Fiji
January 9 through January 23, 1997
Fiji was the first stop for all four of us outside of North America and the first time any of us had been to the South Pacific. Winter had howled into New England, but we had escaped.
Arrival in Fiji
We traveled to Fiji from Mexico City via Dallas, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. We left on January 7th and arrived on January 9th, losing a day crossing the international date line. It was a long trip, and we arrived in a lack of sleep haze at 5:00 am just as the sun was coming up. By the time we got out of the airport, it was light and incredibly green, quite a contrast to Colorado and Mexico. We took a bus from the airport and waiting at the bus stop, and in spite of no sleep, Fiji became real–very hot, very green, and volcanic mountains in the distance. The trip, which had been so far off for so long, also became real.
Fiji Time/Wild Boat Ride #1
On our second morning, we were headed to Wayasewa Island. The place we were going to stay, Dive Trek Wayasewa, was supposed to pick us up at 11:00 AM to take us to the ferry. We hung around the pool waiting as 11:00 came and went. Lauren called them to see where they were and they said "don't worry, 12:30 or 12:45." A taxi driver walking by overheard and said "Fiji time: 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, today, tomorrow, or the next day."
Dive Trek Wayasewa
At 1:20 PM, still no one had come, and the desk clerk said that he thought the ferry left at 1:30 PM. "Maybe you'd better take a taxi, he said. We did, and got to the marina, but there wasn't a boat there either. People said, "Don't worry, it will be here soon." So we ate at the restaurant (mutton chow mien, mutton fried rice, mutton over rice: anything you wanted as long as it was mutton) and had some beers. Then we started talking to some people who said that the boat didn't come to that dock, it went to the other one. Another taxi driver took us to that dock, but it was almost 3:00 by then and the boat had already left. We headed back to the hotel, where the desk clerk told us that they'd come for us right after we'd left. Lauren called back once again, and this time they said that it was too late and that we'd have to wait until tomorrow. We told them to forget it, we'd find somewhere else.
But then we couldn't find anywhere else that sounded as good, and Lauren called them back to see if they could pick us up early in the morning. To our surprise, they said, "The boat's already on its way. It will be there at 4:30 PM." Even more surprisingly, a little before 4:30, someone actually came. But he had only come to tell us that it was too late to go because the boat didn't have lights or a certificate to operate after dark. He also had a vanload of people he wanted to take somewhere else. We said that the boat was supposed to be there, and that if it was, we would make it well before dark. He reluctantly said "OK, we'll go to look for the boat."
When we got to the dock, there was no boat. The van driver talked to a bunch of people and he confirmed that there was no boat. But he said it would be there in the morning at whatever time we wanted it (5:30 or 6:30 AM). In the meantime, Dive Trek would pay for our hotel in Lautoka, as well as dinner and all the drinks we wanted.
So once again it was back to the hotel, were we checked in for the second time. We started in on the drinks they said they would pay for, when at 7:30 pm, the van driver reappeared. "They're here, he said, "the boat's ready!" Hearing this, we asked, "We thought the boat couldn't travel at night?" He replied, "Oh, that's no problem." We were quickly learning that in Fiji, the facts change to suit the circumstances. And so off we went. We got to the dock and there was the boat–best described as a big dinghy–that would take us through the night to an island 30 kilometers offshore. And since dinghies don't have running lights, neither did this. Diane asked if there were life preservers. The "captain" replied, "What are life preservers?" We loaded everything on board and headed through the night to Wayasewa Island.
Despite the ride not being very safe and probably stupid, it turned out to be great. An afternoon storm had passed, and for the first half hour, we watched the fading pink/orange glow of the sunset. I kept thinking, "red sky at night, sailor's delight...". As the darkness descended, the stars came out, and phosphorescent algae lit up the spray and wake of the boat. We watched the lights of Lautoka fade in the distance and finally become just a glow on the horizon. In spite of the aggrevations of the day, it was good to be on the waters of the South Pacific.
Climbing the Mountain
I awoke with Lauren twisting my arm around to look at my watch:
"What time is it?"
"It's 5:30."
"Time to get up, we've got to go climb the mountain before it gets too hot."
Fiji is wicked hot, and the day before, Lauren had convinced Mary and Diane that if we were going to climb to the top of Wayasewa Island, we should leave early. I said "sure," knowing that Diane would never wake up that early. But after she went to bed, a bug crawled across her chest and she stayed awake the rest of the night. By 5:30 am, she must have been bored and she said she was ready.
So up the mountain we went. Most of the way up it wasn't so bad, at only about 75 degrees but 99 percent humidity. Then it quickly jumped to about 85 to 90, but we were almost at the top. It was worth it--not quite the top of the world--but good.
Geoff on top of Wayasewa
Where are the Patriots?
The ride back from Wayasewa was on a much bigger boat and uneventful. on this trip, we were thinking most about the Patriots, who were playing in the AFC Championship game. We knew the game was on TV in Fiji, but where? After the ferry, the bus went by the airport and I ran in to find a TV. But there was no TV--Nadi airport must be the only airport in the world with 747s and jetways, but no TVs. When we finally got to a TV, the game was over and nobody knew what had happened, or cared. I called a friend back in the US who told us they'd won.
Tubakula on the Coral Coast
Moon's Fiji Islands Handbook said "Seated on your terrace watching the sky turn orange and purple behind the black silhouettes of the palms along the beach, a bucket of Fiji Bitter stubbies close at hand, you'd swear this was paradise. We agreed.
Tubakula Beach Resort
Rotary Club
Diane is a member of the Rotary Club, which has a high attendance requirement for meetings. So we all went to a Rotary meeting in Sigatoka! The Sigatoka club is very small, only seven members, all of whom were Fijian Indians. They were all very friendly -- an ex-Mayor, a school principal, a doctor, a jewelry shop owner, and a duty-free shop owner. One, Vinod Tappoo, offered his internet connection to us, so the next day we were able to check and send some email, which we especially appreciated.
Here we also heard the Indian perspective of the problems facing Fiji. Fiji's population is split about 50/50 between native Fijians and Indians (who were originally brought in as indentured workers by the British). Although there is resentment between the two groups, for the most part, they get along fairly well. By law, the Fijians own all the land, but it is the Indians who own most of the businesses and who make up most of the upper and middle classes. However, to run their businesses, the Indians must rent land from the Fijians, and this arrangement results in a transfer of wealth that keeps the two groups from getting too far apart financially. But this arrangement also allows the Fijians to be lazy. The Fijians "share the wealth" extended family system also kills initiative. If they earn anything, they have to share it so many ways that they get to keep so little that it's not worth it. when we were there, there was a lot of concern about school test results that had just been released: the Fijian kids were falling farther behind the Indian kids. A Indian school principal said the main reason was that the Fijian kids didn't have anywhere to do their homework at wasn't too full of distractions. They all lived in one room houses--because according to Fijan beliefs, only small hearted people split up their homes into individual rooms. Big hearted people lived in one room houses where everything was shared and everyone was together, even if it meant that their kids couldn't learn. The school had a program to encourage Fijian kids to stay after school to do their homework and the ones who were doing it started doing as well as the Indian kids.
Suva
All four of us traveled to the capital of Fiji, and Mary and Diane took off the next day for New Zealand. Lauren and I had four more days in Fiji, and headed to Levuka. According to the guidebook, Suva is "the pulsing heart of the South Pacific." Joe, the desk clerk at Tubakula, called it "a big city with too many people rushing around for no reason." We found it to be a big town without much happening. Mary and Diane had tired of Fiji and decided to leave early for New Zealand.
Levuka
Levuka looked like a town out of America's wild west, with a row of false-fronted buildings with roofs over the sidewalk. But insteas of facing another row of buildings across the street, they faced the ocean. It was also something of a ghost town and only a shadow of its former self. Once it was the capital of Fiji, with over 50 hotels and taverns. It was said that sailors could find Levuka by following the trail of gin bottles floating out on the outgoing tide. However, because of the walls of the volcanic crater rising up behind the town, there wasn't any room to grow, and once Fiji became British, the British moved the capital to Suva. It's apparently been downhill ever since, and a large tuna canning factory is about that is left.
Downtown Levuka
What is left, however, is the best place we visited in Fiji. The Royal Hotel, where we stayed, bills itself as "the oldest continuously operating hotel in the South Pacific." It's also the only remaining hotel from Levuka's glory days. Like the town, the hotel was also like a living ghost. With rataan chairs, ceiling fans, and a snooker table, it was easy to imagine being a British colonist in the late 1800s/early 1900s. It was an easy place to settle into, and we stayed here for the rest of our time in Fiji.
Royal Hotel
Bobo and Karin's House
While we were in Levuka, we met Karin, who had come to Fiji from Germany on vacation, ended up meeting a Fijian (Bobo), and marrying him. They live on a plantation next to a village named Rukuruku. Now the sell their fruit. Bobo was unlike most other Fijian men, as he didn't live in a village, and was more straight-forward, more ambitious, and if possible, even friendlier.
We went to their house, and to get there, got off the bus and headed down a path, pretty much just a path in the jungle. In a few minutes, we came to a stream and a pool, some planted fields, and then one of the nicest houses we had seen in Fiji. As Bobo told us later, they carried 1,100 bricks, seven tons of cement, and everything else down the trail we had come down. Karin said she wouldn't live in a Fijian village, and that if she were to marry him, she wanted many of the conveniences of home. They even had a full sized refrigerator, which also would have been carried down the path. They said it was their piece of paradise, which it seemed to be.
[You can now stay at Bobo's Farm, and they have this AirBnB listing: Bobo's Farm.]
Wild Boat Ride #3
[Yes, there was a Wild Boat Ride #2, but it's not on the web site.] We were to leave Levuka at 5:00 am. This departure was one of two choices, but the only one that was considered reliable in rough waters, which there were. So in spite of the early wake up, we bought tickets for the 5:00 trip. We actually got up in time, but as we were about to board the bus to the ferry, we remembered that w'd forgotten to get our passports and plane tickets out of the hotel safe. We banged on doors but couldn't find anyone awake at the hotel. We stood by helplessly as we watched the bus drive past or hotel. Then we went back to bed.
Fortunately for us, the other ferry, the 9:00 Emosi ferry, was going to run that day, and we were off for wild boat ride #3. Emosi's ferry was larger than the big dinghy, but not by much, and we had nine passengers and three crew on board. Because of the rough seas, we stayed inside of the reef as long as possible, and the ride was smooth. However, to get back to Viti Levu, we did have to go outside of the reef, and as far down as we'd come, the only remaining break was small and very shallow. It was also low tide, and there were breaking waves and less than 12 inches of water. This seemed to present a problem because the ferry itself drew 12 inches, and the 40 hp outboard more. But in Fiji this was no problem. The crewed pulled up the outboard and jumped overboard and pushed us through the reef. The boat bounced along the coral and waves broke around us but, once again, we made it.
Fiji in Retrospect
Someone said Fiji was a third world country that acted as if it were a first world country. That seems like a pretty accurate description. Overall, it's a poor country that relies on a lot of foreign aid (although less than other South Pacific nations and none from the US). At the same time, it has a good infrastructure, suburbs, and a middle class (made up mostly of Indians, it seems). The Fijian villages are very third world and are based on an extended family system. This results in a strong support system where everyone is taken care of, but the "sharing" kills any incentive for individuals to improve. If they do, whatever is gained is shared so many ways, it's not worth the effort. This, in turn, seems to ensure that living standards will remain low.
At the same time, Fijians seem very happy, and are very friendly to visitors and to each other.The islands are beautiful and green with volcanic peaks jutting up out of the ocean. The beaches weren't as nice as we expected – not as sandy and mostly with coral very close in. Snorkeling was good, but not as good as the Virgin Islands or Thailand. Overall, it was a good two weeks and a good start to the trip, but it was not a place that any of us felt that we would be compelled to go back to soon.
Quotable Quotes
"Bula"
–Everybody, as a greeting, when someone sneezes, and for just about any other reason.
"...11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, today, tomorrow, or the next day!"
–A taxi driver, explaining Fiji time
"Everyone is responsible for their own sunset."
–Lauren, at Tubakula, after the rest of us missed the sunset
"Dahlings, just because we're living on a budget doesn't mean we have to look like it."
-–Diane, very fashionably dressed in Fiji (relatively speaking)
"Unless I can eat it, drink it, or wear it, I'm not buying it."
–Mary, in Nadi, explaining her approach to shopping
"We only have 363 days left."
–Diane, worried about the shortness of time
Fiji Favorites and Unfavorites
Favorites
Floating in the ocean, the constant breeze of the Coral Coast, Bongos (a cheeze snack), arrowroot milkbiscuits, finding out the Patriots were in the Superbowl, papayas, bananas, pineapple, Hot Bread Kitchen, Fiji Bitter stubbies, exciting boat rides,geckos, Levuka, Royal Hotel, Whale's Tale, Karin and Bobo's plantation, saying "bula" whenyou sneeze, the way Fijians say "okay," rainforest walks, friendly people.
Unfavorites
Having to say "bula" all day long, chow mein, chop suey, fried rice, curry (all with too much salt), Dive Trek dorms, fake friendliness in Nadi, airport travel agents, toads, sea snakes, instant coffee, the rap version of "Cecelia" playing everywhere.
Fiji Map
Fiji Links
For more information on traveling to Fiji, the following are particularly good links:
South Pacific Organizer David Stanley's South Pacific site with info on Fiji. (David Stanley wrote Moon Handbook's Fiji guide, which we used while there, and recommend.)
Lonely Planet The best online source for general information for independent travelers that covers just about everywhere, including Fiji