An NZ Odyssey by Lisa & Keegan

Lisa’s parents, Elizabeth and Rene, arrived in Christchurch on March 31st in the late morning. Even though they had the opportunity to take it easy and get over the 19+ hours of transit time they were ready to sight see. The four of use headed to Akaroa on Banks Peninsula, just under an hour from Christchurch where we hiked a short trail along the ocean and went for lunch. For the parents, this seemed like a good introduction to NZ as it encompassed the rolling green hills, beautiful coastline, and under flavoured food and beer. That night we stayed in a hotel in Christchurch where we ate Thai takeaway and relaxed. The next day we jumped on a 3ish hour flight to Fiji.

Now Fiji has been one of the cooler places Lisa and I have been to on the trip, and we probably would not have gone had it not been for the visit of Elizabeth and Rene, who both had there sights set on Fiji as a dream destination since they were young adults. While we had all been to other tropical islands before, Fiji as a concept stood out as having extremely blue water sheltered by coral reef, constant perfect weather, and people made so wonderful through isolation and coconut tree climbing that we would virtually explode from vicariousness. Which was surprisingly not far from the truth.

We stayed in a very small RCI resort, sandwiched between a mega resort and a residential area, bought with Rene and Elizabeth’s timeshare points which was located along the coast on the south side of the main island between Nadi and Suva. The facility had a restaurant (which threw the occasional evening lovo; an underground cooked feast), a pool, beach access, and about 40 units. The size of the resort was unique in that in order to eat a variety of food and do anything besides relax you had to leave the premises. The area around the facility did have some amenities in a pizzeria, an insanely overpriced restaurant in the mega resort, a small supermarket, and one single fruit and vegetable seller. So I guess the limited food and the price of some food imported in presumably small quantities into one of the most remote countries in the world, required us to eat and drink like a local.

While we did spend a great deal of much needed time (sometimes vacations and retirement can be so long and variable that they require their own “inceptioned” vacations) relaxing on the beach/ pool area and walking around the surrounding area, we ventured a bit further both into and off of the island. On the first night we were there, the resort threw a Lovo, which is a traditional Fijian feast which involves cooking an entire meal in a hand built underground stove. The entertainment was the highlight several traditionally dressed performers sang, danced, and spun weaponlike sticks. The meal was also accompanied by a Kava ceremony, which is basically the serving of a cool mildly narcotic tea made from a root in the licorice family out of a community bowl and served in a coconut shell. Large amounts of the stuff are said to calm people and reduce stress and anxiety, though the serving provided were to small for us to notice any difference.

We signed up for a boat tour out to the small Yanuca Island about 15km off the coast. The island is covered in dense jungle, has golden sandy beaches sheltered by coral reef, and has a small permanent population. Unfortunately, we were not able to venture into their village, but a few did come out to greet us. From the island we snorkeled in the coral reef, paddled around on a kayak and an inflatable stand up paddle board (which was hilariously low on air). We were also served at a Lovo, where Rene was selected to be the chief of us gringo visitors and to accept the invitation of meal on our collective behalf. We were also shown how to climb a coconut tree, open a coconut with a rock, and scrap out the insides with homemade tools.

On the way back to the main island I got talking to one of the local guides named Claude. Some how we got on the topic of music, I asked him if he played music. He looked at me dumbfounded and responded: “yeah, I play the guitar and sing, everyone can here”. I told him I also played, which led to his invitation to come jam with him and his friend later that evening. That night Lisa and I hopped in a cab and gave the driver the address Claude provided. We drove for about 10 minutes where the driver stopped and dropped us off at the side of the highway seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Claude almost mysteriously came out of the bush and asked him to follow us. He took us to his friend Josh’s house where we were led onto a large open front porch area which had enough space and cushions for 30 sitting people. We joined Josh siting in front of his Kava bowl, two guitars, a ukulele, and hand transcribed sheet music. The music we played was amazing. Both Josh and Claude were extremely talented singers, constantly harmonizing with each other, and were both very good guitar/ ukulele players. Their music selection was also great, as it was familiar, and generally easy playing songs.

We had a wonderful time and I think this solidified our vicariousity of Fijians. Claude and Josh were both extremely friendly, both enjoyed talking about their culture and ours. Lisa and I both drank enough Kava to feel the narcotic calming effect. Our favourite moments was learning the Fijian equivalent of Old MacDonald, where you make a ton of animal songs and Joshes reggae rendition of Elvis’s Blue Sued Shoes.

The next day I was very hungover from Kava, so I needed a rest day. Lisa and her parents rented Kayaks from the resort next door and headed up an overgrown river to a lagoon. The water was calm and they had a great time.

One of the other activities we tried was golfing. The resort next door also owned a golf resort which was open to the public. For a reasonable price we were able to rent carts and clubs and golf 9 holes. While it was great to be out, the state of the course made the golf very difficult. To exaggerate, there was no distinction between jungle, green, and fairway; we almost lost all of the balls in the first 4 holes. We skipped the long holes which required driving, and only played the remaining 2 par 3’s. It was fun, but don’t go golfing at the Pacific Harbour Resort in Fiji.

We also spent another day hiking through the Colo-i-Suva Rainforest resort, just outside of the Capital City Suva almost two hours from our resort. The park provided awesome overgrown trails trough Rainforest that climbed hills and followed streams through a network of clear blue waterfalls. We took a refreshing swim under one of the waterfalls. On the way home we stopped in Suva for some souvenirs. A city is a city even on a small island in the middle of the pacific.

The trip was wonderful, and was refreshing for Lisa and I. It also was a good ease into adventuring with the Jolicoeurs. I think we all agreed Fiji is a place we could happily go back to both for the scenery and the people. Plus Rene really like the beer Fiji Gold, enough so that he bought a bright yellow Fiji Gold T-shirt.Read more