We're back from Fiji! It was a great trip, even though we had two days of rain. The other three days were perfect and sunny, and even the rainy days weren't so bad since the rain mostly came at night time and it stayed warm during the day.
Over the course of our trip we explored Nadi, took a day trip to a private island, snorkelled, spent plenty of time relaxing by our hotel's pool, and endured a combined total of over 24 hours in airports. Yep, over 24 hours. Thanks to our early flight, the bus schedule from Whangarei to Auckland, and our not wanting to pay for a hostel room for only a few hours, we slept in Auckland airport both before our departure and after our return. Good thing they have padded benches!
The best day was definitely Friday, when we went out to the island. Beaches on the mainland are pretty dirty and covered in trash (near Nadi, at least). Fiji is another of those countries where most of the locals live in poverty while tourists come and live in luxury. Fortunately, the indigenous Fijians had some foresight when they became a British colony and kept some rights to themselves. Over 80% of Fiji's land is owned by the indigenous people, and it can't be taken away. Instead, they lease out the land at high cost. So all of the big fancy resorts have to pay the indigenous Fijians for the use of their land. The money goes straight back to the villages, so the Fijians in those lucky villages don't have it quite so bad.
But back to the island. The pristine, white sand beaches are found on the many smaller islands such as South Sea island. This is where we spent the day:
For a ridicuously-cheap price (especially after the exchange rate) we were ferried out to the island for the day. With less than thirty in our group, it wasn't a crowded trip. We had a huge lunch buffet, as well as all we could drink (water, beer, wine, soda) for the entire day, unlimited access to snorkelling equipment, kayaks, two snorkelling trips off a boat, and two trips in this semi-submersible boat (like glass bottom, but glass sides instead). Basically, we spent eight hours in an all-inclusive paradise.
Snorkelling made the trip for me. Apart from the two boat trips, they had a large roped-off area where you could snorkel by the beach. It turns out the reef starts only 10-15 feet away from the shore, so there was plenty to see. On the second trip out I even saw a shark! It was about 5-6 feet long and was just swimming around about ten feet below me. Only four others were out on the trip, and I swam up to the boat and said, "Uh... I just saw a shark. Is that okay?" The guide said it was probably just a reef shark and it was perfectly fine. So I swam back and found the shark again and took a picture before he disappeared into the deeper water. Very cool.
Even aside from the shark, snorkelling was great fun. I think I spent a combined three or so hours snorkelling, getting my back sunburned and my arms and legs chewed up by sea lice. Yes, sea lice. Apparently these are microscopic little nasties whose bites feel similar to a mild jelly-fish sting, but the pain only lasts for a few minutes. Seeing the many varieties of multi-colored fish in every shape and size made it all worthwhile. It certainly has gotten me excited for seeing the Great Barrier Reef when we head to Australia--as long as the mean sharks keep their distance.
Sadly, Mr. Shark and our other snorkelling pictures will have to wait. We bought a waterproof camera that uses this weird stuff called "film." And you have to "wind" this weird knob after every picture, and when it's all finished you have to get it "developed." There's not even a screen on the camera. Crazy, I know. At any rate I will try to get the pictures "deveoped" as soon as possible so you all can have a look.
We also took a half day bus tour of the Nadi area. Alexa and I ended up being the only people on the tour that day, so we more or less had a private drive around Nadi. We saw a Fijian village, a downtown fruit market, a large Hindu temple, and the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, which lies at the base of the Mountain of the Sleeping Giant:
The far left is his head, the radio tower is his belly, and the mound on the right are his feet. Actually fairly proportionate, huh? Except he has super short legs.
Here's the open air market in Fiji:
Downtown Nadi is a sketchy sort of place. We learned one lesson really quick: if a slick-looking dude comes up to you and says, "Bula!" and starts asking you a bunch of friendly questions, he isn't just being nice. He will walk and talk with you for about twenty feet, until suddenly you find yourself at the entrance to a dingy shop and your way down the sidewalk is blocked by two or three of his friends. At this point you're supposed to feel compelled to enter the shop, where they offer you Kava, show you pictures of their village, and then ask you for donations for said village while urging you to buy crappy, over-priced trinkets. We only fell for this once, but quickly left the shop after glancing at a few price tags.
We spent the rest of our time in Fiji hanging out at our hotel's pool, venturing into downtown Nadi for souviniers, and checking out a local beach. Not much else too exciting. Like I said before, the highlight was our day on South Sea Island.
Upon returning to New Zealand, we had to resume our job hunt. Boo. It actually got so bad we were seriously considering just going to Australia next week and then coming home early. But just as we'd resigned ourselves to this, Alexa got a job! She's nannying for a family with two little girls 4 days a week, with an optional extra day depending if the parents' shop is busy. Sweet. With any luck I too will find some means of employment.
Here's hoping that by my next post I'll be a working man!
Anti-bula! (Good bye in Fijian, obviously)
An inviting hammock on South Sea Island:
The view off our hotel room's balcony:
Nadi's huge Hindu temple, as seen from the front:
