It was so nice to wear shorts and flip-flops again! A warm break from the colder New Zealand weather was just what I needed. 19 of us headed out from Christchurch on Sunday the 29th and arrived at our resort in the middle of no-where in Fiji by 8pm that night. The resort was called Mango Bay and was 2 hours from Nadi and 2 hours from the capital, Suva.
It was a resort aimed for people our age, which was great. Everyday they would have activities such as egg tossing, guided snorkeling, pineapple cracking, cooking classes, basket weaving lessons, fish feeding, ping pong tournaments, pool tournaments, crab races (with real crabs), bonfires etc. This was great since it was truly impossible to get anywhere else on the island by yourself. We all slept in a bunk dormitory, which was definitely interesting. There were times when the group was rather reckless and sometimes I was embarrassed to be categorized with Americans and I sort of understood where our bad reputation comes from! Overall, everyone was behaved on spring break in Fiji and we all had a blast.
The highlights of the trip for me were scuba diving, our trip to Suva, and the village visit.
On the second day there we all took a trip to Suva because Susan had to try to get her Visa to get back into New Zealand. She was unsuccessful in doing so (fortunately it did not turn out to be necessary) but we did spend the day wandering around the city. Our friend Tommy got hustled by a man who asked him his name then pulled out a wooden thing and immediately carved his name into it. Several locals warned us that it was best that we leave the city by nightfall, so we made a conscious effort to keep our eye on the time and catch the 3:30 bus back to our resort. Walking around the city was unlike any situation I think I’ve ever been in. I don’t remember seeing any one that was white in the whole city besides the 12 of us that took the trip. All of us walking together was ridiculous and we felt watched and judged so we decided to split into smaller groups to walk around. There were a million of the same type store selling “bula” t-shirts and other typical Fijian items. Jane bought a Machete to bring back to the resort so we could chop up coconuts. A lot of us bought t-shirts or other small souvenirs. My small group found a really cool market place in the middle of the city selling fruits, vegetables and kava, which is a drink that makes you sleepy and numbs your face. (The resort had a kava ceremony for us and the liquid water tasted like dirt. Kava is made from the root of the kava plant. The powder is mixed with water and then the locals drink it in a large group in a ceremony that usually lasts at least 12 hours.) The locals were very unpleased when we attempted to take pictures of the city and our surroundings and usually glared if they thought they had been in a picture you took. I really appreciated seeing a part of Fiji that was not part of the resort and I feel like I have a better understand of the culture of Fiji. After visiting there is so much more that I want to and plan to learn about the capital and the country.
I finally scuba dove! After having been certified for 4 years and never going, it felt like I wasn’t certified at all. After the refresher course in the pool I was feeling a lot more comfortable, but the entire day up until my 3 o’clock dive I was very nervous! Once we got out into the boat and into the water I felt much better. The instant I was underwater all my fears were gone and I was completely enjoying floating around and seeing all of the underwater life. We saw tons of fish in the coral, eels and stingrays. We didn’t see any sharks, which I thought I would be happy about, but by the time I was down there I was practically searching the ocean for them. One woman that dove with us took pictures underwater so hopefully she will email them to me as she said she would. It was such an amazing experience and I literally cannot wait to go again!
On one of the last days we visited a village and hiked to a nearby waterfall. The village people were very nice and friendly and spent most of the time playing games and hanging out. There was a man living in the village through the Peace Corps who I hoped to meet but he wasn’t home while we were there. The hike to the waterfall was beautiful and I yet again enjoyed seeing more of the real Fiji instead of just a resort. Two young Fijian girls led the way up the steep side of the waterfall and all the boys felt like they had to follow since the girls did it so easily. It was very amusing to see how much more the boys struggled climbing up the side and how they tried but failed to keep up with the girls.
Last Sunset
There were many things that amazed me about Fiji that I did not expect. When I thought of Fiji I thought of pretty beaches and white sand but before I got there I thought little about the people who live there. Driving from the airport to the resort we saw many fires along the side of the road because the country is going through a drought. Many looked uncontrolled which was worrisome to me. Every child we saw along the road was carrying a machete, even the ones who looked to be 2 years old! They are also incredibly good at climbing up palm trees to cut down coconuts and then sliding back down! The starting wage for the workers at our resort is FJ$2.50 which is about $1.25 US dollars. (While I was there FJ$240 got stolen out of my wallet. I only hope it was a worker and not someone staying at the resort so at least it is going towards a family who has a use and probably need for the money.) As we drove back to the airport at 3:45am I saw tons of people standing and hanging out on the side of the road. Many looked like they had no home and a lot were looking to hitchhike.
Overall, I had an amazing trip and look forward to some free time to do more research on the country!
While we were there Christchurch had a 7.1 earthquake, which caused about 2 billion dollars worth of damage. There is no apparent damage to my flat but our University is not looking so great. Because of this, school is closed for the week, which means another week off from classes. Luckily no one died from the earthquake, most likely because it occurred at 4:35 am so no one was up. The aftershocks that happen about once every hour are actually pretty scary. We are leaving tomorrow for a 4-day trip to the West Coast. It will be somewhat comforting to leave Christchurch, but it’s also stressful to be leaving on another trip without much of a break. Hopefully school will be able to resume next week although there seems to be some doubt!
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