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This morning we had booked for Scuba training, which was basically a dive in the swimming pool for free plus a video showing you how to work the gear. We didn’t get shown a video but we did get a flip chat that the guy, Nathan, ran through pretty quickly, I later found at that was because he couldn’t read all the English, which said you have three airspaces that you have to equalise pressure in, your lungs so breathe, your mask so blow through your nose and your sinuses so pinch your nose and blow through your ears. It seemed easy enough but we were all quite nervous and watched very closely when he showed us how to set up the gear. The boys did their own but he did mine for me, because I was a girl he said, and we all got into the pool and put on the life jackets with the oxygen tanks. All went well and we took lots of photos of each other doing the OK sign under water with our disposable under water cameras. It was a pretty exciting experience as it made us feel like we would be able to try it in the sea.
By 10.00am we were done and off to catch a bus into Suva town. Shaun especially wanted to see a big town and as we hadn’t been into Nadi we decided it was a good way to spend a day. We wanted to take the public bus as we had found it was a good way to see culture in other countries, do what the Fijians would do not the tourists. The bus was crowded and cramped but full of interesting people from the Indian Fijian’s that had been brought to Fiji but the British when we started farming sugar cane here to the original Fiji population which were sporting some amazing afro hair dos.
The town was a lot like a small and not so busy village in India. The shops were similar in their random slightly second hand looking goods and their habit of having a dining table and chairs in the shop so they could take long lunch breaks and tea breaks and generally be on a break. We found a fruit and vegetable market after only a short time and were able to wander around rows and rows of citrus fruits, bananas and vegetables marvelling at teh colours and the fresh smells. There were heaps of ginger, chillies and garlic bulbs at most of the stalls and if we had a kitchen I would have tried cooking, but we didn’t so we just took some photos.
The boys wanted to go upstairs and look around so I went and sat outside on a bench with an old Fijian man who didn’t speak much English but carried on a conversation half with me and half with himself while the boys were off. They came back reporting that the top floor was mostly tables of Kava root and powder all ready to be made in to the drink that evening. When they returned we decided to try a few random things to eat and bought a block of ‘Tapyoca’ from an old lady who said Bulla a lot and told us we should try eating it as it was real Fijian food. It looked like a slice of cake but tasted like a barbequed potato but a bit sweeter. After that we felt adventurous so we also bought some banana coconut cake from one of the stalls and the biggest scone with jam and butter you have ever seen.
The rest of the day was spent walking around and going into ‘Jack’s of Fiji’ the biggest tourist tat shop in the town where we got a few little bits and bobs and Shaun bought the most amazing picture and a cannibal fork!
After all the walking we were both tired and hungry and we had a hour until the last bus so we decided to see what Suva had to offer in the way of food. The area round the resort had only 3 places to eat and the resort was a bit pricey for everyday eating so we were hopeful of getting some good food. We tried the Indian place closest to the bus stop but they had little food left so we decided to go on. We looked at various options but in the end proximity to the bus stop won out so we went to check out a pizza place. In Pacific Harbour we had eaten a pizza and it was $28 Fiji for one that was big enough for us to get 2 bits each, when we saw the pizza in Suva we couldn’t believe our eyes, for the same price we got a 20” pizza enough for us to have 4 slices each and still take some back in a box to go with the Fiji Gold beer waiting in our fridge. Both Shaun and I fell asleep before the end of the movie that night!
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