Considering I am in Fiji with temperatures over 30 degrees during the day right now, I was surprised to have got to the point where I was shivering last night. This was due to a vicious air con which was a little too effective, which meant the sole bed sheet provided was not adequate to keep me warm. Luckily I wasn't the only one who had this problem as one of the others turned it off at night. Breakfast this morning was strictly 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast and 2 pieces of fruit. I say strictly because it was laid out like a buffet formation, but when I poured myself a bowl of cereal they took it off me and made my breakfast for me! This wasn't great for one of the people in my group who was allergic to eggs!
With a half 9 start scheduled for this morning we were able to relax a little, spending this time in bed. After loading up the minibus once again we were off and shortly arrived into our first stop, the town of Rakiraki. A little off the tourist trail, this was a bustling town full of locals and shops, all centred around a market. Whilst here we purchased some things to give to the orphanage which we visited later that day. Our guide made the point that some locals stare at you in Rakiraki because they see foreigners so little, and this was actually true!
After eventually leaving Rakiraki after our driver found it funny not letting the last person in by opening and closing the bus doors, we started a long drive further round the coast to Lautoka for lunch. Lautoka is the second biggest city in Fiji and is also known as the sugar city. It is also home to where many of the alcoholic beverages of Fiji are made. We made our orders for lunch here last night, which meant when arriving at the waterfront restaurant our food was only 5 minutes or so away. I had the beef curry for dinner here.
When finishing lunch it was pretty pleasant taking a walk down the waterfront before setting off in the bus for our next stop of the day, the Tifajek mud pools. Only being a short drive from Lautoka, actually getting to this location was a different matter, taking us down this gravel track beneath the hills which I actually walked under on my first day. When finally arriving at the mud pools I put on my ripped shorts, the idea to bin them after, and jumped into this murky water. It felt weird inside as my feet had this leafy stuff round them. What we had to do was get a bucket and fill it with the mud beneath and smother it over ourselves, something which is apparently very good for you!
Eventually we were all covered head to toe in mud, although when I slapped it on my face it went in my mouth a little! I even put it in my hair! From here we got a group photo of everyone before letting the mud dry on our skin. When dry we had to jump back into the murky water to wash the mud off us, when washed off jumping into this hot spring where we could completely clean ourselves. It was like having a bath in this volcanic heated spring. Next to this large spring was a little pool with water of 72 degrees, although that was unbearable even putting your toe inside!
We spent a fair while here in the end and surprisingly were completely clean by the end. From here our guide showed us this hill which was home of the sleeping giant, a rock on a hill which looked like a giant. We then preceded back to the main road and into Nadi where we went to visit an orphanage. Even before arriving the kids were shouting out the window they were watching tv, and when going in we presented our gifts, including my bag of bananas. The kids were then allowed outside to play and we were able to play with them. With swings, trampolines and many other toys, the kids were more than happy to play with us. I did get hit in the head by a car at one point though, although the same kid repeatedly punched someone else! We even played duck duck goose.
Eventually it was time to leave in what was a real eye opening experience, saying our goodbyes to the such energetic and in a way happy kids. They are really well looked after. It was only a short drive from orphanage to the hostel, where I this time stayed at smugglers cove. After dumping my stuff I went down to bamboo backpackers which I had heard had free WiFi which was true, keeping me busy for a while! As I have said many times before I can't upload blogs without internet access, and with the limited availability it has been impossible to upload things on a daily basis in Fiji.
Dinner this evening was a BBQ which included chicken, sausage, lamb and egg at Bamboo, before meeting up with others at smugglers as it was our last night with the guys from tourism Fiji. They have been really useful to talk to and with them being older it has been nice to talk to them about their life experiences amongst other things. It was nice as well that basically everyone turned up which meant after a while we checked out Nadi to say a proper goodbye.
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