Jan 3-5

We finally arrived in Fiji and it is absolutely beautiful. Air Pacific
really went above and beyond by putting us up at a nice little hotel
in Nadi because we had missed the boat that morning to Otto & Fanny's.
We had a gorgeous breakfast on the verandah...beautiful flowers
everywhere. We then took a bus to the Yasawa Flyer (we were able to
reschedule without penalty which was great! Apparently our flight
delay had made the Fiji papers- it backed up all of the flights to
Australia and New Zealand and was a real mess.) and off to Otto &
Fanny's, a lazy five hour cruise through the Yasawa chain northwest of
the main island, Vita Levu. It was the most gorgeous day...not a cloud
in the sky, and each island we passed was breathtaking...exactly what
you would picture in the South Pacific: remote, white sandy beaches
and volcanic peaks. Tavewa Island was practically the last stop, and
we both agreed that we'd never been anywhere more remote. Our bure was
pretty much what we expected. Simple thatch hut with views of the
ocean and garden. The generator was only on in spurts throughout the
day, but we didn't mind. We spent that first day napping and swimming
between meal times, and there was only one other couple there. The
beach was lovely, but not the powdery white sand we experience in the
Caribbean...it is a bit rougher, but that is what we loved about
Tavewa Island. There is absolutely nothing manicured about it. The
beach all but disappeared during high tide in the evening, but would
reappear again in the morning and we would walk out to a deserted
point and snorkel. In fact, most days we were lone souls exploring the
beach, not another in sight. And the water was the bluer than you can
imagine, appropriately called the Blue Lagoon. (The islanders seem to
be quite proud of Brook Shields' "Blue Lagoon" that was filmed nearby.
We haven't seen it but as you can imagine it has terrible ratings.)
The second day drizzled but we still got in some snorkeling and
exploring and napping, and the food was really fresh and tasty.
(During mealtimes they played American band-boy music on the radio.
Even in one of the most remote places on Earth there is no escape from
American pop-culture.) We also experienced an important local custom,
or way of life really: the drinking of grog, or kava. It is basically
a mixture of water and a powder form of a local root, making a very
mild narcotic. I think you have to drink gallons to experience
anything (which they do - hours and hours of drinking grog in a
ceremonial like circle) but it makes your lips and tongue go slightly
numb after a few rounds. It kinda feels like novocain. They hand you a
little bowl of the stuff taken from a much larger bowl and you have to
clap 3 times after drinking. They continue around the circle until the
bowl is empty and repeat and repeat long into the night. We both
agreed that it tastes exactly like licking an envelope or eating
paper. They used to make it from chewing the root and spitting it out
into a big bowl, but apparently the missionaries talked them out of
that pretty fast. There is no way I could stomach drinking someone
else's saliva, no matter how culturally relevant. Our experience of
grog drinking was rather unceremonial and touristy, but at least we
got a taste. We have been reading Paul Theroux's "The Happy Isles of
Oceania" which is excellent and explains this much better than I
could.

-jesikah