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After a night of very broken sleep, we had survived! With a trail of centipede corpses around us, we got dressed and headed to the dinning room for breakfast. Tui cooked us thick pancakes, toast and fried eggs with onion. We waited to be taken around the village while Tui washed and dressed his mum. Tui was such an amazing man, he was so kind and gentle, we felt for him in his situation and sometimes we would catch him just staring into space deep in thought. He didn't have brothers or sisters or even children to help out, but I hoped he was happy.
Just before midday, Tui took us for the village tour. Tui didn't actually live inside the village as the lodge was classed as a modern house and when Tui's parents built the lodge in 1994, the Chief of the village told them they had to build it outside of the village. It wasn't far though, only a 3-5 minute drive.
The village as amazing! We started at the church situated at the top of the village. It had been designed by an Italian man who paid for and built the church. Next, we saw the school where children from 6-16 years would attend. There was also a boarding section where children from other villages could come to attend the school. The children were still on summer holiday for another week so unfortunately we weren't able to see the school children but we were shown around the school. It was very similar to primary schools at home, with 'Golden Rules' and helpful slogans plastered all over the walls in bright colours. The school was also the only place in the village they had access to Internet.
Finally we were taken to see all the ancient bures (huts), there was over 200 of them. The village had been hit by the hurricane the February before but all the bures had remained unharmed. As this hurricane was the second strongest on record in world history, it demonstrates just how sturdy they are! Groups of children emerged from some of the bures to say hello. They tried to talk English to us and demonstrated some rugby tackles between them, very cute!
Next, we were introduced to some of Tui's extended family. They were very welcoming and the children were very well behaved. We sat and chatted for a while and Matt showed the children a game on his iPhone which they all absolutely loved! I'm not sure if they had ever played a phone game before but they crowded around it in amazement! Tui's 2nd cousin was the Chief of the village so we were really keen to meet him. After our chat with the family, we headed to our last stop. We met all the workers, builders and farmers in the village. We sat and had a bowl of Kava with them when the Chief joined us! We chatted for a brief time before saying our thankyous and goodbyes. I couldn't get over just how warm and welcoming Fijians were. Everyone we have met in Fiji had been so lovely!
We said our goodbyes to Tui at the bus stop and headed on our way. The bus was awesome, so retro looking! All the side windows were complete open and they played loud Fijian music the entire way! We loved it! Again, everyone was so friendly and wanted to chat to us. We caught three buses in total which cost us £5 for both Matt and myself for a 3 hour journey... absolute bargain!
Back at Newtown beach, we stayed in a dorm next door to Bamboo called Smugglers Cove as it was slightly cheaper and included breakfast. The room was beautifully air conditioned. We picked up our luggage and had a quick very much needed shower before dinner. What an amazing trip we had experienced.
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