BULAAAA!
Listen to me, I'm practically Fijian! So how was I starting my trip on my own? Well first, I had a delightful 10 hour flight at 23:30pm. Oh, but it wasn't finished there I then arrived in Fiji at 5:30am! So that would be a nice 40 odd hours being awake. Luckily I'm going to Fiji, so you know, it's kind of worth it!
(Apologies in advance for the quality of some photos, turns out my camera says water proof buts it's not.)
Thankfully, I managed to get a few winks of sleep on the plane which would come in use later on in the day! After leaving the airport I grabbed the shuttle for my hotel which was ready and waiting! Another thing fell right into place for me, I was the only one on the shuttle! That meant straight to the hotel! It was still dark as I left the airport so I was really hoping I'd be able to check straight in and get a bit of sleep before breakfast, this wasn't what the hotel had planned for me. Turns out, that 2pm check in is pretty strict no matter where your staying or what time you arrive, even if it is 8 hours! So that was fun! Luckily, I am in Fiji (I don't know if I'm even mentioned that yet have I!?) so I just pulled up a deck chair, relaxed and watch the sunrise along the beach. Can you believe even at 6am the sea was warm!?
I spent the rest of the day sunbathing (burning! OUCH!) and swimming in the sea. The hostel I was saying in had a full day of events everyday which I thought was a great way of meeting people! So I shyly joined in on coconut bowls, which, I ended up coming second! Turns out, amazing coconut bowler! #hiddentalents! The final event was a Fiji history lesson, which usually I'd run a mile from! The guy who lead all the events was so enthusiastic though I couldn't help but be drawn in and it was actually very interesting! He had replicas of the weapons, samples of woven mats and a bag of ground kava (which, if you don't know what it is, I tried some later in my trip so you'll find out!). This was where Izzy took me under her wing and introduced me to her group! It's a strange feeling being away on your own, I've never really been good at talking to a group of totally strangers, turns out I'm a chatty kathy! The girls I met had been a part of a volunteer group on an island in Fiji who help build and teach in the village, their experience sounded pretty amazing if I'm honest! Even if it did involve bucket showers and sleeping on floors... One of the girls was even from Yarm! How can I go the other side of the world and meet a girl from my own home town!?
The majority of the girls then left for flights home leaving just the 4 of us. Which clearly meant one thing. Pitchers of beer. And by pitchers I mean PLURAL. So about 10 pitchers, 1 crazy German, 2 sea pilots, a beach lounger and a pack of card later! It was 01:30am and I hadn't slept for what felt like a frickin month! I saw Izzy make tracks for the hotel so I managed to sneak off without anyone noticing and even more to my surprise I had the room all to myself, perfection!! Turns out I had it all to myself for 2 out of my 3 nights! Not bad considering it was a 4 bed dorm!
Day 2 and still not rested! Slept so long I missed breakfast (which turned out to be pancakes!?!?) and I'm still not rested, no good pretending to be young and drinking beer all night. I'm 22! I need early nights now!! Still young enough to realise being tired doesn't mean wasting a day, especially in Fiji! So we all necked a burger from the hotel and grabbed the kaiaks! The hotel we were staying in offered free kaiaks which is what attracted me to staying there in the first place. What better place to go kaiaking than Fiji!? Well turns out, it's quite hard to kaiak in Fiji...
They had 2 solo kaiaks and 1 double. Ben and Lexi bagged the solo ones so me and Izzy were lumbered with the double kaiak. Turns out, we make good speed in the double one! Or I have crazy good biceps.... No definitely because there is two of us. Definitely. It was all plain sailing until the other two decided to hijack our already self sinking kaiak! Straight in the sea! After flapping and whaling about, I actually realised I could stand up, how shallow is this water!? I'm like half a mile out!?
After giving up and just dragging our full of water kaiaks back to shore we rinsed off and decided we'd hop on the bus to Nadi and see what the local town was like. WELL, you've never seen a bus like it in your life! I wanted authentic Fiji and I got authentic Fiji! The bus didn't have any glass in the windows, but it did have 1 emergency exit window, it sounded like it didn't have gears over 2nd and it went about 12mph. The man even gave change out of a flat box lid, it did however have a contactless and card payment facilities!? Does anyone else find this odd!?
It somehow made Nadi, we literally hopped off the bus and we were here! The only way to describe Nadi is, complete island life. Nothing is overly developed, nothing is very modern but they have all you need and it was bustling with people. We were literally the only 'cavalangies' (White people to Fijians) in the entire town but the people are so welcoming and friendly it's not in the least bit daunting. We wandered through the amazing fruit markets and vegetable stalls overflowing with exotic and recognisable fruits. I couldn't come all this way and not try a local delicacy so we bought a 'bread fruit' (for $1!?) which is a fruit you peel and it looks like bread when you first peel it, you then just take a bite and pull out the flesh of the fruit! But don't eat the ginormous pips!! Verdict is... It was good! Tasted like a peachy banana?
We then made our way to a hand craft market where the locals sell only hand made items, a lot of it was the usual souvenirs but some stall had some really amazing hidden gems! One was a Thumb Piano, a hollowed coconut with 5 metal prongs on the top to make an instrument, if I wasn't so terribly bad at playing it I would have snapped it right up!! I wanted something daft to commemorate my time away but collecting things would be bulking so what I figured is I would collect a bracelet from each country I visited or each moment that meant something to me, daft but meaningful. Anyway so I'd got one in America with Fliss so I wanted one with shells on for Fiji, it took me a few stalls but I got my second bracelet for the collection!
Death taxi time!! We were going to attempt at getting the bus back but we had absolutely no idea which one to get and there was no timetables or office, it was just a concrete block with a shelter over it! So instead we jumped in a taxi. Well by in, I mean on. It was an open back and we just sat in and held on for dear life as it hurtled round corners, braked suddenly and set off like it was in a drag race! I was glad to see the hotel as it meant we were alive and guess what? I had another night with the dorm all to myself! Bliss!!
Day 3! I'd booked myself onto a island day trip with Izzy. Seeing as though we'd both said goodbye to friends we'd spent the past few weeks with, a pamper day was in order (like my last few weeks have been hard work!?) also because I hadn't booked long enough in Fiji to do what I had originally planned (huge mistake! If going to Fiji allow longer than 4 days!) doing a boat trip would allow me to see plenty of islands but all in one day! When we boarded the boat, we were surrounded by yachts. Fishing, sailing and private. There was one right at the end of the pier which had everyone attention, Lady Christine.
We sailed through the bluest sea I've ever seen, past many gorgeous islands - some uninhabited and some with resorts even some which I swear looked privately owned!? (Probably Lady Christine back in the dock) Up until we reached our own island. I could see us approaching it in the distant, it was a very small island with glistening white beaches, crystal clear sea and a string of colourful kaiaks on the shore.
The island was pure perfection! The beach was scattered with small pieces of coral and shells, the water warm as a bath, hammocks and sun loungers galore and a huge volley ball court in the middle. Obviously the hammocks and sun loungers got much more use out of me than the volleyball court!
We started with a group of us heading out snorkelling to a coral reef just off the island. Turns out, snorkelling is hard! I could not get the hang of flippers and a snorkel. Give me my own feet and a pair of goggle and I would have been away, having all these different things to think about all at one just threw me! I ended up taking my flippers off and giving them to Izzy to take back with her. Felt better after that, less like I was about to drown!
I spent the rest of the day eating on the beach, sunbathing on the beach and walking on the beach (the whole island took about 2 minutes to walk around!). A day on the beach!! Oh and watching a hilarious group of Chinese people play volleyball!
We enjoyed a good few hours on the island but I could have happily spent my entire time in Fiji right here, it was absolute bliss! But we reluctantly had to leave, the day was such a blast, it's amazing the places that exist in this world and the true beauty that there is out there. As we sailed back to the main island I took a little time to myself to recap on the day and my trip in general and appreciate how lucky I am to be doing this and how I can feel it changing me as a person already. Not too long ago I would never have appreciated the sight and smell of the sea or the beauty of a sunrise and a sunset but you learn this through these kinds of experiences and you can't help but be touched by them and slowly but surely they have a huge impact on you.
The hotels evening entertainment was fire dancing! Which was fantastic! The guys who performed it were absolutely amazing! I've never wanted to spin a flaming baton more in my life!! They performed a few routines to music on the sand pit alongside some belly dancers who, next to flaming batons, didn't live up to them! The guys then moved onto the beach where the show really kicked in! They did routines together, solo routines, speed routines. All kinds of routines! They even created a human pyramid and performed with the fire! They received a huge round of applause from the crowd, well it mainly came from two mature Australian women who had enjoyed a drink or two shall we say (who also enjoyed the company of two young twenty year old's on the beach later that night! #cougars) but the group were definitely deserving of it!
Bamboo was next on our list which was a hostel just down the beach from Smugglers Cove where we were staying. They were having a kava party tonight and seeing as though I was yet to try it and it was my last night we had a walk down. Now, kava. Let me explain, it's a root which they allow to grow and mature for several years, they then grind it up into a very fine power which is then put into a bag and left to soak in a 'grog' bowl (attractive name for an attractive drink) the powder then flavours the water and you drink from a coconut shell. It is a traditional drink and is used in ceremonies where the chief of the village would be at the head of the bowl and the rest of the village would sit the other side of the bowl facing the chief. When you want to accept a drink you clap once, say BULA! Drink in one and clap three times. Now, I'm just going to come straight out with it. It's vile. It's literally muddy water. Muddy water which is actually a narcotic. I'm really into trying local cultures but kava was just not for me. I respectfully had one bowl and passed on the rest! As we were sat there chatting away, something stopped me in my tracks... A voice... A familiar voice... A voice I'd learnt to recognise anywhere... It was only bloody Lewis! Sat right behind me! The places me and that boy bump into each other is becoming far to common! So good to see a familiar face though! He'd only just arrived so his time in Fiji was just starting as I was leaving, he was going to love it! Until we meet again in Melbourne Lewis! BULA!
Departure day. It's been an amazing few days in Fiji, it's far exceeded all my expectations and I'm itching to return already. For now it was time to say goodbye to the people I've met here, Ben was off shark diving (video on his Facebook, you guys have to check it out! Names Ben Vinall and it's on there) and Izzy was setting off for home, best of luck to you both and safe travels! Until my flight, I had to endure sitting by the beach, reading my book and laying in warm shade (still recovering from my burn!), I've had worse experience waiting for a flight!
Ok just before I end! I promise I'm nearly done here! I got really excited on the plane (well after being horrified I had a 6 hour flight and no personal TV!?) because as the plane doors closed I had no one at all in my row! This has never happened before, I was imaging me spreading out, wrapped in a blanket being able to sleep! Even the couple in the opposite row found it amusing as I was setting up my bed, only for it all to come crashing down on me as the stewardess sat a lady on the end seat!! Still put my legs up on the chair next to me, this was too good to give up lady! Luckily she was lovely and didn't mind, even though she did have a question for me every 3 minutes and felt the need to alert me at every turn of the plane!
So that was Fiji! It's a place I'll never forget, beautiful islands, authentic towns and some of the nicest most genuine native people I've ever met! It's been a wonderful start to my solo trip but it's Melbourne now, my start on conquering Australia! So for now it's good night and I'll see you in Aus!
Vinaka!
x
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