Saturday 28th October 2017

Arrived at Nadi airport in Fiji after an eleven hour flight.  Thankfully, we had both slept most of the way and felt more rested than we had expected. We had crossed the ‘international dateline’ during the night which meant that Friday disappeared and we went straight from Thursday night into Saturday morning.  The time difference is now eleven hours but the other way around from when we were in LA – England is now eleven behind us,  whereas in LA England was eight hours ahead, all very mind-blowing!

Whilst at Nadi airport we purchased a SIM for the phone and some Fijian currency.  We caught the express shuttle out of the airport and into Suva which cost us 30 Fijian dollars – about £11 – for a 4 hour, 200km journey around the coast.  We slept for most of that journey too, spreading ourselves out over 4 seats. During the early part of the journey we got chatting to a Fijian lady who was travelling to Suva for a ‘Pan Pacific and South East Asian Women’s Association’ meeting.  They run social and economic projects to educate villages in self-sufficiency and sustainability.  This lady was good enough to share her vegetable bhaji’s with us and also arranged a taxi to take us up the hillside to our accommodation.

The Indian taxi driver chatted to us during the twenty-minute journey about Fijian politics, telling us in broken English about the four coups that have occurred since the late 1980’s and the divide between local Fijians and the Indian population.  We found him a little difficult to understand but hopefully led him to believe we understood every word.

We arrived at our accommodation around mid-day Fijian time. We had booked into a hostel in an eco lodge right on the edge of the rainforest.  We have one of the cheapest rooms with a shared bathroom but it does have a balcony overlooking a pond. We rested for a while and then headed down to the restaurant.  It was a beautiful place to sit, right on the edge of a freshwater lake which was teeming with fish.  We indulged in coffee and then ordered supper.  Jacqui chose ‘Ika Vakalolo’ – a reef fillet cooked in coconut milk and banana leaves and served with shoestring dalo fries. Julie chose ‘Chili Fish in a Taro Basket’ – Fish, chili and seasonable vegetables [carrots included], stir fried ad served in a taro basket. They both looked and tasted delicious.

We found this bit of history very interesting.  The resort site was once a quarry used to supply rock to build the roads around Suva. The quarrying operations had to be halted when the site began filling up with water from a freshwater spring. Two trucks and a bulldozer were unable to be removed safely and so remain on the lakebed to this day.

Sunday 29th October 2017

After breakfast back in the restaurant of ‘Raintree Hotcakes’ which are made with coconut flour and served with banana, bacon and maple syrup together with fresh fruit [they supplied us with a voucher for $11 each making it very cheap] we headed for ‘Colo-i-Suva Forest park.  We were met by the park ranger, Tom, who offered to be our guide.  We had been advised to use a guide because there had been instances of mugging in the park. We walked down a road which was used by visitors to access the pools and picnic areas.  Tom pointed out the different types of ferns, trees and orchids that lined the road. He also told us about the history of the park.  It was opened to the public in 1949 and the pools and picnic areas were created in 1975.  Visitors have had to pay the entry fee of $5 since 1995 [locals only pay $1]. As it was a Sunday there were only a few local teenagers swimming and playing on the rope swing in the last of the ten pools.

We decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so went for a swim fully clothed. The water was fairly warm and the locals entertained us by jumping and diving off the rope swing that was hung high in what appeared to be, a dead tree. We continued our walk up through the valley visiting each of the ten pools in turn.  Tom could identify the bird life in the forest by their calls [a golden dove and a barking pigeon] – unfortunately we didn’t see any of them close at hand.  Each of the pools had picnic tables and BBQ stands with wooden roofs – it rains almost every day here.

Tom had offered to take us into Suva on the public bus for lunch so, after a quick shower and some clean, dry clothes we headed back down the road to the forest entrance where he was waiting for us. We caught a rickety, old bus crammed full of locals down the hill and back to the same bus station as yesterday. Tom took us to the top of a department store where we ordered ‘Penang Chicken Curry’ from ‘Thai Express’.  It was cooked to order and tasted beautiful. Tom treated himself to chicken noodle soup. Having eaten very well for $10 or £3.70 we headed downstairs to purchase an e-transport card so that we can use the local buses easier. After purchasing some fruit and drink we headed back up the hillside to our accommodation.

We are suffering with a bit of jet lag today. We awoke at 5am and now at 4pm feel extremely tired, so settled down for an afternoon snooze. We spent the evening back in the restaurant, taking advantage of ‘happy hour’ in the bar and indulging in some deserts of cheesecake and hot fudge sundae. The weather is fairly warm but is slightly raining and has been most of the afternoon. We are in the rainforest after all!

SORRY ABOUT THE LACK OF PHOTOS – THE INTERNET CONNECTION IS NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH FOR ME TO UPLOAD THEM

Monday 30th October 2017