A journal of my travels...in Fiji

8th October 2004 The day that never was

Traveling from LA to Fiji we passed over both the equator and the International Date Line. This meant that we left on Thursday evening and arrived on Saturday morning. totally missing out Friday the 8th of October (yet we only traveled for 10 hours). Thus we are not traveling for a year... but only 364 day - I want a refund!

Fiji 9th-19th October

We arrived at Nadi international airport were you are greeted by lots of travel agents trying to get you to go with them to secluded islands full of other travelers. We had decided to try and do something different and headed for Suva, the capital city. Unexpectedly, Fiji is made up of two main groups of people. The indigenous Fijians and Indian ? Fijians both with about 48% of the population. So while the food and culture is varied and amazing, there has been huge racial tension between the two groups in recent years resulting in Fiji being thrown out of the Commonwealth in 1994 and a violent coup in 2000 (the Indian Prime Minister was kidnapped for 30 days). There seems to be political swings between ensuring a democracy and positive discrimination between the two groups.. so much for the idyllic island in the South Pacific! However, all is calm at the moment so after a night in Suva we made our way by plane (15 minutes) to the Island of Ovalau, and to the old capital Levuka.

Levuka 10th-16th October

The old capital hasn¡¯t changed much since 1864, except it¡¯s a little quieter from the boat loads of sailors, rampant drunkenness and prostitution that made it famous. We stayed in the Royal Hotel, the oldest hotel in Fiji, and a true throw back to the days of the Great British Empire, with a snooker table, bowling greens, private clubs (strictly for guests) and staff to wait on your every need (all for 5 quid a night each).

Fiji day is celebrated on the 11th of October each year to commemorate the handing over of Fiji to Great Britain in 1874 and then back to Fiji in 1974 by Prince Charles. The local islanders re-enacts these events every year on Fiji day with local chiefs and the English dignitary, very interesting as no doubt we scared the living daylights out of the locals with guns and cannons before they willingly gave control to Queen Victoria.

PADI Advanced Open Water Course

We booked to do our Advanced Open Water Course with Ovalau Dive Centre which involved 6 technical dives, we choose Fish ID, Peak Buoyancy, Deep Diving, Multi Level Diving and Navigation. The weather was colder with rain and wind making the diving conditions difficult but we both passed and can now dive deeper and more sites than before. On our last dive, we came face to face with 3 Reef Sharks. proper sharks. that bite. not like the nurse sharks in Belize. It was amazing to see these creatures circling us to have a look and we never felt threatened. Later on we saw a yellow banded coral snake that is the most deadly snake in the world. It has no enemies as it would kill anything it bites.as they don¡¯t need to fight, if you see one.you get out of the way.quickly (good picture by Paul).

On the last day of diving, our boat man Charlie, went fishing and caught several groupers and coral trout so invited us to his house for dinner. Charlie has lived in England for 15 years and is married to Damon Hill¡¯s sister but has returned to Fiji to look after his mother. A really nice guy and an excellent cook he gave us an insight into real Fijian life. After dinner we had Kava which is the local drink, made from plant roots it has a mild hallucination effect and makes the Fijian men, happy but a little lazy. It tastes of woody, liquorice and while not unpleasant, there¡¯s little to its appeal. A few friends of his joined us and after the 9th glass we were both very chilled out. The walk home was interesting to say the least as Zoe was convinced of men in fancy dress up trees and I kept seeing tribesmen digging holes in the road. Maybe they existed. maybe it was the Kava!!

The next day we had a trip to Lovoni, a small village in the volcano crater at the centre of the island. This tribe is known as the strongest tribe in Fiji as they have never lost in a war and only been beaten by the trickery of the King of Fiji in 1871. The walk to the top, our guide, Epi, showed us the natural medicines and foods of the forest. With 66% of Fijians being self sufficient (unemployed in other words) people live off the land and its quite possible to collect coconuts, ginger, yams, watercress, fish and other things all without too much effort. When we reached the village a meal had been prepared for us consisting of native Fijian dishes cooked by Epis wife. Who is from Sunderland (long story).

Nadi 17th -19th October

We made the trip back to Suva and onto Nadi to a small beach resort for some R&R and a bit more diving, this time with the very professional Aqua Blue Dive Centre we did 2 Nomotu dive sites, The Wall and The Fish market. The coral is excellent and the variety of fish unbelievable. Some of the pictures will hopefully give you an idea of what is down there.