Back to Nadi - Aquarius and Sabeto

Another bus journey and we are back in Nadi. Fijians are obviously oblivious to age ratings on films, they dont notice the graphic content, or they simply dont mind what images their children see. Every single long coach journey we have had with a TV really horrid films have been shown, with the volume up very load - hard to escape from. We have a good routine established now to try and protect the girls from this a little - we sit as far back as we can and they sit near the window - they also are then allowed some "precious" nintendo time and are duly plugged in!

We have secured an amazing deal on accommodation for our stay in Nadi for the next 3 days - 3 nights for the price of 2 and an additional 20% off - making Aquarius Fiji almost the cheapest place we have stayed during our time here. It has air conditioning and a pool, complimentary continental breakfast and we all have a bed - the girls are not doubling up or sleeping on a spare mattress on the floor (which they have had to recently).

   

Glorious surroundings - more of a hotel than a backpacker hostel - but for £23.50 a night for the four of us b+b you can hardly complain! The girls have once again renewed their relationship with sand and pottered about on the beach building sandcastles and moats.  

From time to time the seaplane from Turtle Airways takes off or lands right in front of us and in the distance we can see the cruise ships carrying Australian and US passengers on launches to the mainland speeding back and forth. We enjoy the sun setting and plan our last 2 days in the South Pacific.

Nadi is an entry and exit point to Fiji and there is little of note to visit in the near surrounds except the Sabeto Hot Springs where we spend an interesting hour or so. They are located halfway between Nadi and Lautoka - the next town up the coast of Viti Levu. The bus drops us at a crossroads and we are directed to hail a waiting taxi van. We negotiate a price there and back and head off along the increasingly narrow dirt road. We reach a point when we are just not sure we are still headed in the proper direction and eventually happen upon the Sabeto Hot Springs also known as the Sabeto Mud Baths.

Mary, our tour guide, shows us the source of the sulphurous mud pools - a bubbling hot spring which is about 70 - 80 degrees in temperature. The sulphur in the hot springs is believed by locals to have healing properties and we are taken to the first pool and Mary sets about smearing us with slightly grainy and distinctly cold and smelly mud!

  

  

After we are all coated the sun bakes us until our skin feels tight we are allowed to enter the first pool. 

It has no solid bottom, rather a thick layer of soft cool mud, about a foot deep, probably full of all sorts of other debris! It is a slightly unnerving and very unsteady plunge and there is a distinct smell in the air.  It is tepid, but not unpleasant. 

We are encouraged to wash off as much mud as possible before having a final rinse to get the worst of the mud in the nearby shower. We then head to the hot pool- this is just like a very hot bath and it feels good to sink in and enjoy the heat of the soupy water - although again one doesnt like to consider too deeply what might lay beneath the murky depths - this pool does have a stony bottom in places which feels much nicer underfoot! !

We bypass the many local ladies offering massages on a sea of sarongs under the trees

and emerge from the changing hut feeling 16 again ( well that's what Mary said should happen). In reality we were all distinctly quiet and a bit lethargic on the bus journey back to Nadi - and we all smelt very whiffy.

Nadi to Sigatoka

Yesterday was Sunday and nothing much to report. Everything is closed today and it drizzled on and off all day. Lots of people departing and arriving at Bamboo, but still some familiar faces around. The girls potter and play games with Dilenne and we get some much needed washing done. We got chatting with another young guest, Alistair, who takes David to play golf at Nadi Golf Course - where Vijay Singh learned to play. The course is sandwiched between the end of the runway for Nadi airport and the Turtle Airways seaplane terminal. The $10 (£3.30) fee seemed reasonable until presented with a $25 (£8.30) bill for half a dozen golf balls and a bag of tees which was subsequently negotiated down to 3 balls each and no tees for $10 (David found some on the course) and a shared set of clubs. The course was short and criss crossed by ditches/streams which made navigating your way round quite difficult. The game was bought to an early close by rain after 12 holes, however a 5 minute walk along the beach seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. David was very wary in the rough for any resident wildlife of the reptile variety but managed to avoid any encounters and returned with the golf balls intact. In the meantime, Nicole and the  girls ventured to a nearby mid market hotel across the road and "borrowed" the pool for an hour or so in the rain. The girls have started to suffer from itchy insect bites and have suddenly developed heat rash so this was a chance for them to cool down a bit and expend a bit of excess energy.
The rest of the day was spent updating the blog, writing journals, replying to emails and finding a new place to stay. Lots of the places we find on the internet are either above our price range or already booked. Eventually we book Vakiviti, a very small backpacker in Sigatoka (Sing a toka) towards Suva and packed up our bags ready for an early start. The rain is much heavier by the time we crawl into our bunks.

Rowan, Samu and Tiegan at Bamboo

Today we left Nadi and Bamboo Backpackers behind and we say goodbye to Samu and the other staff. After an early start, we catch a lift with Pela to rendez vous with a Coral Sun coach to take us along the Coral Coast towards Suva. We are staying at Vakiviti Backpackers in Korotogo near Sigatoka. The coach is very modern and very cold! Yes folks, it is still raining in Fiji and the temperature is less than tropical. It started off as a light drizzle yesterday and rain has fallen steadily ever since. We are travelling towards the east of Vanua Levu (the largest and main Fijian island)  and apparently the easterly side is always wetter. The roads fall into two categories on Fiji - either sealed (tarmacked) or unsealed (dirt tracks). Only the main roads are sealed and after the wind and rain are full of potholes and uneven patches where the surface has been washed away. The rain is so hard that we are dropped at a resort hotel under cover near to Vakiviti, where Karen the manager, meets us there in a rattly old mini van so we dont have to find our way in the wet.

The Vakiviti Van

David breathes a sigh of relief when we are shown to our new home at the sight of a double bed, a fridge, a kettle and a slightly less dank bathroom. The girls have negotiated the "top bunk" rota and are thrilled at the prospect of a pool on site. There is no cafe here so it is self catering for the next few days or going out to eat. Karen drives us into Sigatoka town to buy a few supplies and gives us a mini tour of the area. The Fijian rugby team are staying in the next hotel for pre-world cup training and selection. There is widespread surface water and debris along the shoreline and road sides as a result of the rain and the journey is bumpier than ever. Karen explains that the investment in Fijian infrastructure e.g. drains,  is non existent and that despite money being donated by Chinese, Indian and Malaysian investors the improvements do not come.

Top quality Fijian roads!

In town we dodge in and out of the rain between the supermarket and fruit and vegetable market hall and buy what we need for the next few days. Anything with a recogniseable brand e.g Kellogs, Walkers or Nestle has to imported and is on sale for an enormous price - $17 for a small box of Frosties - around £6.

We avoid the obviously tourist eateries opting for a cafe full of locals and are rewarded with a delicious lunch of chicken chop suey, rice and vegetable curry and roti for the princely sum of £3. Very amusing to watch the locals supping bowls of hot Milo (malted chocolate drink) to warm up!

Vegetable curry - Fiji style
We did also check out the "staff WC" as there wasn't an alternative... let's just say  we wish we had had a camera to record the sheer horror!!!

Last day at Bamboo

Tonight we were treated to a fireshow put on by some of the guests at Bamboo. Dilenne (6), Reece (9), Glenn and Kathy have been travelling for nearly a year and are nearly at the end of their travels with only LA left on their itinerary. They have given us some fantastic advice and told some wonderful stories from their travels. They learnt how to spin firesticks and poi (long strings with a weighted pompom end) while in Thailand and Reece is already very accomplished. Kathy has also blogged while travelling and so we can keep in touch with them when we leave.

Dinner was a real treat: baked sweet potato, pak choi and coconut vegetable rice.  Simple fare, but delicious.

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.