Holy S%&T! We're in Fiji!!

Don't we look like superheros?
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That was pretty much the only thought going through my head in our first 24 hours in Fiji.  We landed at 3am in the pitch-dark, were whisked off to our hostel in a van, led through a maze of buildings (again in the dark), given a room key, and immediately went back to bed.  Once we woke up, we started to explore in the daylight and all I could think was "Holy S%&T!  We're in Fiji!".  After years of talking about and planning this trip, we finally made it.

Us and our packs. Just think, I'm carrying my entire closet on my back.
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Brian already took about 1.5 hours to write his entry, so I'm going to make this fast.  Here are things we've learned about Fiji:

The sun does not always shine in Fiji.   In our 14 days here, we've maybe had 2 days of sun.  We've had about 12 days of clouds and rain.

EVERYONE yells Bula (hello) at you.  And there are many ways to say Bula.  You can stress the Bu part.  You can stress the la part.  Sometimes you can stretch it out into Buuuuuuuula.  or Bulllllllllllllla.  And sometimes you get the double "bula bula".

The view from our oceanfront bure on Nananu.
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The toilets have 2 buttons.  One for a small flush, and one for a big flush.  It took us awhile to figure that one out.

Kava is a very popular native drink, made of the dried root of some sort of pepper plant.  In a very special ceremony it's mixed with water, and it tastes like dirty water.  According to the reading I've done, it has a slightly narcotic effect.  Read "Getting Stoned with the Savages" for more information.  It's a very funny account of an American couple's life, while living in Fiji.

The top of a hill on Nananu island
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Voltage in Fiji is 240, yet our Energizer battery charger was 110 volt.  I found that info out the hard way.  Let's just say there was a lot of smoke and sparks flying out of the unit.  Oops.....

I love local food/snacks/markets/grocery stores.  We discovered a delicious treat called Twisties.  They are basically a Cheeto, but come in chicken flavor which tastes just like a Chicken in a Biscuit cracker.  So we call them Chicken in a Cheeto.  They also have very cheap and tasty chocolate chip cookies.

Gearing up for our shark dive
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Fruit trees grow everywhere.  Our hotel in Nadi has several massive mango trees spread throughout the property.  One day I was sitting under one by the pool, and was nearly concussed by a mango hurtling to the ground.  And papayas grow everywhere, but they call them paw paw's. And bananas are delicious and cheap here - Brian bought a bunch (17 of them, to be exact) for $1 Fiji, which is about 60 cents US.

There are some crazy-ass bugs here.  At Nananu we encountered cockroaches as big as my thumb.  And a big skinny green stick bug, it looked almost alien.

Turtle beach, on Nananu
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We've met tons of great people, in fact we plan to visit families in both NZ and Australia.  The Aussies said they'd cook us a kangaroo roast, which I'm especially excited about!

I better load some pictures now.  Enjoy!

Anne