On the morning of our 3 hour coach ride to Suva and subsequent 24 hour boat trip to the North islands Lady Luck was not on our side as Susie and I, both pale faced and sweating, took turns running back a forth to the loo. Dear God, this was not the day for Delhi Belly. Thank the wonders of modern medicine because 2 immodiums later and we were right as rain.
The troupes for the trip were rallied and this group of strangers who were soon to become our friends all piled in to the dodgy mini bus and we embarked on our journey to the Capital city of Suva. Along the way we sat next to Louise, our sister from another mister, who within 3 hours had become the second person to infiltrate the duo. Suva is a bustling city, we stopped here just long enough to grab supplies for the boat ride (crackers, crisps, peanut butter and jam) and headed to the harbour where we encountered the Rust Bucket. The boat taking us to the North Islands was big, smelly, bug infested and Jan's worst nightmare as she chugged back multiple sea sickness pills. We ditched our bags and set up camp on the floor inbetween local Fijians. The boat ride saw us watching films, bonding with the gang and attempting to sleep with little success.
We got to know the group during this voyage :
Martina and Mauro, a great Italian couple from Rome who buzz with life.
Ben,Max and Julian a group of well travelled and delightful Germans.
Toby, our soon to be adopted younger brother, and has the best tan we've ever seen on a ginger.
Corina, a lovely Londoner on a short break from work and Nele a very sweet Girl from Germany.
Our local tour guide Simon, a man with far too much testosterone, looked after us and entertained us with Fijian shark legends and the history of his Ancestors. Simon was 1/3 man, 1/3 beast and 1/3 fish, he could scale a coconut tree in seconds, fire dance and delve in to the oceans abyss to spear fish; a true hunter gatherer with the muscles to prove it.
As we came to shore we could see immediately that Taveuni's landscape was completely different to what we had known of Fiji so far. We were surrounded by lush green jungle, tropical birds and bugs that no one had seen or heard of before. Our apprehension ease as we realised that we had struck gold with our awesome fellow travellers and idyllic location.
Next stop was Tavenunu lodge our home for the next two nights.
We fell in love with the place instantly as we were welcomed by the staff singing and playing guitars to mark our arrival. Our jaws dropped as we saw the view of the turquoise sea surrounding us with the decking built out over it where we lounged in hammocks and enjoyed games of cards and a beer to celebrate surviving the trip to the island!
After a few bowls of cava and some songs we rested our heads in preparation for the next days adventure...
Peace and love,
Jan and Sooz.
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