BulaBula

On Wednesday, Char and I got a taxi at 7am—we arranged it the day before—to get to nearby resort where a bus would pick us up and take us to Port Denarau where we got on a boat to go to Tivua Island, one of the Mamanuca Islands. On the boat ride we got to see many of the Yasewa and Mamanuca Islands, all of which looked so beautiful. On the boat we got some breakfast and relaxed in the sun. When we got to the island Char and I decided to go snorkelling first. We were taken out on a boat to the best coral and we snorkelled for an hour or so. Then we went back to the island where there was free lunch and did I mention that beer, wine, and soda was unlimited? So we had some wine and a Fijian beer and lots of diet coke—soda in the rest of the world is incredibly expensive, so we took full advantage! After lunch we laid out on the beach and did more snorkelling. We sailed/boated back to mainland and once again, char and I got a lot of attention from the Fijian crew on the boat—they changed the words of some of the songs they were singing to be about us! Also once again, we basked in the attention! We didn’t get back to the hostel until about 8:00 so we showered and met up with everyone else. Char and I realized that we had to finish the bottle of rum before we left but only I wanted to drink! I told team GB this and they were appalled and thus helped me drink it haha. It was another night of scrabble and cards but this time it went until quite late.

On Thursday, char left after breakfast to head to the airport L I took out a kayak—the hostel offered them free!—and went really far up the coast which was amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention to the current, and on the way back I had to go against the current. Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got back. I laid out with the others on the beach for a bit and then it was lunch time. After lunch, team GB wanted to have some competitions in the pool. We had many contests and I would like to point out that I (along with my partner of team GB, who I called Mr. Richard Joyce,) won every chicken fight—that’s when you sit on someone’s shoulders and try and knock the other person doing the same off of their person’s shoulders in to the pool. Anyway, we all felt really sick from all the swimming, handstanding, pool wrestling, and flipping that we had done only about 10 minutes after eating lunch, so we took a break. It was just in time because it started pouring rain right after we got out! The girls went back to go shower because they were checking out in a few hours. I hung out with team GB and then made a coconut necklace—one of the other free activities the hostel offers. I had signed up to get a traditional Fijian full-body massage from 3-4 earlier in the day—it was amazing! I got rubbed down with freshly made coconut oil and it was wonderful…and only cost 20 Fijian dollars (for a whole hour!) which is less than 15 US dollars! At 4 I had afternoon tea with everyone before Team GB and I said goodbye to char’s roommates who I really liked. At 5:00 I played in the daily volleyball game with team GB, some of the Fijians, and a few other guests. It was quite fun but I still have bruises on my arms from it! Quite a competitive crowd—especially the old Fijian men! We all showered and had dinner where I found out that a few Norwegian girls and some English guys were going to make a bonfire on the beach that night. I played some cards with team GB until the fire was started and then we broke out the rum and joined the group around the fire. I was a bit sad as I talked with Team GB that night because I’m just no good with all of this meeting so many cool people when you’re travelling and then having to say goodbye so soon. Meeting people from all over the world is so amazing and there is nothing that compares to it, but when I click with someone so soon after meeting them, it’s hard for me to just let that go. It ends up team GB will be in Sydney up to the day before I’m going to Sydney. I tried to convince them to stay an extra day or 2 in Sydney—I’ll just have to see how it goes. Also, Char and her roommates offered their apartment to them if they want to stay in Brisbane for a bit. Again, I’ll just have to wait and see!

On Friday I got up early and went for a swim in the ocean despite it being overcast and a bit drizzly. I had breakfast (by myself because the boys weren’t awake yet) and then showered and packed up. I went to pay my tab—the hostel just put all the meals we bought and any other charges on a tab which was awesome—and found out that the shuttle to the airport wasn’t going to run that morning because it was only me who needed the transport! So I had to take the public bus again! But this time it was going to be by myself which did not make me happy. Team GB cheered me up though and we hung out for a while before they walked me to the bus stop. My bus arrived—20 minutes late of course because they are on “Fiji time”—and we said our goodbyes. I was really sad and they were too because now they didn’t have me to play cards with! Anyway, I left the hostel at 11:20 and didn’t get to the airport until 1:45 and my flight was at 3:20. I would like to add that if I had asked any Fijian what time I would get to the airport if I took the “11:00” bus they would say 12:30. Yea, not even close. They honestly do not believe in time in Fiji, which was great while I was there, but not so much when you have to catch an international flight! I thought I would have to rush but I had plenty of time to check in and buy a bottle of rum to bring home. Then my flight got delayed 20 minutes but it ended up taking off 40 minutes late. BUT, when we boarded I found I had all three seats of my row to myself! It was a pleasant flight and when we landed my baggage came out on the carousel within 1 minute so I beat the rush to customs. I declared everything I bought just to be safe, which I am glad I did even though it was all fine. They are very strict in Australia with what you bring in because it is so easy to introduce an invasive species. Anyway so I was able to catch a train about 2 minutes after I got to the platform which is awesome because they only run about every 40 minutes. I got off in the city and had to take the bus to campus. At the bus station I ended up talking to a woman, a graduate from UQ actually, for 45 minutes because the bus never showed. Eventually the bus I needed came and I got home around 7:45 and promptly took a much needed shower. I had no food except ¾ of a sleeve of Ritz crackers so I ate that for dinner (healthy) and then went to bed.

Overall, the hostel, the country, the people, and the food were unbelievable. There is no such thing as an unfriendly Fijian. I could have stayed there forever…but I could do with another means of transportation that is not the public bus ;). I could not have asked for a better semester break.

It’s now Sunday evening and I’ve had a lot of work to do since I have my regular work plus a presentation for anthropology on Wednesday and my marine midterm on Friday. I’ve been at the library all day and I still am not even close to being done with my work L Plus, my parents are currently in Sydney and will arrive in Brisbane on Wednesday so I’d like to be fun and energetic when they’re here! I’m exhausted and this was a lot of writing! I can’t help but try to include every detail when I write about this stuff!