So the second half of our Fijian escape came and went. Due to the secluded nature of where we were staying our chances of getting out and exploring were severely limited. Despite this we booked a minibus and driver to take seven of us about 100km further east to Suva, the Fijian capital.
We were prepared really, through what the guidebooks and websites had to say about Suva that we would encounter a scruffy and overcrowded city. Well, they weren't wrong. It had no major problems per se from what we could see other than the fact it looked about as far removed from the South Pacific ideal than it was possible to get. In short it looked like the offspring of a generic Malaysian city and Fratton. I don't know what goes through developers minds when they meet with architects or designers when planning a new large building? It's almost as if the conversation goes something like, 'I think what this city really needs is a momentously huge and ugly multistorey car park', 'what colour shall we paint it sir?', 'I'm thinking something innocuous, how about bright red?', 'oh and while your at it, put it right on the seafront so all of the incoming tourists coming in on cruise ships can see it'. Idiots.
What it is also surprising to see is how large the Indian community is in Fiji. After a huge migration in the 1960s Fiji's population is now uniquely split around 60-40 in the Fijians favour but as the Indians own most of the businesses their population is mostly spread in the urban centres, with most of them in Suva. Walking around in the humidity, amongst curry houses and blaring Bollywood soundtracks, it could have been Mumbai. Even so, they all still shout Bula! to you as you walk down the street, something uniquely Fijian.
Suva did have some cool architecture and was, despite our moans, a cheap place to eat. Three hours was more than enough though so we hopped back on the minibus for the long drive back. On the outskirts of the city we happened to pass a police officer with three prisoners chained together in front of him genially waving to us as we passed without a care in the world. Apparently these guys had escaped and were in the process of being retrieved. Apparently this happens a lot in Fiji, prisoners just leisurely 'sneak-out' for a day or two. Brilliant. Imagine the furore it would create elsewhere. Just as a side-note, we passed the prison further down the road which was, much like the multi-storey car-parks I mentioned, painted bright red. This time though sponsored by vodafone which was painted in huge White letters. It must be, I reckon, the worlds first jail to be sponsored by a telephone company. I hope the irony isn't lost on the prisoners.
Our remaining days at the beachouse were golden. Although we had kind of outstayed our time there, eventually staying 9 days, I think we knew we were on to a good thing. The three guys from Manchester, Max, Luke and Greg, were a top bunch. Plus we also met a large group from Sweden who were mental. We spent most of our time with them making the most of the beautiful weather by day and the nuclear fuelled rum by night. The beachouse was also full of lots of different people of all ages which gave the whole place a really good vibe. We will really miss it, a beautiful place.
But alas, after nearly a week and a half if was time to move on. To be honest we didn't really have a clue where to go. It seems, frustratingly, that Fiji is much more expensive than we originally thought. In fact, when compared to NZ and Australia, in terms of accommodation anyway, it is really similar. In the end we trawled the Internet and found a place not too far from where we were, about half an hour west along the Coral Coast. When we got there I think we both panicked at how quiet it was. Our bungalow was awesome, we couldn't complain about that-it was probably the nicest place we had stayed in the whole way around the world but what the Internet 'deal' didn't state was two glaring discrepancies. One, we were pretty much the only people there as the resort was 'under construction'. Two, the food was so expensive it made our heads wobble as we sat down for dinner on the first night. after ordering two appetisers we went back to the room to try to sleep on an empty stomach.
The next day we waited outside the hotel for a bus into Sigatoka, the nearest largish town. We waited an eternity until a really nice Indian couple pulled up and offered to take us into town for the same price as the bus. They were really nice and before you (mum and linda!) start fretting about getting into cars with strangers, it really is different out here.
We'd gone into town to buy enough food for the next few days as we just couldn't face paying the prices in the hotel restaurant. In the room we had a kettle and a fridge so if we could find something that could be cooked via kettle then we would be well away. It wasn't to be. We thought about buying tins of baked beans but just couldn't stoop down to eating cold baked beans out of the tin. In the end we came away with milk, bread, weetabix and fruit. Our meals for the next two days. Depressing, not really a notch above cold baked beans when you think about it.
The day after was like mental torture. The weather had turned to produce a grey, windy and wet day with nothing but soggy weetabix and bananas for company. Suffice to say, it was a long day.... The next day our abstention from the hotel food broke as we were in desperate need of something that wasn't either weetabix or a crisp sandwich. We both plucked for the chicken as it looked decent on the menu. What we got was a deep fried slab of tough meat on the biggest plate of greasy chips we've ever had. We ate it of course but it really was fucking vile. The kind of food that leaves you feeling just disgusting to the core. It was, depressingly, the most expensive meal of our trip. We had to move on.
The next day we said our goodbyes to the staff and our beach bungalow and hailed a passing minibus to take us the 80kms around the island to Nadi. The frustrating thing is, being on a tight budget just doesn't work in Fiji. We had these grand visions of island hopping from one deserted paradise to another but just to get to the first island out there costs about seventy pounds for the both of us. Fiji, on our budget anyway, would be restricted to the mainland.
In the end we arrived at a little backpacker district a little bit out of town. The beach wasn't great, in fact it was pretty gruesome, but all of the hotels had a great backpacker vibe and were, compared to our last stop anyway, cheap enough so we could actually eat.
Our first stop was a place called the Aquarius where we spotted they had a two person dorm which would be much cheaper than what we'd been paying lately. Unfortunately the room was just terrible. In the middle of two store rooms on the ground floor next to the bar it was just underneath the level of a prison cell. Shell's face said it all. A mix of being petrified and wanting to be sick. To complete the feeling an Indian guy sat directly under our only window smoking and chuckling down his mobile phone for what seemed like hours. If only he knew how close shell was to wrapping my belt around his neck.
Anyway, despite that awful room we had an awesome time in this area before we left. The weather was startlingly beautiful. Clear blue skies and hot days meant that we had a good few days on the beach and in the pools. We even caught up with a few of the Swedes we had met in the Beachouse. Our tans, shell is happy to report, are well and truly back.
So, we fly to LA tonight. It's a ten hour flight which I am obviously petrified about but which shell is looking forward to! I don't know how she does it! The weird thing is we leave at 10pm on 7th June, fly for ten hours as mentioned then arrive in LA at 1pm on the 7th June. We will go back in time!
We are really looking forward to the States. The food in Fiji has been well below average and the portions so tiny. In fact a couple of nights ago we ordered the special of beef kebab skewers only to be presented with beef and veg on cocktail sticks. We are constantly hungry. America, if you can, feed us the food that makes your people so fat!!
Speak to you all in LA. Much love, Tommo and shell xxx
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