Observations in Fiji

A Beginning and an End
The statement: "Hi, I recently quit my job and moved out of my apartment to travel the world" gets mixed responses at home. In Fiji, the most common response is, "Me too." This has provided a nice Intro to Backpacking course for Mike and I. Many of the people we meet have been travelling for months, and happily provide helpful tips about where to go and what to avoid. The hostels are full of resources and travel guides, and novels in all different languages, mostly free of charge with the assumption that you will take what you need and leave what you don't.

Island Time
As Mike pointed out in the last entry, island times goes both ways. It is something that takes getting used to, but it's clear that to enjoy your time in Fiji, you have to adapt. The hostel we are currently in offers $7 massages, they claim to open at 9. At 10:00 the lights turned on, and the masseuse states "I was sleeping." At 11, she left to take a lunch break for an hour, and at 2, she closed up shop for high tea.

While waiting for a fishing excursion that was scheduled for 9:00, Mike waited for over an hour with Chris, a guy we met who had come over from the Australian Air Force. Chris had come over in hopes to kite surf, but the weather wasn't cooperating. The guide arrived around 10, and pretended not to remember agreeing to the fishing trip. Chris was disappointed, and asked to speak to the manager. The manager spoke to the guide, came back, and said, "he doesn't want to go today. The conditions aren't really the best anyway, you probably wouldn't catch anything. Perhaps you want to hunt wild boar?" Another traveller was intrigued and attempted to arrange the wild boar hunt. "Great! Where should I meet you? What time do we leave?" The guide smiled and said, "Okay, we'll go! Meet me at Fiji Time in Fiji!"

One of the perks of the hostel we're currently staying at is that they offer laundry service, just drop off your salty clothes, and come back to pick them up in 3 hours. We dropped ours off at 9 am yesterday, came back in the afternoon, and they said come back after dinner. We came back at 8 pm, and they said, "It's too hot for laundry, come back tomorrow morning." We came back in the morning, still no clothes, and reminded them that we did have to check out today. They said okay, you get your clothes when you check out (luckily, it's completely acceptable to wear your swimsuit all day or we would have been in trouble). It's currently 5 o'clock on check out day, we have our clothes, and we're waiting for our bus (it's only an hour and a half behind schedule at the moment haha).

Personal Safety

At home, if you step in a giant hole in the sidewalk and break your leg, you can talk to the city about why the hole was there. In Fiji, you could try, but I think the response would be, "why did you step in the hole?" Here, your safety is your own responsibility and there is not much in the way of hand holding. we met people who went on a shark snorkeling excursion, the guides drop you in the water without a cage, and then they shoot a fish with a harpoon so that the giant sharks come eat the fish 15 feet in front of you.

Our boat from the Yasawas back to the mainland almost didn't make it due to a storm. They had to send a dive boat instead, and we ran outside in the pouring rain, threw our luggage on board, and waded out to the boat. The hotel manager asked if everything was okay, and the captain said, "engine trouble, fixed now." A girl asked if the boat was okay to hold so many people and so much luggage, and they said, "probably, but lots of people will get off." No one got off for the entire 1.5 hour choppy, wet, rainy ride. Marie and I decided that if we pretended we were on an extreme jet-boat ride it would help, people pay big bucks for that.

In an act of superstistion, I purchased an anklet from a lady in a village that is made of shark bones. I figure if one attacks me it will be afraid I will try to make a necklace out of it. Then, someone told me that you're more likely to die from a coconut falling on your head than a shark attack. Comforting, until you realize how often you're lounging under 7 bowling-ball sized coconuts ready to fall :)

Welcoming Spirit of the South Pacific
We have met so many people who have invited us over for dinner, to stay in their house, and to meet up with on our travels. At first we were a bit weary, but these people are not scary. They are rugby-moms, dentists, and cab drivers. Even if we never take anyone up, it's refreshing to meet so many warm and welcoming people.

We met a group of people from all over the world who had met 6 weeks prior at the same place we stayed. On a village visit, they were discussing how it would be nice if the children's school were fixed up. One man decided to fund the project, and a group of 7 strangers from around the globe all came back to the Yasawas. The man shipped 2 and a half tons of materials to the village, where the group reunited and spent 2 weeks constructing the school, snorkeled a bit, had a beer, and went back to their families and lives. Incredible.

Hurricane Season
It is the beginning of hurricane season in Fiji. That scared me. It scared me more the first night we heard the loudest thunder I've ever heard in my life. Mike and I were playing checkers under a tarp outside, and within 10 minutes of the rain beginning, the tarp was so full it began to overflow. One of the locals put a garbage can under a corner, and the huge garbage can was almost full within an hour. The lights and electronics all went out, we looked around a little concerned, and a women came up to us and said, "Cyclone. In Fiji, when it rains, no power." It happened almost daily for a week. We're no longer nervous, actually, Mike and I went kayaking during the last one and had a blast (don't worry Mom we were in a safe enclosed cove).


American Stereotypes
We were literally the only Americans on Yasawa island. We didn't really advertise this, because it's not uncommon to overhear people saying things like: "oh, we don't need more of you around," or, "I'm sorry you have to deal with the damn Americans." Usually, when people ask where we are from we say Washington state, or Seattle. This is a good conversation starter, because a lot of girls from all over the place are intrigued about our state because of Twilight and Grey's Anatomy. It's funny, couples from England and Australia and Germany all have the same reaction. The girl says, "oooh have you been to Forks?" and the guy rolls his eyes and loses interest in the conversation.

One thing I found curious is how far American pop-culture has spread. On an island in the middle of nowhere we heard "My Milkshake" several times, a big band version of Snoop Dogg's greatist hits, and on movie night, the diverse crowd nearly unanimously voted to watch Will Ferrell and Marky Mark's "The Other Guys." One thing that hasn't spread over the rest of the world is our appreciation for the American version of the Office. During a dinner conversation with 8 people from all over the place, we had a very even-keeled discussion on healthcare, the economy, Korea, education, and technology. We didn't have any voices rising until the topic of British television was approached. I said, "we tried to appreciate the British version but just didn't find it as funny." People were slamming the table, yelling "Noooo!" and looking like they wanted to throw their fork at us (all in good fun, we still received an invite for a visit when we come to New Zealand).

The Funniest Moment so Far 

We went on a handline fishing expedition that was advertised to have great sunsets and lots of beer. It didn't have sunsets or beer, and it turns out handline fishing means fishing without a pole, but this was my favorite moment of the trip. The captain was from Fiji, and our fishing friends included Mark from Scotland, Mel and Robert from England, Maria from England, and a red-bearded guy with his dad from Germany. The German dad didn't speak English, but he was more determined to catch a fish than anyone. Mel and I each caught a fish, and our guide caught 3. It was apparent the German dad was getting anxious. He yelled, "gaaah!" and we all looked over, his line was very tight. He had a huge smile and started to reel in his line (which is literally just pulling on 70 feet of line). He was wearing a tiny speedo and a baby blue t-shirt that was just long enough to make you question whether or not he was wearing a speedo at all. It was pretty clear to everyone else that the fish was actually the hook being caught on the bottom, and we told him he might want to cut the line. He didn't stop reeling. He pulled for 20 minutes, sweating and kneeling on the floor of the boat in his speedo. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we could see a basketball sized piece of live coral attached to his line. He laughed and kept pulling until it was in the boat and yelled, "Yeah!" very proud of his catch.

Waya Island and out to the Coral Coast

Greetings from the Coral Coast of Fiji.

We spent the majority of the last week at the Octopus Resort on Waya Island (about an hour or so boat ride from mainland Fiji). Before heading out we toured around Nadi a bit. We walked into town and checked out the local shops and a Hindu Temple. We managed to take a cab out to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant which is an orchid garden with a series of trails and streams in the shadow of a mountain called the Sleeping Giant (named as such because when viewed from a distance it looks like a giant laying on his back yawning). On the way back to town we had a minor snafu with our cab driver when we accidentally left our camera in the cab. Forunately he had given us his number in case we wanted to get a ride elsewhere. With the help of a local woman we managed to get our camera back. She let us use her cell phone and when the cab driver said the camera wasn't there she grabbed the phone from me, got his cab number, and threatened to make it a police matter. Somehow he managed to find our camera and return it to us in 10 minutes. We went from crestfallen to elated over that and are so thankful for the woman that helped us out.

The next morning we learned that Fiji time goes both ways.  More often than not things just move at there own pace and generally behind schedule. However this time our ride to the marina showed up an hour and a half early with no warning that we would be taking a different boat than the one we had booked. Luckily we were packed and ready. We took a boat out to Waya Island (part of the Yasawa chain). We were greeted warmly by the staff and soon enjoyed a Kava Ceremony and bon fire on the beach. We met a lot of nice people, some of whom are doing similar trips and that we hope to meet up with in other countries. We spent a lot of time beachside and probably spent around 10 hours snorkeling. There is an expansive coral reef just off shore with loads of fish. We managed to photograph much of the underwater scenery with our tough camera (it is able to go underwater down to 10 feet). We also did a short guided hike to the local village, Nalawaki. It is a village of 347 people, many of whom work at the resort. After a short tour we engaged in yet another Kava ceremony followed by song and dance. One night we went handline fishing, which was a blast abd Megan caught a fish... we aren't sure what kind but it had sharp teeth. We enjoyed great weather during our five days in the islands with exception of our last day in which we had to take a boat back to mainland Fiji. The rain poured and soaked us. The boatride wasn't terrible but the water was a little rough making for a bumpy ride. After arriving at the marina we caught a local bus out to the Coral Coast (about a two hour ride).

We arrived at the Beach House last night and have five days here. The weather is gray and rainy but they have a stable internet connection (which has been hard to find) so it is nice to feel connected to our friends and family back home. They also have cheap beer and cheap activities. I see a waterfall hike and snorkel excursion in the near future.

Well that's all for now. About a week left in Fiji then off to New Zealand.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home! We miss you. 

And We're Off!

We are officially now on our trip, at our first stop Nadi, Fiji! We had a great lay-over at LAX, where our friend Ashlee came and took us to the Santa Monica boardwalk for a few hours, and we enjoyed some margaritas and tacos, and saw a film crew following some famous people (Mike is pretty sure it was Whitney Houston...although we didn't catch a glimpse of anyone's face). The flight to Nadi was long (11 hours), but luckily we were able to sleep. We are still feeling a bit out of whack because we left LA at 9:00 PM on the 16th, and arrived here at 5:00 AM on the 18th (because of the time changes). We've mostly been taking it easy, but did manage to have a couple adventures already. We went for a walk down the beach and got chased by two dogs, and then a man who at first appeared to be going after the dogs, but then called for us. He caught us and said "BULA!" (Fijian welcome), and told us that we were in luck because he was John, the famous coconut tree climber on the beach. He had already climbed 60 feet today to harvest some coconuts, and informed us we needed to each finish the juice and cream of one coconut to cleanse our systems. We didn't have any other plans, and he was a very nice guy. We followed him through a creek and a small jungle to a straw mat next to a shelf of coconuts and an ax, where he told us to sit. We drank the juice and chatted about the best places to go on the island, and he was very curious about Washington state. Then, we walked into town and got coralled into the back of a small shop for a traditional Kava Welcome ceremony (Kava is a drink mixed in a coconut bowl that looks and tastes like muddy water. It is the official drink of Fiji, and makes your tongue go numb and your mind feel at ease). The ceremony was nice, it was Mike, me, a man from the Netherlands and 3 men from Fiji. You sit barefoot and cross-legged in a circle, mix the drink in a bowl, pass around the coconut, and clap together during blessings. They did try to get us to buy a carving to bless our marriage afterwards, but we managed to leave without making any purchases. We came back to our hostel, and met a nice Australian family. Jared and Lily, the kids were chasing a mongoose under the pool, and ended up finding some change and forks. We talked for a bit with Jared and ended up giving him a Mississippi quarter for his coin collection, he was very fascinated and is now hoping to collect all fifty states. Tomorrow, we're off to the Shadow of the Sleeping Giant orchid garden and mud bath, then off to the Yasawa islands for some serious beach time. That's probably enough for day one, we'll write again when there is free internet available!

Oh - We now have a Washington phone number for free-texting, the number is 360-200-0265. We can only receive them when we have access to internet, but we would love to hear from you!