Fiji Vacation

This was our 10 year anniversary trip to the Garden Island of Taveuni, Fiji. I'm a strong believer that things happen for a reason and I'm glad that our plans got changed and we ended up going to this paradise. I've been all over the world and have seen some amazing places, but nothing will ever compare to Fiji. What really makes the experience are the beautiful people. You can go to the most amazing places, but the people can ruin that experience. The local people are some of the kindest people in the world and make you feel like family. I've never met a person who was not driven by money. The whole Fijian culture is focused on family. As you can see in the YouTube video when we were invited to the village to hang out and drink Kava. The locals live in simple homes, by simple means, but they are all happy. We spent almost two weeks here and we didn't want to leave. If it wasn't for our family back home, we'd probably stay longer. We rented a house on a hilltop which overlooked the ocean and Vanua Levu Island, the island where The Survivor was filmed several times.

The first trip we did was to the Bouma National Heritage Park and we did the Lavena Coastal Walk. The hike to the waterfall is a few kilometers, but well worth the hike. I was surprised that my wife didn’t complain once about all of the walking. My GoPro died when we got to the waterfall and I had to swim with my brand new $3,000 Sony Alpha III so I could capture my wife by the waterfall. I’m glad I brought my waterproof bag, it made the sidestroke swimming easier. Once I got to the waterfall, I had to hold on with one arm to the side of the slippery rocks and attempt to capture the perfect shot of my wife. This was my first time shooting with a filter and that made it even more challenging. On the way back from the waterfalls, we had lunch at the local village. The food was a mixture of taro, ramen and whatever seafood that was caught by the local women in the low tide.

Our house came with two kayaks so that made adventures even better. We'd usually grab the kayaks and discover empty beaches. We'd also fish with hand lines off the kayaks for lunch. I was also fortunate to have Danny as my fishing guide and driver. Hand lining for tuna on a tiny boat was experience of a lifetime. Things got a little sketchy when we got out in the rough waters chasing the tuna. I’m glad that our housekeeper was able to entertain my wife for the entire day because I was gone for the entire day. I was able to get enough tuna for our entire stay. Nothing went to waste. I even made a delicious soup out of the tuna heads. Half of the time we were there, we'd eat dinner with our hosts. They would bring Taro, Cassava, Kava, and we'd have a nice dinner with a guitar. Boni would come over and play the guitar during dinner and Kava drinking. He even invited us to his village for Kava on one of the rainy days.

Our host Rosie found out that it was my 38th birthday and on that same night decided to surprise me with a homemade cake that she made. I've never had a surprise birthday party, but the effort that she put in made the experience special.  Throughout our stay we've had three Kava ceremonies. Fijians love Kava and it's one of the most prized crops that they grow. It's an interesting experience which I think is more of a social thing than getting intoxicated.  The day before last, our host put together a Lovo (Fijian Feast) for us. The entire preparation took a whole day. All of the food was prepared in a pit covered with leaves. When it was all finished it tasted like smoked barbecue. I've learned a lot on this trip because I'm always thirsty for knowledge. Most of the things I learned was from our housekeeper Lucia. She lived in a nearby village and would come over every morning and stay the whole day taking care of the property. This lady taught me how to husk a coconut with using just a sharp end of a tree branch. In the past I'd spend an hour with a multitool trying to take the coconut apart. Lucia would show us all of the edible vegetables and fruits on the property and surrounding jungle. You can pretty much survive off of the land. I've never eaten so much tropical fruit, Taro, Cassava and fish. We would go to the market a couple times to get fresh eggs and some vegetables. Lucia said that anything that grows on the land belongs to anyone, unless it is on private property. A lot of times when we would go to the beach, I'd walk off to the jungle and pick fruit and coconut for lunch. One of the best tasting things that I was introduced to was a sprouted coconut. The inside of the coconut has a spongy, buttery consistency, which you can just pick out with your fingers. I developed a liking for Papaya. I’ve never liked Papaya until I came to Fiji. Papaya grows everywhere and it was very delicious.

On our last day Rosie and Danny planned an island hopping excursion for us. This was one of the best trips that I've ever done. We started off with a snorkel at the Rainbow Reef. The reef stretches for 200 miles and it was unbelievable. Danny the took us to his family property on an isolated beach. This is the place I could see myself retiring at. Then we stopped at a place called The Cabbage Patch. It's an underwater formation of sea plant that looks like a giant garbage. Danny said people come there from all over the world just to scuba dive the spot. The next stop was at the pig island for lunch. The island is only inhabited by wild pigs. It had one of the most amazing beaches that I've ever been on. The last stop was swimming with the Manta Rays. This has been on my bucket list for many years. This was the most amazing snorkeling experience that I've ever had.  This type of trip is not for everyone. We stay at rental properties because we like to cook our own food and like to be isolated from everyone. We like to immerse ourself into the culture and learn new things. Hope you enjoyed the video. Bula!