FIJI 3

Day 72- 16/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR (LORD JESUS ROB)

We went to a Fijians cultural show today, where the Fijians dance around and walk on fire. It was good to know the history and get the cultural vibe from every country we visit, by seeing these shows.

Local Warrior DanceAfterwards we visited the local shopping market, where you can buy all the local Fijian souvenirs. When we stepped into one shop, two ladies were giggling to themselves and looking over at me (Rob). I thought to myself, oh they must fancy me!!!! Haha was I wrong!!! She came up to me and said “I’m sorry but I have to say that you look like Jesus”!!! hahaha yes Jesus!! With the beard and the ponytail she thought I looked like the lord himself!!! She laughed and kept saying “oh bless me Jesus”. From now on, I will only respond to Lord Jesus Rob!! Afterwards we both went for messages, well I just got a foot rub and Danielle got the works. Passed by a fishing shop on the way home, I fancied myself fishing off the rocks in Fiji! I got myself a hand line, basically all it is, is some fishing line wrapped around a plastic holder, with a hook and weight!! Very basic, but we’ll see if I’ll catch anything!! Went back to our 35€ a night villa, and watched a movie!


Day 73- 17/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR

Today we went Shark Diving! Yes real sharks! Not little ones, well a mixture of all sizes – reef sharks/white tip/black tip & bull sharks (they are the big ones, well tiger sharks are bigger and obviously so are great whites but bull sharks are the big ones from here) so we arrive at the dive centre with another couple from Belgium, they had a bit more experience then us (They are on a trip like us but homeward bound so they had been diving in Oz and Indonesia.) We sign the disclaimer forms… horrible to read ‘I am aware that these animals are dangerous and life threatening’ and ‘responsible for loss of limbs and death!!!’ Ha ha! Great! So on we go, we get our gear, it’s a lot faster then anywhere else and we are suited up in no time waiting for a briefing… no such thing. About ten Russians are there too, and they look like pros, they have their own gear and are checking there stuff like they actually know what they are doing instead of me where I just check that air is coming out (after all that is my only big concern!). So we get on the boat with no warning or any instructor checking that we are ok. I should point out at this point that it is Rob panicking this time, not me. He’s quite scared about sharks because he’s been cage diving in South Africa he knows the size of the biggies and knows what they can do… like bite your head off. me on the other hand saw the tail end of a white tip baby shark the other day and it was more scare of me then I was so I’m quite relaxed…well at ease! The other thing we are quite anxious about is the fact that no one is advising us on the dive. We are diving to 30 meters. Hello little Irish beginners here, we’re only gone to 12 meters!! And only the other day and I found it hard to get myself to 8 meters, I kept floating up! Eventually Papa (our dive guide) explains what we are going to do, about time! But the cocky Russians are laughing and shouting ‘Shark- Big Shark- Tiger Shark!’ in booming mafia voices! When arriving to the site, the first thing we see are shark fins on top of the water circling around the boat, you say to yourself the last place I want to be is in the water!! Within seconds all the Russians are in the water and descending! Ahh!! We’re up next and I kinda bob around for a bit and wait til I sink! So there we are at 30 meters… freaky! I had to seriously calm myself and breathe so slowly, because I couldn’t panic and just pop to the surface! Rob was really freaking out, he was actually thinking of just going back up, but he managed to calm himself too and we knelt down behind some coral and watched the guys feed the sharks. Pretty surreal. They just mosey over grab the bait and leg it again! I didn’t see raging layers of teeth or anything so I figured it was all fine. But I was nervous about the big Russian (with a gunshot wound, may I add) beside me who kept reaching out the touch them!! Crazi Russians! I looked over at Rob, he was the last guy on the line, and he kept turning around and making sudden movements. I found out later that the sharks were dropping half of the bait as they swam off and I kept landing on Rob and the girl beside him. One piece even landed on her head… and you imagine!!!!
Anyway by the end of the dive we were both relieved to get up to air. One because Rob was breathing so deep that he had run out of oxygen and two because I had scrapped my ankle on coral and was scared the blood would attract the sharks!! i the end I was impressed at our ability to dive that far and it was the longest we had spent in the water just looking around so that was so cool but the sharks were not as frightening as I thought they would be. Rob said that the bull sharks were about 3 meters big, but I guess I got distracted by the pretty fish kissing my masks!! Ha ha!
(We didn’t pay for the DVD of photos- the dive was pricey enough & sorry it’s a bit of long, we haven’t done anything that adventurous in a few days!)

That night was Diwali (festival of the lights for Hindu’s) so we met up with Leslie and Thibaud (our Belgium diver friends) and joined them in Uprising a resort down the road from us. Great night to end our big day!


Day 74- 18/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR (THE BIG RED SNAPPER)

Today was the day to test out my fishing hand line, the most basic rod you can get. Got myself some Mackerel bait and I was away. It’s a patience sport, so I just waited and waited and waited until I got that big pull on my line! Pulling it in was quite hard because you have to use your hands to pull the line up, but after a while the fish gave up and a 16” red snapper was looking me in the eye!! On my own, I sort of panicked and didn’t know what to do. So I saw a rock and basically, but him through to next week!!! Sorry all fish lovers!! The Beast Red Snapper!!

Proud as punch, on my way home showing all the locals what I caught. Gutted it, stuffed it, and it tasted great!! You would have been proud of my cooking skills Aaron D! I fell in love with fishing from here on!!


Day 75- 19/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR

Today I decided to join Rob fishing, mainly because the lady in the house was asking if I wanted to be booked on to a tour for the day, I think she wanted me out so she could take the day off…it’s not like I need a babysitter!
So we headed down to the rocks, I found a nice lump of rocks that resembled a sharp chair, but I padded it out with a t-shirt or two and it was quite comfy. I got quite a bit of sun today, a bit too much I think. The sun here is so strong. I’m almost as dark as how I would be after 2 weeks in Spain!! (and I’m beating Rob in the tanning department… that’s a first) Well Rob didn’t have as much luck fishing today; he didn’t catch our dinner, so we headed to the village for a nice meal instead!

Day 76- 20/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR

Today was another similar day to yesterday, fishing and sunbathing. It was so nice just to forget about everything and just sit in the sun and fish, there’s nothing like it!
Again no joy in the fishing department, the big red snapper must have been a once off!! On our way home, its amazing every Fijian that walking by us said “Bula” with a big smile. We have been on our world trip now for just under 3 months, and the Fijians are by far the friendliest people yet.

Day 77- 21/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR

Last night, Ida, the lady who is house-sitting for Nanette, told us we could use the internet in her room if we needed to book accommodation and all that!! Eh hello, I asked on day one if there was internet here…. And Majhu (the lady that looks after the house during the day) said there was no internet that we could go to village if we needed to. We could have had the whole blog up to date!! The internet is included in our price!! So this morning I said that I would be using the internet and I went straight ahead, Well!! She got all funny with me and followed me in to the room, not saying anything, I just looked up and said ‘we really needed the internet, I didn’t know there was any here, and Ida told us we could use it last night!!’ Ha ha!! Ok, sorry, I’ll stop venting! But it was a waste of precious free internet!!

Day 78- 22/10/09
PACIFIC HARBOUR- RAKIRAKI (VODKA & BED)

It was our last night in Pacific Harbour, we were on our way to Rakiraki (northern Fiji), which was an hour bus journey to the capital Suva, then a 3 hour bus journey to Rakiraki. When arriving in Suva we had an hour wait at the station, well more like a path!!! Locals came up us, shaking our hand and asking us, where we were from and what our names were, first impressions were, shit there going to rob us!!! But no, they were actually interested in what we had to say, plus they gave us great tips on where to go. So we haven’t been robbed yet but I’m sure there is one on the way!!! Let’s hope not. After our very long uncomfortable bumpy bus journey, we reached Rakiraki. We stocked up on our budget food, seeming that our place will have a self catered kitchen. When arriving first impressions again were paradise, and again we were on our own with one other couple!! Situated right on the coast with a small spit forming on the beach, at low tide! It was very funny because the Aussie owner was around, and all the local employees hated him, so they kept talking to us and bitching about him!! But they were right, he didn’t even have the courtesy of saying hello to us and there were only 4 people in the place!!! But anyway we didn’t let it bother us. We cooked up our budget super noodles and took a big measure out of the duty free vodka and hit the sack!!

Day 79- 23/10/09
RAKIRAKI (I HATE STING RAYS)

Our bed was situated up on a hill, which we had to basically hike up to. But waking up with the shutters open looking out over the ocean, seeing the edge of the coral with the clear blue water, we didn’t mind at all!! We decided to chill out down by the beach today, to top up the tan. But I (Rob) have to be doing something in order to deserve my tan!! I hate sitting there being grilled by the sun. So I had a chat with one of the locals, again!!!! He said I should go look for crabs on the rocks and us them as bait to fish. So off I go, walking through knee height water happily as can be, until I stand on something that didn’t feel like sand. I jumped so high out of the water, I broke my flip flop!! At the corner of my eye I saw it, a sting ray!! I walked on a sting ray; thank god I was wearing my flip flops!!! Anyway the crabs were never touched after that! After the sting ray incident we took a trip into the town, to do a bit of shopping and to mail our loved ones!!!