Tropical weather? Let's do a hike!

One of the main attractions to see on the island is a series of 3 waterfalls all created by the same river. You have to hike up to each one and apparently the hike gets harder the higher up you go. We asked the hotel to offer this tour but unfortunately we were the only ones who signed up so they decided not to run it. Another couple we met had managed to do it on their own by getting the public bus that operates 3 times a day. After some much needed breakfast we walked to the nearest shop, 25 minutes in boiling sun at 7.30am, to discover it was closed even though it said it should be open. Luckily a smaller one was open so we managed to get some snacks and water to take on the hike. After layeringon insect repellent, sun cream and good hiking clothes we stood on the road to wait for the bus. It was hot and I mean really hot. The road had no shade and the half an hour wait was torture. After what felt like a lifetime of melting away along came a very packed old bus chugging up the hill really struggling to make. Now we understood why it was late. We were fortunate enough to get seats although it was a very unpleasant closeness to a stranger because we couldn't sit together. Thankfully the bus had open sides instead of windows so we did get a nice breeze when we got up to some speed. We stopped outside so many small villages and people's houses and it was definitely an experience we won't forget. We felt like this was the real island life of Fiji, seeing children playing in the river, locals carting huge sacks of flour off the bus to last them months and it felt good in the end that the trip was cancelled as we would have missed out on experiencing this. We eventually spotted our stop and after paying a woman in a tiny little shop to enter the reserve where the waterfalls were we started our hike. The track to the first waterfall was mostly flat, walking along a grass covered path lined with all kinds of tropical flowers and plants. The forest was alive with insects and birds, the sound was beautiful. We had bought swimming things but when we got to the waterfall we found several locals swimming there and feeling self conscious we took a photo and continued our walk. The path then got much harder with a steep ascent up some steps. This went on for what felt like forever but after probably 10000 steps (I may be exaggerating here) we made it to a small covered seating area overlooking the incredible view of the sea below on one side and the rainforest the other. Another couple were enjoying this spot so we carried on instead. The path then entered the forest and weaved its way through with several ascents and descents after each other. It almost felt like we were undoing progress everytime we descended. We had to watch out for cane toads and spiderwebs but eventually came to our second waterfall. Harder to see than the first we paused for some time before deciding to head back down instead of climbing to the third waterfall. There was only one bus left to run for the day and we didn't want to miss it. On our way back we sat and ate lunch under the covered seats as the heavens opened and we were surrounded by tropical rain. It felt invigorating and freeing just sitting there soaking it in. After some slippery steps down we were back at the start and sat talking to the lady while we waited for the bus. After a while a family turned up the father of which she knew who had his family coming to stay for Christmas and they wanted to see the falls. After a while of talking he actually offered to take us back, for a fee, but she confirmed he is a taxi driver. We weren't sure, it felt unsafe but after the bus still did not arrive we accepted and he dropped us at the closed shop we visited this morning to get supplies before we walked the rest of the way home with Nick somehow carrying 6 2L bottles of water. We had to hand wash all our clothes under the tap just to remove all the disgustingness of the day, knowing they'd dry within minutes on the balcony. It certainly was an adventurous but extremely tiring day and we will definitely sleep well tonight.Lue lisää