Journal: Fiji, 12 Oct 2001 When we land in Fiji, we are inundated with people looking to provide accomodation and tours. We get on a tour to a fijian village. We will be there for three days and two nights. It costs a little more than $100 for the tour. Once more, our plan to use our ATM card for money materializes. After getting some money, we go into Nadi (pronounced nandy) town for lunch before heading to the village. We get a full lunch for about 40 cents each. The lunch was not too fancy, but it was sufficient. After lunch, a 4WD brings us along some treacherous roads to our village. We learn that the tour group consists only of ourselves (myself, Davie, and Lorena). The village is called Uto. We bring a bundle of waka (dried roots of the pepper plant) to present to the chief. It is part of Fijian culture to present a gift when visiting a village. The villagers take the dried roots and pound them into a fine powder. This powder is then mixed with water to produce kava, the social drink of choice in Fijian villages. The kava ceremony is fairly formal, with mixing and drinking rites to be followed. You must clap your hands once before receiving a bowl to drink, then say bula, drink the bowl, and then clap three times. Over the course of the afternoon, we enjoy more than a few scoops of kava with some of the villagers. One interesting (and scary) thing to emerge from our conversations was the feeling here amongst some people that America is now getting what it deserves after unfairly manipulating foreign policits and wars for years. Although, there are also people who think that the actions in New York and Washington were terrible acts. We will stay with a family in the village. The father, Watasoni, is an incredibly welcoming, warm, and friendly man. We eat with his family. The meal consists of food from his land. All meals take place on a table cloth that is spread on the ground. Everyone sits cross-legged on the ground (which I find difficult to do for prolonged periods of time). All the time, Watasoni is teaching us the Fijian words of common phrases, such as bula (hello), io (yes), moce (goodbye/goodnight), vinaka (thank you), uro (an exclamation of appreciation for someone attractive of the opposite sex), etc. We all go to bed soon after sunset. Without electricity, life is much simpler. Fiji, 13 Oct 2001 Today, we get up with the sunrise. After playing piggy-in-the-middle with the childern (it's amazing how some games are universal), we have breakfast at about 7.30am. Again, the food is from the land, with cassava being a very common feature of all meals. After breakfast, we set out on a hike with Watasoni. We go to another village, presenting kava powder and then sharing kava with the chief and villagers. Then, we go on to a farm and dig up some cassava. We carry the cassava as we hike up a stream, spearing freshwater prawns along the way. Then, when we get to the foot of a waterfall, we gather wood for a fire and enjoy hot cassava and cooked prawns together with fresh water from the waterfall. All the time on this 12 kilometer hike, we are on Watasoni's extended family's land (27,000 acres). It was an amazing hike through spectacular, unspoilt landscapes. I wonder how long this land can remain unknown to tourists. I suppose the fact that it is on private property and not very accessibly helps matters. When we get back, we play touch rugby with Waqa, Voke, and their friends. We use a tennis ball instead of a rugby ball. Fijians are rugby-mad. They are incredibly passionate about the game, at the expense of all other sports. After running around (or I should say being run around) for a while, it's down to the river to wash. And then we play cards for a couple of hours before dinner. We play cards with the kids, who play a game that is almost the same as ours (sometimes called 'last card', sometimes 'twist'). After dinner, we again have an early night. Fiji, 14 Oct 2001 The previous night, I had expressed a desire to climb the hill that overlooked our village. The next morning, Watasoni had arranged from two villagers to bring me up there. I went on my own with them (as Davie and Lorena didn't fancy it). It was tough going, especially with the villagers skipping up the same hill that I was struggling up. But it was worth it, as I saw several wild horses along the way. And from the top, I had a great view all the way to the sea on three sides of the island. On the way down, we enjoyed some wild guava. And then we had a refreshing dip in the river before getting back to the village. When I got back to the village, I put on a sula (essentially a skirt) that men in Fiji wear for formal occasions. And I went to meet the others at mass. Mass was not as spectacular as in the Cook Islands, but was interesting nontheless. After mass, we enjoyed Sunday dinner with the family, before heading back to civilization. We get back to Nadi airport, where we had left our bags for the weekend. We had taken with us only what we had needed for the three days in the village. For Davie that wasn't much, considering that he didn't bathe or change clothes the entire time :-) When we got the the airport, the office holding our bags was closed. We had to wait for the next set of arriving flights in order for them to be manned again. After getting the bags, we said our goodbyes to Lorena who was flying on to New Zealand that evening. Myself and Davie went to the Mana Rose Hostel. It is outside of Nadi, at a beach resort. It is fairly nice, but a bit isolated from things like supermarkets and nightlife. There is only one bar/restaurant in the resort. We are sharing a room with two English girls (Sarah and Lizzie). My first impression is that they remind me of the characters from the Fat Slags comic strip in Viz. However, this impression is soon altered after we meet up with them later at the local bar/restaurant for a few drinks. They are actually really sound and a good laugh. Fiji, 15 Oct 2001 We get up at 8am and head off for a round of golf at the local course. It is a beautiful course, but very tough to play. There are several canals running across many of the fairways, making it difficult to avoid water hazzards. And some of the greens have two sets of bunkers protecting them, rendering my usual punch shot ineffective. It costs about $20-25 for everything (green fees, club hire, cart, balls, and tees). I shoot a 111 and Davie gets 149. On our way around, incredibly we see only one other golfer for the entire day. That evening, we go again to the local bar/restaurant and hang out with Sarah and Lizzie. We have a lot of fun joking, playing card tricks, and various other bar tricks amongst ourselves and with our barman OJ. Fiji, 16 Oct 2001 Another early rise today, this time for the bus to the Sigatoka Sand Dunes (our guide book rates this attraction as one of the two must-see sights in Fiji). A 40-minute bus ride on the express bus has us there in no time at all. The bus system in Fiji is very good and easy to use. The and dunes are fairly impressive. On the way back, we grab the local bus which takes two hours to get back. However, this was one of the highlights of the trip. I really enjoyed watching the locals getting on and off, carrying all sorts of produce with them. For the first time on the trip, we are aware of people staring at us because we are so different. We get a satisfying feeling that we are finally beginning to experience some true "travelling". Fiji, 17 Oct 2001 Each morning we have enjoyed a complimentary breakfast at the hostel. After which, the people who run the hostel usually give us a lift into town or to the bus. It is incredibly good of them considering that we are paying only about $7 a night. And the breakfast is wonderful with fresh pineapple, papaya, watermelon, and bananas, as well as the usual cornflakes , toast, coffee, etc. After breakfast, we get the bus to Lautoka (the old capital of Fiji). We stroll around, take a photo or two, grab lunch, and then take the bus back to Nadi. Lautoka is interesting enough, but not worth going out of your way to visit. The late afternoon is spent haggling with vendors in Nadi. When in a nice department store, I talked the salesman down from $1200 to $25 for a black pearl... and then I decided not to buy it because it seemed too cheap to be real! I got a couple of decorative masks with price tags of $80 for $12. It seemed strange to haggle in a fancy store, but that's the way it is here. The funniest thing of all was haggling for the cost of my dinner in a restaurant. I asked to see the menu and was immediately offered a discount, which opened the doors for negotiation. My chicken curry meal ended up costing just over $3 (from a $7 price on the menu). We endured yet another long wait at the airport; this time for a 1am flight. At least, this is the last flight at an unsociable hour that we will have on this trip. Spending: 6 days, 5 nights
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