Fiji at last...

The plane was delayed for an hour before take off as a result of a faulty door mechanism, however by this time the girls and David were already asleep and stayed that way until long after take off. The evening meal was pretty pants and not sure the troops would have eaten it, even if they had been awake. Breakfast, an hour and a bit before we landed in Nadi, was a little better - a cheese omelette with grilled tomato and a chicken sausage, fruit, yoghurt, banana muffin and a cup of tea.

 

We have arrived in Fiji! Bula! This means hello. Customs really easy and the nice man stamped the teddy passports which the girls were thrilled with. We found our contact for Bamboo Backpackers really easily and bundled into the dusty, rusty, yellow taxi which I am sure would not pass a UK MOT but again I am sure we will travel in worse! This is the view from the taxi as the sun rose and we made our way to Bamboo. This is a range of hills called the Sleeping Giant which looks over Nadi - so called because its profile resembles a sleeping man.
 

The Bamboo Backpackers

This is our home for the next 3 days.

The room wasnt quite ready (not surprising as we arrived at 7 am!) so we settled on the deck and enjoyed our first breakfast Fiji style! This is free (hurray!) and the same every day, although you can add eggs or have tea instead! The fresh pawpaw is amazing!

The next 2 images are not for the faint hearted! We must admit it is a baptism of fire- and took 24 hours to acclimatise ourselves to our surroundings. Basic - but functional!

 David and Nicole get to have the top bunks as bunks have no rail or ladder and are very high! Bathroom is erm... interesting... enough said! After a good nights sleep - the accommodation doesnt seem so bad, the beds are surprisingly comfortable and the fan works well.

The girls have been spending a lot of time being entertained by the staff- being swung in the hammock or playing table tennis  - all are amazingly friendly and welcoming. Everyone smiles and laughter is everywhere. 

We ventured in to Nadi town on the local bus - which is open on the sides  and drive through a little residential area - every garden seems to have free ranging chickens and a broken down car in various states of rusting.

We visited the local produce market - not quite like Sainsburys! Mostly open air and all the produce seems to be home grown and being sold by the growers, (predominantly ladies) either seated on the ground or inside on wooden stands.  Everything is arranged beautifully in "heaps" and laid out for buyers to choose their own.  Vegetables and fruit were being splashed with water to stop them from drying out and to keep them looking good for buyers. Most are recognisable eg. aubergines, pak choi, okra, green bananas and a lot of pawpaw. Refreshingly nothing looks perfect but all guaranteed fresh and local - no unnecessary air miles here. Most piles seem to cost  1 or 2 Fiji $ - (3 $F to the £) and a pile of mussels were $1 - so cheap in comparison. Also lots of stalls with buckets of spices and tiny fresh hot chillies - a real feast for the senses! It is hot and noisy and smelly! There is also a large hall with row upon row of stalls selling Kava. Some still in root form and some bagged up in powder form.

Kava is made from the bare root of a pepper tree, pounded into a fine powder and then mixed with fresh water.As a guest in Fiji, you will frequently be invited to participate in one of the most common ceremonial and social customs in the islands, the Kava Ceremony. The drinking of kava, or Yaqona, is quite common on social occasions. It is regarded in Fiji as "the National Drink". Kava has a pleasant calming effect on the body, while leaving the mind clear. Unlike alcohol, there are no hangovers.

Before we leave the market we follow the smell of fresh sweet pineapple and find a man selling freshly cut whole pineapples, ready carved and ready to eat. We buy one for 50 cents and the man gives us another! This is about 15p! They are amazing and drip everywhere! We walked on into the main town and  approached atleast 10 times by Fijians who inform us we are shopping at the Indian side of town and we should go to the truly Fijian part. The obvious and very open divisions between the two cultures is shocking and we  both sense a degree of tension as we walk around. We stand out in the crowd and consequently also approached by several dubious looking characters offering us bargains, trips and invites to Kava cermonies within souvenir shops. We have heard tales of tourists being scammed and duped into parting with large amounts of cash on the promise of a boat trip or similar excursion and so politely smile and walk on.