Fiji
Flying to Fiji was a peculiar experience. I boarded the plane
just 1am on Tuesday morning and arrived in Nadi, Fiji on Wednesday
about 9am. A flight of more than 24 hours. What had happened? I
crossed the international dateline and thereby lost a day of my
life. In much the same way as Phileas Fogg and his sturdy
companion Passepartout gained a day in Jules Vernes' "Around the
World in 80 days", enabling them to win the bet. Except, of
course, that I had more than 80 days in which to complete my trip
and was much aided by the invention of the jet engine.
Waya Sewa
Having landed in Nadi, I had no idea where to stay, so I went with
some tout to a place called "Sunseekers Hotel". Here they then
suggested I go to "Waya Sewa" an island about 2 hours boat ride
from
Lautoka, north of Nadi. The next day I got myself to Lautoka and
boarded the little boat to Waya Sewa. I was not to be
disappointed. This island is paradise. Accommodation was in a dorm
in a little Burre and as you can see from the photo, the view was
incredible and I had never before seen an ocean quite so
beautifully blue. There was plenty to do (if you wanted), like
snorkelling, fishing, diving, sunbathing and playing various
sports with the locals. After 3 days in paradise, trying to come
up with ways of never having to leave the island, I finally
returned to the mainland. I went back to my old hotel and bumped
into a girl who was there last time too. She had since been to
Navala in the hills and urged me to check it out, for the
experience of staying in a traditional Fijian village. So the next
day I set out for Navala.
Navala
Getting to Navala was an experience in itself. First I had to
get a bus to Lautoka, then another bus to Ba. Here I changed again
and got the bus to Navala. The whole journey took about half a
day. I was greeted by the "Head of Tourism" who introduced me to
the Village Chief. After giving him a "sevu sevu" (gift), which
was some kava roots I had bought in Ba, I was introduced to the
family I was to stay with. They pointed me to the spot on the
floor where I could sleep in their Burre and brought me some tea.
This and rice was to be my staple diet for the next 3 days.
Navala is located in a beautiful setting in the central hills of
the Fijian mainland Viti Levu. It is pretty much a self sufficient
village, which has a school and church (catholic). Nearby is a
river for washing and for the kids (and me) to play in. The family
I was staying with was very friendly and interesting. They had a
little 2 year old son and a 6 month old baby. The Burres contain
one room in which the whole family and guests lives, eats and
sleeps. No tables or chairs. The floor is good enough. The night
before leaving they organised a little ceremony for me. This
mainly involved drinking Kava (this is where the sevu sevu came in
handy) in a traditional way, respecting the various customs.
Having drunk a few bowls I was tired and went to sleep whilst the
rest partied on! (Kava is very mildly narcotic). After 3 more
wonderful days in Fiji, playing in rivers, hiking and going fruit
picking with the kids I had to head back to Nadi to catch my
flight on to New Zealand.