27/9
Ahhh…. Beautiful Fiji again. The warmth as you step off the plane was fabulous.
Unfortunately, Nikki shared her terrible flu with me and I have almost lost my voice, and my throat is very sore! I’m sure a Fiji Bitter will help though.....
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| Kava roots |
We stayed at the Tanoa International and it was more up market than I had expected, which is always a bonus! It was curry night, and you might think how many different curries can you have?? Plenty! I can assure you, and since this was a 4 star hotel, the food was divine. We needed Kava to take to the village stay and since we were leaving the mainland early in the morning, we had to get it that night.
We asked one of the staff members, and in 20 mins he had returned to the hotel with a package. Service with a smile.
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| From the big boat to the island transfere boat |
The next morning, I woke up with a bad earache - the experiment was to see if quell helped, as it paralyses the middle ear, and the conclusion was – yes! Wonders of modern medicine. We caught the bus to Denarau and caught our boat to Manta Ray Island. (Nanuya Balevu) It was beautiful weather and the trip took about three hours because of all the stops along the way.
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| Phil off for a dive |
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| The all important happy hour |
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| Si and I |
We found Si, who was more than happy to oblige and he told me to chew the leaves and swallow the juice and spit out the pulp. It tasted bitter and dried out my mouth, but my throat felt better – maybe it was mind over matter, but anything to stop the coughing and pain – who cares!
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| Snorkelling |
29/9
Phil went for a 1 tank dive and I went for a snorkel. I think the fish had grown since the last time we were here and as it was a sanctuary, there were plenty of fish to see. After chewing more leaves, and plenty of alcohol drops in our ears, we relaxed the day away until happy hour, when we grabbed a couple of beers and went for a romantic stroll (including my barking cough) down the beach to the other end of the island.
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| Isaac dancing |
After dinner, we saw a show which was put on by the local villagers of Naviti Island and it was finished off by the gay bartender – Isac, dressed as a woman. The rest of the audience got louder again so it was time to go to bed.
30/9
It was checkout day so after breakfast we packed our things and while we were paying our bill, we heard of a tsunami warning due to hit in Fiji because of an earthquake near Samoa. Thanks for that calming bit of information before an hours boat ride in a small long boat. By the time we had finished checking out, it was called off so we were safe.
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| Toye and nephew |
Toye was early – which is unusual for Fijians, so a quick gulp of quell and I was ready. He was a great guy and he talked to us along the way. We had about 1m waves along the way and Toye was an excellent boatman, manoeuvring the tiny boat with expertise.
When we arrived at Malevu, I did a very ungraceful dismount out of the boat and fell into the water and hit my knee on the edge of the boat. Phils comment was “What are you doing in the water?” When I stood up, my leg looked like it had a second knee cap – gross!
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| Ouch! |
We were shown to our room, part of the main bure, and lunch was cooked for us. Fish caught that morning – yum!
After lunch we went for a walk down to the beach, and passed the next village, passing cassava crops and taro crops along the way. On Wednesdays there is a church service before dinner. Phil had to dress in a Sulu and a button up shirt before he could attend so he had to borrow them from Toye.
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| Phil in his sulu |
The singing in the service was amazing. The people of this village have beautiful voices and sang better that I have ever heard before. Their harmonies were so well balanced and in tune.
After the service, it was dinner time, and a great meal was cooked for us again. That night, we were to present our sevu sevu (Kava) to the headman of the village. It was a bit intimidating because I was the only female there, in a room of about 17 men as women generally don’t join in unless it is a special occasion. We had about 5 shells of Kava but they only gave me half shells or low tide as they call it, because I’m a woman.
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| Our welcome kava ceremony |
That night we didn’t get much sleep because we had a crying baby in the next room of the thin walled house and I was still coughing all night. The house was in the middle of the village and not next to the ocean, so no cool sea breezes.
We also thought that we had lost some money in this village, but it turned out that I had misplaced it, so we opted to leave earlier, which we did regret after we found the money. The family was lovely and it would be nice to go back when we feel better.
1/10
We sent Toye the rest of the money by mail from the mainland for the whole stay when we found it several days later. We booked a resort from the Yasawa Flyer as we were travelling back, called Naqalia (Nangalia). It was on Waya Lai Lai – right next to the Eco resort we had stayed on 2 years ago.
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| Our Naqalia bure |
The place was stunning and very new. A woman called Mary gave us a hug as we got out of the boat and treated us as if we were family. Since we were in such a hurry to get off the boat, I didn’t get my snorkelling bag and that went back to the mainland by itself – bugga!
The bure had a separate bathroom, and a partly walled off bedroom and a sitting room all beautifully furnished. – Bliss! The generator went on at about 6 pm and we could charge our phones and laptop again, and the phone was in range again.
That night was lovo night, and true to tradition, we were not allowed to eat with knives and forks and had to eat with our fingers. Have you ever eaten coleslaw with your fingers?
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| The staff at Naqalia |
There was an older couple next to us who were there on their honeymoon. – A Fijian minister and an Eskimo minister – how bizarre! On the other side was a lovely young English couple – Matt and Dianna who were travelling around the world for a year. They might even drop in to see us in January. A Fijian travel agent was also staying there and he wanted our opinion of the place. He took photos, and who knows we may be in the next brochure!
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| Walk between Eco Lodge and Naqalia |
2/10
The next morning, Phil woke up with diahhrea and sore ears – just part of the fun!!
After breakfast, we walked on a narrow path to the other resort (about ½ an hour away) to reminisce about the last time when we stayed had there and to pick up my snorkelling gear which was supposed to be coming back up the Yasawas – which it did, but the boat captain was not going to give them to a Fijian without written consent, - so off they went right to the top of the islands!
When it was time for the honeymooners to leave, the sea was getting a lot rougher. I was glad I wasn’t travelling that day. The Fijian women went into the water up to their armpits to help get them into the little rocking boat. That was looking like a 3 tablet sea to me. It was unusually rough for that area. After a great fish dinner, we had an early night as Phil still had a bout of the big ‘D’.
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| View from our bure |
After breakfast we walked over to the other side of the island to a secluded beach, which made you believe that you were the only ones on the island because there was no sign of any building or anyone anywhere. Unfortunately Phil wasn’t feeling great, so it was lucky that we had the emergency loo paper in the pocket. The sea was almost flat calm, and it was a pity that my snorkelling gear was going up and down the Yasawas without me.
Finally, it was time to go in the afternoon, and they had to wake Mary up as she likes to drink lots of kava which makes you sleepy the next day. She was a real character and Nate was the opposite, but together, they make a great team!
The trip back was great and the weather perfect. When we got off the boat we quickly went around to all the resort buses
and caught a lift with one who was heading our way down to Korotogo. It cost us $20 instead of the $80 taxi fare one driver offered us.
We made it to the Vakaviti by around 8pm and settled in quickly because it was exactly the same room as we had stayed in two years earlier and we needed dinner. We went next door to a place called The Crows Nest and had a great dinner and cold beer – which we had not had over the last three days (beer that is).
4/10
Sunday was church day, so we went down the road for breakfast and a coffee and ended up at the Outrigger and found out that breakfast was $30-$38 each so we opted for coffee only. It was then time to catch a taxi into Sigatoka to meet Maciau our wedding pastor again.
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| Reverend Maciau and family |
We walked in and there were only about 7 other people there. Most were ladies who were singing. They were pleased that we had arrived and welcomed us. After the service, had sweet milky tea and some curried fried vegetable which was delicious, and talked to Maciau for about an hour. One of the women there had worked in a restaurant in Adelaide and studied in Tafe.
After catching the taxi back to the Vakaviti, we walked down to the end of the street and had lunch. Then it was time for a swim in the pool at the Vakaviti which was nice and warm. For dinner we went to the Swiss Café which was yummy also.
5/10
We awoke early and walked to a neighbouring resort (Bedarra Inn) and had a great breakfast with real coffee! It was then time to pack up again and find out our transport to Navua. We found a local taxi driver, but we had to do some serious bargaining to get the price affordable first. We organized for him to drop us off in Sigatoka first as we had a couple of hours to kill, but it meant that he would have to drive around with our backpacks for that time as we couldn’t drag them with us all that time.
‘Trust me’ said the Indian,- Sure thought Phil - it was however perfectly safe.
The drive to Navua took 2 hrs and when we arrived, we found the boat already loaded with food and sand bags for concrete making. The captain of the boat was Marika – who was to be our host for the next two nights. The trip took about an hour and when we arrived, we were surrounded by small children who were laughing and showing off.
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| Losa and her cousins |
When school finished an older girl of 9 yrs – Losa, showed us around and took us to a luxury resort next to the village called Beqa Lagoon Resort. – Very nice but expensive! The guests loved the kids with us but I’m sure that they aren’t normally allowed in. We bought a couple of beers – bliss! – and then we walked back to the village (Ravi Ravi)
We gave our sevu sevu of kava to the headman of the village, but it seems that not many men of this village drink kava because of their religion. Marika told us that he used to drink a lot , but not anymore. Another early night of 8.30, and it was the first night I didn’t cough all night. Marika’s wife took her grandchildren to a neighbours house because she thought that they might keep us awake.
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| Marikas wife making roti |
5/10
After a cooked breakfast, we walked over to the lagoon resort and went for a swim and snorkel and a sun bake on the pontoon. We also had a coffee there but got the distinct impression that we weren’t welcome because we weren’t a paying guest – not by the Fijians, but by the Russian owner of the resort who was sitting in the office frowning at us.
We went back to Marika’s place and had roti and curry for lunch. After lunch we had to go for a long walk to work off some of these meals. Most of the island is made up of rainforest, and unfortunately – lots of mosquitoes.
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| Marika and his grandaughter |
The dinner that night was a feast with lots of variety. The kids put on a bit of a show for us when they were dancing to Fijian music from the TV. They loved the fact that we were filming them. We had to get up extra early the next morning as Marika was taking the boat back to the mainland at 6.30 am.
7/10
It was grey and threatening to rain that morning, and the sea looked a bit choppy for my liking, but it was no problem for a good boatman. Marika caught a large fish along the way for his dinner.
At Navua Jetty, we caught the local bus with no windows into Suva. We booked into the Suva Motor Inn again, and it was sheer luxury to have a warm shower and bathroom to ourselves.
After the shower it was time to find our favourite coffee place for an iced coffee. The Republic of Cappuccino had changed its name to Esquires Coffee House, but the coffee and food was still the same. The street hassling was more noticeable this time and Phil had to almost shout at the hawkers who were trying to sell us stuff. All part of the experience! After a quick dip in the pool when we got back, it was dinner time again, and we ate in the restaurant at the hotel.
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| Phil on the water slide |
First thing in the morning it was time for coffee and a muffin from the coffee shop and fresh fruit from the market. We caught on of the local buses from the market which was the main depot, to go to Colo-i-Suva National Park. The forest was as beautiful as we remembered it, and after a long walk we swam in the waterfall pool, blissfully unaware that the whole of Suva was being evacuated only 20km.away. Phil found a mobile phone and a wedding ring at the bottom of the pool while he was snorkelling.
It was then that we got a text message from Phil Wyatt, warning us of an impending tsunami about 30 mins away. Shane and Sam were holidaying on the side of Fiji where the tsunami was supposed to hit first. That finished any relaxing time, and we started our walk back to the road where we could catch a bus back to Suva. We listened to Phil’s radio on his mobile on the walk back, and then found out that the warning was cancelled again. – Whew!
As we were almost to the main road, it wasn’t worth going back so we returned to Suva. We were amazed to find that the whole of Suva had shut all their shops and had evacuated to higher ground. As we got into town half of the shop owners has returned and were reopening their doors again, however the schools were finished for the day and there were kids everywhere. We made our way back to the hotel, and went for a swim in the pool as if it was any other normal day, until dinner time.
9/10
We managed to get a late checkout as the taxi driver was booked to take us to Waidalice Landing at 12.00pm, where the next boat would meet us to take us to Caqalai Island. Before we left Suva and civilization again we headed down for another great coffee and were amazed at the photos in the local paper about the mass evacuation of the whole country.
Everything seemed to be back to normal again and Suva was gearing up for their big celebrations of Fiji day on the following day. There were street parades and tents put up in the parks and music playing everywhere. We hoped Shane and Sam were having a good time, as we couldn’t get in contact with them. We spent the last couple of hours walking around the markets and wharf area. We were back in time to catch the taxi at 12.00pm.
Caqalai was stunning when we arrived; it looked just like a postcard. There were several Bures on the island and three other couples staying there. There was also a volunteer from Switzerland to help implement a better waste disposal system for the Eco friendly Resort. The food was good and they played music while we ate – what more could we ask for!
10/10
I had unfortunately lost my phone that morning and we spent ages looking for it, retracing all our steps but it was gone for good. The wind picked up and it wasn’t good for snorkelling, but it was still lovely and warm.
We watched one boat come in from another island. It was totally overloaded, and because the sea was choppy, it started filling up with water, and 8 men jumped out quickly so that the women, children and supplies didn’t sink. They were all laughing at what could have been a disaster – Sega Nalega (No worries in Fijian) it was hilarious, and unfortunately we didn’t have the camera handy as usual.
We drank our warm beer on the beach as we were getting blown away in the afternoon. It started to rain and it was tea time. The rain and wind stopped soon after.
11/10
The next morning was still and the water was calm. We met another English couple at breakfast and had a long chat. We went for a snorkel later and it was still overcast, so the sun didn’t bring out the colours of the lovely soft coral and beautiful fish as much as we had hoped.
As it was Sunday, we had a Lovo for lunch with lots of traditional Fijian food – yum! One of the dishes was a huge fish which had jumped into the boat on the previous day and hit a girl on the head. She thought that the roof was caving in – not funny at the time but comical now. Luckily it is not so sunny now because Phil and I are both a little burnt. We finally heard that Shane and Sam were safely back in Oz so I could relax again.
12/10
After breakfast, it was time to pack again and get ready for the boat back to the mainland. One of the girls (Pauline) who was having a holiday on the island offered us a lift back to Suva as she was actually living there. She was a Lebanese graphic designer and had a tiny 4 week old baby with her. We have been very lucky with all our transport so far. We managed to catch a mini bus back to Suva straight away which took 3 ½ hrs and cost us $17 each – bargain! It rained all the way.
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| Skylodge pool |
We booked back into Nadi Skylodge as we had 2 years earlier and had a warm shower and headed straight for a cold beer followed by dinner as we had missed lunch with all our rushed travelling. We walked up the road to a restaurant called Outer Reef Seafood and got drenched, but who cares in this beautiful warm climate. The food was excellent and we got drenched on the way back too.
13/10
We got up early and had our complimentary breakfast. The boat to Denarau left at a very respectable 12.30pm so we had plenty of time to make our way to the harbour at our leisure. A taxi driver tried to charge us $25 to get there, but Phil got him down to $13 – Ha!
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| Coffee.... Yumm! |
We were taken to Treasure Island by small water taxi, and I have now done enough boat trips to be Ok about the rough ride that we had – It seems to be a lot more fun in a small boat. The Island is fantastic and our Bure even had its own coffee percolator – bliss! I even did the washing in the arvo, and the weather cleared up and the sun came out again.
Lunch, like all meals was fabulous and we had three courses – all delicious! I could quite easily get used to this lifestyle! – Very noice. At dinner, we always had a band playing with great music and then they usually had some sort of activity afterwards.
14/10
Fourth Anniversary day!
We woke up to a cloudless sunny day and the island looked picture perfect. After having percolated coffee on the bure verandah, we went up for breakfast. You could have anything you wanted (except bircher muesli – never mind) Phil bought me a Bula Fiji towel for an anniversary present, a nice momento of Treasure Island. Now, what to do – snorkel, sunbake or lie in a hammock – decisions, decisions!
After showering, it was time for happy hour again. We watched a couple having a sunset wedding next to the pool and remembered our own wedding exactly four years ago – very beautiful. Phil and I then had our one and only cocktail, called love on the beach and watched the beautiful sunset – noice!
At dinner, the Fijians put on a show with the kids from the kids club all dressed up in Fijian clothing and singing which was so cute. The proud parents were all standing around taking lots of photos and videos.
15/10
After breakfast, we listened to Max a Local Fijian talk about medicinal plants, and Phil booked his dive for the afternoon on a shipwreck. Time seems to go by quickly when you don’t do much in paradise, because it was lunchtime again. After lunch, Phil went for his dive and I had a nanna nap in the hammock and an afternoon snorkel.
It was international buffet night which was delicious, and another Polynesian dance night. There is never a boring moment, and enough to keep all ages entertained. Phil had booked a two tank dive for the following morning so we decided on an early night.
16/10
After an early breakfast so Phil could go for his dive, I went snorkelling again, only this time it was definitely before the fish had been fed as they were all trying to feed off me. The photos I took were the best so far! Phil also had a great dive, but unfortunately we only had one underwater camera. He was gone for so long that I started to worry. Five hours later, they got back to Treasure Island…. Fiji time!
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| Bye bye beautiful treasure island! |
17/10
It was another beautiful day, making it harder to leave Fiji. It seems hard to comprehend that I’m sitting on a lounge overlooking the islands, knowing that I will be home in freezing cold Adelaide that very evening!
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