Bula!

This is a long one, sorry in advance!

We had a smooth flight to Nadi, Fiji, where we were greeted at the airport by lots of people singing and smiling in bright colourful shirts. First impressions were the same as you'd expect somewhere like Hawaii to be. We skipped through customs and were picked up by a mini-bus and taken to a lovely hotel - pure heaven after spending 9 weeks living in a car! We went for dinner at the hotel which was the most amazing food we've ever had, then we enjoyed the facilities before finally crashing out for the evening in a real bed.

We woke up early on Saturday and eventually, after waiting ages and a couple of phone calls to the bus company, caught a shuttle bus to the boat terminal. The Fijian people are so relaxed even compared to the Thai, they call it Fiji-time (which is even less punctual than Holly-time). Still, no one cares as it's too hot to do anything in a rush so we just went with the flow. It was great to be immersed in culture again, after spending a long time in Western places it's really quite a beautiful escape. We boarded the ferry for one of the small islands in the Yasawas group. By the time we boarded, Hol was very excited about the surprise that Pete had lined up (the week in Fiji was a secret planned by Pete) and most of the boat ride was picture perfect scenery which only made it more exciting! After 3 hours on the boat we finally arrived at our stop, where we were met by a small boat. We climbed down from the ferry into the little boat and were taken ashore over the reef, where we were met once again by some happy singing people who quickly dressed us with Fijian Lei's (flower necklaces) and gave us some fresh juice before carrying our bags off to our room. We were in heaven, the water was crystal clear, the sand was golden and soft, the sun was out and our resort was all natural huts and palm tree's with hammocks strewn between them! We soon made ourself at home in our beautiful bure (wooden hut) before jumping in the hammocks and chillaxin' for the rest of the day. It started to get a bit windy later that afternoon so we made our way up to dinner - which was the most beautiful food ever. We were anticipating a few culinary problems on such a remote island but after the first meal it was evident that there'd be no such thing! We hit the hay after a wonderful day.

Sunday we decided to have a relaxing day, after being on the road for so long it was nice to have a base and be able to just chill. We read books, lounged around in hammocks and ate. Meal times were signified by the beating of a drum and were made with the freshest food you can imagine. In the afternoon the weather worsened, the wind began to pick up and it began to rain. We retreated into our bure and spent the rest of the day chilling some more. Not what we were expecting on a tropical island but still, just a bit of bad weather eh?!....

Overnight the winds picked up more and the weather took a turn for the worse. We didn't get a lot of sleep as it was pretty wild, and our little bure was getting pelted by the howling winds and sand off the beach (as it was a beach-front bure practically on the beach). At 8am the locals came to check we were okay and tell us that they'd bring breakfast to our room, but we decided to go to breakfast as it looked like we were going to be house-bound for most of the day. Knox (the barman/waiter) moved a table out of the wind for us and we had a sandy breakfast amidst a few weather jokes. After we headed back to our bure and grabbed a shower before settling into some books for the day.

By 10.40am Hol was sat on the bathroom floor shaking. Pete was being very cool-headed, milling around taking photo's (would you believe?!) and trying his best to pin the curtains to the wall to avoid the glass smashing inwards as the (unknown at the time) tropical cyclone lashed at the bure. Half of the room was full of sand and water which had blown the windows open and in through the door. By this point, Hol was packing an emergency bag (mainly clean pants, M&M's and a first aid kit!) and Pete was doing his best to pacify a slightly hysterical girl. We threw everything else that we owned into the wardrobe so that it didn't become missiles as the roof of our bure was lifting in the corner, then grabbed our bag to make a run for it just as the locals were coming to take us to safety. We went to the backpacker lodge, one of the very few brick built buildings where we sat with a few of the local villagers and another couple - Kerrie and Piertro and their baby girl Kiarra who were also staying at the resort. There was nothing that we could do other than sit and wait, hoping that it'd pass. It was petrifying, but we all tried to keep smiling for little Kiarra's sake pretending that it was perfectly normal. The wind was ripping at the the palm tree's, plucking the huge leaves out with minimal effort before tearing down whole tree's. As we were running to the lodge we passed the building where we had breakfast - what we thought was the most sturdy building had completely collapsed as with many other parts of the resort. It was shocking and scary to see that the place we'd sat only a couple of hours before had fallen like a domino.

By 11.40pm we'd ridden out most of the cyclone... so we thought. The storm had stopped in an instant, and no one was entirely sure if it had gone or if we were sat in the eye. We sheepishly made our way outside to a scene of devastation. It was heartbreaking to see that paradise had been torn apart and thrown all over the place. We started dragging palm leaves into a pile as a distraction from having to deal with the real issue: what do you say to the people who've just lost their homes and businesses through a cyclone? The locals seemed relatively un-phased by the event, telling us not to worry with smiles on their faces and joking about the bad weather. Pete and a local dug a trench in the sand below the terrace bar to relieve the water coming off the hills and channel it into the sea which was like opening a floodgate.

Then at 12.40pm the wind picked up again -we headed for the safety of the lodge and sat patiently while the storm begun to batter the resort from the opposite direction this time. As we feared. We had been in the eye; the tree's that had withstood the first round of beatings were lashed again from the opposite direction well and truly testing their strength. Coconuts were flying from tree's, branches coming down and the rain soaking everything in sight. We'd managed to get hold of a radio by this point when we learnt the true extent - the winds were reaching the mainland some 3 hour boat journey away, although the worst of the storm was yet to come for them. Meanwhile we tried to keep spirits up by playing with the mini-fibre optic Christmas tree that we'd bought in NZ and listening to Fijian music on one locals phone. Despite all of this, Knox popped into the lodge carrying 4 trays with silver platter lids on - lunch was served! We were in absolute shock that in the middle of a cyclone, the locals were more concerned about serving us the 5* lunch on time than they were about their villages collapsing before them. They were smiling and generally just being the most lovely people we've ever met, telling us that it'd all be okay. Kerrie and Piertro were due to get married that day on the beach, so we had a few jokes that it wasn't meant to be and passed more time before the storm finally moved on late afternoon. As soon as it passed we all knew we were in the clear this time and we headed out to survey yet more damage done.

The adrenaline started to wear off late Monday evening and the reality of the situation sunk in. Everywhere we turned there was chaos, broken tree's, demolished buildings, collapsing roofs. The kind locals had made us a fresh room further back from the beach which was not so badly damaged, so we grabbed our stuff and moved into there. The radio had told us that the storm was due to hit mainland that night, and we feared for the people there although they had advance warning unlike us. We didn't get much sleep that night, rather fearful from the days events but we had a couple of hours rest which was appreciated.

We wandered outside on Tuesday to a scene of devastation. Quite bizarrely the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - it was hard to comprehend what happened only 24hours earlier. The guys had set about dismantling the damage already, and it was all hands on deck. The table where we had breakfast the day before had a hardwood telegraph pole sized pillar smashed through the very two seats we were sat in, with the entire building on top of that. We were the last guests to eat in that room, and it was a poignant fact that we were both very aware of. We informed that the building had been there for 10 years and that a cyclone of this strength was only a 1 in 5 year occurrence. We also much of the villagers crops were destroyed by the cyclone, it was heartbreaking but didn't diminish their spirit one bit. The whole day was very surreal, we weren't entirely sure what we were expected to do or say for most of the day so we kept out of the way and let the locals get on with their task. By the afternoon the satellite phone was up and running so we called home to start the phone-call relay to let family know we were safe; they were none the wiser as we finally found out that it didn't even make UK news. Kerrie, from Australia phoned home too and unlike the UK it had been on the news there - a Category 2 cyclone had caused havoc throughout the Fijian islands. Two were already reported dead and several missing, the sad reality started trickling through. That afternoon we had a little swim in the reef, and went kayaking to pass the time. The cyclone has brought out the flies which are everywhere, and disturbed a few other ecosystems too. That evening whilst having dinner, hundred of bats flocked to the skies in search of food which had fell from the tree's. That evening we got no sleep at all, the temperature had shot through the roof and ironically there was no breeze at all. The generators and so the fans go off at midnight so the heat was unbearable.

Very grouchy, we rose on Wednesday feeling exhausted. We packed our stuff up, chilled out for the day before going snorkelling when it was a bit cooler in the afternoon. The owner of the resort had come out on the boat to speak to the guests and pass on her apologies - not that we expected it at all. It's just one of natures cycles. We felt really bad for her, her resort was flattened and there she was, concerned about how we felt!? Pete went kayaking and Hol went snorkelling that afternoon, it was like a whole different world out there on the reef - the fish were swimming around oblivious to the new palm leaves and tree trunks tussled amongst the corral. It was a mixed emotion day for us,we were sad to be leaving the community that we'd become a part of, but pleased to be heading to safer land, amongst all this we were feeling absolutely exhausted having barely slept for 3 nights now.

That night we didn't get much sleep again, not only was it intensely humid like the previous night - Pete had also stumbled across a spider that looked a lot like a tarantula. It was enormous! The locals were concerned by the flashing torches and came to our rescue - removing the beast although now there was an added fear which prevented us from getting any sleep at all.

By Thursday the whole community were at the resort; the ladies were cleaning the rooms out and raking the leaves, the men were almost complete with demolishing the flattened buildings. The resort was surprisingly starting to look like it did when we arrived (apart from the collapsed tree's!). We were very sad to be leaving that day. The people had accepted us and taken us in like members of their family - we'd really got to know them. We had our final lunch when the whole village came to say goodbye to us - they sang Isa Lei (Fijian farewell song) and the owners gave a moving speech which choked Pete and I up. We returned farewells and hugs before we got back into the small boat and headed for the ferry.

Despite everything, Fiji is by far one of the the best places we've been. We've experienced culture and community at it's best - a real sense of belonging. The people are the bravest and most encouraging that we've met on our travels, they truly are inspiring. Fiji will always hold a special place in our hearts, and one day we will return.

Hol and Pete

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