Bula! My first Fiji trip – caves, bus trips and Happy Hour

Hello Fiji– Bula!

This was my 35th wedding anniversary present from my husband. We were heading for the coral coast of Fiji and staying at the Warwick Fiji. I have never been to Fiji before – this was our first time. If you are thinking of going and haven’t been before, be aware they have a very strong dollar and the exchange rate isn’t as good as I thought it would be. After Vanuatu this was a bit of a shock!

Brisbane Airport wasn’t the most pleasant experience and all of my own making. As we live quite a way from the airport, we stayed in Brisbane for the night before we flew and it wasn’t until I was going through security I remembered I had my toiletry bag with me and all my perfume, deodorant, body cream etc. was in my carry on luggage. Goodbye all packaging over 100ml, although I must admit if I had stood my ground it would have been okay’d as they were clear bottles/tubes and you could see they were almost empty or I could have ended up in court! Anyway, the first thing I would need to do in Fiji would be buy more! Shopping duty-free!

Yay, we were through security and customs and now to find the lounge. What a shock: we were using Air New Zealand’s lounge and after Virgin’s lounge at the domestic, this was a bit of a let down. My husband is a frequent flyer and these lounges are a must for him. If you have ever been through the international airport in Brisbane you will understand where I am coming from. The domestic has almost finished being refurbished and I would imagine this one will be next. I shouldn’t be negative but this wasn’t a welcoming lounge for Virgin’s guests – very small and congested although the chairs were comfortable and the food nice. So, there we sat until our plane was called. Eventually we were on our way.
As we were coming into land it looked VERY dry but never the less it was still green and the ever present coconut tree could be seen everywhere.

The next lesson I learnt was never believe a travel agent when they say the hotel is short drive from the airport. I do know that the national speed limit is 80km but talk about a slow train to China, it took us just two hours to get there (note to self if we come again…hire a car).

When we arrived we were greeted with “Bula!” (interpreted as “hello, welcome”) by the gate man, as we alighted from the said slowest bus EVER. We were also greeted with the beating of the lali (hollowed out large log that is hit with smaller sticks, a form of a drum). We were taken to our room that wasn’t suppose to have sea views but we could see the sea. Now for food and drink: we had arrived just in time for Happy Hour! Hello cocktails – a large mango daiquiri was had and enjoyed immensely.

We ate in the buffet and I must say, over our stay the only meal we had that was questionable was a pizza we had the second night and only because we make a wicked pizza of our own and all others have to be a high standard to compete! Our first day that consisted of a lot of travel was almost over!

Day two was picture perfect and we set off on one of my husband’s safaris. It wasn’t long before were in a local village where we met some of the locals and by the time we left had made some friends. On the way back we walked the beach. The tide was out so we went reef walking and we found amazing sea life. Not only beautiful coloured fish and starfish but the most amazing sea urchins but instead of being round they looked like large off cuts of rope.
It was getting late and we were getting thirsty and it was nearly Happy hour again, guess where we were heading after a quick shower?

What a difference a few hours make – the next day it was blowing a gale and raining! So today we sat around the resort and chatted with other guests and generally had a relaxing day. Raining or not tomorrow we were going exploring so we booked a tour up into the provinces to check out some caves.

I would highly recommend “Road Less Travelled” tour – it is owned by the same people that do the “Sigatoka River Safari”. I love caves and exploring so we chose this one. When we arrived, as both tours start at the same place, we were ferried across the river to a four wheel drive. There was only three of us with two guides and yet the boats were full to capacity! We started our trip inland climbing higher and higher into the interior. There are just a few rules which are signs of respect:

1. As we drove through villages our hats had to be removed
2. I was given a sarong which had to be put over my shorts when in the village

The first village we came to everyone waved and called out “Bula!” and the little children came running up to the car for high fives. At one stage we were high above the river with great views over the whole Sigatoka Valley…magnificent. This area supplies over 70% of Fiji’s food. It is the the salad bowl of the country. Just as we were having a Kodak moment, the boats came around a curve in the river and we stood and watched them until they disappeared. When we got to the caves we had to ask permission and be given a blessing before we could go into the caves.

The eldest (my husband) had to speak to the priest’s son and ask permission to go into the caves. So a kava ceremony was had and permission was given. Reg and I have been told we can go and stay at the village any time we want and the chief’s son accompanied us into the caves and was my husband’s constant companion. He became number one visitor when he gave the young fellow his Broncos cap. We noticed later that he was wearing the priest’s cap and the priest had the Broncos cap on. They are rugby mad in Fiji!

These caves were very important to the history of this region. When the missionaries went to Fiji they took measles with them and over 40,000 indigenous Fijians died. The particular village that owns this land were cannibals and of great interest to the missionaries and they were always trying to convert them. The chief became increasingly more worried for his people so he took them into the caves to live so no one could find them. The only people allowed our were the warriors that brought back food (humans). Other than that everyone lived inside. If you can’t bend, you can’t get in the entrance as you basically crawl into them. Inside there is NO natural light so torches and headlamps are worn. The cave goes up, up, up and back, back, back. It would have fit the 400+ people that lived in there, no worries. The water that runs through it has eels and freshwater yabbies. We were there for ages and as there was only 3 of us, all our questions were answered and soon it was time to go for a lovely lunch that had been prepare for us. Lots of fresh food and a BBQ (not human). We headed home with lots of lovely memories to keep about this area.

The next day again was wet and blowy but not to worry, we still went to the beach and wandered the entertainment areas of the resort and ate and drank too much. The local people are lovely and nothing was too much trouble. Some have worked for this resort for 17 years. It wasn’t unusual to have a hug from them if you said something they liked or thanked them for something.

Our stay in Fiji was not really long enough but we enjoyed our stay immensely. After being hugged by the girl who organised our cave tour and the doorman and the girl that cleaned our room to the buffet hostess, we had breakfast, packed our bags, said goodbye to our room and went downstairs to wait for the transfer. All who were leaving piled on to the bus and laughed and joked and had bets about how long it would take to get back to Nadi. Well, it took 10 minutes longer to get back as we had to stop a couple more times to pick people up! I lost the bet as I said it would be quicker.

We all boarded the plane with plenty of good memories and a few extra kilos from all the food and drink but we were all happy and relaxed and that is all you can ask for. It is a lovely place and the people where we were, were lovely. Would we go back? Not sure, I like Vanuatu but it is very much a personal thing. Bula and vanaka for reading.

Have you been to Fiji? What were your favourite places you travelled? Would you go back?