Fiji- Day two

 

 

Breakfast was surreal.

 

It wasn't the food served, We had the usual hotel fare of various breads and pastries. A chef on hand to prepare eggs to your liking. . .fresh fruits etc. They even had Vegemite, here I was trying to give Mr. Blue a taste of another culture and they serve our usual breakfast!

There were juices, coffee, tea and even champagne. The only "new" thing for me to try was my first and last Noni Juice. . .Oh that was the most vile stuff I'd ever tasted.

 

The surreal part was the music. It wasn't the sound of a usual trio with two guitars a ukulele and wonderful harmonies that was odd, If you're ever in Fiji expect to hear a lot of music, especially in the touristy areas. The set list is what really struck me, there was a lot of Elvis, Neil Diamond etc. but my personal favourite was the beautifully mispronounced and incorrect lyrics to Kenny Rogers' Lucille:

 

"You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille, with 400 children and a crop in the fields"

I grew to love this band and realised that they brightened up the start to my day with their wacky songs.

 

 

Wanting to get out of the resort, we took the tourist bus to a nearby port but I still felt like I was in the fake Fiji. It was time to get the local bus, see where it took us and hope for the best.

 

There were no bus stops to speak of so we just flagged one down off the street, it was great! The only seat left were right at the back so we got to appreciate the fantastic Fijian hair of the passengers in front of us. The bus meandered through a couple of small villages (one of the highlights of the whole holiday) before we arrived in Fiji's 3rd biggest City. . .Nadi.

 

Nadi was awful! We were harassed everywhere we went.

 

"Bula! Where are you from? Would you like to come with me for a Kava ceremony and look at my handicrafts?"

 

It got so intimidating after a while and some of the characters who approached us were a little scary. I also had the problem of Mr. Blue talking to each and every one of them.

 

"I can't resist their smiling faces" he'd say

 

It is true that Fijians have the most infectious smiles but I had to explain that none of them cared who we were or where we were from, they just wanted to sell us something.

 

"If this happened in Sydney, I'd just say that I'm in a rush, but here they don't even know what that means" he said. Which is true, if you've ever heard of Fiji time and thought it was a myth. . .  you're wrong.

 

At one point we were practically pushed into a "shop"  where the proprietor insisted we try some of his Kava out back. . .Not something I was willing to do, go out the back in some strange shop (He had all his mates hanging out the front) to drink his narcotic drink. I did plan to have some Kava while in Fiji (and the next day we did) but not like this, from some creep.

 

We got the bus back to Hotel heaven and booked a place on a Schooner to go Island hopping the next day. Maybe we'd find the real Fiji there.

 

 

The view we woke up to

 

 

I loved this little boat at the marina more than any of the Million Dollar yachts in the distant waters. 

 

The view from the back of the windowless bus

 

Road Rules

 

NO PARKING

 

 

LB

DAY ONE (part two)

 

So with us safely loaded into Joseph's car we headed off to the resort.

 

Just like every place I've visited outside of my country (except for New Zealand- but that's really just another state of Australia;). . . .kidding Kiwi's. . .kidding) road rules are more like a recommendation or guideline as opposed an actual regulation. I guess the only reason that Fijian roads aren't as chaotic as those in Asia (or Italy for that matter) is that there just aren't as many vehicles.

 

Fijians are very relaxed (more relaxed than Aussies) so if you need to drop someone off (or pick someone up for that matter) and you happen to be driving through the middle of a round-about it's perfectly OK to stop and even have a chat. I've even seen numerous public buses do this (more on the public buses another day).

 

As we drove through the guarded gate to where our accommodation was located (Fijians are still a little tense abut the recent coup- mainly becuase they fear it's the reason that the tourists aren't coming. I believe that the extra level of security is supposed to make us more comfortable. . .it just makes me more nervous) Mr. Blue commented

 

"Hey, it's just like Caroline Springs!"

 

Now if you're not from Melbourne that wont make much sense to you. Caroline Springs is one of those suburbs that springs up out of the blue. A constructed place with "perfect" landscaping. . .a developers urban dream. . .

 

A quick segue that may bring a smile to a Melbournian's face -to be read in a heavy Australian Accent:

"It's about time something like this happened in the Western Suburbs"

It was so perfect that I had a tinge of sadness. I don't know what I was expecting from the calibre of accommodation I'd booked, but once again I think the fact that I'd always roughed it on my travels was such a contrast to what I was about to experience. It may also be that I'm used to being on the other side of the desk. I'm used to being the performance. . .not the audience.

 

So we got to our hotel (once again greeted by those amazing harmonises) checked in, got shown to our room and headed out for a quick bite to eat at one of the restaurants in our resort. We sat outside by the sea with a view of the some distant Islands across the water and the Sleeping giant mountain range. After a Fiji bitter (brewed by Fosters so it tastes just like an Aussie VB) and my bruschetta I was ready for a nap.

 

LB

 

P.S Photo's to come, but I got called into work (again) so  don't have the time to upload right now:)

 

 

I seem to have lost my notes and wish I had written this as it was fresh in my memory, it's funny how just a few days later Fiji is a distant memory. . .

 

DAY ONE (part one)

 

Airports have always been a place of calm for me, I think the fact that so many people are rushing around trying to get somewhere has the opposite effect on me.

 

I adore the people watching, the anticipation in the faces of the holiday makers, the boredom of the business travellers ('though I believe they are just putting it on, I think that deep down even though they fly to new places very often, they still pinch themselves now and then), I feel sad for the families farewelling loved ones and marvel at the flight crews passing as I try to figure out which airline they work for by their uniforms.

 

Without rushing, I have to this day not missed a plane and the whole lengthy security process is as much a part of the adventure of travel as the trip itself.

 

Mr. Blue is not as relaxed at airports as I am and his anxiety rubs off on me a little. Even in the cab on the way he was quizzing the driver on which route he would take to get us there in the fastest possible time.

 

"Sweetheart, It's 5am, don't worry we'll be there in time"

 

"but this is Sydney, there's always traffic here"

 

"Yes angel, but it's still 5am and it also happens to be a Sunday, we'll be fine"

 

I think this is when he realised my request to let me enjoy the journey started right from home and as he relaxed I did too.

 

Even though we've been together for 11 years all of my international travel to-date has been on my own. I enjoyed reliving the experience of the first time international traveller through Mr. Blue. We checked our bags and ordered breakfast from an airport cafe before heading through immigration.

 

Armed with our passports, immigration paperwork and little zip lock bags of hand cream and lip balm we passed through to the other side. . .

 

"Wow, there are soooooo many shops here!"

 

"Well if you think about it, people will be sitting here for quite a while waiting to board their plane. . .someone has to cash in on that"

 

And they did cash in, It was a shopping frenzy. We even bought a duty free camera.

 

I was a little worried after my last flight, but the worry was unfounded and we had a rather uneventful trip that landed safely at Nadi airport we disembarked to the sound of a Fijian trio with two guitars a ukulele and wonderful harmonies. A couple of planes must have landed prior to ours so there was a long queue through immigration and customs.

 

On the other side of the gate was Joseph who had waited all that time. . .poor Joseph, the driver the hotel had sent to pick us up (How nice is that!), Joseph who straightened up as soon as he saw that I recognised my name one the sign he held.

 

"Bula!"  he exclaimed, the first Bula of many we would hear over the next week.

___________________________________________________________________________________

I didn't have to lie on my immigration paperwork (Mr. Blue did, but I'll fill you in on that in a couple of days) It was the first time I'd travelled overseas and didn't have to pick a random place when answering the questionare:

 

State your main place of residence while in the Republic of Fiji Islands

 

To this question I'd usually just open my travel guide (if I had one) or the in-flight magazine, randomly choose a hotel and hope no one called them to see if I had a reservation.

 

And dear Joseph, with his sign with my name on it, as though I was in a movie.

 

LB

I'll try and be a little more brief for rest of these posts, I haven't even really set foot in Fiji and already we have a thesis. . .Well except for day 4, I'm not sparing any space there. . .you'll see why.

 

 

 

After a week in paradise (not nearly long enough) it's still nice to come home and sleep to the sound of rain rather than the lapping Pacific Ocean.

 

The view here may not be of tropical Islands or the spectacular mountain range that looks like a sleeping giant, but my once again flooded river, glass curtain wall office buildings and gum trees in the massive urban park still bring a smile to my face.

 

A day by day account of my week in beautiful Fiji will be posted shortly, but first I have to unpack, acclimatise to the cold and step out of Fiji time.

 

LB

Interesting fact:

The best way to prevent your scuba/snorkel mask from fogging up is to spit into the viewing window. . .

 

 

Hence the reason Mr. Blue and I walked down to the local scuba shop (yes we have a local scuba shop) to buy some gear for our upcoming trip to Fiji (only 6 more sleeps!).

 

Mr. Blue has never been diving before so I figured we should strip down to our togs and test our new gear in the pool.

 

Now as you may or may not know it's the middle of Winter on our lovely side of the planet and even though our pool is heated, it's bloody cold. . .

 

our pool room also happens to be one of a couple of shortcuts to the restaurant strip so while we were swimming a few people (all rugged up in their winter woollies) walked through the area. I can only imagine what crossed their minds when they saw the two fools in the pool (Mr. Blue was even wearing his reef shoes)

 

 

 

 

So in the words of Radiohead:

My baby's got the bends. . . We don't have any real friends. . no no

 

I wonder why?;)

 

 

LB