bula fiji, day one

bye brisbane 

our fiji getaway was so many different things. i have been putting off trying to capture here everything that we saw and experienced in that short week as no pictures or words can really do it justice. 

it was beautiful, peaceful and simple. it was all new to me and yet it felt like home by the end. 

it was everything i could have hoped for and more for my first overseas adventure. 

it is amazing how quickly memories were made and stories were created and experiences unfolded in just the first few hours of us being there. while our passports were being stamped at the airport by a young fijian man his mobile started ringed. he turned downed his portable radio that was playing at his counter and told us it was his mum. while he stood there chatting away i was blown away at how different it was from the same process in our country.

after checking into our hotel near the airport we decided to head into the main street of nadi for a look. initially i didn't want to go as it was all a little overwhelming. already it was clear i hadn't prepared myself for what fiji would be like other than being on the actual island. culture shock was setting in for both matt and i as we drove through the run down roads, in a run down car, past the run down houses and buildings. i didn't even take any photos. 

next to third world countries, places ravished by poverty, famine and war, nadi would be paradise. i felt ashamed for being so shocked at how different it was to australia. i felt ignorant and self indulged. why had i never thought to look beyond my own backyard? i simply assumed that it wouldn't be too different to how we live. but it was very different and it's hard to articulate my thoughts on that first day as i took in the foreign sights.

once i got over the initial anxiety that we were going to be taken somewhere other than our instructed destination in the cab we rode in (resembling nothing like a cab) it started to feel exciting to be making new experiences for ourselves, outside the safety net of a hotel room. i'm sure it was obvious we had no idea what we were doing on that first afternoon though. we probably paid twice the price for our drive into town but it didn't matter. 

once of the first things that struck me was that there were so many indian men and women. a beautiful indian guy working in the restaurant where we had an early dinner gave us the interesting history of fiji. i had no idea that the population was almost half indian and half fijian. it fascinated me having just read a book about india and once again i marvelled at how little i knew about the country that is so close to ours. imagine what i am yet to learn about the rest of the world. 

so this was day one in fiji. there was more to it of course. we swam in the pool knowing it would be our only chance. we ate banana fritters for dessert. we shopped for things to remember our holiday by. we watched tv and laughed at the different ads and shows. we listened to the beautiful singing of three fijian men. we took in the lush and tropical surrounds. we said 'bula' in reply to almost every person that passed us. then finally, just before falling asleep we set our clocks to the correct time. in fiji there is fiji time and then there is also 'fiji time' meaning everything is done at a leisurely pace. 

and even though it was only for a week this is something that we came to know and love and live and breathe. 

bula nadi