Well here we go..the quickest blog entry ever!!!!
So, we've arrived in Fiji, and as soon as I'm off the plane at Nadi my legs are roasting in my jeans. Its hot! What you'd expect really from a tropical pacific island, but coming from a nippy Australia it was a shock. The insane taxi driver, Jaswant, picked us up and drove through the pitch black (lighting doesn't really exist out here) to the jetty for Robinson Crusoe Island where we planned to stay three days. Jaswant was full of pigeon english conversation, telling me all about his new life in New Zealand as a truck driver, and his unbelieveable duck curry. He invited us to dinner next time we were in Nadi to sample it. We grinned politely and nodded. If it was a slow roast duck curry, I'd have been sold.....but if this level of hospitality was common of all Fijians, then we were in for a treat.
Jaswant dropped us off in the pitch blackness at the jetty. Pitch black is the only way to describe it really. Creepy to say the least, with child size mosquito's buzzing around your face. A lantern appears out of nowhere and guided us to where the toilets were. We never saw who was carrying it, just his voice. After 5 minutes scanning the river for any sign of life using our head torches, the boat appeared.
The "captain" of the small motorboat introduced himself as Israel, with the bellow of "Bula" we came to hear time and time again (its Fiji for welcome). David, his "guide" negotiated us through the dark, around debris washed into the river by the rains that previous week. His map-reading if you would call it that leaves much to be desired...flicking the torch left or right in the darkeness to indicate where Israel should steer. He was a little late mind, and the journey out to the bay was puntuated with "sh*t, log" every few minutes. Still, they found time to stop and ply us with Kava, a welcome drink made from rum and tree roots. It leaves your mouth completely numb, and we sat in the darkness with fat tongues whilst Israel cackled to us about the demise Man Utd....
Across a small stretch of sea, in the dark, we could make out the flickering lights of Robinson Crusoe Islands. On arrival, scores of people descended onto the shore, with shouts of "Bula" to welcome us in the dark, flame torches guiding us out of the boat. We couldn't make out anyone's face, but the booming music coming from two industrial size speakers in the middle of the camp started to alert us to what time of "island" this was....
Next morning, it all became clear over a backpacker breakkie of toast and cereal..milk being of the UHT variety (bleeeeugh). The island is powered by generators, with kerosene lanterns to light you in the evenings. We opted for the lodge as apposed to a dorm or "bure"....more so cause we're at the age where we want an ensuite bathroom as apposed to fumbling in the night for the shared facilities. We're snobs you see. The water on the island is brought over in large tanks, but not heated, and is used for washing but not drinking. Our little lodge had two hammocks on the veranda and path that lead to beach on the back of the island..so pretty chilled. All good so far...even the cold showers were just about bearable, those in the lodge getting a shower head whilst those in the shared facilities getting a bucket with a shower tap attached..old school. We had one as well, and by filling it with hot water (lodge had a kettle...god we're posh), we had hot showers!!!Genius..but we kept it quiet as so not to create a mutiny....
The island is tiny, only takes 30 minutes to walk round from the main part. The main part being the "resort". Robinson Crusoe Island is predominately aimed at 18-30s...mostly towards the younger end we found. My god, how old did I feel here! Most of the guys we spoke to hadn't even startd Uni yet..and all looked on at us as "spoilsports" for not taking part in the island fun. The island fun...hmmm...organised fun, like Hi-Di-Hi. The staff are burly, stacked Fijian lads and ladies...unbelieveably enthusiatic, and eager to rope you in to anything. Anything being husking coconuts, climbing trees, lighting a fire on the beach....ahem..making costumes out the leaves to join the "tribe", party games where you pass a balloon through your legs...you get the picture. Its not that we are spoil sports...we're just bit old for that now, and the staff respected that allowing us to drift off across the beach to the scores of hammocks dotted on the coast with nothing more than our books and a cold beer.
Scuba is so cheap here as well. I got two dives in for a mere 80 quid, and well worth it was to. Suze had a bash in the pool, but didn't like the gear and the experience of blowing through just your mouth underwater. Its not for everyone and top marks to my lady wife for giving it a go. We'll find something to try together in New Zealand..something extreme...like swimming with sharks or sommit (kidding Suze!!!!!). The coral off the reef is stunning, and fish..of every colour and in their thousands. I was totally blown away, and even found Nemo, scuttling through the blues and pinks of the rocks.
Our island experience soon came to an end, and as we sailed away from the shore the fijian lads strummed a guitar and sang us on our way. It was an unique experience, I give you that. Fijians are proud people when they talk of their culture, and you can see that pride on their faces when they show you their warrior dances, husking a coconut, fire dancing and knife hurling (!!!). The food they rustled up in the earth oven (pit dug in the ground, hot rocks and coals added before the food is lowered, covered and allowed to steam under damp sacks) was out of this world for me...meat falling off the bone. The organised fun is not to everyones tastes, and the cockroach culling everynight in our lodge was Suze's best experience, but that aside we felt so very welcome. We finished off our time in Fiji by living is up at the hotel closest to the airport )curry, aircon and TV makes Mike a happy lad) perky and bushy tailed for our stupidly early flight out to New Zealand. So long Fiji..its been a blast....
Till next time..which won't be took long....
Mike & Suze x