After having an earlyish night I was up bright and early, relaxing in bed for a while before emerging for another jam packed day. I was surprised this morning however when after going out for breakfast it was as close to a fry up as I am going to get! My trip details made very clear you get 4 free continental breakfasts. There were no complaints from me however as I loaded my plate high with bacon, eggs, beans and toast, which was later followed by pancakes and fresh fruits!
This morning everyone basically arrived on time, although we still left 15 minutes late because our guide supposedly drank a bottle of rum under pressure from the locals. I know how lethal the stuff is after finding out it was 58% the other day! After departing to a nice and sunny day, we ended up having a heavy rain shower before arriving into our first stop of the day in Suva. When going in our guide told us about many of the sights including the lethal looking prisons and the harbour.
After a while we pulled into the centre of Suva, which is the capital, and got given a short while to look around all the shops. It was actually a pretty modern area in places compared to some of the corrugated metal and boarded up houses we have passed. Perhaps the highlight was the actual shopping mall which had many big brand shops and a supermarket with some proper lighting which many others seem to lack! Whilst here I also walked down some of the streets of shops right through to the market which was just people on the floor with things like fruits laid out. One of the interesting things people sell are these massive bags full of mussels which are really cheap. The locals dive in rivers at low tide for these.
In the end we spent about 45 minutes in Suva, checking out the large harbour area before heading back to the bus. When driving out our guide spoke to us about more of the cities sights including the many government related buildings and this hotel which the Queen once stayed at. Driving further out we came across the national stadium although it only had one stand, before reaching the largest university in the South Pacific. Our driver stopped here to give his waiting son some money, although when given he asked for an extra $10 for lunch! Our final major sight seen was the McDonalds, one of only three in the country!
Our drive then took us out of Suva for a fair while through to our next stop at Navaoula village, where we were stopping for a traditional Sevusevu ceremony along with lunch and some activities. Before arriving the bus had to nominate the chief which had to be male. I ended up being the chief, basically because I was the youngest! We also had to put on our sarongs which are basically worn like a towel and need to be worn round the village.
We then pulled into the small village where the people were waiting for us, saying our hellos before proceeding with the Kava ceremony. I had to enter first through the front door and welcome my group to the village chief before everyone else could come in, before taking my seat at the front with everyone else down the side. The next part of the ceremony lost me a little because there was a lot of prayer and talk in a different language, although before long the Kava drinking began, me up first. I just had to clap for my bowl of kava, then say Bula, then clap three times saying Vinaka. I had to down three bowls of the stuff though, and accidentally dropped some one go!
Eventually the ceremony was over which meant we had been welcomed into the village, and as chief I had to shake everyone's hand including the children's before leaving the building first whilst every one else did the same. We then sat outside for a short while whilst the mothers of the village prepared lunch which was eventually done. Lunch was a sit down on the floor and use your hands kind of lunch, with little snacks including these spinach based things, sausages, noodles and prawns. It was a very nice spread, sitting at the top of the table being chief.
After lunch we were allowed out of our sarongs whilst we were transported down river by the bus to go bilibili bamboo rafting. Organised by the locals, this activity was very similar to what I did in Thailand just it did not involve rapids and carrying all of our stuff. I was first on and it was all pretty relaxing as we floated down this brown murky river back to the village. When coming in all the children were shouting bula and waving to us! The thing I think Fijians couldn't do however was count as one boat had 8 people and another 2, steered by arguably the most mental person!
When returning to the village we played a few games in the water which was real fun, before getting a few group photos. This is good for me as I am always reluctant to take my phone on water based activities. When finally getting out of the water we went back into village where we had to put back on our sarongs to go back inside the main village house. The village chief told me and everyone else that we were getting entertainment by the children. The fact it was school holidays meant the children were all in the village to perform for us. With an array of singing and dancing it was really good, tipping them in the process.
Our entertainment then became like a disco, starting with the locals promoting their dance moves. We had to sit there whilst we were selected by one of the locals, getting chosen by the old woman who I was practically slow dancing with. We then got our chance to showcase our moves going club style, getting to choose people to dance. I had the kids doing proper dancing by the end, although we got covered in talcom powder by our guide! We then had to do the closing ceremony which involved drinking more kava and a lot of vinaka and morvay. I even had to do a speech to sum up what this experience meant to everyone, which I think under pressure did pretty well!
It then came to the time to finally leave the village, where we were chased down the street by the kids! The day was a real insight into everyday life in Fiji and the culture to add. When driving right up north for our stop for the night in Rakiraki we got the most amazing sunset, seeing Vanua Levu in the process! It wasn't until around half 6 when we finally arrived and after checking into our hostel which was a triple room with en suite for a change, we got a little time to relax. Dinner this evening was a burger which was really nice, accompanied by a cocktail to have a change from the local brew. With a wedding going on tomorrow, we had to vacate the bar after dinner, sitting outside for a while playing pool. I eventually headed to bed to make the most of a hotel experience!
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