Bula! Bula! Bula!

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?”

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