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I woke up at 6.30am in order to get showered and packed as it was all a bit of a rush this morning as we had to check out by 7am and then go and have free breakfast leaving our bags in the reception area before collecting them and putting them in the minibus on our return to the reception area as we had to be prompt with the departure time of 7.30am as we were travelling around half of the island today so we had a lot of time on the road. There were only thirteen of us on board; seven of us had jumped onto the bus at Uprising so there were six people on the bus prior to us gate crashing it. The driver of the bus was Elijah, a big built Fijian bloke, and the guide was Jerry aka Robinho who I had as my guide the first time that I got on the Feejee Experience.
The first significant part of the bus journey today was when we reached Suva, the Fijian capital city which is also the largest city in the pacific. Suva is the heart of Fiji, with markets bustling with activity; it was also the first place in Fiji that we had come across traffic lights. After a few jokes from Jerry as we cruised around the city, we stopped off at the Presidents house for a photo shoot with the Guard of Honour, who looked very serious, prim and proper. We then continued our tour around the rest of Suva as Jerry pointed out things of interest. We made our way onto the Kings highway as we exited Suva, which is known as the 'Banana Highway' because tourists very seldom travel along the route as the majority of the route we were travelling was on gravel roads, the reason it's called the Banana Highway is because most of the road follows the banks of the Wainibuka River where the locals used to use bamboo rafts to take their bananas to the markets in Nausori. As usual every local that we passed waved at us.
Our next port of call after Suva was in the town called Korovou, one of very few towns set on the Kings Road, which is still very much an unexplored basic dirt road. Our reason for stopping in Korovou was to stock up on lunch supplies whilst also getting something for the children at the orphanage that we were to visit later in the day. I brought a pack of biscuits for the kids as did most people with the exceptions buying stationary or toiletry products instead. From Korovou we travelled along the Kings road until we reached the orphanage that we were visiting. Jerry didn't even know if the orphanage was open as he hadn't phoned to check so we arrived to what seemed like an extremely quiet building, then Jerry went running up the hill to see if there was anybody around, he then came back to where we were parked in the car park and let us know that it was open and that we were allowed in. We couldn't visit a school as it was the school holidays at our time of visit so it was only orphanages that were open. We had to wear our sarongs which we purchased on our first day on the Feejee Experience around the orphanage just out of respect for their culture. First of all we were greeted by this elder Fijian women who worked at the orphanage who introduced us to a few of the kids that went there, there were about eight of them all sitting round the table who were in their early teens, and preparing for an exam, they all said hello and sang us a song, then we had a quick glimpse around the place before being told to wait outside of the building as the women went to see if we would be able to go and see their living quarterd but she came back saying that it was a mess and that they were tidying their rooms so we would not be able to go in there which meant that we had to leave after spending very little time there, the visit was hugely disappointing as we didn't get to see any little children they were all older and didn't want to speak to us, plus we didn't get a proper look round the facilities, it was a bit of a bodged up job and a bit rushed, it felt as though it was a spur of the moment thing as Jerry didn't even know if it was going to be open, plus he had never been there before so he couldn't give us any information on the place, so I am quite thankful that we did get to go to a different orphanage on my final sector of the Feejee Experience which was a real Fijian orphanage experience which you will hear about in the following blog.
After another bumpy journey down a dirt track after deviating from the Kings road, we arrived at Wailotua Village for our village visit and kava ceremony. The village has a population of about 200 and is 72 kilometres North West of Suva. Upon visiting villages in Fiji, it is important to take into account the village etiquette as people on the Feejee Experience are a group of few travellers that are actually allowed into the villages, so it is of absolute paramount importance that we don't impact negatively on their traditions, customs and way of life. This meant that we had to wear our sulu (sarong) once more to enter their village, as well as removing all our footwear before we entered the bure. Plus when we were sitting down we had to make sure that all the males were sitting cross legged and all the females were sitting with their legs to the side. The Feejee Experience group had to take a pack of Kava roots to give to the village as a show of appreciation for letting us into their village.
Upon arrival we enjoyed the full and proper sevusevu (welcome/kava ceremony) with the Chiefs family in their family home in the village as the chief was away in a separate village that he overseas as he was the chief of many of the villages in the local area. Elijah then went through all the formalities of the welcome ceremony in Fijian with the villagers, and asked for permission to bilibili raft on their river which they granted. After this the chiefs family enjoyed listening to everyone in the group tell them a few things about ourselves like where we are from and what we do back home. Then we had to participate in the obligatory kava ceremony, so we all had a cup each having to say the usual Bula and clap out hands before we gulped the vile stuff down, the women then got separated from us blokes as they got to make bracelets out of palm tree and banana tree leaves with the village women whilst us blokes had to finish the kava off. After which it was time to say out goodbyes as we proceeded on our way to the Bilibili rafting which was only a two minute bus ride away.
We jumped out of the bus and made our way down the very muddy hillside to the water which was not deep at all then we all got onto one Bilibili (bamboo) raft or another as there were enough people to fit onto two rafts and were guided downstream by the local Fijians, it was a very relaxing ride until we came across some Fijian kids messing about in the water who decided it would be funny to splash us, but we didn't just sit there and take it we splashed them back. We were eventually guided into an open area of water where we were told we were going to have a race between the two rafts. Jerry decided that because his raft was sinking he would send a few people over to our raft so that we had about three more people on board than they did which worked against us as our raft became heavier meaning we sank, proving Jerry obviously knew what he was doing by giving us more passengers. It was no surprise that we lost the race down the river on the locally made bamboo rafts, with Jerry's raft the clear winner beating us by quite a distance, which he was delighted about and threatened us with forfeits for later that night which never did materialise. It was quite hard getting the bamboo raft moving at any great speed as we had to sit upright on the raft and use our hands as ores splashing the water backwards to get us moving in the right direction and having so many people on our raft weighed us down big time. It was good fun still and did get quite competitive. We were then guided back along the river to where we started out, getting splashed again as we passed the local Fijian kids, one of which they completely dunked and covered in the squishy surrounding mud, head and hair included which the poor kid weren't too pleased about as she ran downstream into the water as far away from the others as possible so she could wash the mud off. When we arrived back we got off the rafts and trudged back up the hill to where the bus was parked so that we could collect our spare dry clothes and go and find a spot to get changed, on our way back onto the bus there was a big bucket of water that we could wash the mud off of our feet in.
This was our last adventure for the day as from here we made our way back onto the Kings road to Volivoli beach resort, in the province of Ra in the township of Rakiraki. The resort is situated on an 'island like' point on the northern most tip of Viti Levu. Just before we arrived at the resort we stopped for a photo opportunity to capture the magnificent coastline that we had to drive along to get to the resort. Once we had arrived we got allocated a room after checking in. I also enquired about the opportunity of taking my PADI which is the official diving certification course, but they wouldn't let me do it as I am asthmatic. After chucking my bags into my dorm room which stunk of bug repellent, I made my way down to the bar area as we were given a quick tour around the resort by the entertainment guy, whose stage name was Sasha, so he said during his introduction which gives you an idea as to which team he isbatting for if you get my drift, he was so funny however and the way he spoke was hilarious even if a tad gay, he was a genuinely nice bloke though. Apparently in Fiji if families have a certain number of boys and no girls then they bring their next child up as a girl to compensate for the fact that they have not had a girl, so the word was that Sasha came from a big family of brothers and he was the one brought up as a girl.
On the way back to my dorm from the tour I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw a couple that I had met back in Kaikoura in New Zealand, a guy called Greg who I'd met out there introduced me to his cousin and his girlfriend whilst with him and it was his cousin and girlfriend that I bumped, so I stopped and chatted to them for quite a while to see how their travels had been since I last saw them across the water, then I went up for a shower, which in itself was ok but it leaked everywhere and even went under the door and into our dorm room so there was always a constant flood in our room which was not nice. Everyone on the Feejee Experience bus had agreed to meet for dinner at 7.30pm so we did and I got burger and chips and it lived up to the high standard of food which I had eaten everywhere else in Fiji. At dinner we also met three Dutch guys who had spent a few extra nights at the resort who we had met on our previous bus. After dinner Sasha came along to explain the games we were going to be playing that night for the evening's entertainment, we started off with the three legged race, which I partnered up with Carly in, we had to tie one of our legs to one of our partners legs and then race, we miserably went out in the first round which meant no free drinks for us, the next game consisted of Sasha shouting out a number we then had to get that many people in each group and then get into whatever sex position Sasha would shout out, the odd person out would be eliminated. After that we played a game where you partnered up and had to prevent a bottle from touching the floor whilst maintaining it in a position that Sasha requested such as knee to knee or neck to neck or mouth to mouth etc you get the idea, Kit was my partner and we got to the latter rounds before being eliminated. For the final team game, we were split into two teams and lined up behind one another, we then had to pass the bottle to the person behind us, and the once the bottle reached the person at the back they would run forward with the bottle to the front and start the process again until the person that began at the front, which was me in our team was back at the front, then we all had to sit down and the first team sat on the floor won, it wasn't as simple as that however as in the first round we passed it to out team members via the suck and blow method, where with the bottle on its side, one person would blow the bottle and the other person would suck it in order to transport it person to person, in the second round it was simply armpit to armpit transportation followed by knee to knee transportation in the final round. We won the first two rounds so had overall victory in the bag before we conceded the final round to the other team....because were generous :P
So with a 2-1 win in the bag we got to watch the other team perform their forfeit which was quite a laugh as they were all dancing on the tables to music before stripping. Then the last game of the night was a more subdued affair yet still highly competitive, it involved throwing hoops onto a target in the middle of the sand, which I was miserable at not even landing one. So I didn't win any free drinks that night so had to settle for buying my own drinks, I started on the Fiji Gold before moving onto a Margarita cocktail. After all the fun and games the nights entertainment had finished so it was off to bed at around 11pm.
I didn't get up until about 10.30 the following morning as I wasn't in any rush to make the free breakfast as there wasn't any; we had to pay for breakfast at this resort, so I opted for toast, bacon and beans! Which I turned into a back buttie and beans when it arrived which I had forgotten I could do with toast and bacon before it arrived haha, it was real tasty and felt good to eat a hot cooked breakfast. After getting that down me I went to sit out in the sun on one of the sun beds, Ashley was sitting their reading as she was doing her PADI course at the resort which is what I wanted to do, and Carly was catching her last few rays before getting on the coach as she was leaving us today after spending over a week with Ashley and I. Midday came, which signalled the start of the goodbyes to Jerry, Carly and the Dutch lads as they were all leaving us behind as the rest of us had decided to stay a few extra nights. Once they had gone normal service resumed, meaning Michael, Mel and I lazed around the pool and chilled listening to music or reading books while we could hear the TV that Ashley was watching for her course blaring away.I sat in the sun until around 4pm when I decided to go and sit in the restaurant area to get a late snack of garlic and sweet chilli chips which I have to admit were a little disappointing as they were just like normal chips just more expensive. I also made use of the hostels free wifi, before getting showered and then meeting the guys for dinner. I went for the cheap option this night as I got a bowl of rice and a bowl of vegetables before combining them and adding sweet chilli sauce which made a real good meal. I brought the food from the advice of Ashley who ordered the same thing and was glad I did as it was good tucker. For the rest of the evening, Michael, Mel, Kit, Kat, Ashley and I sat around the table playing various games of cards whilst I let the others use my netbook to access the internet. It was dead in the resort that night and by half nine the bar called last orders and shut as there was no one else left in the bar except us playing cards so we got our last round in played a bit more cards and then hit the pillow at about half ten.
The next morning I had another lay in until about ten, before buying the smallest bowl of cereal I have seen in my life for breakfast, which surprisingly wasn't very filling so I accompanied this with some toast. I then went and sat out on the sun beds again and had a pretty similar day to the one previous with the only difference being that Michael, Mel and I decided to try our hand at kayaking as it was a free activity which the hostel offered. I got my own kayak and the other shared one, it was the first time I had ever been kayaking but it was easy to pick up, although very exhausting....not on the arms however....but the legs as they are cramped up in the same position for an extended period of time. We were on the water for about 45 minutes and went out pretty far before making our way back to the shore. After another short period lying on the sun bed I decided to go inside on the internet and get an ice cream and a pack of crisps for a very late lunch for the second day running. I then went back to my dorm where I met the people that had just arrived on the new Feejee Experience bus that I was to be travelling on the next day before getting showered and meeting the guys for dinner at about 7.30pm, most of us all got the bowl of rice and vegetables as it was cheap and scrummy. Ashley, Michael, Mel, Kit, Kat and I then played cards downing a free alcoholic drinks in the mean time before being asked by Reuben, the guide for the Feejee Experience group that had just arrived to join them for the evening, so we sat with them for a bit as we watched the new Feejee Experience group participate in the same cheesy games that we had to on our first night before we then settled back down in our own group again, chilling out on my laptop taking it in turns to use it. We did wonder back over to join the group to play the game where you have to land the hoop on the stick, but apart from that the two groups kept pretty separate throughout the night, and we were in bed by 11.30pm ready for the day ahead even though it wasn't an early start!
Love Toby xxxx
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