The boys on Robinson Crusoe

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We had heard good things about Robinson Crusoe Island resort so after negotiating a good deal, we decided we wanted to just stay somewhere for a few days, chill out and get to know the locals. We hadn't really stayed in one place for a good time since Koh Tao.

After a long transfer from Beachouse to the jetty, we arrived to a friendly welcoming committee who played and sang songs to greet our boat. We were then invited to a Kava Welcome Ceremony - the traditional Fijian celebration. If you have never had Kava before, you're not missing out. But if you ever go to Fiji you have to have it. Tastes like muddy water, but down in one is the best way - one taste!! If you have too much of it, it can make you feel and bit weird, but more of that later!! The ceremonies themselves are good fun and full of banter.

It was here we were introduced to the island. A very small island, it would only take 20-30 minutes to walk round (but 4 and half hours Fiji time). We were also informed that we had to shower using a bucket and lights would go out at midnight. It was to be a very interesting island experience.

On the first evening we were treated to a night with Crabman!! Myself and Adam went off crab hunting while Paul slept. Night is the best time to hunt these crabs and when you shine a torch up the beach, all you see is hundreds of crabs scuttling a long the beach. Crabman taught us how to catch a crab and Adam manned up by sticking his finger through the crabs head as it lay just under the sand. On this night trek we also got to see a water-snake, apparently one of the most venomous snakes in the world!! On our return, we threw the crabs on to the fire for a bit of supper before moving up the beach for a midnight bonfire and a sing-a-long.

The next morning, Paul and myself went to visit the local primary school, on the mainland. Adam wasn't able to go due to the international kiddie restraining order so he just lazed in a hammock. It was quite an experience going to the school. We got introduced to their curriculum and were able to go around a chat to the kids. They learn English from the age of 6 and so were able to converse well. They were very well behaved kids and very polite (much more so than English kids!!) One surprise was to see that from the young age of 7 or 8 they start to learn about the negative effects of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana. There are soem graphic pictures ont he wall to illustrate this. After our walk round, we were treated to performances from the kids. The youngest singing nursery songs while the eldest were performing traditional Fijian tribal dances. As ‘Chief’ for the day it was my job to thank the kids and present them with the donation, which was to go to the school to help them build a proper toilet block.

On our return we chilled out in the sun, which turned out to be our only day sunbathing on Crusoe. The island entertainers, Tooks and Bill, were very good at getting every one involved and organizing things to do. That evening we also played volleyball and then some touch rugby, with adults this time, before being treated to some traditional Fijian dances. There was also a knife and fire dance at the end, very impressive!!

Unfortunately for our tans the weather was then pretty bad for the rest of our time on Crusoe. In the rain, our days were spent either playing cards (Shithead was the game of choice) or getting to know the local ways of living. We got to see (and taste) a Lovo – fish, chicken and potatoes being cooked in the ground. It tasted very nice but it takes about 5 hours to do!! We also got to make baskets out of coconut leaves and make ourselves a Kava bowl (billo) – out of coconut. It took a lot of sanding down to make them look pretty.

We also got to go fishing, the Fijian way. About a dozen of us got in the water and made a large semi-circle to one side of the net. We then had to bang water with sticks as we moved the circle in closer. The idea was that the fish would swim towards the net and we caught about 6 fish!! We also went on a canoe round the island but couldn’t quite go all the way round as it was very shallow for a long way. We were able to walk round the island however, which we did in about 30 minutes.

In the evenings we joined in the Kava welcome ceremony every night. As “Islanders” we were there to introduce the new-comers to the island. The ceremonies was lead by Tooks, Bill (Cosby) and Nicholas who then went on to provide the entertainment for the evenings. Some evenings we got to watch the dance show (performed 3 times a week) and other nights we were up to various alcohol fuelled activities. This included Limbo dancing (Adam got the furthest out of us 3!!), dance offs, drunken spinny round game, a quiz night (organized by Paul from his quiz book!!) and playing more Shithead. We also got to learn one of the war-dances with Bill leading the way. There was about 12 of us learning but we weren’t good enough to go into the main show!!

Our last night turned out to be the most memorable. After a week on Kava and wanting to know the effect lots would have on us, we decided to club together and buy lots of the stuff. Tooks, Bill and Nicholas lead the way in making the kava up and distributing it amongst the 15 or so that were there. We started off by having Tsunamis (a big bowl full) but after 6 or 7 of these our bladders demanded we drink less. The effects were starting to take their toll and everyone was feeling very drowsy and hypnotic. We ended the night with more of Tooks guitar playing for a sing-a-long session. However the effects of that night didn’t end there for some. Paul and Adam felt very ill a couple of days later and were in bed a lot while we were in Nadi, probably down to the effects of the Kava.

We were very sad to leave when we did. We had got to know the staff really well and presented them with our rugby ball as they had lost theirs (probably up a tree!) It was a great place with a great atmosphere and I would definitely recommend it to other travelers. Staying for 5 days meant we did a lot of the stuff and got to know other travelers who passed through. It was surreal living without constant electricity and without running water. The shower was a bucket we had to fill up (and we only had one bucket a day each!) The dorm was big (about 30 beds in there) but as we spent so little time in there it didn’t matter. The food was really good and really varied. The performances were good fun and all the staff were really friendly. I couldn’t recommend it enough. We had a really good time!!