Bula

  Nadi, Fiji
Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Well bonfires and fireworks seem a long, long way away. Can't believe it's the 5th November, you wouldn't know it from the temperature outside and we had all the fireworks about 10 days ago for Diwali, the Indian New Year.

I got here about 2 weeks ago now and after arriving in Nadi I checked into the very pleasant Nadi Bay Hotel which is more like a hotel than the backpacker place that it is. After much deliberation I booked myself onto the Feejee Experience tour bus which takes you on a tour of the biggest island, Vitu Levu and optionally allows you to go to visit the second largest island, Vanu levu. Although you have the option of getting off the tour for a few days then hopping back on, virtually everyone on our bus stayed on for the duration.

Our guide Tavida and driver Kazeem picked us up on Monday morning and we set off in an anti-clockwise direction around Vitu Levu. After just a couple of hours we arrived at Natadola beach for a bit of sunbathing and a bbq and boogie boards for the more active amongst us.



After sunning ourselves for a few hours we headed off again to visit a local village where we were introduced to the chief and shown around some of the traditional buildings such as the main meeting house. After a bit of culture it was time for a bit of fun and we went up into the sand dunes along the Coral Coast armed with boogie boards for a bit of sand-boarding.



That night we stayed at the Crows Nest hostel - again very good facilities for a hostel - where some locals came around to show us how they make pottery.



Then after dinner we were introduced to Kava. Kava is a drink made from the root of a plant that grows throughout the South Pacific and the Kava ceremony is part of tradition throughout the region. It's a social event where the locals get together to talk and you can often see groups of men gathered around a Kava bowl chatting, especially in the evenings - rather like the british pub I suppose. Anyway, it's made from the roots of this plant and it tastes a bit like muddy water although it's meant to have a mildly halucenogenic affect although I think you have to drink quite a lot of it to get a decent hit.


Making Kava

The following morning after a short drive it was time for a trek out into the rain forest. We walked for a few hours through the forest and along a creek until eventually we came to a river which we drifted down with the aid of some old inner tubes until we came to some very scenic waterfalls.




Me trekking through the forest


Inner Tubes down-river


Some things are best left to the locals

That night we stopped in Suva with a meal out and of course some more Kava resulting in a few people being a bit worse for wear the following morning.



Before long we reached a local village where we met the locals and they invited us to a Kava ceremony. Not that we really fancied some more Kava at this stage but it would have been very rude of us not to and a hundred years ago such rudeness would probably have resulted in us being put in a big pot, cooked and eaten. Fortunately these days the Fijians are far more friendly and the Kava ceremony was very entertaining especially when they introduced us to dancing Fijian style after the Kava. Their dancing basically involves picking the woman or man of your choice, putting your arms round them and shuffling forwards and backwards.


Kava Ceremony


Dancing Fijian Style

After the Kava and dancing it was time to be introduced to another Fijian tradition, the Bilibili raft:- basically a load of bits of bamboo stuck together that are pushed through the water like a punt. Looks easy but it's very hard to balance believe me!



After the rafting we went on to visit a local school to meet some of the local kids but they had all finished their lessons by the time we got there and were busy making dinner or something. So we headed on up the coast to the northeastern corner of the island. At this point about half of us climbed into Sea Kayaks and about half took the boat - I took the Kayak which was good fun if a little wet. It took about an hour to kayak across to Nanunanu-i-ra island but as we went the sun was going down and the view was amazing. After spending a night at Nanunanu-i-ra it was time to return to the mainland.



We headed round to a place called Ba where there's a large indian population for a 'genuine indian curry' and then went off to some hot springs and mud pools. A bit reluctantly we waded into the mud which was very, very strange - it felt like the bottom of the pool didn't have a solid bottom and felt like you were wading through several hundred years of old leaves or something else equally weird. The mud at the bottom was hot though and allegedly very good for the skin. After a short mud-fight it was time to head to the neighbouring pool which fortunately had a stony bottom so you could actually wash all the mud off and then back to the bus.

All being well, with the Feejee experience pass that I'd bought, after Nanunanu-i-ra you'd take a ferry over to the other main island, Vanu Levu and rejoin the tour once you've been over there. However, the ferry that takes you there sank a few weeks ago so we were flown over to Savusavu on Vanu Levu. By this stage there was only me and 2 girls, Juliet and Donna. Most people had chosen just to tour the one island.


View from the plane

When we got to Savusavu we soon figured out that there wasn't too much to do round there and we would be better off heading to Taveuni, the third biggest island in Fiji. This involved a 2 and a half hour bus journey on a gravel road then a further hour and a half on a very dodgy looking ferry but all was well and we made it safely checking into Lisi's place later that afternoon which although comfortable enough didn't have any electricity, just parafin lamps after dark.

Tavenuni is a beautiful island often called the garden island as it is full of greenery and flowers. It's also alongside the Somosomo straits, one of the world's top diving sights so it wasn't long before I was underwater - I'll let the pictures tell the story for this bit as I dived the famous Great White Wall:-


The Great White Wall - famous for its soft coral






A nudibranch (kind of sea slug) on the Great White Wall


Scorpion Leaf Fish on the Great White Wall

Another thing Taveuni is famous for is the fact that the 180 degree meridian passes straight through it - in other words it's exactly on the opposite side of the world to Greenwich so you can put yourself half in today and half in yesterday.



So now I'm back in Nadi and tomorrow I'm heading out to the Yasawa Islands, a chain of islands off the North West of Vitu Levu for a few days relaxation.

More soon .....