240119 That Tropical Island Feeling

 We slept badly again. Chris read some of her book in the middle of the night which might be a first for her.

Lini cooked an omelette again and we had that along with fresh fruit.

Two other couples had arrived later last night - a Fijian couple who live in Australia and a Dutch couple. We chatted with them as they ate. Otherwise it was simply a case of packing up.

Robert had gone to Suva to buy coffee for their coffee machine (which he complained about) and to get his licence renewed. Lini talked more about his drinking but it seems that she has set down some rule and they have improved the situation. He was violent once but she threatened to leave and that has been the only time.

She also talked about buy furniture and appliances in German and having them packed in a contained. It was much cheaper than buying in Fiji. She also had furniture that had been imported from Bali.

She had grown up on Taveuni island, off Venus Levu.

Because he had the car, Lini could not run us to the bus stop but she called a taxi for us ($F5). We aimed to get one that passed through at 9:30. The taxi driver warned us that there had been a spate of bags being stolen from the lockers on buses, for example, when the bus is stopped for half an hour in Sigatoka. We were not sure if it was true or a way of promoting taxis as an alternative but it was good to be warned.

At the stop we chatted to a young Australian guy and girls who had done their schoolie equivalent by spending a week at Pearl Resort. They had got a taxi from Nadi which cost $F200. That is expensive but actually cheap for that distance, remembering that the drive then had to return to Nadi late at night. However, because of that expense, they had decided to return by bus. They were both school leavers. She was going on to a dance school in Sydney and he was to start physiotherapy training. I have trouble getting my head around kids of that age spending a week together in a resort.

The bus was much nicer than the one we had travelled to Pacific Harbour on. With only 2 plus 2 seats in each row, it was less crowded. It was also air conditioned and did not have opening windows.

The dive was much like the drive down except in reverse! The stop in Sigatoka was only 10 minutes and we carried on to the bus hub in Nadi.

We walked through the Nadi market which was quite large. A lot of it was dedicated to selling the kava roots but there were also a lot of vegetables and fruit. Chris bought a pineapple for $F2.

Out the other side, we made our way to the main street. This is where were got tricked into entering the very expensive souvenir shop. Chris was a very suspicious of everybody. People are friendly and offer help or ask us questions but she would not talk to them or give them any indication of our intentions.

We were approached by one man who wanted to show us a different "genuine" Fijian craft shop. We said a firm "no".

Besides seeing how different Nadi's main street is on a weekday, our main objective was an ATM. We got out another $F2,000 (costing $NZ15xx).

Another man asked us about our plans. We said we were going to Smuggler's Cove and he hailed a taxi. It was stopped a little first along the street and we said we would go to it. He said no it would some to us. But that meant stopping in an awkward place. Meanwhile a taxi already parked in  sensible place but in the other direction was summoning us. We were caught in the middle. The first one didn't move, possibly expecting us to go to him. Then a third one rounded the corner and our man summons it, causing the driver to stop where he should not have. Anyway, we were bundled in and were on our way to Smuggler's Cove. The trip cost $F12.

This hotel is in a line of hotels along the sea front. It appears to be quite a small one - just the ground floor and one floor of rooms. We settled into or room, had lunch which consisted of a handful of nuts,  then had a look around. It feels like your archetypical pacific island venue opening onto the palm tree-lined beach with loungers all along. There is also a restaurant on the beach side of the hotel that seemed to be replicated by the other hotels that were all cheek-to-jowl along the shore. It was not a white-sand beach and he water was a green colour rather than blue so it was not the postcard Fijian scene but it still had that feel.

That little excursion was followed by about an hour's sleep. We have both been tired.

Then it was time for a swim. We decided on the pool which was nice and refreshing.

A walk down the street brought us to a supermarket. There were many posters on the front door complaining that the Grace Road Group had been designated a cult by some politicians and some members arrested. This was the most significant supermarket we had seen - large and with a good range of products. Many were from Korea although there were other things from all over, including New Zealand. Some were from Grace Farm in Fiji and we wondered if that was connected to the Grace Road Group. The food prices seemed very high - some things four times what they would be in New Zealand. We discussed what we should get for the family time on Plantation island and what prices might be like at the store there. We decided on a Messenger discussion to get feedback.

A little googling later revealed that the Grace Road Group believed Fiji was the centre of the world as described in the Bible and the members shifted there to escape a looming famine. Some members had been arrested and convicted to abuse of immigrant workers.

There was a Mexican/something else restaurant at the supermarket. Each of the hotels also seems to have a restaurant. We scanned the various menus displayed outside then decided to eat at our own. Chris had an entre of a stay chicken kebab on grilled pineapple, with rice. I had sizzling beef which really was astir-fry with lots of vegetables as well as the beef. Bother were very good. Those and two drinks came to $F56.

As we sat on the restaurant deck beside the sea it did seem very tropical island'ish. Strings of lights were turned on; there were flaming "torches" and each table had a kerosine lamp. There were threatening dark clouds towards Denarau, with a light patch in the middle that, at one point, framed some ships lying at anchor.

As we finished our meal some rain started falling but very little. We went for a walk along the beach in the, by now, semi-dark. Just as we got back it started raining harder. We sat under shelter for a short time listening to a live band, then returned to our room.