep for a bit but not long enough to ruin the experience, then we loped
back to the car to head home.
For lunch I made 2 hard-boiled eggs and peeled an orange and
had a cucumber, and then I made a poached egg to mix into my oats with pepper
and boiled carrot. Still lethargic from the massage, Lauren and I returned to
the beach for a walk then a nap where I was in such a deep sleep, Lauren
checked my pulse after attempting to wake me up several times! We walked back
to the hostel to check for Internet (no such luck) and met a friend, C.J., who
gave us plenty of money-saving tips! It’s only 5PM now, so I’m going to shower
then I think Lauren and I are going to take a cheap ($1) bus into town to get
cheap and yummy dinner!
…. Turns out everything was closed, so we went to a wifi
“café” and paid 50 cents to use the computers for 30 minutes. Dinner was more
oats and eggs and a lot of raisins. Regardless of my less than satisfying meal,
I still had a great night talking to so many new people. Lauren and I also
decided to try “Kava,” the traditional Fijian concoction made of ground Kava
root. Apparently if you drink about 20 cups of it, you feel drunk or happy or
something, but the horrible muddy water they call Kava only made it down my
throat three times, barely adding up to one cup of the stuff. I kindly held my
hand up to say no thank you when the coconut shell full of Kava came my way and
enjoyed the music instead. The locals are incredibly musically talented and can
sing and play guitar for just about any song! The songs got slower as it got
later and Lauren and I headed back to the dorm for the night to wake up early
for our beach adventure the next day.
Day 4:
6AM came too quickly, but I was eager to get out to the
beautiful white sand and bright blue waters on Beachcomber Island. Our taxi was
a no-show, so we rushed to the airport in a different taxi where we were then
transferred to a shuttle and taken to a resort on the water. We sat and waited
at Anchorage Resort (the boat would depart from here) and managed to sneak a
few cups of coffee from the breakfast buffet. Lauren was sneaky and snagged
some Weet-Bix and peanut butter as well, because she missed breakfast at the
hostel. At around 9AM, this big steel boat pulled up to the “dock” which would
apparently transport all of us to the island. It was sturdy, but definitely not
the ship that was described to us. I really didn’t mind, because I knew what
lay at the end of the journey. The trip was pleasant and the water was calm,
and the only irritation came from the extremely large group of Japanese
tourists that took your picture when they thought you weren’t looking and
seemed to think it was cute and funny to all say “aahhhyaaa” at the same time
every 5 minutes.
The water drastically changed from navy blue to turquoise as
we increased our distance from the mainland, and soon enough we were hopping on
a small boat to float over the shallow waters and onto shore. We were greeted
by a group of large, singing Fijian men wearing tropical attire and then
briefed about all of the activities available to us free of charge. The first
event was morning tea. Snorkels sold out quickly while we sat and sipped so we
missed the 11AM trip and layed out and slept in the sun for about an hour
before happy hour began at noon. Drinks were extremely expensive so we
purchased a diet coke and two cups of ice to accompany my duty-free tucked in
my backpack. Lauren got some amazing photos of us sipping and sitting in the
sun, looking out at the water. It felt as though this was what we had been
waiting for.
A buffet lunch opened up at 1PM, and we waited in line to
patiently pile our plates with rice, several curry dishes, beef with cabbage,
chickpea salad and coconut cake. They were generous enough to let us have two
servings, and we were more than stuffed by the time we were half way done (but
of course we didn’t let a scrap of food go to waste).
Snorkeling and fish feeding at 2PM came quickly with little
time to digest, but it was still an amazing experience. They handed us HUGE
chunks of bread to throw in the water and all of the tropical fish came
swarming like piranhas (thank god there weren’t any of those, however). I even
held onto a piece and dipped my hand into the water to feel them nibbling
impatiently until I let go. When we were out of bread, we changed locations to
a bigger reef and put on our gear. Lauren entered by leaning backwards off the
boat and was greeted with salt water down her throat and up her nose because of
a leaky snorkel. Funny girl. I decided to jump feet first, and when I dipped my
mask into the water I was amazed at how surprisingly beautiful this location
was. The reef was extremely colorful and full of life! I swam a few meters and
saw a reef shark, which got my heart pumping for a minute. I equalized my ears
and dove down about 20 feet to get a different angle on the coral and other
life under the surface. The water had great visibility and the current wasn’t
too strong, so the entire snorkel trip went even better than expected. Time
passed too quickly, and we hopped back on the boat – Lauren and I were the last
ones out of the water.
Salty and sleepy, we took yet another nap on the beach and
enjoyed another coke. We reapplied sunscreen about 5 times total throughout the
day and managed to escape the tomato-look that so many vacationers were
sporting. 5PM rolled around and the boat pulled up to the island, signaling
departure time. It was just the right amount of time for a day trip, and the
ride back was smooth, accompanied by a beautiful Fijian sunset. A shuttle took
us back from Anchorage to Bamboo, and we showered and got ready for dinner.
Every Wednesday at Bamboo hostel is Lovo! Lovo! night. Lovo!
Lovo! Is a big meal that they cook in a wood fired oven and it’s a feast made
up of seasonal veggies and meats that are all cooked Fijian-style. I didn’t get
a picture because it was extremely dark, but I remember there was chicken with
a tangy sauce, Fijian potato slices (it tasted and had the texture of thick
potato-like bread), creamy spinach with onions, a pumpkin slice, fried eggplant
fritters, and a seafood ceviche-type soup with coconut. The whole dish was
amazing and I know for a fact that I am going to try and recreate the creamy
spinach bundle and the eggplant fritters.
We spend the rest of the night talking with new friends and
laughing at their stories. Most of them got rather drunk (I chose to chug water
instead because of another 6AM morning tomorrow), and made the night even
funnier. Sophie, a Danish girl, who was hilarious and friendly decided that
she, Lauren and I should go skinny dipping; so, we left the crowd for about 15
minutes, snuck down to the beach, stripped and ran into the warm ocean. We
giggled and watched the night sky with billions of stars shining down, then
snuck back to our clothes when the fish started nibbling! Casually, we sat back
down at the table of our friends and no one noticed. Instead we all talked some
more then retreated to the beach because we were too loud for the night hour at
our location. Most of us jumped in the hammocks at a nearby resort and some
waddled along the sand, and eventually a light came on and we ran away
laughing, back to our hostel. It was a wonderful night.
Day 5:
Again, 6AM was the time to rise and today we planned to meet
Kris (our taxi driver) down at the beach at 7AM. On the first day, I had asked
if we could fish with him after he had told us about his daily fishing routine
and he gladly invited us to come along. So after some oatmeal, we walked down
to the shore and met Kris and his giant fishing net in the water. His friend
(he called his uncle for some reason – and there’s NO way he was his uncle) and
I held one side and Lauren and Kris held the other as we waded into the water,
about chest-deep. We then walked opposite directions, expanding the net, until
it was completely stretched out to just over 100 meters. Next, we walked
backwards, toward the shore, pulling the net with us. When we hit shore, we
dragged it quickly onto the sand to not lose any fish. It was actually very
heavy and took a bit of arm strength. We repeated the process about 4 times and
filled half a bucket with small and medium-sized fish and discarded the crabs
and jelly that managed to brush against the back of my leg.
After we rinsed off and put on dry clothes, we met Kris back
at his car and headed to the store to pick up a chicken to make chicken curry
and have a feast back at his house. When we arrived at his small, yet beautiful
home, decorated with Indian-style curtains and patterns, we met his kind wife.
She made us black tea and we all sat on a mat outside chatting while Kris and
his “uncle” cleaned the fish. They cut the fish in half with scissors then
removed the fins and scraped the scales, leaving the heads and bones intact. Kris
ran a few errands while his wife taught Lauren and I how to make chicken curry.
We peeled the garlic for her and watched as each ingredient built the strong
and steady scent of a good curry. After Kris returned with a coconut, he showed
us how to scrape the insides with a unique tool then how to make fresh coconut
milk with the meat and water. It tasted heavenly.
Finally, after waiting three and a half hours for the
process, it was lunchtime. They set the table for Lauren and I and would eat
their portions after we left, and we sat down to the meal. The dishes consisted
of chicken curry (which was honestly more bones than meat, but still tasty), a
coconut fish soup, rice, a few small chopped pieces of fried okra, and fried
whole fish (which I ate two of so Lauren wouldn’t have to in order to be polite).
The meal was good, even though it didn’t set too well in our stomachs, and we
thanked Kris and his wife for everything before he took us into the city where
we would spend the next part of our last day in Fiji. He dropped us off in
front of the beautiful temple where we said goodbye, snapped a few photos, then
walked to the Internet café to let our families know we were doing well and
headed out the next morning. Then, to settle our stomachs, we went to a café we
had seen the other night when it was closed and Lauren ordered a chocolate
shake and toast and I had a HUGE mango slushie. We sat in the air conditioning
and recounted our adventures then made our way back to the hostel.
It was naptime on the beach with a sunset then dinnertime
afterwards. We sat at the tables and talked with friends all night until we
really had to go to sleep to wake early in the morning at 5AM for our 8AM
flight out of Nadi. Goodbyes were short.
Day 6:
5AM: Woke up
6AM: Departed hostel
8AM: Departed Nadi
*time change*
11AM: Arrived in Brisbane
