After my pretty early night, this resulted in me waking up pretty early, although this worked in my favour a little as when getting out of bed I found out the Arsenal v Newcastle game was being shown live. This meant I took a seat and had a relaxing morning, taking full advantage of the hostels inclusive breakfast in the process. Yesterday I had intended to explore Nadi town, although I found out when reaching the airport it was in fact the other direction from the hostel. With no rush however this morning, working on Fiji time as the locals say, I just had a chilled out morning.
Heading out of the hostel and swiftly completing the half hour or so walk from my beachfront hostel to the main road, I walked the opposite direction of yesterday. I had learned from yesterday however, taking sun cream and multi functional headwear as the back of my neck had slightly burned. I blame the cooler conditions of NZ for making me forget! En route to Nadi Town, I passed a McDonalds which was a homely sight, although I didn't stop, which I can't believe thinking back as McDonalds is the worlds ultimate free WiFi hotspot!
I yesterday said there were two geocaches I could potentially find in Nadi, and arguably due to where I go, the whole of Fiji. This meant when reaching the junction to go to Nadi Town, I instead took a slight detour to Port Denarau. This is where many of the ferries leave the island to explore the more remote islands, more commonly known as island hopping. I was going to do this in Fiji, although I thought it lacked the cultural element so my tour starting tomorrow with Feejee Experience is basically a compromise between the two.
When arriving at Denarau after a fair road walk, I soon found out that this area is also the place to come for the posh resorts. Spread over a massive area, this complex included a large marina, a golf course and it's very own beach. I decided to explore the area, doing a big loop to the final cache location. When exploring deeper into the complex I found an inflatable water park which I was so tempted to go to but the fact that it was all young kids gave me second thoughts. There was even a mini golf course and bungy trampolines nearby. The whole complex was pretty impressive, although I couldn't help but think that this wasn't the real Fiji.
I eventually headed down to the beach which was much better than the hostels beach area, walking along, until I got within 100m of the cache taking me to the golf course. I however couldn't find it once again, which was frustrating in terms of probably leaving Fiji without a find now. Despite my disappointment it was nice to look round a more commercial part of Fiji before going to Nadi town.
After having a good chat with the security guard at the complex entrance who I met coming in, I walked back along the road to Nadi. When arriving, I crossed a bridge in where lots of locals were swimming in this murky river. Apparently they were diving for mussels to sell. The town was just round the corner, taking a slow walk along the main high street which included places like Vodafone and designer clothes shops, but also things like handicraft shops and local supermarkets. It was very different to your UK high street.
The locals were once again very friendly and I made sure I stopped to talk to some people along the way. I had to be careful though as some people were trying to deal weed. I guess I was just seen as the tourist, which I was careful about. I even took the time to partake in a Kava welcoming ceremony whereby I learned about the culture and some key phrases. I will learn more about this in my village visit in a few days, although as far as I can make out Fijian people seem to mush up this root and mix it was water. I am not entirely sure of the cultural significance however, although I made sure I said Vinaka after downing three bowls of grey coloured water!
By the time I reached the end of the high street I reached the Indian Temple which is used by the Hindu population of Fiji. It was a very colourful place, a bit like the Taj Mahal in structure. I couldn't go inside though as I was wearing shorts which is disrespectful to the religion. Heading back along the other side of the high street, I picked up some lunch which was an assortment of snacks like samosas and bhajjis which worked out less than 10p each! By the time I reached the end of the street I lost count of the amount of locals I spoke to!
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