Life on Vomo continues

Thursday 26 April

As usual with me nothing is ever simple. I have an inquisitive nature when it comes to people, and start to wonder how these people who work here really live.  They are such lovely people, and I am sure that is a genuine trait, but its hard to see what they are really like away from this paradise. 

I would think most people that visit Fiji, and places like Vomo, have little interest in the real Fiji.  It reminds me of when I visited Egypt a bit, you would drive for miles and miles through desert, then find an oasis of  trees and grass and secure compounds upon which a holiday resort was located.  This is very similar.  It isnt how the Fijian people would live, it is created purely for the tourists, in an idyllic spot.  And there is nothing wrong with that, after all why not make the most of your natural resources and use them to you advantage? 

I just would like to know what the real Fiji is like.  Do they really know all these songs, or did they learn them for work?  Are they hard up, or do they "waste" money like we do in england?  Is disease common?  What do they wear at home, how you they relax?  Yes, all this stuff I would like to know.  I was meant to be visiting the Fijian village tomorrow, but it was cancelled as I was the only one going, and they wasnt sure if the boat was available.  It is surprising to me that no-one else on the resort wants to see the village, but then again the resort is fairly  quiet at present.

I shall make it my quest to find out some answers to these questions before I leave Vomo.  Poor staff, having me to contend with.  I find the staff more interesting than the guests.  I have met people like the guests before, a thousand times.  But I have never met people like the staff before.  Their culture is very far removed from mine.  Added to that the staff are genuinely nice people.  I do not get the impression they are acting when they are talking to me, I know that they are paid to be nice, but I believe Fijian people are naturally warm and friendly in themselves.

Friday 27 April

Let me tell you a little about how our day pans out.  We hit breakfast, trying to get some food down Matthew.  He is so excited talking to all the staff (and shouting Bula at the top of his voice a thousand times) that it is hard to get him to eat.

After breakfast we come back to the bure and prepare ourselves and the kids for the day ahead.  This involves showers, lots of sun cream and a dousing of insect repellent (though Lloyd has very little and a baby-friendly one).  Then Steve and sometimes me take Matthew out on the Kayak.  Matthew loves the kayaking, for once sitting very still whilst we row him around.  He likes to take his own oars so he can have a go though.  You have to be careful on low tide as the coral is very close to the surface.

Then Steve ends up with the "Activity boys" which is basically IMO a men-only zone located next to our bure (Steve said if he ever came here again he would request our bure due to its closeness to the boys!).  The Activity boys are there to provide non-motorised sports, and also act as the boat transporters, flower makers, evening entertainment, etc, etc.  They are a great bunch of lads (well men).  I spend the first part of the morning in the bure with Lloyd, sometimes popping down the beach to see Matthew.

The rest of the day is spent, for me, with the kids.  Steve usually disappears with the Activity boys doing something or other.  Lloyd spends a lot of time asleep so I am able to go play with Matthew, picking shells, throwing the ball around, or filling up the buckets with water.  Matthew goes to sleep about 2pm, giving me a couple of hours to potter about. We also have lunch about 1pm, which consists of a 3 course meal (as it does in the  evening).  I must have put on a stone in weight since I have been here!

Then in the evening Steve goes fishing usually, and I attempt to get the kids asleep.  We head out to dinner at 7.30pm, leaving the babysitter - Sue, in place.  About 9pm we are home, and asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

If you want to there are many activities on offer, you can tailor the holiday to suit your desires.  It is possible to visit the small deserted island just a few hundred yards from Vomo. This is especially popular with the honeymooners....Then there are snorkelling excursions (or you can just snorkel in front of your bure), golf matches, tennis courts, demonstrations, etc.  I like to just sit in the hammock on the beach and watch the wildlife around, it is enough for me.  After 2 months in a motorhome with the kids it is great to have a sort of house, a sort of garden, and some peace.

The babysitter is excellent, today she came around between 11am and 4pm, helping me with the kids.  Matthew took to her straight away, so much so that when we tried to get him to come play tennis with us he wasnt in the least interested!  We just left him with Sue, the babysitter, and took Lloyd instead (cant say Lloyd was that interested in the tennis either!!!).

I have gotten to know many of the staff, if not in name by face.  I am terrible with names at the best of times, and terrible with spelling them, so I shall mention just a few.  Maria, Kesa, Ana, Mere, Mere, Sala,  and Pita work in the restaurant, seemingly to me being there from breakfast until dinner.  Mariana is the cleaner, she has a 3 month old baby boy who is on the mainland with her husband when she is working (they work 10 days on 4 days off here on the island generally).  There are a few guys over in the Activity centre, Im not sure of their names as mainly Steve talks to them, but they are always friendly.  Then there is the woman who comes to do the "turndown" in the evening, usually not making our beds as the kids are asleep.  I end up chatting to her on the veranda, talking about this and that.  We dont see much of the management, which I think is a very good thing.  It doesnt feel over managed here.  The head chef came to talk to us about the food which was nice, nice to know they are interested in our opinion. 

We have realised that there is an error with the schedule we have been given by Virgin for our flights.  They say we are due to leave Fiji on the 30th at night and land on the 1st May in the afternoon.  But this isnt right as we cross the international date line, so gain a day.  We will be actually landing on the 30th.  And I have no hotel or car booked, as with such a complicated schedule I didnt really think about this earlier.  So I am going to have to see what I can organise.

Saturday 28th April

Today I feel genuinely quite sad.  Soon we will be leaving this lovely place, and I have developed a strong attachment to it.  Not so much the place, though it is lovely, but the people.  They are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  They have a lot of love to give, their warmth is amazing.  It restores your faith in humanity, as these people are not rich, they do not have iPods or computers, or designer clothing for their kids.  They get pleasure out of the simple things, like a baby smiling, playing volleyball, a fish jumping, or even better, a fish for supper.  It is very very wrong to think they dont hold the same values as us or are in some way inferior.  They are richer people than us, we in the more developed world have a lot to learn from them.  They take pride in themselves, their environment, their country.  They have rich relationships with their colleagues and families, always laughing and smiling to each other.  They are not poor, we are the poor ones.

Its strange, I doubt I will remember the guests in years to come, except maybe the Korean couple next door to us who were just married and took a shine to little Matthew, but the staff will forever be in my thoughts. The next time I think I am getting a raw deal at work, or have the 'ump as tescos has run out of cooked chickens, I shall remember these kind people and their warmth.

Anyhow, on with the day.  It was raining when we awoke this morning.  The kids had me up at 4am, and we never really settled back to sleep.  Me and Matthew went and sat under the hammock, watching the rougher seas.  Matthew still waded in to fill his watering can though, I just kept a close eye in case he fell over in the water.  Then we went to breakfast, I had a chat with Mariana whilst she was cleaning my room, and Moses (I think thats his name), came over to see Matthew and lend him some toys.

I think after 2 months in a motorhome we have found this place a massive relief.  It is nice for me to talk to someone other than Steve (sorry Steve!), and nice for Steve to talk to other men rather than me!  Even Matthew seems to want to be with the babysitter and staff more than us!  And Lloyd has grown this week, smiling at everyone, looking at all the sights.  Lloyd is a very happy baby, he can often be heard gurgling away, discovering small things like his hands, a bag or a piece of cloth.  He doesnt have many toys with him here, but he seems happy.  I think toys are pretty superfluous really, babies of this age can get pleasure from many objects that are just lying around.  Today I was eating toast and Lloyd was pulling my hand towards his mouth, he obviously wants to try eating.  I just let him taste the bread, he seemed to enjoy it.  Its all new sensations, all good I think.  I dont plan to start weaning him until he is 6 months, after we return to the UK, but I shall follow the baby led approach where you give them chunky food they can hold and suck easily (like bananas and carrot sticks).

Matthew woke up in bed the other night, said "Bula", rolled over and went back to sleep!  He says Bula to me when he wakes up, and Bula when he goes to sleep.

Another funny thing I should also tell you about. The other night I woke up and couldn't see anything.  I rolled over and switched on the light, as Lloyd was wet and needed changing.  But still couldn't see.  At this point I panicked and thought I had contracted some terrible tropical disease which had blinded me, or worse still I was dead!  So I woke Steve up, said "Can you see, I cant see, I think I've gone blind".  Steve tried the light, he couldnt see either, so at this point we are both panicking!!!  He then finds the torch (we had noticed they left one in the room earlier), at which point we both breathe a sigh of relief when we discover it is in fact a power cut!  It was funny, I told the staff about it and they laughed.  The last and only time I have seen pitch black like that was in the Mammoth Caves in the States.  I couldnt even see my hand right in front of my face.  The stars in the sky are beautiful btw, topping even New Zealand.

We have already decided we shall return to Vomo in years to come, and to Fiji.  It has burned a place in my heart, Fiji is a special place.  We met a woman today who has been holidaying in Fiji since 1974.  Obviously she hasnt yet got it out of her system!  We have now been to Fiji twice, and I doubt we will get it out of our system for some time either.