Fiji Time

A short 3 hr plane trip from Auckland landed me in a tropical paradise: Fiji. The first night I made some friends with three other travelers doing the same circuit, three lovely ladies from England: Lynsey, Ellie and Becky. We ended up traveling the islands together and became great friends. The first day was a boat trip to the Northern end of the Yasawa Islands, enduring the painful Celine Dion session on the boat radio. I booked my first two nights at a resort called Coral View. The rest of the trip, I followed my new friends as we worked our way over eight nights back toward the mainland, eventually visiting six different islands.

(Coral View Resort, and Lynsey, Becky, Ellie (left to right))

(The small resort on South Sea Island, you could walk around the island in 5 minutes!)

The idea is for the type of package I bought was that you have unlimited travel on this boat between the islands, and you pick which ones you want to stay at, you only have to book a day ahead and there was always room. There are several resorts on each island and some are nicer than others. They aren't the typical 'resort' you would think of, they are very rustic. The showers are outside, you stay in 10 bed dorms, there is barely electricity and no technology. Once you get adjusted, however, its a great experience. I enjoyed taking a step back in time and being so cut off from the rest of the world. Additionally, all of the fellow travelers and especially the Fijians were very friendly and open which made it easy.

(All of our friends that were on the same trek as us at sunset)

Each time you arrive to a resort, the Fijian team sings you a welcome song; they also sing one when you leave. It turns out they are very musical people and pretty much everyone sings and plays guitar. When you are there, you are a part of their family. It was astonishing how they remember your name after hearing it once and are just genuinely happy to have you there. I thought about how they get new travelers every day of the week, yet they never seem to get tired of it and become irritable like some of the service people can get in the Western world.

(Fijian Welcome Song. Bula!!)

Apart from endless hours of sunbathing, reading in hammocks on the beach and swimming, I did a lot of snorkeling. It was some of the best I've ever done and the girls said it was better than the Great Barrier Reef! It's a whole other world underneath the water; I saw several different types of coral and reef fish all feeding gracefully in unison. During one trip, we swam with small reef sharks (probably about 6ft long at the biggest). I even saw a small Great White, probably about 4 ft long. Awesome time!

(Hammocks at Manta Ray Resort)

(The tropical landscape with banana trees and lots of fragrant beautiful flowers)

(The sculptures and beach on Bounty Island)

I met a lot of cool Fijians and one of them personally took me through the village where he grew up, which I sensed was something not a lot of tourists got to do. I saw first hand how they live work, and interact. Sleeping on the floor and living in what appears at first glance to be run down homes, but after some time and understanding, you realize that they are really clean people and have pride in their dwellings. Nothing is brand new, but they aren't run-down. It looks poor here, but only money-wise. The people are cheerful, well-fed, and healthy.

I want to point out now just how impressed I was with the Fijian culture. They are just laid-back, genuinely content people and it seems part of their culture to be happy. They use the phrase "Fiji Time" which describes their laid-back, no-worries approach to life, maximizing enjoyment of the time you have in life. They don't want or need technology, they live off the land and don't take much from the mainland except for some supplies, petrol, and health care. None of them looked stressed or unhappy. Its just a completely different culture and way of life and after a few days, I felt myself drifting into that mindset. It was a great experience for me being self sufficient, washing my clothes by hand, not wanting technology or possessions. I probably could have stayed a few months working with the villagers fishing during the day, gardening, and helping build houses. They work hard, pretty much every day, and each night relax together with Kava.

Kava is a root that they mix with water and drink. If you drink enough, it relaxes you completely and you sleep well. Some people even hallucinate! The Kava ceremony is spiritual the first few rounds of drinking, and then becomes a social activity, mainly for the males. Each night they get together and drink, relax and sing songs on the guitar. A way of bonding together after a hard days work.

(Enjoying Kava at Waya Lailai Resort)

So after a suprisingly pleasent journey home, I'm finally back on home soil, resting at my mom's place for the moment, planning my next move. It feels so weird to be back in American culture again, things seem so big, people drive on the other side of the road, and there are no accents. It seems as if NZ was a dream that I just woke up from. But I miss it already and feel I'll be back sometime soon.