Day 1: September 18, 2011
This morning we (Meghan, Liz, Kristen, Anna Lee, and I) got up early and travelled by bus and three trains to the Brisbane airport. Something I noticed right away was that security was a breeze and the workers were much nicer and less abrasive than back in the U.S. We didn’t have to take our shoes off or anything! We took a short three and a half hour flight to Nadi, Fiji, where we were greeted coming off the plane by very warm, balmy weather and four men in floral shirts playing guitar and singing. This greeting, as we began to realize over the course of our trip, is very common here. We got through customs easily and packed into the minivan from the hostel. I guess they didn’t expect that we would have huge American-sized bags for a trip to Fiji, but hey we were packing for two climates! (New Zealand for the second week of the trip)My first impressions of Fiji are that this big island (or the area outside of Nadi at least) is similar to the Dominican Republic and kind of Guatemala because of the way the foliage looks, the semi run down colourful buildings, and the faint smell of burning wood. We are staying at the Bamboo Backpackers hostel, which is right across the street from the beach. The actually hostel room we’re in isn’t too nice, but it does the job. While waiting for dinner to be prepared at the hostel, we were invited to join in our first “kava circle”. At first, it looked like a big bowl of muddy water, and it actually kind of tasted like that too. Rico, one of the hostel employees, explained to us what it was as well as the history of it. The word ‘kava’ is Latin for pepper and Greek for intoxicating. It tasted like spicy, dirty water and it numbs the tongue. If you have enough of it, it apparently can make you feel high. Kava comes from a third generation pepper plant that has been washed, skinned, cut, dried, ground, and mixed with water. A long time ago, the Chief would drink it and if anyone spoke or made noise they were killed because it was thought to have herbal medicinal qualities and it was highly regarded. Once Christianity began to grow, Kava gained more of a forgiving/apologetic quality. If people had a fight, they could drink Kava together, passing the same cup back and forth from the same bowl and they would be alright. Rico used the term ‘liquid culture,’ which I really liked because I think it described the whole history and meaning of Kava very well. When being served it, you sit on a straw mat in a circle and you aren’t allowed to wear shoes—I guess out of respect for the ritual. When receiving it, you clap once and say Bula before drinking from the wooden bowl/cup and the person giving it to you also says Bula and claps three times. It was very interesting to be able to be immersed in the Fijian culture right away and learn about some of their customs.
Day 2: September 19, 2011
Today the Amazing Adventures Fiji tour bus picked us up at our hostel and took us to Port Denaru. The drive from the run down area of Nadi to this port on the coast was pretty interesting because it was quite a transition from the poorer looking area to the wealthier looking housing developments in the port area. There were a lot of people on our bus, but it turned out we were all splitting into many different tours that were offered. We boarded our big yellow boat and we were off! The boat ride was cool because it dropped people off/picked people up at a bunch of other Fijian islands along the way to the Yasawa Islands. All of the islands looked pretty similar—a semi-mountainous and forested terrain with usually just one white beach area and an islandy resort right on the coast. Finally, after about a two hour ride, we arrived at our first island location, Waya Lailai. We had to get off the big boat into a little putt-putt with no actual seats in it to transfer to the beach. People singing and playing guitar as well as many ‘Bulas’ greeted us, once again. Bula is some kind of greeting meaning something like ‘hello’ or ‘cheers’. The resort/hostel is really cool, with different thatched/straw roofed buildings built up onto the hillside and connected by stone staircases. For the next two nights we will be staying here with all meals included. Today we just hung out on the beach, took a walk, collecting sea glass and seashells, and relaxed in the hammocks on the beach. Despite the fact that there are about 20 beds in our room and the shower was a cool drizzle, this place is pretty awesome. After dinner we were all taught a “bula dance” in addition to getting the chance to watch four local guys do some traditional dances and fire twirling. All in all, it was a very relaxing day!
Day 3: September 20, 2011
In the morning we piled into two putt-putts with our fins and masks and drove our about 20 minutes to the reef. There, the guide was grabbing these small reef sharks and leading them with food so we were able to touch them! It was a bit scary at first, but I’m glad I had the guts to try it. The reef itself was not as interesting as I had expected it to be from previous experiences in the Caribbean. It was not as colourful and the few fish we saw were pretty small and not too bright. When we returned to the island, we relaxed on the beach, bought hand-woven bracelets from some local women, and went on a hike. We didn’t do the summit hike that was offered, but the view from where we went was pretty spectacular anyway! The guide, Berry, told us about the history of their island as well as the current set up. There used to just be one village, where our resort is now, and the people relied on fishing and sailing to the mainland to sell that fish. Then, when there was a big rock landslide, this village moved down the beach a bit and two more villages were built on the far side of the island, which is where the school is as well. The school goes up to age 13, after which the teenagers must attend a boarding school on the mainland for high school, coming home by boat transfer only on the weekends. This island’s main (and possibly only) source of income is from us, the tourists. 75% of the resort’s profits go to the community and the other 25% remains to keep the resort functioning. The three villages on the island are lead by one chief and the workers at the three resorts are all locals who get there by boat because there are not any roads on the island. At one point on the hike we came across a bunch of bananas and it was very interesting to see Berry get so excited about finding them and bringing them back with us. I guess they are more valuable than other fruits as he did not offer us any. He did, however, find, peel, and slice up a fresh papaya for us. I have never had one and it was very yummy! Jumping to a completely different thought, something I have noticed about the Fijians is that they seem to remember people and things about them, almost as if they are keeping tabs yet they are very trusting. One day on the beach, for example, a man cut down a coconut and opened it for us to drink, even though we did not have money on us to pay him. The next morning at breakfast, however, he remembered exactly who we were and came and nicely reminded us that we owed him money. When buying things from the snack bar, they often did not have enough change, so they would just tell us to pay later. That just isn’t something that would happen in America. We would never be trusted to get things for free and pay them back later without any tab or written account of anything. When we went to buy the woven items from the local women on the beach, it was just Meghan and I, yet somehow after hearing us speak, a woman I had never seen (or noticed) before asked if we were from America and if we travelled in a group of five. I had no idea how she knew how many girls were in our group, but apparently she had taken notice of it at some point in the two days we had been there. I guess I just found it really interesting that they seem to pay a lot of attention to knowing who the people are that are visiting their island.
Day 4: September 21, 2011
Today we got back on the big yellow Awesome Adventures boat to head north to our second destination, Krorvou on Naviti. This resort, though similar to the last, is a definite step up from our last resort. Both of them are called “eco-resorts”, which basically means they shut off most of the electricity during the day and only ever have cold water coming out of the sinks and showers. Something interesting about these resorts is that much of the profits from the Awesome Adventures trips up in the Yasawas benefit the communities on the islands themselves. The workers at the resorts have shown their gratitude by actually thanking us personally for coming to their island. Anyway, we arrivedto people singing again, but as we got off the boat, we were given fresh fruit juice as well as flowers in our hair. The dorm here is definitely nicer considering there are real walls and a real metal roof, as opposed to log walls and a thatched roof, and no bunk beds. There are about 20 people in this dorm too—all girls and one guy. Personally, I don’t mind having guys in our rooms because I have the philosophy that undergarments are just like a bathing suit, but it seems to make some of the girls I’m travelling with uncomfortable. The one thing I am consistently scared of in these hostel situations is that I am going to have a sleep talking/sleep screaming incident and freak everyone out. Lets just keep hoping that doesn’t happen! The showers are cleaner with better water pressure and there are kayaks and a pool! The meals are about the same, but the snack, drink, Internet, and activities prices are higher. This resort really shows us how much of a difference a little more money toward accommodation can make. This afternoon we just laid by the pool and relaced. Since the ocean bottom is kind of rocky here, there is a sort of underwater cement sidewalk that you can follow to deeper water, which I thought was a pretty smart idea. After dinner, some of the resort staff danced for us and even had us join in the “snake dance” (a follow the leader sort of thing where the guys had us doing some pretty ridiculous moves) as well as learning another “bula dance” that was only slightly different from the last one. To add to what I said in my last post, I experienced two more instances involving the Fijian people and knowing who their guests are. Meghan and I were inside the common area building trying to work on a Biomechanics lab report that is due when we get back from break when a local guy who worked there approached us and started asking us all about our studies. He asked what we were studying in school, what classes we were taking in Australia, and other things like that. When we thought he was done, he surprised us by asking what our lab report was on and telling us about his rugby injuries. I couldn’t help but wonder how far he had gone in his schooling because he seemed so interested in ours. I thought it was nice that he was sowing such a large interest in us seeing that we met that day. It was awkward almost, though, because I felt like I was just answering his questions and did not know what to ask him back because I didn’t want to offend him if he hadn’t finished school or didn’t have the option to go to college or something like that. Later on in the evening, we were playing bananagrams and this local woman, Sally, who we had interacted with around meal times and at the snack bar was watching us intently. I guess once she got the hang of the game, she started to point out words to Liz and Meghan, who were the two closest to her. When we invited her to play, however, she declined. Yet she kept watching and helping, which made me wonder if she was curious about the game but didn’t want to get too involved or what? Either way, these type of events continue to add to my perception of the locals and the way that they pay attention to their guests and genuinely seem curious and want to get to know outsiders.
Day 5: September 22, 2011
Well, I have my first night terror of the trip last night… in a room full of 20 strangers too. I guess it was pitch black in the room, which is usually what causes me to have them in foreign places, and I was having a dream about being trapped in a dark place. Meghan told me it was the usual sitting up and yelling “No no no! Help me! Please help me! No!” but the weird part about the story is that the people I heard freaking out when I kind of woke up from it were apparently worked up over something else. I hadn’t even woken up 3 out of my 4 friends around me, but I guess I woke someone up across the room who let out a blood curdling scream that woke everyone else in the room up. I guess it makes me feel better that I wasn’t the only reason everyone was woken up in the middle of the night, plus I don’t think anyone else knew it was me because it was dark in the room. As far as I know, people in the room didn’t have any kind of big conversation about it, so I guess I’m off the hook and don’t need to explain myself to them—whew! Anyway, today was another pretty relaxed day in paradise. We laid out in the sun in the morning, but in the afternoon, Kristen, Anna Lee, Meghan, and I took two double sea kayaks out for 2-3 hours and did some exploring. We paddled over a reef, though there wasn’t much to see from the surface, and ended up going around a rocky point and landing on what we liked to think was our own private beach. We walked around and hung out there for a bit before heading back. Oh, I almost forgot that we also fed fish today! We held pieces of bread just barely in the water and these white fish with brown stripes came from everywhere and started swarming the bread. They were each nibbling on mine, but then this HUGE one came out of nowhere and somehow managed to pull the entire piece of bread from my hand… it was a bit frightening! Since it was our last night out in the Yasawas, we put on dresses and took some pretty sunset pictures with Hibiscus flowers in our hair—cliché I know, but who doesn’t want pictures like that in paradise? After dinner, the staff did some more dancing and then it was “game night” for the guests. This entailed breaking into groups by country and participating in two rounds of singing and dancing. For the first round we had to sing our national anthem, which was kind of funny because some of the groups were combined countries so they sang other random songs. For the second round we had to do some kind of dance and we chose the Cotton Eyed Joe. Since they didn’t have much common ground, the British/Canadian group sang twinkle, twinkle little star and their dance was the hand motions to the song I know from girl scouts that goes “a Pizza Hut, a Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut, McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut”. The whole thing was pretty entertaining and I am definitely glad that these islands provide some after dinner entertainment because I don’t know what else I would do with myself with so much free time. The only other thing we’ve been doing after dinner is playing card games and Bananagrams.
Day 6: September 23, 2011
Today was our last full day in Fiji. Sadly, it was cloudy most of the day, but luckily the rain held off until we were already on the Awesome Adventures boat back to the mainland. The only noteworthy thing we did on the island was learning how to basket weave using palm leaves. It was actually more like a woven purse than a basket, but it was interesting nonetheless to see how easy the locals make it look to pull the braids tight without ripping the leaves. By the time the boat came in the afternoon we were all definitely ready to leave and get back to the mainland and a bit more civilized area. When we arrived back at Port Denaru we ended up skipping the free shuttle and staying so we could have a real meal of our choosing and shop around a little bit before taking a taxi back to our hostel. We picked the most American, and probably most expensive, restaurant in the port, the Hard Rock Café, but it felt like the best decision we’ve made in a long time. I ordered a big juicy bacon cheeseburger and fries and did not care one bit that it was about $25 AUD because it was so good. For the past week we’ve been eating whatever we were served, which involved a lot of rice, brothy substances, carrots, pineapple, chicken, and potatoes if we were lucky. The meals had a variety of options and covered all the food groups usually, but were kind of bland, repetitive and often too small for our large American appetites. We are all excited to be going to New Zealand where we will be travelling on our own schedule and eating whatever we want, whenever we want.
Well, that about sums up our trip to Fiji. All in all it was very relaxing (almost too relaxing), we had good weather, and we were able to be deeply immersed in a new culture. The Fijian people are incredibly nice and show a strong interest in getting to know their guests, which is pretty cool. I spent lots of time in the sun, got some reading and word puzzles done, swam in the beautiful blue water, snorkelled, touched a shark, kayaked, got to know my friends better, danced, met some locals, hiked, and much more. I can’t wait to see what New Zealand has in store for us—besides cold weather of course!
