Dee'S Homestay Nadi

Bula, Bula

Fiji, Sun November 22, 2009

Bula! This is an all purpose greeting from the Fijians. It sort of means, Howdy, How ya doing, Hello, Whatzup, Greetings, G'day, Glad to see you, and on and on. Bula!Bula! means extra greetings. I think that in the past, when the Fijians were still cannibalistic, it probably also meant, "Oh Look, Here comes dinner!". So no wonder they are all so happy to exclaim Bula whenever ...

... had been wanting to find some too and hadn't had any luck, so I invited her to join me in the lobby. I saw one I liked, and she ended up liking the other 2. He said the cost was $250 Fijian each. We had a private talk and decided we'd tell him we would buy all 3 if he sold them for $200 each. It was a deal! I have a pretty black pearl, very nice size (larger than a pea), and paid about $100 US for it. I'm planning on putting it in a ring. I usually ...

We arrived in Fiji todayat 4:45am after a 4 1/2 hour plane ride from Chicago to LA and then a 10 1/2 hour plane ride from LA to Nadi, Fiji. (FYI Nadi is actually pronounced Nandi). We had minimal problems during our traveling... haha... had to re-go through security in LA because one of the people on our trip has a long Greek name... but besides that, there wasn't much else.

After we ...

... be practically anywhere on the planet and not know it. So I decided on a compromise. In the middles of the main island is a resort that combines some of the comforts of the islands but also has access to the local tribes and Fijian cultures. Best of both worlds, if you will. And it is a famous resort; kind of...




The resort is called The Beach House. it was the place Celebrity Love Island was filmed in 2006. Starring such cultural luminaries as Paul ...

... In ein wirklich nettes Hostel das eigentlich mehr ein Hotel war, aber recht günstig. Pool, Klimaanlage, warmes Wasser, …
Am Abend noch etwas mit den Angestellten und ein paar Leuten aus dem Hostel ausgegangen, es war immerhin Freitag. Die Menschen sind so freundlich hier und sie geben einem nach ein paar Stunden das Gefühl man würde sie schon ewig kennen. Im “Club” haben sie meinen Musikgeschmack nicht wirklich getroffen aber es war schon lustig da drei ...

... crab racing, and has bought a satellite dish so the villagers can watch TV, and also donates money to the local school regularly. It was certainly interesting and the little kids were really cute!


But all good things come to an end, and it was soon time to leave. We took the resort's boat back to the mainland (on the most uncomfortable 2 hour journey in the history of man) and headed straight to the airport and for Melbourne!

... games and then played games with some new people too :-). Then I SAW 4 SHOOTING STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because I stayed up til I saw one, which was 2.30 am! Then went to bed.

Beachcomber - Woke up. Had breakfast. Then went on another Manta Ray snorkelling trip..and SAW MANTA RAYS! Well, one!! But it was huge!! It looked like it was flying!! SOOOOOOOO cool. Then chilled on the beach and in the hammocks. Then left Manta Ray and we heard the most beautiful ...

... as we could.  I would bring my dog sailing with me on the catamaran instructing Taffy to sit and stay.  She would moan the entire time and frequently jump off to chase birds.  What great memories are brought back as we set off on our catamaran trip. The Catamaran is a 14 footer without a jib.  It is easy and made for tourists with large pontoons and a relatively small sail.  It is easy to remember how to sail and fun to get out on the water. I ...

... found us!) and ended up sharing Kava with a few locals and buying a Kava dish with accessories. We'd been had, but happy enough about it as they were native Fijians working hard at out doing the Indians. Have to hand it to them. Walked back to the hotel witnessing some amazing local driving habits! Came back and had a swim, lunch, now ...

... the sea, but fortunately Jamie was more sure-footed and was able to carry my bag containing the the ipod and camera above his head with out submerging them in seawater. The following day we did a couple of dives which were good although the visibility wasn't great as the water was still settling from all the storms. Jamie had to go up to the boat a little early on the first dive as he had run out of air due to his weighting being all wrong, and unfortunately for him this meant he missed ...