After two hours of boring Lane Changes for Messrs Jackson and Affleck - along with our second reminder of the fact that Air New Zealand are not fit to populate the same skies as their Singaporean (editor, is that right?) equivalents - we arrive in Nadi airport on Fiji's main island.
After 4 months in western culture again we are suddenly flung back into an almost Indian style of semi-relaxed bedlam on the streets as our driver (and hostel contact) Junior pings his mini bus around the streets towards the White House Visitor's Inn. There we crash down for our first night in the next stage of our trip (our 8th country so far - not that we like to go on about it or anything!)…..with a couple of beers to help us sleep of course, Fiji Bitter is the local drink of choice…..oh well, when in Rome…..!
The next morning is split decision time, where the hell are we going for the next seven days? All the boats to the islands leave by nine so it is definitely thumb from arse time when we are up by 8am with no idea of what to do. After much brochure reading we set off to the island of Niviti (about three hours away on the yellow ferry) and more specifically, the resort of Coconut Bay. There is just time before ferry departure for Chops to get well and truly done by a taxi man as he searches for a cash point (no such things on tropical islands!) and then we are off. The ride through the islands is pretty cool as we glide on a Catamaran between small patches of palm-trees-and-sand covered terra firma on the way to our stop. There we are deposited on a smaller boat for the trip to the resort.
The place itself is pretty cool. We are met with coconut drinks as we arrive and throw our stuff into the dorm room. The resort seems amazingly self sufficient, the only things they seem to import are cases of Fiji bitter by the boat load!!! Meals are made from whatever is growing around…this results in a major carbs fest with potato, rice, rice and potato in most meals. Having said that, the food is amazingly tasty with loads of fresh fish (caught by the locals and their spears) and all sorts of seafood thrown in for good measure. The method for capturing Octopus is particularly clever and involves: waiting for them to get washed ashore and then bash them on the head with a large stick, cunning!
It is really impossible to describe the rest of the days in their usual structure as time really has no meaning here. Days are made up of the time from getting up to the first gong (lunch), then to the second gong (afternoon tea) and the final gong (dinner), it's a complicated life here!!! The first two of these are usually spent lounging in hammocks or in the water hurling a rugby ball around, trying to keep cool and getting seriously sun burnt, doh!
There are exceptions, me and chops spend one very hot morning hiking up to the top of the nearby hill to get a beautiful panoramic view of the bay. There we are frightened within an inch of our lives as two big dogs smash the tranquil setting and come bursting through the bushes followed by their owner clutching his big machete, no washing machines on the island either!!! He is of course just collecting fruit and so we make our way down to the beach again leaving him to it.
There is also another attempt at day time activity, as we try to play beach football in ridiculous heat. Well, India was along time ago and we had forgotten how bad we were at it then!!! Not too long later, and half way to death we abandon the game in favour of the water instead.
Without even taking this knackering session into account, the sport of the week is undoubtedly volleyball. Every day following afternoon tea a bunch of the tourists would get a game underway. Gradually over the next couple of hours the game would get better and better as more and more of the Fijian locals would get involved!!!
What better way to spend one afternoon than snorkelling in water above a 4 meter wide black shadow that glides with ease under the waves. Manta rays are in fact harmless to anything much bigger than plankton but are absolutely wicked to swim with. One of the Fijian guys, Nick, takes us out with some tins of tuna and a pair of goggles and the rays do the rest. Good fun.
We make friends with all of the locals (Bax, Sao, Pudgy, Cherie and big daddy Oscar - the owner of the worlds biggest hands!), who are all waiters/chefs/builders/handymen. All except one that is. Whilst the others are building huts or serving food, Alex has wangled the job of entertainment manager. This basically involves being the first guy onto the volleyball court every afternoon and joking around with us lot all day. Yeah right!!!!
The evenings are never without two things, plenty of Fiji Bitter and guitar music. This is all very well until, after teaching Nick "Stand by me" on the guitar he decides to get me, Chops and the Goatman up for a friendly sing-a-long in front of everyone. Much embarrassment. However, compared to the guy on our first night who played endless renditions of "Leaving on a jet plane" over and over again, we sounded like the Beatles!!!
As it turns out it is Nick, not the aforementioned activities adviser, who organises most of the evening's entertainment. Items range from crab racing (I am sure mine was lame!), musical chairs and the dancing with a balloon game which me and Gareth play with two English girls called Hannah and Alex, whilst trying not to laugh as Chops and Lou crash out in the first round due to a difficult height difference!!! Hannah and Alex along with the rest of our evenings group, Fran and Nick, instantly endear themselves to me by thinking that James and Gareth are brothers….you can't make up comedy material like that!!! We also make our own entertainment in the form of caning the caned New Mexican, Caleb, at Poker and getting the whole resort involved in a game of 'hunt the goat's wallet' down the entire length of the beach in the pitch dark. Inevitably, it turns out to be in his bag - Never trust them!!!
I cannot leave the Coconut bay experience without a mention for the weirdest drink in the world. Fiji Cava has all the taste of muddy water and in fact, I am pretty sure that is what it is!!! The locals love it nailing cup after cup with plenty of "Bula!" shouts thrown in. This has the strangest effect as they all seem to get in a drunken-esq state over the whole thing. Very odd. The bottom line here though is that whatever else it does, it mings!!!!
So after seven days it is quite a shame to leave, we have had a great time here and it has, yet again, been a completely different experience to all the previous countries we have been to. It is therefore quite sad to leave back for the mainland and the experience on the yellow catamaran is not improved by some little Fijian equivalent of a scally nicking my watch!!!
Back in Nadi there is just time to keep one final record going, the eighth country in which we have a McDonalds is safe after a stop en-route to the airport for our Saturday night flight to the United states of America and, more scarily, our penultimate flight of the trip. Due to the date line thing, we will be arriving State side this morning. Weeeiiirrrddd.
I will leave Chops to guide you through the first week of the USA (good luck, with his directions you'll need it!!!)