Family Fun in Fiji - Fiji, Fiji
Fiji, Fiji
July 12-31, 2012
We had about a week of time to adventure our way through Fiji before meeting up with the family. What would we do to pass the time… Maybe go diving? While working on the Spirit of Freedom we had the pleasure of taking part in a shark feed that happens once a week on the remote Osprey Reef about 300km off the coast of Northern Queensland. It had been one of the most exceptional and memorable dives I had ever done. On one such dive, we were joined by a Fijian instructor who calmly took photographs of the 50 or so numerous Gray Reef sharks. After the dive he pulled me aside and told me that if I wanted to do a real shark dive that I had to go to Fiji.
The shark feed dive in Beqa Lagoon, it turns out, is one of the most renowned in the world. You are virtually guaranteed bull shark sightings and have a slim chance at seeing tiger sharks. With this knowledge in hand, Sukhia and I jumped into the shark feed zone… twice! We were treated to at least 7 bull sharks ranging in size from 8-11 feet in length. Awesome! The Fijian dive guides actually hand feed these massive sharks, wearing nothing more than chainmail gloves and armed with two-foot long metal poles. The sharks bumped into our guides numerous times and charged within inches of us several times. A must do dive for anyone who wants to see what it’s like to be face to face with large sharks.
After our shark diving experience Sukhia and I needed to make it to Suva in order to catch a ferry to Vanua Leva, the island where we would rendez-vous with the family. At this point in our travels the old travel purse was starting to be filled with more lint balls than coins. The options for getting to Suva were: take a cab (yeah right) or stand on the highway and try and flag down a bus. I opted for option number three. We had been staying in a beautiful resort that featured gorgeous beach front bures (villas) or dorm rooms. We slept in an 8-bed dorm room and ended up making friends with several American college kids who were outside of the good old US of A for the first time in their lives. Each one was blessed with food poisoning… and yes, there was only one bathroom for the eight of us. At any rate, they were heading to Suva on the same day as us in order to move into their new college dorm rooms for their foreign exchange term. We agreed to sit underneath all of the backpacks in the back of the van and were treated to a free trip to Suva. Yay! At this point, I think Sukhia really just started to expect that I would force us to endure some horrible form of transportation to save a few pennies.
Once in Suva we made our way to the ferry terminal which would take us to Vanua Levu on a 12-hour overnight trip. We were greeted to dorm beds, the ferry made up of approximately 60% rust, 20% metal and 20% “other”, and a 15-hour journey was a surprisingly easy trip. The only rough part of the voyage was at 3am when the ship sounded its general alarm in order to let us all know that passengers could disembark at an island halfway between Suva and our destination. Alarm for 15-minutes, then an announcement, we possibly thought that we were going to have to once again go swimming with the bull sharks.
After a brief night alone on Vanua Levu, we headed to the infamous Jean-Michelle Cousteau Resort (JMC) to meet the family. Seeing Dad, Thora and my little brother Nick was such a treat. After six months of no family apart from Skype and email, it is hard to describe how great it felt to see familiar family faces. My ‘little’ brother Nick had shot up several inches and now towered over me. Strange to have a bigger little brother.
JMC was an amazing resort that featured spectacular beachfront bures, excellent food and top notch service. We were so incredibly spoiled and overfed we started to feel guilty about all the great indulgences. We only had to remind ourselves of the adventures along the way to getting to the resort to once again feel ‘entitled’ to such spoiling.
After several glorious days lying by the pool, kayaking, eating three-course meals twice a day, we were off on our next adventure to Taveuni. There are flights linking Vanua Levu and Taveuni, however, they are on charted planes with very stringent baggage restrictions (e.g. our dive gear would never had made it). In the lead up to Fiji I had corresponded with my Dad and assured him that I was definitely, pretty sure that there was a ferry we could take us between the two islands. Despite the lack of any set schedule being posted online or in fact seeming to exist at all, he agreed that we could all ferry together as a family.
Luckily (for me), there was in fact a ferry linking the two islands. It was now owned by Goundar Shipping Lines, but was once called “The Queen of Prince Rupert”. The boat was purchased in 2011 from BC Ferries and brought across the Pacific Ocean from British Columbia in order to serve as a ferry in Fiji. For those of you who have not been on BC Ferries vessels, they are part of one of the largest ferry fleets in the world and serve the West Coast of Canada. The ships are, for the most part, state of the art and feature several dining areas, video games for kids and numerous comfortable passenger areas both inside and out. So, it must have been a nice boat, right?
Turns out the Queen of Prince Rupert was one of the last of the ‘old’ BC Ferries fleet. Originally constructed in 1964 and pulled out of service in British Columbia in 2009, meant that in 2011 it was not exactly pristine. The best part of the ferry was that it still featured pictures throughout the interior from Northern British Columbia. I kept looking out to sea expecting to see killer whales or seals. The boat also still had numerous out of date certificates still proudly displayed throughout the vessel. Food Safety certified kitchen and Transport Canada Ship Safety certified all until 2009 (three years ago). It also seemed like perhaps BC ferries had perhaps not included the maintenance manual on the vessel with the sale. The climate control was no more, only one toilet in the men’s room was not covered with a garbage bag and an inch of standing water was found in several places. All of this and yet, there were numerous hand written signs throughout that asked you to remove your shoes before coming inside??!!??!!? We arrived, however, safe and sound after spending 6 hours to complete our 4 hour journey.
Taveuni is referred to as the Garden Island of Fiji, much as Kauai is so called in Hawaii. Fresh water streams that literally poured our “Fiji Water” were everywhere. Cassava, coconut, mangoes and papaya seemed to grow everywhere and in the wild. It was breathtaking from first glance and only became more so as we explored it further over the next week. We had booked ourselves into a resort owned and operated by an ex-pat couple from California. They were the ultimate stereotypical Californians. The entire resort was carbon neutral, the produced their own power via solar, wind and hydro-electricity. They grew 100% of the produce we ate and purchased whole animals only for meat from local farmers. Total paradise.
One of the definite highlights of the trip was diving the Great White Wall. The dive site itself is a huge wall that starts at about 50 feet and drops down into the great abyss. It is renowned for strong currents and the nutrients they bring along with them. In particular, it is named after white soft coral that is speckled with pinks, purples and oranges and covers an area larger than several football fields stacked next to one another. It is breathtaking… well, kind of, as much as you can breathe out of your tank that is.
A few days earlier, Sukhia and I had gone diving with my Dad at another site on Taveuni’s famous Rainbow Reef, the colours and marine life were stellar and my Dad had a great time. We invited him to come diving on the Great White Wall and he resisted. Why would someone resist diving one of the most colourful and beautiful sites on the planet?!?!?!? He was concerned that with strong currents Sukhia and I would be too focused on him and making sure he was doing alright. We met with the owner of the dive shop and developed a plan to convince my Dad to come for the dive. She became his personal guide and buddy and he was given a back-up buddy as well. With his two newfound watchers/buddies in place, we agreed to simply enjoy our dive and not to focus on him… The funny thing is that one of my favourite parts of the dive was watching as his eyes opened up wide in amazement at the colourful wall. I was so glad he came along for the experience and that I had a chance to witness it.
The people, the sights, the food, the diving and the chance to be with family again after such a long break made for an unforgettable time in Fiji. Highly recommended!
- Sacha
Next stop: Thailand
Sukhia’s Thoughts:
Fiji is amazing and I would have to say my top pick from our whole trip!
You realize after travelling for an extended period of time that tropical islands are beautiful but they all start to look the same, what makes the difference is the people and the food. And I was not let down on either account, Fiji has a great mix of South Asian and Fijian nationalities which makes the food amazing with curry, roti and fresh fish. Did you know that Fiji was once known as the ‘Cannibal Isles’ yup that’s what I was thinking about as salt and oil was lathered into my flesh when I received my complimentary foot and leg massage at the JMC resort.
Another added joy of this part of our trip was that we were to see part of our family for the first time in nine months and it was a wonderful occasion. The most dramatic change being Sacha’s little brother was no longer little and actually had a few inches on his older brother. After a few days we were all caught up on news and events and it felt to me as no time had passed since our last meeting.
As Sacha mentioned we stayed at two resorts with the family and they were equally luxurious and amazing but Nakia Resort & Dive on Taveuni was stupendous. Their ethical and green initiatives make you feel great but the food was….. I don’t know if my description can do it justice, it tasted great, felt wholesome and left you immensely satisfied. After nine months in Asia I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Fiji was over too quickly, there were some amazing adventures above and below the water, one was diving the Great White Wall with my father-in-law, a superior dive site and a top ten qualifier.
Next stop, Melbourne for a night and then back to Thailand to meet up with my mom and wrap up our trip.