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Fiji Days 1 - 4
We arrived in Fiji and before we could get out of the airport we had our 1st drama, at customs I realized I left my passport and visa form on the plane! Luckily the plane hadn’t moved from the gate and it was still there (I also left my laptop in a restaurant in New York and had to go back after realizing I was missing something 4 blocks down the road - nothing changes!)
When we arrived at our hostel the owner tried to convince us to buy all sorts of trips straight away. Seeing as it was 6am and we had just finished a huge journey, I was pretty mad that someone would try and rip us off. I think the guy got that general impression because he welcomed everyone else with free drinks and me and Duncan just got evils whenever we saw him.
The trips offered did seem good though, so after a little kip we went into town to see how cheap we could get to the islands for. Straight away people swarming us trying to get us into shops, asking our names, where we’re from etc etc. There were pretty forceful and I didn’t like it at all, although when one guy tried to carve Duncan’s name on a boomerang I had to crack up.
We decided to go to the official Fiji tourist office and see what prices of things should be as I hate feeling ripped off and I weren’t going to buy anything till I knew. They were pretty nice and we decided we would go to the islands first then travel round the main island after because it would be easier to get back to the airport (Fiji is pretty much split into 2 parts, the main island and the surrounding islands).
On returning to NadI where we were staying, we again tried to get a decent price and ended up being told to follow some bloke to his shop to get some ‘advise’. It turned out to be up a side alley and we were followed in by some big blokes and I thought ‘oh s***’. He then tried selling us all types of crap and offering us Kava (the local drink) and I was trying to be a pleasantly blunt as possible. Whenever I politely told him he weren’t helping us so we were going, he would say “why be like that? Are you a tough guy? You act like an American” so it kept getting semi confrontational. Eventually I got it through to him and we left, and I was soooo relieved. It seems really funny looking back but they sold swords and had them on display on the wall - so I made a mental note of where a decent one was incase things took a turn for the worse. Duncan however recons I was being OTT and that they weren’t a bad bunch!! J
After all this I was pretty pissed off, and your not really meant to go through NadI at night, so it was the perfect excuse to keep away from the s*** hole and stay at the hostel sleeping off the flight. We got a decent price for a trip to Mana island which left early the next day off a very gay Fijian at the hostel. It was a really bad introduction to Fiji but the guide book (which has been priceless) said that NadI is nothing like the real Fiji and its purely a stop off town from the airport. Thankfully things got much better……….
On the way to Mana we went passed many small islands and I started taking pictures of the nicest looking one, then the boat turned into dock and I realized it was our island, result! Mana consists of a plush resort which we cant go to and a small village where the locals live. The hostel is actually set in the village so we are getting the real Fiji experience. I have never really seen poverty like it, its common to see people washing at the water pump, and they have to grow/hunt their own food. I wasn’t so keen on it at first but since I have gotten used to it, its not so bad.
Everyone is really friendly and if you stay in the village, you are treated like you live there, so its common for locals to just start talking to you. We have spent most days walking the beaches and exploring, when the afternoon downpour comes (it does everyday) we read or take a kip. Its really laid back but the fact there isn’t so much to do is a mixed blessing because I cant lay on a beach all day, although for some here its heaven. In the evening everyone gathers on the wooden deck on the seafront to have a few beers. Me and Duncs bought a bottle of vodka each from the mainland, as beer is fairly expensive here, so we have got fairly drunk for 2 nights, then we run dry L. Its really surreal and quite often we pour ourselves a drink and suddenly think, we’re looking out over the South Pacific….are we really here!? It really is a beautiful place, although I don’t think I will fully appreciate how nice it is until go because its just the norm for us at the mo.
We have managed to do a few excellent activities in the day ……and one was our real introduction to Fiji. It started off fine, we left on an island hopping tour of 4 local islands in beautiful weather, saw Castaway Island (where Tom Hanks made the film). Then they dropped off 2 local blokes in the ocean to do some spear fishing with massive harpoons. We were dropped off at a really nice 5star resort and used their swimming pool for a few hours then had a BBQ. The resort was amazing and it was mostly for honeymooners, surrounded in palm trees etc etc (see me and Duncans honeymoon pic), I couldn’t believe we were paying £12 full board at a hostel and were sitting next to people paying £400 a night in their pool haha.
After the BBQ the weather took a very bad turn and monsoon rain came down just as we left in our tiny boat. The rain came down so hard it left red markings on my back where it whipped against it!!! A mist appeared and we could barely see any of the surrounding islands. The locals then told us that they needed to find the spear fishermen they dropped off earlier and dropped us off at the closest island to wait for them. So we were sitting they not knowing where the hell we were, marooned on an island, in a monsoon . After 40 mins or so, the boat appeared and we were thankfully on our way home……or so we thought. The weather was so bad that we couldn’t see our island, the fishermen had no compass and little to no idea of how to get back. All we could see was mist and choppy water. Duncan nad I both have no idea why we weren’t more scared than we were. My classic comment to the bloke next to me was “surely there is an element of danger to this?”. Suddenly the boat stopped and the locals started laughing - our island was just visible in the other direction and we were on our way back……phew. The fact that there are no pics of this part shows how scared we were because who wouldn’t want pics of themselves stranded in a monsoon - it would be pretty cool. It was our first ‘we’ll never forget this’ moment of the trip.
We also did a bit of snorkeling and saw quite a few colorful fish. Mana is surrounded by coral, so its perfect conditions for see all types of things. Given my fear of sharks…..and apparently there are sharks here, I was pretty proud of myself.
All in all we had a few good nights in Mana and its really opened my eyes to a whole new way of life. You often see self sufficient villages on TV programmes, but to live in one, drink and go fishing with people from it was something else. The people from the hostel were also a decent bunch and it was our first real backpacking hostel experience as well because we were too busy to sit around with people in New York. It still feels pretty weird to me, but I think I’ll get used to it.
We are leaving to go back to NadI today and begin our journey around the mainland. Hopefully we’ll only be stopping there to get a bus to the next town, as it really is the worst place I have ever been to. Worse than Dover!
Duncs......
I managed to fit in abit of spear fishing before heading back to the main island, Lee was a bit weary of the sharks but I'm made of stronger stuff! It was amazing to be out in the middle of the sea where coral rises up near the surface and you see so many multi-coloured fish. The Fijians were so good as they stayed on the sea bed for minutes holding their breath and stalking small fish with a large spear. They caught a afew and me and this guy Angus threaded them onto string for them as our attempts with the spear were quite pitiful. As I was late for the boat back they had to pick me up from the middle of the sea so I could make a James Bond style entrance in my snorke gear carrying a colourful fish the Fijian had just caught. I've never been told I look like Daniel Craig but maybe I could now add that to the list (Toby Maguire is the latest one I got in Fiji!).
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