My Fijian Fantasy!

My stay in Fiji has been absolutely FANTASTIC! And I could not of wished for a fuller experience during my 3 week stay there. I was only meant to stay there for 1 week initially but it ended up being longer due to the great people, places, food and ..... oh the surfing!

Where I stayed was on the main Island of Viti Levu and about 2 hours from Nadi (pronounced Nandi) airport. I stayed near a place called Navua at a the Waidroka Bay Resort.

When I first got here I found the pace of life painfully slow, and I'm a pretty laid back person! It took a few days to adjust to the sitting around and just looking at the ocean, but it's something I like to do anyway, so it was great. The resort was aimed at Surfers and Divers and I was lucky enough to often be the only guest there.

During my stay there I managed to almost fully live my dream of surfing and diving and drinking in a culture far removed from anything I have known.

The surfing was amazing and on the first day decided to go for a surf with an Aussie guy. All of the surf spots are a boat ride away and are reef breaks, meaning they break on the outer reefs of the island, so the water may be 30 foot deep and the waves are then breaking in about 3 foot of water onto the reef. The wave also breaks in a horshoe shape too as opposed to a shore or beach break which normally is just a long line. With the horshoe reef the wave jacks up quicker and bigger and faster.... so a massive lesson was in store for me!

To be honest I got totally battered by the waves and struggled to catch them properly. It seemed as soon as I would paddle for one it would jack up and then just slam me into the shallows of the reef! But after a lot of sessions and working through frustrations I got there and improved and managed to become a better surfer, I wouldn't say I mastered them but there were some amazing waves where I felt a thrill and a confidence I've not had before, very rewarding. It was also great to see the sea life once again, masses of coral under the water, and as a wave would break if it was calm enough the wave just became like glass and I would be able to see the reef as if through glass in an aquarium, crystal clear. Turtles could be seen again, just like in Hawaii, a small baby one popped up at one point to and looked awakward as it flapped on the surface. During the boat rides out we would see masses of flying fish cruising through the air. My Dad had talked of these as I was growing up and I've always wanted to see them, and I was amazed at how long they fly for, not just pop out of the water for a bit but they actually 'buzz' along like an insect for really long distances, almost unbelievable!

The surfing on my last day was a real treat. we travelled an hour by boat to a reef in the middle of the ocean called "Frigates" It is a world class wave and a group of 4 of us were lucky to

have it all to ourselves. and it was HUGE!!! I don't usually get too scared in the water but paddling out to these was a bit daunting, probably a 15 foot wave breaking into 3 foot of water... the kind of thing you would see in a magazine. I can't really describe the feeling of being out there. A sense of immense awe and fear but at the same time having to dig deep to find the courage to face them and the determination to want to ride one. In about 3 hours I probably caught only one wave and got absolutely worked by many more. They were fast, heavy and steep and all that I had learnt in 3 weeks of surfing reefs was put to the test and I was once again left feeling like I was a total beginner!

Not sure that the photos do it justice but you can just make us out!

THE SHARK DIVE!! I’ve always wanted to see big sharks in open water and considered a cage dive in Hawaii, I never did do it and so I took this opportunity as it was very similar…. But without the cage! It was a bit scary for a number of reasons, firstly when the boat took us out to where it happens we were only a few miles from where we’d been surfing the day before! Secondly there where Bull and Tiger sharks there, all known to have sampled homo-sapiens at some point! All in all it was a great experience, just fish everywhere and now and then a big shark would just effortlessly cruise in from nowhere and you can physically sense the respect and presence from the other creatures there… including us. It is a somewhat false set up though, as we drop down the mooring line and make our way to a kind of auditorium. I had my dive camera with me and was shown a small little coral outcrop and told to stay by it… I look round and everyone else is behind me with a rope in front and it just seems like there all there to watch me get eaten! I’m comforted when a diver in charge with a metal pole comes over and tells me to stay where I am (not verbally…we’re underwater! it was via simple hand signals… not dissimilar to the ones used everyday on the roads in the UK).

They then drop down big wheely bins full of fish chum, at which point all the fish in the surrounding area show up going hyper, the bins are opened and then all chaos ensues. Fish and food everywhere, then there’s an eerie stillness and massive sharks glide in looking like they hate absolutely everything they look at and so powerful, an 8 foot Lemon shark then vertically drops into the wheely bin, straight down and just chows down all he can, still effortlessly moving it’s tail but the power generated seems to increase in strength and ferocity the closer to the mouth you get. I could see its sandpaper like skin crumple as the tail gracefully thrashed back and forth. I then looked down to where my hand was and saw a Conga Eel glide under my hand, its yellow eye beadily looking at me as its mouth revealed its razor teeth. The strange thing I have always felt with diving is that because we wear a wetsuit and a mask there s very little to ‘feel’ and nothing really to hear and so the experience, to me, always seems somewhat 2 dimensional and even though the experience was spectacular and intense it still feels as if I didn’t really do it.

My stay so far has been fantastic and I have been able to see so much ocean life that I have always wanted to see. Sharks, Sea Snakes, a 5 foot Marble Ray, flying fish. The smell of the Islands when out at sea, and the quick changes of the weather from sunshine to storm. The calmness of the sea early in the morning to the quickening of the trade winds as the sun warms the air and begins the weather cycle. These are things that I never thought I would get to experience, my Dad would talk of it from his time at sea when he was young and all I’ve ever wanted to do was see it and feel it for myself. It’s such a great feeling to achieve a goal that has been with me since a boy, It’s a massive experience for me.

Above all of this though are the people. I asked some of the people who work here if I could go to their village with them and they were so excited to have me. They live in small shack type houses, very simple and very humble. Some of the babies were crying when they saw me as they have never seen a white person before…. Either that or I just scared the crap out of them somehow!

The village experience was great and I swear the less people have the more they care for each other and the bigger their smiles. I also went to church with one of the girls from here, she is a 7th day Adventist and their Sabbath is on a Saturday, I’ve lost all concept of time and so didn’t care what day it was!
Actually the Fijians have a saying “Time can wait” it’s like an ode to laziness but with the sentiment of Confucius which makes you think it’s really deep wisdom!

The Church was really simple and lovely and again these people were just so happy to have me there and welcomed me in. They would stop what they were saying and explain things in broken English for me and it was great and although I wasn’t a member of their church and they knew I was Mormon they showed nothing but love and kindness to me.
After church I wanted to get to the capital city which is 2 hours drive away but there was no chance as they invited me to a big dinner they had prepared for everybody in an old hut. I went in and everyone was on a big table and they sat me down and put a plate of traditional Fijian food in front of me! It was one of those moments that you kind of want to experience but dread at the same time. Loads and loads of food that you just can’t recognize by look or smell… or taste! Everything is new and different and being offered in big portions to the guest! “Have more, have more” they would say and all the while my heart is filled with gratitude and my face is smiling whilst at the same time I’m suppressing the gag reflex! And then amongst the stewed leaves and fully scaled fish and root vegetables I spied a way out, like a shining gateway to Xzanadu. I reached out with focused eye and full purpose, with a deafness to offers of strange soggy cold seaweed and boiled grog and grabbed two bits of watermelon. As I bit into it I could feel its cool juice running down my chin and my throat, the refreshing flesh melted in my mouth taking any lingering morsel of foreign food from my pallet, It was so good… and the taste of a familiar food eased my stomach. I am so grateful for that fruit being there that day. Please may I just say that I don’t want to come across ungrateful to these wonderful people and I hope I have not done so as that is furthest from my intention.

Fun In Fiji

I made my way on to Fiji… if your reading this and wondering why it’s all me, me, me it’s because Louise has been in England with her family as her Mum has just had a triple heart bypass. The trip was already booked when Louise decided that she wanted to stay and ensure that she was well. So Louise is joining me this week in Fiji… (hopefully) hoora! So basically I was in Hawaii for 3 weeks and Fiji for a week on my own! With only surfing, diving and sunshine to occupy my time! Tough times I know…but I’ve pulled through and have proven to a lot of people (including myself) that I have what it takes to cope… on tropical islands… with good friends to help me out…. And let me sleep at their places…. And feed me… ok I’m not SAS yet!

Anyway, the flight to Fiji from Hawaii was about 6 and a half hours (I was going to say 6.5 hours but to me that never seems right because I’ve always though 0.5 to be a derivative of decimilisation therefore I would equate it to 10, which would mean 6.5 hours would be 6 hours and 50 minutes… but by the .5 I mean 30 minutes) so… the flight was six and a half hours long and was fairly standard, I was sat next to a big Tongan man who kind of looked like Gary Glitter in his hey day, I didn’t mention this to the Tongan as it would of just caused a lot of confusion having to explain Gary Glitter in pigeon English.
Once at Nadi (pronounced Naandi) I was picked up in a minibus and driven to the resort. As Louise was not with me a found a fairly cheap place where they surf and dive, so this bit of the trip is more holiday than traveling. The minibus seemed to have the BIGGEST geartsick in the world, and this journey took 2 hours!!

The terrain was initially a strange mix of England and India with rolling hills and lush grass, which to me seemed luminous green, it was fluorescent! It all felt like home on a BOILING hot day. They drive on the same side of the road as us too, which after 3 weeks in Hawaii felt somewhat strange again.
As the journey progressed the landscape changed into rainforest/jungle and it just felt like I was in King Kong country. Huge thick forests as far as I could see with mountains in the background rising up, green and packed densely with deep green trees and plants

Robinson Stu'soe

I was lucky enough to stumble onto a campsite whilst on Hawaii where they had little huts to stay i on the beach. The place is called Malaekahana and is famous for it's tranquility and Moonlight nights. I splashed out the $40 to stay there and it was really nice to have a little fire by my hut and watch the ocean that I had surfed earlier that day.

It's a fantastic place and so beautiful. I was really tired by about 7:30 though and decided to go and lay in the little hut. It was basically just a waist high carpeted platform to sleep on and felt just a floor really... Not the pocket sprung luxury I'm accustomed to in my 'princess and the pea' world at home. To be honest If I'd had a pea I would of used it as a pillow! However.... every cloud and all that.... due to my crap nights sleep (at one point I woke up and my little wicker door was wide open and I swear I saw a man with a big machette and a boiling cauldron with veggies in it... but no meat....yet!!) anyway..... due to a somewhat long stretch of insomnia I awoke before the sunrise and walked the length of the beach picking up shells and stuff. There are also white crabs called ghost crabs (not like the ones people get after they go to Ibiza for their holidays...these are a bit bigger). The crabs run around doing their stuff...not sure what? And when you approach they either run back to their holes in the sand or quickly burrow themsleves into the sand in what seems like a perfect hole. really fun to watch... but I guess you need to see it 'cos reading back on what I just wrote it doesn't sound that brill!

But I did get a nice shot of the sunrise... e' voila.

THese things once again make me realise how much goes on around us in nature and we take it all for granted. All this stuff is going on at home too, we have a sunrise (arguable I suppose) each day and there are little ceatures everywhere to watch but we never have or TAKE the time. So I'm really grateful for all of these little things and for the opportunity to take the time without an agenda or anything that really needs doing and the general business of life.

Aloha from Hawaii (be fair no-one else says it so you know where I am!)

I can't believe how quickly time is passing!! I've already been here a week and I haven't had a chance to give you any updates.

Firstly everything you imagine Hawaii to be it is... and more! The sheer beauty of the sky, ocean, mountains, flora, animals and people is, at first, too much to take in. and now I've found myself begining to acclimatise to it all, which to me is a sign of slightly taking it for granted.

In a week I have managed to surf twice and both times on a reef break (reef underneath, not sand) This is what gives Hawaii the world class waves, it's a bit scary at first as the waves are lt more powerfull and bigger than ours so a fall could result in a bit of slight abrassion to the skin when in contact with said reef! In other words... don't come off co's it can bloomin hurt!

I have 2 sets of friends out here, an Aussie (Nik) friend and his wife Liane) who are students whom I have been staying with and surfing and sightseeing and laughing etc. And I also have some friends of a friend who I have as of yet never met. These guys have basically said I can stay at their home during the weeks as they are on their boat most of the time. Their house is on the north shore of Hawaii which is the surfing mecca! I have been so blessed to be able to stay in such an amazing place and am grateful to everyone. The day I got to the North Shore was the day the pro surfers came into town for the first leg of the Triple Crown and it has been AMAZING to see these guys in action... Unfortunatly I will NEVER be that good! No matter how much I focus my mind

San Francisco..... without the flower!

First stop was San Fransisco and really only there for about one and a half days. It's a city with a victorian feel to it and initially it felt a lot like London. It seems to have very distinct districts and areas from financial, tourist and gay to run down ghetto crack whore and urine smelling tramps who are really polite!

Done the tourist thing and jumped on a Tram that took me too the harbour area where the veiws of hils, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge are all on view. The weather was fantastic and really warm.

Caught a few buses around but mostly walked everywhere

The Hotel was ok and seemed to be an an area where a lot of stressed out business types must work as there where a lot of massage parlours in the vicinty! I was on holiday and therefore not stressed and didn't feel the need to go and get one.... so don't worry Mum!

As I walked round the harbour I saw a guy building a small wooden boat and thought I'd go take a look at what he was up to. Turns out it was a profitless youth project run by two guys called Seth and Ed for kids who have 'fallen through the cracks' and forms part of their school curriculum (not Seth and Eds curriculum, the kids....just to clarify!). I was introduced to the group and they told them that I was from England and had a lot of experience in boat building and was a bit of an expert. I then then hurridly took some pictures, made my excuses and ran like the wind before I was rumbled as a simple carpenter with no real expertise in any field in any area of my life!

Towards the end of the afternoon around 4:30 I though it would be cool to go find the beach on the northern part of the city ( I think its a bit of a peninsular.... probaly wrong tho'). the sunsets are meant to be amazing there and theres a massive park to stroll through.... as if I hadn't done enough walking! The bus went on forever and from what started out as lovely hot, clear weather turned into a thick cold mist with hardly any visibility, then... maybe because of the location of San Fran, the sun, rather than making a gentle, graceful exit from the sky like we get at home seemed to just bugger off and fall out of the sky as quickly as possible, faster than a Sunseeker employee on a friday at 4:15!

So instead of a majestic display of natural wonder an celestial awe to bring my visit to San Fransisco to an end I have had to settle for seeing a drunken stoned cross dressed freak singing and dancing in the tube at 7:00 in the morning And as I blearily looked at him and smiled (then immediatley regretting it 'cos I didnt want to give the wrong impression!) he...er she...?? pulled out an earphone and in the gayest American tones shouted " YAY.... Judas Priest!"

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Stu & Lou on Tour 2008!!

Well Finally we've got round to going!

It has been a long time dreaming and just as long planning and finally 10 years of married life is sitting in a warehouse in Southampton and all of our daily needs are in a rucksack.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us get this far and we hope that this little blog gives a small taste of the experience we have, the sites we see and the people we meet.

We are thinking of you all and hope that you are all well and happy and no matter where you are feek fulfilled in life and loving those around you.