Hey, everyone! This past week I have been in… FIJI! After a whole year in Aotearoa New Zealand. A pretty wild change, but it’s been a really interesting time. Read on below!

Hamilton to Auckland Airport

After arriving in Hamilton and typing up last week’s blog post, I went out to an Indian restaurant for dinner and chilled around the hostel to the rest of the evening. I ended up talking to a Samoan man on the patio as the sun went down and eventually went to sleep. I wish I could say my one hostel of the week was a restful slumber, but there was a guy in the dorm room who kept leaving the room constantly throughout the night and was “quietly” streaming a show on his phone throughout the night. Why do I have such bad luck at hostels?! So annoying.

The next morning, I was still slightly worried about Goldie after the treacherous Coromandel drive. I thankfully made it to the campground I would be staying at that evening, Ambury Campground. The campground was only ten minutes from where I’d be dropping my car off for the week ahead of heading to the airport. Still, I was slightly nervous about my car. I only have about seven days of driving left once I return from Fiji but I was worried about the sounds it was making. I decided to call an auto shop. There was one ten minutes away. They opened the hood, checked out the noises, and the owner ended up telling me that sometimes cars just make weird noises like this haha. He said he could spend hours pulling it apart, trying to check for something that might not be wrong, but it would be expensive. All looked in order to him and he recommended I continue driving it and if something seems to be getting worse, to get it checked out again. He didn’t charge me which I was thankful for.

Afterwards, I went to Mount Māngere, where there was a volcanic crater. After a phone call with my parents, I hiked the short walk up to the summit and enjoyed the various craters. From that perspective, I could see Auckland city off in the distance. It felt very fitting. This life of mine tends to be full circle at times. On my first day arriving in Auckland one year ago, I walked to a volcanic crater. And here I was, my last day in Aotearoa New Zealand before my visa expired, I was at a crater again. Life. I certainly was feeling very aware of it being an entire year since I’d first arrived in the country.

For the rest of the day, I hung out around my beautiful campground. It was part campground, part… animal farm. There were goats, cows, horses, sheep, birds. I did yoga, worked on the drawing I’ll post below, and repacked my bags ahead of Fiji. As I was repacking my bags on the ground, an inquisitive rooster came to check out what I was doing. And later, a duck. The duck came so close to me, I couldn’t believe it!

I had seen some signs saying that the gates would close at 9pm and wouldn’t reopen until 6am the following morning. When I booked online, it had said that I could exit whenever I wanted, but I was feeling skeptical. I wanted to ensure I would be able to leave since I had to head out around 4am to get to the airport in time. I ended up calling the Auckland Council. The lady I spoke with wasn’t quite sure and she ended up putting me on hold numerous times. At one point, she said that the gates would be closed and that she wasn’t sure I would be able to leave. This concerned me, clearly, so I asked for a refund. She then talked to someone else who ended up saying that yes, the gates would open any time, I just couldn’t re-enter. She didn’t sound very confident, but I decided to take my chances. In the evening, when the security went to do a sweep of the area after 9pm, I watched them as they left and saw the gates open for them. Alright… should be fine. I was still a little worried but at 4am I was able to leave with no problems. Yahoo!

There was also a really beautiful sunset at the campground. Sunsets have been the vibe this past week. My accommodation has been western facing, so I’ve been able to enjoy them nearly every night.

In the morning, I dropped my car off (only $70NZD for a week – crazy!) and went to the airport. A few hours later, I was in Fiji.

Nadi Town

I didn’t do too much my first day in Nadi. From the airport, I decided to take a local bus to my accommodation. Bus fare is only $1.50 FJD (like… $.40USD?) for rather long distances. First, I had to take the bus from the airport to Nadi town and then a second bus to Wailoaloa, where I’d be staying for the next week. I certainly required help from the locals. My first impression was that everyone was very friendly. Once I made it to the bus transfer station, the bus driver helped me locate the area where the next bus would be. Well, I got on the wrong bus but luckily a man talked to me through the window and asked where I was going. I told him Wailoaloa and he said I was on the wrong bus. (The bus driver wasn’t in the bus yet.) “But the sign says Wailoaloa,” I said, pointing to the sign above where the bus was stationed. “It will park in front of this one,” he told me. I was skeptical but then I saw that on the front of the bus, there was a plaque that said it was going to a number of other places… not Wailoaloa.

So I waited and waited and waited. Here, I was getting adjusted to Fiji time. I soaked up my surroundings. Busses all around, without windows or air conditioning. People driving down the main road in utes with cloth coverings, the trunk of the ute filled with six or more people. People would pass me by and say, “Bula,” which is a common greeting in Fiji. At first, it seemed like I was the only white person around but eventually, there were a few others.

Finally, the bus came. It drove us through some countryside, past houses built from concrete and corrugated iron. Clothes were drying on clothing lines outside. Skinny cows/ox were tied up on short rope in peoples’ backyards. There was the occasional wild dog roaming around. And there was litter – lots of it. A devastating amount, really.

After maybe half an hour, I arrived at my accommodation for the week – Smugglers Cove. It was one of three hostels in the area and the only one that didn’t have consistent reviews about bedbugs. Yikes. Unlike most hostels I’ve stayed at… this one doubles as both a hostel and a resort. Some people stay in a massive dorm room (24 people in mine) and others have their own private rooms. But we all have access to the pool and the ocean, which is only steps away.

I didn’t do much that first night. I got acclimated to the area, booked a Manta Ray tour for a later date, went out for dinner, and otherwise just chilled out.

The next morning, I wanted to head in to Nadi Town to properly explore it. I was going to take the bus but, as with everywhere since I’ve been in Fiji, a cabbie called out, “Taxi?” “I’m just going to take the bus,” I told him. “I’ll take you for same as bus,” the man said. “$1.50?” I asked. Yes, he confirmed. I reiterated, “You’ll take me into town for $1.50?” Yes, he would. Alright, then. I quickly realized why that was. Once in the car and driving towards town, he tried to offer for me to take him to some other nearby tourist hotspots for a fee. I was interested but I also wanted to just have a chill day. I rejected the offer but took down his number and said maybe another day. He tried to be persistent but it didn’t work. I ended up giving him a $2 coin.

Practically the second I got out, a man said, “Bula.” When I responded, he asked, “Where you from?” Chicago. “How long are you here for?” About a week. “What are you doing while here?” This became an incredibly common exchange during my time in Fiji. This is how the conversation starts, and it turns into them trying to get you to follow them into a shop or to a tourism office, where surely they get a small commission for bringing in customers. I walked along with him (he introduced himself as Steven before knowing my name) and he led me to a tourism kiosk. I tried to insist I was just trying to check out the town and walk around. Alas, he led me to the tourism kiosk and in hindsight, I’m glad he did. It was a small little outside vendor with a woman running the shop. The man walked away and after I politely declined the tours, I went to one of the food markets.

It was such a cool thing and I don’t think I’ve seen them since being in Israel many years ago. Food, food everywhere! Bananas, pineapples, apples, mangoes, and on and on and on. I originally wanted to buy two fresh bananas to eat then and there. I pulled two bananas off of a bunch and asked the lady how much. $5. $5FJD for TWO bananas? Jesus! I hesitantly handed over the coins… and the lady proceeded to put a massive bunch of bananas into a bag for me. She also pointed to the two I tore off from the bunch. I put those inside too. Well, certainly got more than I bargained for there. It was also a moment of privilege for me. I was willing to pay $5FJD for literally two bananas and instead I got probably 25 lol.

These were too many bananas. Far too many bananas. So I decided to walk back to the tourism lady and offer her some bananas. She was delighted and invited me to have some tea. I tore off probably half the bunch for her. She heated up tea and offered me roti.

We ended up chatting for probably thirty minutes. She shared how she has been operating her tourism kiosk for 30 years. She talked of her family. She talked of how some of the Fiji-Indians will buy Fijian artwork and sell it at a higher price, which maybe is a cultural problem here in Fiji. I asked her how locals felt about tourists saying “Bula Vinaka,” because everyone kept saying Bula to me and I didn’t know whether or not it was culturally appropriate to say it back. She insisted that she would prefer if people said it in return, that it almost would be insulting not to. I really enjoyed my time chatting with her. Ateca is her name. Eventually, she had some business to attend to and so I let her be. I gave her a hug and said “Vinaka,” which means thank you. She told me I could come by any time.

I walked around town some more and tried to make sense of my surroundings. Ever present was the “bula” and the “where you from?” questions. I learned quickly to say bula back but to keep walking so that I wasn’t led into another tourist trap (or worse, robbed lol).

I did go to check out a nearby Indian temple that my former coworker and friend Neha told me about. It was beautiful from the outside – decorated so colorfully! Unfortunately, I was wearing shorts and needed to have my legs covered in order to enter. I never did end up going back but what I DID do was go to the Indian restaurant right next door which had super cheap, delicious food. (Neha also told me about that spot. Thanks, Neha!)

Shortly after, I went to the bus station to return to Wailoaloa. It was calling for rain in the afternoon. And boy, did it rain. And rain, and rain. There is a covered outside section that allows sheltered views of the ocean at my accommodation. I sat there and ended up chatting with a 20yo Canadian traveler. It was his first time really taking a solo trip outside the country. He had left Canada to go to New Zealand and meet his Tongan father, someone who he never really knew growing up as his dad and mom separated before he was born. He was taking a gap year and at the very beginning of his travels. It was neat to chat with someone who was only just beginning. He seemed slightly impressed by my travel resume. I ensured him he’d have an amazing time in New Zealand.

Other than going out to dinner, I didn’t do much the remainder of the day. Although, I had to be up early for an all day tour the following day. So, off to bed I went.

Manta Ray Tour to the Yasawa Islands

The tour bus picked up a load of people outside my accommodation around 7.15am in the morning. It drove thirty minutes to Denarau, picking up other passengers along the way. It was going to be a long day. I wouldn’t be returning until probably 7pm. After checking in at the passenger terminal, I had to wait for maybe 45min.

This tour was a little unusual because the vessel served as transportation between multiple island resorts. So people were hopping on, hopping off. I wouldn’t be hopping off to start my tour until three hours after the boat departed from Port Denarau.

I was graced with a perfect day. The occasional grouping of clouds scattered throughout the blue skies.

I mostly spent my time inside the boat but would dare head out to the bow every now and again, braving the hot Fijian sun. Boy, is it easy to get sunburnt here! The other day I looked at the UV index and the high was actually 11. I don’t think I saw that even during my time in Australia! Despite religiously using sunscreen, I have still managed to get burnt. Not badly, though.

So many interesting islands along the way to Mantaray Island. Oh, how I wish I could have stayed on these instead of in Wailoaloa. Wailoaloa Beach is fine except for that it’s sort of grey, the water is sort of grey, and there is litter and wild dogs running around. In contrast, the Yasawa Islands have beautiful white sand, gorgeous resorts and beachside amenities, and views to die for. The water was so blue while sailing through the open ocean and so clear once you were near to land. If only it wasn’t so expensive!

When I was originally looking at Fiji, I found some package tours that allowed you to jump from island to island for a set price. I think it ended up being $1,500NZD… which, yeah, that’s expensive. But I think I probably ended up spending close to that since I’ve been here anyway. I did eventually decide to bite the bullet and purchase one of these packages. I figured it was only a few hundred dollars more than I would be spending anyway, and would be a better experience. Why not go for it?

So I stopped at the Happy Travels office in Queenstown and the employee called the tour company. He was put on hold and, saying these things take a while, he took down my name and email address and said he’d get back to me if there was something available. I never heard back, taking it as a sign. That was also right as I was leaving Queenstown. I had a lot to do ahead of my departure, so I didn’t think much of it. Still. Were I to redo this experience… I definitely would be getting one of those packages. The islands are incredible!

I couldn’t believe some of the features on these islands. I thought I’d pretty much seen it all in terms of terrain. Mountains, islands, beaches, farmland, canyons, etc. Well, these islands were covered in palm trees and other greenery but then some of them would have these MASSIVE boulders on top of them. Crazy! I’d never seen anything like it before.

As the vessel stopped at each of the resorts, a small tender boat would come to collect the disembarking passengers, then take them to the island. Eventually it was my turn as I got off at Mantaray Island. I loaded onto the tender and two minutes later, we arrived at shore. A number of Fijian employees from the resort were singing a Bula song for us, welcoming us to the island.

After putting in our lunch orders, our group got our snorkel gear situated, put on sunscreen, and then we were off! The cool thing about this was… there were only THREE of us in our tour. Two guides (well, one skipper) and then the three of us. Louise was from France but was living in New Caledonia. I can’t remember the guy’s name but he was from Taiwan. We loaded onto another tender boat and drove for five minutes to get to the manta ray channel. “This is where they come,” our guide explained. He asked us to keep our eyes peeled.

So, if you’ll remember, I did a manta ray tour back in Coral Bay, Australia. On this tour, we had a catamaran with all the passengers and staff looking for manta rays… but they also had a spotter plane, which looked for manta rays from above (And even with the plane, no manta rays spotted.)

In this instance? It was the five of us in a small tender boat, keeping our eyes peeled for a manta ray. The boat came to a stop as our guides looked around. I was searching studiously as well. Nothing. It must have been only two minutes later that our guide said, “Alright, so there might not be any manta rays but we’ll go for a snorkel.” We were giving up so quickly?

But then the skipper said something in Fijian. He’d spotted one. We all frantically put our gear on and hopped in the water. It was our guide who spotted it underwater first. And boy, there it was. My first manta ray experience!

In retrospect, there were signs on the initial catamaran saying to keep 10 meters / 33 feet away from the manta. Well, we were certainly much closer. Whoops!

There were times the manta swam directly underneath me in shallow water. Had I dived down, I would have been able to touch its back, its long wings. Mantas are special because their stingers don’t sting and they have MASSIVE wings. I think it’s something like eight feet on average but they can grow bigger, too. (I just looked it up – they can reach as wide as 29 feet long LOL).

I was able to keep up with the pace of the manta and swam parallel to it. I was able to see its eyes and the inside of its mouth. I was surprised how shiny the inside of its mouth looked – almost like the pāua shell, which has an iridescent quality to it. Really fascinating!

And we were lucky enough to swim with/near the manta for quite some time. Underwater time perception is bizarre so it may have been five minutes or twenty, I’m not sure. Still, it was magical. I’d heard in Australia, the boat would let you out and you might only get a glimpse as the giant beasts quickly glide past.

The three of us were really thrilled with the experience. And on top of it, once the manta passed back into the deep, we were able to go on another snorkel through the channel to observe all the fish and beautiful, vibrant coral. The water was so clear, I couldn’t believe it. Oh, if only it had been like this during much of my time snorkeling in Australia!

I was kicking myself for not having my GoPro with me, but alas, it was back in the states. Kindly, the guy from Taiwan sent me some clips of the manta after the fact.

We then headed back to the resort where we had our lunch. Before doing so, I overheard the guide telling his friend, “poor visibility.” I said to him, “You think THAT was poor visibility? It’s some of the best I’ve ever had.” That guy has one of the coolest jobs ever. Oh, how I’d love to do that for a living haha.

He also shared with our group that there was a group of maybe 15 people the day before who hadn’t seen any manta. I figured it must happen often. These are wild creatures, there’s never a guarantee on these types of tours. I’m glad that I was able to finally see one! Hopefully, I’m able to again in the future. (I also later heard some other people talking on the boat back home that said they’d wish they’d been able to see them. Sad!)

After our lunch, it was already time to head back. Another reason why I wish I’d gotten one of the island hopping packages instead of staying in Wailoaloa on the mainland the whole time. More time for snorkeling and on these gorgeous islands with warm, clear water!

The Fijian employees sang us a farewell song and then we were back on the tenders, heading to the catamaran. At some point between the end of the tour and boarding the catamaran, I realized I lost my hat. I forgot it on one of the tenders. But when I went to look, it wasn’t there. Damn it! The hat was only $7NZD from Kmart lol but I ALWAYS lose my hats. I lost a beloved hat from South Africa, a hat from Australia, and now New Zealand. This is my curse, apparently.

The water was much rougher heading back to port. Another three hours and much of it was with big swells. If you’ll remember my experience to Rakiura/Stewart Island, you’ll know that I don’t like dealing with swell. I don’t get seasick, thankfully, but lots of other people were puking in vomit bags. I just don’t like the feeling of having the boat rocked around. I’ve since learned it’s just better to sit in the back of the boat during periods of big swell – you don’t feel it as much as the front.

And then I was back in Wailoaloa, enjoying another feast for dinner. I have really been eating a LOT since being here in Fiji haha.

Garden of the Sleeping Giant & Mud Pools

The day after the manta ray tour, I didn’t do much. I think I just hung out around the resort and tried to get a bit of a tan. Instead, I got burnt. I read some of my book, etc. I ended up calling Mohammed, the taxi driver who said he’d take me around. After shopping around online, I found that most of the tours that went to Garden of the Sleeping Giant & to the Mud Pools were going to be expensive. Some of them were $150 for just transfers, or so I was understanding from an employee at my resort. So, I decided to go with Mohammed. He was charging $80NZD for the day… which I knew was a rip-off, but still. We agreed for him to pick me up at 9am the following morning. (In hindsight, I should have just taken the bus. It would have been like $2 lol I don’t know what I was thinking. I suppose just to have someone to cart me around all day and wait for me to finish my activities, etc. Not have to wait for busses, transfer at different stations, etc.)

Mohammed picked me up promptly at 9am and we first went to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. The gardens are famed for having an orchid nursery. So I paid the $30 entry fee and in I went. There sure were a lot of orchids! I love orchids so it was cool to be seeing them in a place where they naturally thrive. Although, I didn’t see any wild ones in the trees, just those they’d cultivated and placed along the path near the entrance.

I then walked along the forest path and thought to myself, “what a different type of trail this is compared to in New Zealand.” I’ve gotten used to so much of the paths in New Zealand and a lot of them have very similar foliage. It was lovely to be in a new country with different vegetation.

That was one thing I wasn’t really thinking about when I was preparing for Fiji. While I was really only coming as a visa run… I was also coming to a NEW COUNTRY. Part of me almost didn’t even register that. It just felt like a stepping stone as a way to get back into New Zealand. But no, I was entering a new country that I’d never been to before. A new culture, new wildlife and terrain, etc.

The track along the gardens was very quick. It had a “forest path” loop that had a lookout point. The lookout showed faraway views of the ocean, view of the hills, and of the forest below. I must have spent all of forty-five minutes in the area before I’d explored everything. Once back at reception, I was offered a kava drink which was, as my mom would say, divine.

From there, Mohammed drove me to the mud pools/hot spring. Now, I don’t know why I thought I should go to a paid hot spring when I’d just been to so many free springs in Rotorua. But alas, it was a popular attraction in Fiji, so I went. I have since learned that if something costs money, I should make sure it’s something I really WANT to do before I do it. The entry fee was $40 and I ended up booking an hour long massage for $70 on top of it (Fijian, so this is like $40 USD?).

I changed into my bathing suit and then was guided to the mud pools, where I was asked to slather mud all over my body. The guide had my phone and said he would take a bunch of pictures of me. I thought it was kind of goofy and didn’t really want pictures but then I thought, why not, my parents will love ’em hahaha. So, I’ve included some of these ridiculous photos below. I was also given a hibiscus flower to wear in my hair. Cute!

I had to let the mud dry for a few minutes and as it did so, the colors ended up looking really interesting and cool. THAT, I wanted a picture of.

From there, I was asked to go into the actual mud pool. It was sort of a mixture between a hot spring and a mud pool, I guess? The water was warm, the floor of it was totally filled with squishy mud. I spent the next few minutes washing the mud off of myself.

Afterwards, I went into the hot spring which was absolute perfection. The best temperature!

After swimming around for some time, soaking in the heat, it was time for my massage. It has been such a long time since I’ve had a massage. To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever paid for one??? Before she retired, my mom was a massage therapist for many years (and had given something like 1,111 massages in her life?). Every now and then, she’d give me one. ((UPDATE: it was 9,000 massages in 20 years. Cr

It was funny to be in Fiji, thousands of miles from home, and to recognize some of the methods the Fijian masseuse used on me. It reminded me so much of the massages my mom had given me in the past. It felt like a bit of home.

After the massage, I thought I was going to be led to some more places by my guide, but he ended up having to pick someone else up instead. He dropped me off in town after having a slight disagreement. He kept trying to get me to go to another place to get my hair cut instead, etc. and I had to be very persistent to get back into Nadi Town. I’m sure he wanted me to get my hair cut somewhere where he was going to get a commission etc. It was overall a pretty annoying experience. I should have just taken a bus lol. He was kind of a pest. Actually, I should have gone with Ateca’s tour instead! I think that one covered the entry fees and had transfers included. ACTUALLY actually, I should have not gone to either place instead and should have gone on another snorkeling tour. I would have enjoyed that more. I felt both places were kind of tourist traps and overpriced. They were enjoyable (loved the massage and the orchids) but otherwise, not worth the price paid, in my opinion. Maybe I am jaded after spending so much time in beautiful New Zealand where access to nature and views is free.

Once back in Nadi Town, I bought myself a new (YELLOW) hat, got myself a haircut for $10FJD (the cheapest haircut I’ve ever paid for, basically $5USD), grabbed some food from the market, and then went back to Wailoaloa to relax for the rest of the day.

I’ve spent a lot of time hanging on a beach chair near the water, reading my book, swimming in the warm ocean, and soaking up the sun. The sunsets have been incredible.

South Sea Island

Because I was pretty underwhelmed by the experience, and because I had a little more money to play with than I originally anticipated, I decided to book a second island tour. I was able to get 20% off a return tour to one of the islands and so I did one of the cheapest ones, only half an hour from Denarau Port. Originally, I was going to have a chill day but after kind of a disappointing experience the day before, I decided a snorkeling day was needed.

Well, I nearly missed my bus shuttle. There was a food truck blocking the view of it. Luckily I walked out to the road at the time that I did. The bus was running on Fiji time, and left three minutes earlier than it was supposed to.

Since I’d already been to Port Denarau and on the big catamaran, I knew what was in store for me. I waited to get on the boat, got on the boat, and thirty minutes later, I was pulling up to South Sea Island, having a Bula song sung to me and the other tourists again. Under the shade of an umbrella, I applied more sunscreen to my body as we were given a briefing about what was free and what was paid on the island. Once finished, we were invited to have a buffet lunch which was included in the price. Yum! Lots of great foods! Afterwards, I went to the dive center to grab my complimentary snorkel gear. I was kicking myself again for having spent so much money on something I didn’t really care about the day before. Had I not gone to those spots, I could have spent the same amount of money to go on a DIVE instead! But that’s okay – I prefer snorkeling anyway. I will have more opportunities to dive in Southeast Asia next year.

Another reason I was kicking myself was that when I was repacking my bag before heading to the cruise… I forgot my contacts on my dorm bed. Soooo, I was a little blind while snorkeling. Not fully – the goggles actually do help magnify things underwater a bit, but I wasn’t able to see quite as sharply as if I’d had contacts. Alas.

Despite my blindness, I had some really incredible sightings. I was NOT expecting to see a reef shark, but I did. I also was delighted to see a small octopus walking on the surface. It seemed like it was hunting for something, because it was digging underneath a coral. It reminded me of all my time spent with my octopus lady back in Coral Bay. Sigh.

I also saw the biggest pufferfish I’ve ever seen.

I think one of the most special moments for me, though, was seeing not one but TWO scorpionfish. I’ve only seen them once before, on a night dive on the Great Barrier Reef. And then, it was a very brief encounter and I wasn’t able to observe it for very long. This time, I was floating just a few feet away, admiring all their patterns and their jagged spines. If you don’t know what a scorpionfish is, have a look online. They’re beautiful! And their spines are actually venomous. Eek! I stayed a safe enough distance away haha. I think I did, anyway.

However, I did get stung by something. After my solo snorkel, I signed up for a guided snorkel tour that was included on the island. We went on a tender boat and went to the opposite side of the island, where snorkeling is usually prohibited. And there I was able to see a clownfish for the first time! I found Nemo! FINALLY! After all these years of snorkeling! What a joy that was. BUT during that snorkel, there were sea lice E V E R Y W H E R E. I mean, everywhere. And they kept stinging and stinging and stinging and stinging. Ouch! It pretty much stopped stinging as soon as we were out of the water, but in the moment it reminded me of getting stung by jellyfish at Busselton Jetty near Perth. Damn these underwater demons from hell!

I ended up having, I think, four snorkeling sessions in four hours. So worth it. With all the great marine life I observed (in addition to dozens and dozens of varieties of fish all around aside from the special encounters), I was reminded of Green Island in Cairns. Such a spectacular variety of marine life on a very tiny island. Perfection!

And then, sadly, it was time to go. As the tender was pulling up to the catamaran, we were asked for our return tickets. Oh, shit, where did I put mine? Everyone else had theirs ready but I was digging, digging, digging. The employee was clearly kind of annoyed and waiting for me. We were already at the catamaran, people were disembarking. I was pulling everything out of my tote bag. Sure enough, there it was, at the very bottom of the bag. Soaking wet and ripping. I sheepishly handed it to the employee, who exchanged looks with his coworker. As I passed them by, they laughed about it. (That’s one thing – everyone says Fijians are the nicest people ever… but I’ve found that they actually are pretty annoyed by tourists and can be kind of passive aggressive and/or rude. Obviously, every human is different and you can’t just say an entire group of people is any one thing. But from my perspective, I’ve often felt like I’ve been an inconvenience since I’ve been here. As if all the employees at all the venues have been rolling their eyes at me when I haven’t done anything except make them do their jobs lol.)

It’s interesting to think that in some ways, locals see me as a dollar sign. I can help them get a commission on booking a tour or they’ll get some money that they wouldn’t from locals. It is a reminder that while I’m not technically “rich,” I am compared to a lot of people. I also felt annoyed at times because I would call a phone number to do a tour and no one would answer. I would Press 1 to be connected and… nothing would happen lol.

Anyway. I returned from that trip last night. I’m SO glad I went back to the island. I love those beautiful islands!

I’ve spent today talking with my nephew and then with my brother. Now I’m blogging. It somehow is already 3pm and by the time I’ve posted this, it will probably be 4pm or later (update, it’s 4.30pm). I have to wake up very early tomorrow to get to the airport and head back to New Zealand. It is raining today, which is perfect – allowing me to just relax on my final evening here.

I will say I have certainly enjoyed my time in Fiji. It has felt very different from being in New Zealand for the past year. I think it has prepared me a little bit for what I will be experiencing in Southeast Asia next year. And it reminded me how exciting it is to travel to new places. But it is a far from perfect country. Between the litter, wild animals, people trying to scam you in town, etc., it certainly has its dark side. But any place that has poverty has these things as well. The whole world has these things. I will say, it is very humbling.

On the other side of it, you have beautiful islands and beaches, great snorkeling, marine life, etc. I think a perfect way to sum up MY experience in Fiji is this visual:

As I was driving on a shuttle bus through a dusty road filled with potholes and strewn with litter and shacks for homes, every twenty feet or so there would be a billboard with beautiful images of the outer Yasawa Islands, targeted for the tourists. It’s like saying – don’t pay attention to the bad stuff… go to the outer islands, go to a resort! Ignore the poverty!

Also, I hope this post doesn’t give a bad reflection of Fiji. I’ve really enjoyed being here and I do think that it is beautiful and culturally very interesting. I think it is just a complicated place, as are many places. I would love to come back. But next time, I WILL be one of those rich tourists that stays on the outer islands the whole time and spends every day snorkeling at the beach haha.

Miscellaneous

Oh, here’s a big one! I got my NZETA accepted, which allows me entry into Aotearoa New Zealand, but this time not on a Work and Holiday Visa (which has since expired), but on basically a tourist visa. The whole trip to Fiji was a way to bypass the pain of staying in New Zealand past 12 months, which means I would need to do about $1,000 worth of medical tests + a tourist visa. Instead, I spent about $1,000 going to Fiji instead haha.

When in Hamilton, I spotted a bubble tea shop called Gong Cha, which I used to go to with Jasper back in Queenstown. I ordered my usual – milk foam wintermelon. They asked how much ice I wanted. I was able to choose between 0%, 30%, 50%, 70% and I think 100%. I asked for 15%, somewhere between 0 and 30. You would not beLIEVE how stumped the cashier looked. She ended up just asking me how many ice cubes I wanted haha. I felt like such a turd.

They had Samoan fire dancing at the resort on Sunday night. It was really cool and I’ve never seen something like that before. These guys were super talented – there must have been six of them spinning fire at one point. Very neat!

I mentioned sunsets a little bit but wanted to mention them again. I loved hanging at the beach during sunset – it’s always such a treat for me. There was one night where the sky, the water, the beach, EVERYTHING seemed to have a sepia tone to it. And then color burst forth and everything morphed into a lovely shade of rainbow as the night sky took over. A few nights of sunsets below.

I’ve also mentioned wild dogs. Well, they hang out around the beach, at the resort restaurants, etc. Some of them have collars, so maybe they just roam around outside during the day and come home at night? Who knows. Anyway, one of these dogs came and sat underneath my beach chair one day. Too cute! And another one actually hopped up onto my lap one evening. And then it tried to nip at me randomly and I figured it probably has rabies and/or fleas so I ushered it off of me LOL.

Art of the Week

Reflections

I think I reflected on quite a bit within the body of this post, so not sure I have much more to say here. Let’s see.

I already feel so far away from New Zealand and I haven’t been away even a week yet. It is almost strange that I’ll be returning there for four more weeks as of tomorrow morning. I have one final road trip, I’ll sell my car, I’ll hang out on an island or two, spend some time in Auckland, and then it’s time to head home for Thanksgiving! I’m looking forward to being with family.

I have been doing a bit of a social media detox lately. Not fully, but kind of. After the whole Instagram fiasco, I just decided – cool down with all of it. I haven’t been using Instagram or Facebook as much. I’ve certainly been using Reddit a lot more since the screen addiction is real, but at least I am learning things and using my brain on Reddit (sometimes lol). I want to hopefully transition the free time into just practicing Spanish more, working on my damn book again which I haven’t done in months, etc. I’ll get there, I think. Baby steps.

Anyway. Until next time, I’m sending you all my love. x