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G’Day Mate
Our last week in Fiji was spent hopping around the Yasawa Island chain, land of the 18 year old English backpacker. These islands are what you see in ads selling Fiji as a great tourist destination, beautiful blue and green water, tiny islands with tiny villages, coral reefs galore. They are also some of the more expensive places to visit since resorts are your only option and most include an overpriced compulsory meal plan. We’re still trying to figure out how these kids are traveling on these very expensive package tours through Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. There are a ton of activities available and we took advantage of some great snorkeling with friendly reef sharks, squid, and giant clams, line fishing (we both caught barracuda), and cave exploration. John even got to “jam” with the locals at one resort after he had tuned all of their guitars for them. The resorts all provide nightly entertainment and usually all of the staff knows how to sing or play guitar. They ALL sing the same farewell song though, and after hearing it every day for a week, we were not sad to leave that song behind us. Actually, we probably only heard about 20 different songs the entire time we were in Fiji. We think there is one CD that everyone in Fiji owns and it’s played at all of the resorts, on public transportation, on the radio stations, etc. The radio also overplays a small selection of truly terrible pop music. John would usually have to “cleanse” his ears with his iPod after any public outing.
We have since moved on to the land of Oz. We met up with some friends in Brisbane (Shosh from St. Mary’s and David who we had met in Fiji) and took a couple days to get over the shockingly high prices in Australia. For realz, cheap nasty beer costs $5-7 each at a bar and about $14 for a 6 pack in a bottle shop, gas is about $6/gallon, crappy dorm beds about $30, and the Lonely Planet guide for Thailand costs $50! Luckily, there are many used book stores around but we’re refraining from beer these days and trying hard to get north where it’s warm enough to camp. We have always imagined that winter in Australia was kind of mild (more of a “relative” coldness) but it’s been dang nippy since we arrived getting down into the 40s at night. It even snowed in Sydney a couple days ago. Our wildlife spotting has been pretty limited so far…one live kangaroo on the side of the road, about 15 dead ones. It doesn’t look like they’re too good at crossing the road. We’ve also discovered that free wireless internet in Australia is something that only exists in our imagination so we’ve been forced to actually (gasp) pay for internet access to upload our pics. So here ya go, the rest of our Fiji pics are now posted.
We have a local phone number now also. If you want to call us from the US, dial 011 617 0405 639 558. From Australia, it’s just 0405 639 558 (city code 07).
Taveuni
Another rough day at Beach House included our massages, where we got seriously worked over by two beefy Fijian women. It was the shit. Pretty sure John got the “stronger” of the two. Ian you may commence jealous mutterings. The women gossiped during the whole massage. This would have been annoying as shit if they were speaking “Amurican” but they spoke Fijian which sounds very melodious, calm and soothing. Late in the afternoon we went on a snorkeling trip out to the edge of the reef. Saw some pretty cool new stuff including soft coral, sea anemones, clown fish, and sea snakes. The sea snakes are supposedly the most poisonous snakes on earth but are very docile so you don’t have worry about them.
The next morning we caught the bus to Suva, the capital and largest city in the South Pacific. We had some trouble getting money from the ATMs there but crisis averted, we boarded a ferry bound for the island of Taveuni. The ferry was supposed to take about 14 hours overnight with a stop in Savusavu. Instead, including a 2 1/2 hour departure delay, we spent 22 hours on the boat. That’s Fiji time for ya. While aboard we were treated to bad action movies and an endless loop of cheesy Lucky Dube (R.I.P.) videos. The economy class was unairconditioned and a bit oderific but we managed to sleep a little bit. Mysteriously, the outside of Kelly’s checked backpack, along with half of her belongings housed inside of it, picked up the strong scent of mothballs. Yummy. Needless to say we were eagerly awaiting the return voyage. Altogether we spent just over 31 hours traveling from Beach House to our accommodations in Taveuni.
Taveuni is the fourth largest island in Fiji, and lies just east of Vanua Levu. It actually has a lot of strange similarities to Kauai in Hawaii. Both are the fourth largest islands in their respective chains. Both are known as the “Garden island.” Both lack mongoose and as a result have an abundance of wild roosters (although Kauai easily wins the prize in that department). Both are known for their abundant rainfall, and both have one road that goes most of the way around the island before being blocked by impenetrable sea cliffs and rainforest. Interestingly, during the 2 1/2 weeks we spent on Kauai it rained exactly once, while it has rained everyday (and night) of our stay here. Oh yeah, both are known for their red dirt too.
Our first destination on Taveuni was the small village of Lavena, which lies in the middle of the eastern coast at the very end of the road. The bus ride from the town of Naqara near the ferry landing took over 2 hours. Most of the route down the eastern coast of Taveuni is unpaved and there are a couple of spots where streams wash over the road. The bus was packed with local Fijians returning to their villages for the day (this was the 3rd and final bus running for the day). When we arrived in Lavena at 6:30 pm it was already dark. The island of Taveuni actually straddles the 180th meridian and although the International Date Line curves around so that all of Fiji has the same time, it gets dark early here. Plus this is the dead of winter after all ;) Upon arrival we checked in as the only guests of the Lavena Lodge, located about 30 feet from where the bus parked for the night at the end of the road. This lodge was a bit of a dump, kind of your typical accommodations in a Fijian village and quite a contrast to the sweet digs at Beach House. However, it’s literally the only place to stay in Lavena and to do a day trip from the main resort area involves a $60 cab ride. It’s a good chance to experience village life though.
The next day we hiked a trail along the coast and then up through lush jungle along a river, finally swimming to the end of the “trail” where two waterfalls meet in a deep lava pool with high walls covered in ferns. The hike back was at low tide so we walked out onto the tidal flats and observed the abundant life in the tide pools. We hung out in the common area of the lodge that night and John played his ukulele with some of the locals. We tried to buy some vegetables from the only store in the village to supplement the noodles we’ve been surviving off of, but this place is pretty much devoid of actual nutrients. The only vegetables they had in stock were onions and most of the locals subsist off of root crops. Still, fried onions did noticeably improve the plain (and I mean PLAIN) “breakfast crackers” we had. We considered taking the early bus (5:45 am) out the next morning but eventually decided to sleep in and take the 11:00 bus. Only problem was that it had rained a lot overnight and through the morning so the rivers were high and the 11:00 bus never came. Nor did the 6:30pm bus which usually spends the night and leaves early the next morning. It continued to rain most of the day so we mostly chilled at the lodge and hung out with an American living in the village through the Peace Corps. Our room was free for the night thankfully. By chance, we woke up the next morning around 6:00 am and heard the bus unexpectedly roll in. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity, threw our things together and stumbled onto the bus.
Our next stop was Beverly’s campground on the north side of the island, where most of the accommodations are located. Beverly’s is run by an elderly Indian man named Bill Madden and his native Fijian wife. He treated us to toast and tea for breakfast and led us to our tent site, complete with electricity! We walked around the area, bought some groceries, and chilled some more. The next day we took a kayak out and did some modified snorkeling, one person hanging off the back of the kayak with their head in the water while the person in front paddles. Not a bad system, especially in an area where shark attacks can be a problem. We cooked some dinner in the communal kitchen and chatted with the family from New Zealand that was also camped there. Only minor issue was when we caught Bill’s 15 year old grandson going through our tent. Luckily, nothing was taken since we had all of our valuables with us by the kitchen area. Looks like Bill will be sending his grandson back to live with his parents though since he seems to cause quite a few problems for Bill.
The next day was our last day on Taveuni. We expected to be heading out in the late morning but there was some confusion among locals we had talked to about when the ferry was actually departing, if at all. We called in the morning and they said it was running late, they were telling people a probable 4pm boarding time. When we called later, it had changed to an 11:30pm boarding time because they were working on the engine, then delivering a shipment to another island before we could board. We had to flag down a cab and ask them to come back at 11:00 since taxis don’t usually run that late and it was about a 30 minute drive to the wharf. In the mean time, Bill had been drinking rum and coke with his brother-in-law Joe and was noticeably wasted. He kept insisting that the ferry wasn’t really going to leave and that we should stay for free and take the next ferry 2 days later. He wasn’t very helpful when we were trying to work out our plans, but he did keep us entertained. He and his brother-in-law just kept repeating a few key hilarious phrases by the end of the night including, “I’m Irish” and “Bastard” and “He talk too much!” all followed by a hearty drunken cackle.
When all was said and done, the ferry did finally appear at the wharf around midnight. We bought our Economy class tickets and found our seats amongst the locals. The trip began much like the last time and we slept most of the way to the first stop in Savusavu. Kelly was feeling really pleased with her Bonine because she didn’t feel sick at all even though the ocean was pretty rough and she heard a few people in the cabin wretching throughout the night. Turns out she was overly confident. The rough seas really didn’t hit until about 6 hours into the trip and she spent a couple hours outside on deck, trying to watch the horizon but mostly dry heaving. The boat crew provided full size black garbage bags as a barf bag. Wonder if that’s the usual, or if they had run out of smaller bags? We did eventually figure out that getting seasick, then passing out on your husband’s lap on the salt covered deck while getting sprayed by ocean water will get you bumped up to first class though. We spent our last 10 hours “enjoying” the air-conditioned first class cabin. Kelly was beginning to believe that she may actually live through this voyage when the engines stopped working about an hour and a half from our destination in Suva. The ship rocked powerless on the high seas for about an hour while the crew attempted to set the anchor and engineers worked on the waterlogged engines. At one point we were rolling so badly that the glasses and dishes behind the bar smashed to the ground, pretty unsettling. We pulled into port at about 8:15pm, were finally let off the boat around 9:15pm, and then happily headed to our hotel room in Suva.
Bottom line: Tavenui was awesome, but we’ll fly next time.
Bula!
Fiji is both the transit and cultural hub of the South Pacific. Probably the main reason we came here is that it is the cheapest place to fly to in the area (relatively of course). The country lies just about in the middle of the thousands of islands that cover this vast region. There are over 300 named islands that are part of the nation of Fiji. Basically, a few big islands surrounded by many small ones. Viti Levu is the main and largest island where the international airport is located (Nadi, pronounced Nandi) and the capital Suva. Fijian culture is an interesting combination of native Melanesian and Polynesian peoples, and the descendants of indentured servants who came from India during the 19th and early 20th centuries. There is definitely a bit of racial tension between these two main groups, mainly related to property laws that restrict land ownership by native Indians (and anyone else). Probably one reason there are frequent coups here, the latest in 2006.
We were a bit worried that Fiji might be too similar to Hawaii, i.e. volcanic islands, coral reefs, coconut palms and general tropical paradise. You know, the usual boring stuff 
Shortly after we landed we figured out that our worries were unfounded. About the only similarities are floral print shirts and a ubiquitous greeting. Just substitute Aloha with an even more vigorous Bula! The first thing we noticed was that the people here are crazy nice. Within 30 minutes of landing we were invited to stay at someone’s house and have received several similar offers since. We are definitely in a foreign country now.
Our first stop was with a local Indian named Eddie who we found through couchsurfing. Eddie lives inland, about a 10 minute cab ride from the Airport and Nadi town. Eddie’s place is an odd combination of unofficial hostel, home stay, bachelor pad, and local party spot. We stayed for 3 nights. During our time there, we were cooked fabulous meals, partied, hung out, and then hung-over with locals and fellow travelers. Should probably mention here that Fijians have a peculiar method of drinking beer, probably influenced by the kava tradition. Drinking is done communally. One small glass is filled and passed around in a circle, each person finishing the glass in one gulp. Usually one person does the pouring. It may sound inefficient but this is surprisingly effective, especially when some local 120 proof rum is thrown into the mix. Eddie’s place is also home to a cat, 4 dogs, 2 goats, some chickens and roosters, and a horse who apparently comes and goes as he pleases (he never showed during our stay). We were given frequent rides into town by Eddie’s neighbor Reggie (bastardized English version of his Indian name), who informed us a bit on local politics and culture.
While getting the downtown tour of Nadi from Reggie, we passed by a tourist booth where they give away free trips for going to a timeshare presentation (ah, another thing in common with Hawaii). Basically, sit through a 90 minute presentation on the great virtues and economic sense of buying magical points for $40,000 loaned at a 14% interest rate (hey but no prepayment penalty!) plus $1000 in yearly maintenance fees for the right to stay at one of Wyndham’s resorts for a couple weeks a year until you drop dead or talk some schmuck into buying it from you. Ummm………neh. We will take the free cruise though. And we did.
The next day we took the local bus to Denarau Island (where the fancy resorts are) and took our free cruise. We boarded a big double-masted sailboat, along with about 40 other tourists of higher income tax brackets than ourselves, and set out for Tivua or Mystery Island about an hour and a half from shore. En route, we were treated to a tourist friendly kava ceremony (much tamer than the scene at Eddies) and incessant singing by the crew. The island is a tiny coral sand outcropping that took no more than 5 minutes to circumnavigate on foot. After a short nap (still feeling the effects of the previous night at Eddie’s) we helped ourselves to the free buffet lunch and open bar, then did some kayaking and snorkeling. All in all it was a decent trip but we feel sorry for the people who actually paid $100 for it.
Moving on from Nadi, we set out for the Coral Coast on the southern shore of Viti Levu. Took the local bus to the Beach House resort. This place is set up specifically for backpackers. Accommodations range from private bungalows to camping, our preferred method. It’s mostly full of young travelers, but is surprisingly nice and immaculately kept. There is a communal area with a pool in the center surrounded by a kitchen, tables, a bar, a pool hall and the beach in front. Cheap activities abound including snorkeling trips, horseback riding, jungle treks, massages, and kayaking. Tomorrow we plan on taking advantage of the F$20 hour long massage ($13 US). Life is hard.
P.S. Relative to home, we’ve moved from 6 hours in the past to 16 hours in the future. In the process we completely lost Saturday June 28th. That’s right it never happened. We got on the plane Friday night, passed out, woke up 6 hours later and it was 4 am Sunday morning.
P.P.S. We have a local prepaid cell phone here and we can receive text messages for free if you want to send us an update or make us laugh. From the US, dial 011 679 947 9953. We’re charged to text you back though, so it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re ignoring you if we don’t reply.