The Fijian word for 'hello' is someting you just can not
escape while in Fiji. Everyone says it. All the time. And of course
one has to respond: Bula! If I got a dime for
every time I said it during the week in Fiji, the hotel stay might
have come out on the plus side in the end. Another
thing that was all around was men wearing skirts and flowers in their
hair - or more precisely behind their ear. Even security guards at
the airport.
The
phenomenon of men dressed as ladies, that we first caught glimpses of
in the Cook Islands, was also present in Fiji. Not to be confused with the skirt wearing men mentioned above! By now we have
learned that they ladyboys are called fafafines. They are brought up as
girls from a very young age. A fafafine is consider neither
male nor female, but a third sex. Thus avoiding western stereotypes
of sexuality altogether.
That
was the exotic part. The rest of our Fiji experience was a whole lot
less authentic. We stayed at Denarau Island, an island fully
developed for tourists from nearby Australia and New Zealand. The
island consists of six 5 star-resorts, a golf course and a marina
where Tom Cruise keeps his Cruise Ship (his yacht that is). It is a
secluded world of peace and quiet, where tourists and their money are
kept in a little world of their own, safely separated from the real
Fiji by a guarded bridge with it's own border control. Time passes by
at island time - which is not very fast. A tad faster than Cook
Island Time though.
It is
almost sad we were so lazy we didn't bother to see more of what was
outside the hotel area. The bad weather played an important part in
this though. We had some heavy rain and a lot of clouds. Not really
the best backdrop for an island cruise. And the Radisson Blue
Resort, where we stayed, provided us with all we needed. Being
the newest of the Denarau resorts, with the largest swimming pool in
Fiji, an impressive garden and various culinary options it gave us
really no reason to leave it's premises. The adults pool in
particular was highly appreciated.
The
one thing a resort filled with families and honeymooners does lack is night life. Too late
we discovered that the Sheraton resort next door was a bit more
lively than ours. Our restaurants closed at 10 and no one seemed to
take advantage of the fact that one of the bars was open 24-7. That
was where our newfound Australian friends, Ryan and Hayley, came in
handy. One a dark and stormy night we lured them across the bridge to
check out Ed's Bar in the city. A place we had learned
of from a Fijian bartender working in Aitutaki. “Popular with
locals”, he said. Local indeed, but it could have been more
popular. Not many people on a Friday night. A couple of big mamas
shaking their booties to island grooves and some tourists looking a
bit out of place, including us. Some more authenticity was had when
Ryan and Hayley in return took us to a restaurant in the Marina
serving Fijian specialties. Probably the most authentic place in the
entire Denarau Island.
Fiji
Development (local IT-firm) stirred things up a bit in our resort
Saturday night when they had some sort of conference with a wet and
loud after party in the pool bar. As the only tourists we
successfully merged into the festivities and they kept us entertained
throughout the night by throwing each other in the pool. Fijian
conference parties are not much different from the ones held in
Norway around Christmas time... The same night a Kiwi wedding was held at
another location in the hotel and two survivors from that party, a
bridesmaid and a guest, added to the festivities later in the
evening. We decided to check if the bar really was open 24-7, which
it wasn't. The bartender went missing for one hour in the middle of
the night. The local helped us out with some kava. Mudlike
water mixed with some plant that makes your mouth go numb.
Interesting. Lacking knowledge of Dean Martin songs resulted in us at some point singing the song we know best: The Norwegian national anthem. Gotta spread some culture when you have the chance! When the sun was rising and breakfast was ready to be
served at the surrounding tables, we retreated to the safety of our
king sized beds.
All in
all our week in Fiji was a bliss. Relaxing yet fun. We even got some
sun in the end. But best of all; We made new acquaintances, which is
one of the sweetest delights of traveling.
Moment
of the Week : “Excuse me. This might sound a bit weird, but are
you guys from Norway? From Bergen? Do you know Harald?”
