Fiji

Sandy
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Bula (hello) from Fiji!

Fiji is a small group of volcanic islands east of Australia and NZ and most people know it just as an expensive beach holiday destination. We were hoping to find out what real Fiji life was all about, as well as catching some rays on beautiful beaches, so we booked a bus around the main island of Viti Levu.

Our last two days were spent on Beachcomber island which was a sand island that you can walk round in 10 mins!

Nadi street vendor
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Our first night was spent in Nadi bay as our bus didn’t leave till the next day. We quickly found out that the real Fiji is not all sunshine and sandy beaches as we wandered down the road from our hotel. The streets and the bay were covered in litter and whilst there where “real” houses along the way many of the people lived in shacks made out of corrugated iron - just what you want when the sun is beating down and its 30-35 degrees centigrade…

We watched some FBI (Fijian born Indians) bait fishing in the bay that evening before getting our first taste of “Fiji time” in the hotel restaurant. Fiji time is basically the locals way of explaining why it took us 15mins to get a menu after sitting down, another half hour to get our drinks the best part of an hour to get served our main course in the restaurant we chose. Thankfully the seats were comfortable, the surrounding gardens and pond were very beautiful and the restaurants cats and lizards kept us entertained.

Clare at the market
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The next day we caught our bus into Nadi town to get some supplies for a beach BBQ and to get some breakfast from the fruit market. After this we drove to Natadola beach, Alex body surfed on the huge waves while Clare chatted to other travellers and the locals selling jewellery. After lunch we visited a Fijian village and had to wear sulu’s which are Fijian sarongs. After a wander round the village our guide gave us a brief insight into Fijian culture and answered our questions.

It was then on to Sigatoka sand dunes for sandboarding. The dunes were much steeper than the ones we encountered in NZ and gave you a real adrenalin rush. Half the fun was watching the other boarders lose control and end up face planted with a mouth full of sand.

Natadola Beach
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Our evening stay was in a place called Mercury bay. The only cheap beds they had were in a dorm which we’ve tried to avoid so far.  After chatting with the reception staff nicely we were given a beach front bure for just a little bit extra! This was definitely one of the nicest place we had stayed since our trip began. For dinner Alex tucked into some Ika Vakalolo which is basically a fresh fish stew made with coconut milk (yum) and afterwards we moved to the crab racing arena which they seem to do everywhere in Fiji! We met a couple who had just got married that day and ended up partying with them, some holidaymakers and other travellers till the early morning.

Village visit
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Q: What is the best thing to do after a seriously late night partying in Fiji?

A: Go jungle trekking in the Namosi Highlands!!

The trek took about 3 hours and took us through jungle and along a stream bed before reaching the Navua river where we had some lunch on the riverbank. Some locals gave us some old tyre inner tubes and so we hopped in a floated down the river to some waterfalls before catching a long tail boat back to our bus.

That evening we arrived in Suva, the capital, where the streets were jam packed with locals in the streets and markets. We had dinner at the rainforest retreat, watched a Fijian dance show and had a much needed early night.

Our Beach front Bure
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The following day took us along the banana highway to Korovou passing many banana and sugar cane plantations. We visited a local school and took along some books, stationary and lollies. The children sang and danced for us as thanks for their gifts. The chief of the nearby village then met us and took us to his village for a Kava welcoming ceremony. Kava is a root which they grind into a powder and mix with water. It tasted like muddy water with a slight aniseed flavour and made your mouth go numb. Clare was only required to have one bowl before she left to weave bracelets with the local women whereas Alex was instructed to stay put and help finish the whole mixing bowl.

Crab Racing
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After a walk round the village the chief took us to a local river and took us bili bili rafting. The rafts are made of bamboo and have been used for many years to move stock and passengers up and down the river. No pictures of this unfortunately because the chief advised us not to take our cameras. True to his word we got soaked. After thanking the chief for his time we hopped back on the bus to Raki Raki for a beach party at Voli Voli beach resort.

Voli Voli beach resort is tucked away on a peninsula on the north east of Viti Levu. We hopped on a bus back to Raki Raki to get some fresh fruit and veg from the local markets before spending some time kayaking, snorkelling and sunbathing. We stayed for two more nights here and scuba dived at shark junction which true to its name had many sharks as well as lots of beautiful coral. We also dived a cool ship wreck which was an old ferry carrying food and drink to another island. We found 16 large trucks inside and our guides told us that they had free beer every day for six months when it first sunk.

Spot Clare in Namosi Highlands
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On our way back to Nadi Town we stopped at the Sabeto springs which had hot pools and mud pools. We caked ourselves in the warm mud before having a long soak in each of the hot springs.

Our last two days were spent on Beachcomber island which was a sand island that you can walk round in 10 mins! The first day we had a coconut husking lesson, went on a fish feeding boat and dived the wreck of a B26 bomber that crashed during the second world war. In the evening we were forced to enter a dance off. We’re not sure whether we were awesome or the other entrants were really awful but we managed to finish a creditable second.

Trekking through streams
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On our final day we went out on a boat to the best coral reefs near our island for more snorkelling and then caught some rays on our beautiful island. Then it was back to the mainland and the airport for our flights to Australia.