BULA BULA Part 1

“Bula” is the Fijiian equivalent of “Hello”, but it is normally spoken with a lit up face and sparkling eyes, like “Surprise!”, subsequently you reply in the same manner. It is much nicer than the commonplace mumbling of… “Morning” ….that we are used to. When we landed in Nadi (prounounced Nandi), we were met by four men in traditional floral shirts singing happily with guitars which was a lovely way to be welcomed to the country and brought smiles to us all. Zac and Sandra were there to pick us up, they are friends from home, Rennie and their son Zalen went to kindergarten together and Helen and Zac were on the committee together as president and vice. Got some local currency and were a bit surprised to see the Queen on all the notes and coins. The road from the airport to Zac and Sandra’s house was a rough and bumpy single carriageway full of potholes and with occasional speed humps, lined by fields of sugarcane, which seems to grow very well in the humid conditions. Smoky vehicles lacking maintenance rumbled along, spewing clouds of diesel fumes and overtaking at inopportune times, the odour and traffic bringing back memories of travelling in India. When we slowed down while passing some roadwork, Zac explained that they were just making new potholes! He is quite a character. We went out for dinner on our first night there, Chinese of course, and after a nice and cheap meal we flagged a taxi to take us the 15km home. The driver stopped and put in 3.5 litres of fuel at the Mopil service station (the “b” had fallen upside down), which might have just been enough to get him there and back. Zac and Sandra bought into a watersports business last year and decided to move to Fiji for a year or so to work there and let their kids experience a different culture. The house they are living in is a girls stone throw from the beach, next to the First Landing Resort, which unfortunately is just next to a large petro chemical refinery. They have a couple of fishing boats, some jet skis, kayaks and the pride of the fleet, a large catamaran yacht named Wanaka (lucky the extra A is in there!). These are to take tourists on snorkelling trips, island hopping, fishing trips etc. Luckily for us they took us over to Malolo Island where we were to stay for three days for Rick and Janes wedding, the reason we went to Fiji in the first place. I say luckily as the transfer costs are quite steep, and once you are on an island they certainly take advantage of the fact that you are isolated and rely on their services unanimously. The boat trip to Malolo would have been a lot calmer if we had left earlier in the day, but by 2 pm when we departed the seas were quite choppy which meant our smallish vessel was being tossed about and we were riding up the waves and crashing, BANG, onto the next. Rennie curled up in her oversize life jacket like a turtle, Tal huddled down on the side to keep dry, I was up the front, trying to add a bit of weight to the prow?? riding the waves like a surfer while hanging on with white knuckles to try and miss the bone jarring whacks if seated , all while Jarra slept in Helens arms, oblivious to the soaking we were receiving. Was a funny 45 minute trip and we were glad to arrive at Malolo. It was quite a reminder of the power of the ocean.