Bula Fiji
Well, well, well, after some time spent in the North Americas I was looking forward to the next stage of my journey heading from America over the equator and into the southern hemisphere, crossing the international date line in the process, where time begins, to the Fijian islands deep in the pacific ocean, where water drains anti-clockwise.
Well, in truth, I did not know what to expect, though I knew it was going to prove quite different to my experience of the Americas. My flight from LAX was pretty good as it was an overnight flight and I had the whole aisle to myself, beats first class for sure!!
So I finally arrived in Fiji at 5am local time and as the sun rose, I realised that I was one of the first people in the world to see the sunrise, if not the very first. It was strange going through customs and being passed through effortlessly, not only that, a Fijian band welcomed us in and then I was presented with a shell necklace, bula Fiji indeed!!!
So I walked around the airport, checking out the reaction to my new necklace, it went down okay, but maybe only in Fiji, so I thought I would make the most of it while I could!! At 8am, the tour bus picked me and a few others up from the airport and the four-day tour of the mainland had begun already!!!
On the first day we headed straight for the coral coast stopping by for a bbq lunch on the beach playing rugby and volleyball with the Fijian kids and before lunch (it was Fiji time so it took a while!) I went straight into the clear blue sea for my first dip in the ocean. It was a cloudy day but warm. Funnily enough Natalie an English girl from High Wycombe was there rejoining the tour after going to an island for the night, I met her in the Los Angeles hostel and knew she was going to Fiji but not on my tour!!! It was great to see a familar face!!! Me and this Irish guy called Paul decided to catch some of the waves which were pretty big and do a spot of bodysurfing. And even though we got dumped a few times on the beach and covered in seaweed, it was great!!
Later on we went sandboarding and when I first looked up at the sand dunes it looked a bit steep and worst of all, sand sloped down steeply onto flat grass, so any false move and the participant could be well, slightly injured!! But it wasn't so bad and I even showed off by going down on my knees initially and then lied down on the board for the final ride.
On the second day we did a very muddy hike, which was very, very muddy!!! It also rained which added to the fun I guess. The hike was unlike any I have done so far, we walked through rainforest and waded down rivers for quite some time before finally reaching the main Navua river at last!!! From there we tubed downriver on inflatable rings and then got a long boat back to the coast. It was a long day, but fantastic!! That night we went out in the capital city of Suva and danced the night away.
On the third day we went to an orphange which was quite amazing, the Fijian children are really nice and I met a yong boy called Andrew who was going to live with his Grandmother the week after. After that we went to a village and participated in a kava ceremony (me with a sarong and my necklace, very Fijian!!! Will show you a picture soon!) with the village chief. Kava is a Fijian drink which is basically muddy, herby water but it went down well!!
Some of the guys from the village took us bilibili rafting on bamboo rafts afterwards but we soon ditched the rafts and swam in the river. We also split up into two teams for a game which was basically a mix of water polo and rugby in one and most of the Fijian guys, well-built I might add were on the other team but we worked hard and even surprised them at times keeping the ball for long periods!!!
That night we took a ferry across to Nananu island and spent the night there, some of us guys had pineapple and rum punch, that was very nice!!! According to the Fijian bus driver, the pineapple acts like dynamite and the rum takes greater effect, and that it did, it was a great night!!!!
On the final day we went to some mud pools which was excellent, as I got the muddiest ever in my life!!! Everyone got pretty muddy and one guy decided to pick a big block of mud out and squelched it down over his head, it was pretty funny, you couldn't see him for mud!!! I don't think he could see anything either!!!
Well that was my first 4 days in Fiji and on the fifth day I went straight to the islands beginning with Manta-Ray island and I will hope to tell you more about that in the next few days, take care everyone!!
Well, in truth, I did not know what to expect, though I knew it was going to prove quite different to my experience of the Americas. My flight from LAX was pretty good as it was an overnight flight and I had the whole aisle to myself, beats first class for sure!!
So I finally arrived in Fiji at 5am local time and as the sun rose, I realised that I was one of the first people in the world to see the sunrise, if not the very first. It was strange going through customs and being passed through effortlessly, not only that, a Fijian band welcomed us in and then I was presented with a shell necklace, bula Fiji indeed!!!
So I walked around the airport, checking out the reaction to my new necklace, it went down okay, but maybe only in Fiji, so I thought I would make the most of it while I could!! At 8am, the tour bus picked me and a few others up from the airport and the four-day tour of the mainland had begun already!!!
On the first day we headed straight for the coral coast stopping by for a bbq lunch on the beach playing rugby and volleyball with the Fijian kids and before lunch (it was Fiji time so it took a while!) I went straight into the clear blue sea for my first dip in the ocean. It was a cloudy day but warm. Funnily enough Natalie an English girl from High Wycombe was there rejoining the tour after going to an island for the night, I met her in the Los Angeles hostel and knew she was going to Fiji but not on my tour!!! It was great to see a familar face!!! Me and this Irish guy called Paul decided to catch some of the waves which were pretty big and do a spot of bodysurfing. And even though we got dumped a few times on the beach and covered in seaweed, it was great!!
Later on we went sandboarding and when I first looked up at the sand dunes it looked a bit steep and worst of all, sand sloped down steeply onto flat grass, so any false move and the participant could be well, slightly injured!! But it wasn't so bad and I even showed off by going down on my knees initially and then lied down on the board for the final ride.
On the second day we did a very muddy hike, which was very, very muddy!!! It also rained which added to the fun I guess. The hike was unlike any I have done so far, we walked through rainforest and waded down rivers for quite some time before finally reaching the main Navua river at last!!! From there we tubed downriver on inflatable rings and then got a long boat back to the coast. It was a long day, but fantastic!! That night we went out in the capital city of Suva and danced the night away.
On the third day we went to an orphange which was quite amazing, the Fijian children are really nice and I met a yong boy called Andrew who was going to live with his Grandmother the week after. After that we went to a village and participated in a kava ceremony (me with a sarong and my necklace, very Fijian!!! Will show you a picture soon!) with the village chief. Kava is a Fijian drink which is basically muddy, herby water but it went down well!!
Some of the guys from the village took us bilibili rafting on bamboo rafts afterwards but we soon ditched the rafts and swam in the river. We also split up into two teams for a game which was basically a mix of water polo and rugby in one and most of the Fijian guys, well-built I might add were on the other team but we worked hard and even surprised them at times keeping the ball for long periods!!!
That night we took a ferry across to Nananu island and spent the night there, some of us guys had pineapple and rum punch, that was very nice!!! According to the Fijian bus driver, the pineapple acts like dynamite and the rum takes greater effect, and that it did, it was a great night!!!!
On the final day we went to some mud pools which was excellent, as I got the muddiest ever in my life!!! Everyone got pretty muddy and one guy decided to pick a big block of mud out and squelched it down over his head, it was pretty funny, you couldn't see him for mud!!! I don't think he could see anything either!!!
Well that was my first 4 days in Fiji and on the fifth day I went straight to the islands beginning with Manta-Ray island and I will hope to tell you more about that in the next few days, take care everyone!!
posted by Adrian at 10:33 am
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