Bula! (Hello in Fijian) Family & Friends,

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This belated report comes 15 years after its occurrence,  while Maggie and I were both still working in the Corporate world and looking forward in our post-work era to many adventures like this one, unencumbered by the thought of returning to our jobs and the work that might have piled up during our absence! However, still working, we longed for short getaways to the sunnier climes. With our 30th wedding anniversary approaching in October, 2005, we decided our employers could do without us for 3 weeks to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Fiji.  We conscripted with an organization, McCoy Travel, out of Maui and off we went! This mode of travel was not to be the norm in the ensuing 15 years, however, as we sparingly use a third party and have focused on cultural experiences.

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Before leaving, I had been communicating with Karl, the manager of the eco-resort, Papageno, on the island of Kadavu, where we would be residing on our actual anniversary date, October 3. I was able to pull off abridging our wedding vows, up many nights taking Prednisone for medical reasons, to send to Karl for Kadavu’s resident church elder, who would recite these on the beach on the appointed day, and a ‘surprise’ for Maggie.

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We left Seattle on September 17, riding Shuttle Express to Sea-Tac, with two women who were on their way to Morocco where they would ride camels in the Sahara. This must have found its way into my sub consciousness. In 2017, Maggie and I did indeed do that very same thing! Using our arrival at LAX allowed us to spend time with my birth mother, whom I had met 25 years ago, before taking our overseas flight on Air Pacific to Fiji.

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As this was a celebratory excursion, we had drinks in the upstairs bar at Tom Bradley Terminal before boarding our 10 hour plus direct flight. This was our first experience together traveling non-stop for such an extended period and found ourselves laying on top of each other to allow one of us to sleep at a time. Upon touchdown at Nadi International airport, located on the western side of Viti Levu, the largest Fijian island, we found ourselves greeted by a trio of Fijian singers at 4:45 a.m., a lovely way to start this romantic getaway. We arrived at our Raffles Gateway Hotel, were upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite, and sat on the ground floor lanai, wearing our hotel sulus (sarongs, basically) to watch the sun rising with its rays penetrating the feathers of birds sitting on a fence 30 yards away. Palm trees surrounded us while the McCoy Travel representative, Rosie, draped leis around our necks and welcomed us with the traditional greeting “ni sa bula vinaka” (wishing you happiness and good health). We took breakfast poolside, dining on French toast, papaya, pineapple and Fijian coffee, amidst the sweet smells of tropical plants, philodendrons vining up the local trees and multi-colored bougainvillea circling the pool.

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Part 1 of our ‘package’ would find us aboard the Mystique Princess, a Blue Lagoon tour vessel, moored at Lautoka Wharf, 30 kilometers away. The drive from Nadi was through beautiful country; lush green hills and sugar cane fields, trucks loaded with the cut cane stalks on their way to the refinery. It was reminiscent of our 1993 Jamaican road trip, with driving on the left (except I was not the one driving this time). Other flashbacks to Jamaica and Trinidad were conjured up with the colonial-style clean structures of white-painted wood with green trim at our hotel and other structures. Our driver informed us on housing, land rentals, merchandise prices, and average weekly wages of 50 Fijian Dollars (FD), translating to $25 US Dollars. We asked about tipping, which is discretionary and does not offend these islanders if offered. Great set up to tip our driver 5 FD! We parted ways with the shortened salutation, Vinaka!

 

It was mid-afternoon before we boarded our vessel and were thrown in with a slew of others, a majority of whom were Colonial Insurance employees based in Suva, the capital of Fiji, being rewarded by their employer. As we were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary, we were invited to sit at the Captain’s table, along with a young couple on their honeymoon. Another attendee commented about my looking like the actor Gary Busey (not sure that was a compliment given his wild & crazy appearance in those days), which led to more bonding and guffawing, a friendly start to this 3 day luxury cruise. Champagne flowed unendingly, leading up to an outrageous sunset during which we consumed an appropriately named beverage, a Yasawa Sunset. We made futile attempts to find the Southern Cross in the starlit South Pacific sky, but did witness the rising of a full moon near the Yasawa Islands where we would spend our next day.

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The beginning of our first full day at sea we were rousted at 6 AM and 15 of us elected to be put ashore on one of the 20 or so Yasawa Group islands, along with 5 crew members. It was a remote sandy beach, where we took in the sun rise and the gloriously tinted cloud formations, swimming for a bit, before returning to our ‘home’ for breakfast. Personalities soon were exposed, with Phil, a former real estate guy, the quintessential glad-hander, becoming our cheerleader. Conveniently enough we all had name tags which eliminated the awkwardness of professing our apologies for not remembering a name. On board, Alfie’s suave voice announced breakfast’s availability, ending with “keep smiling, Vinaka”.  The rest of the day was spent on the largest and most northern of the Yasawa Group islands, Yasawa, starting out with a 20 minute (Fijian Time, since it turned into an hour) hike, climbing hills overlooking the various coves of turquoise waters, with reefs and coral appearing darkly below the sea surface, laced with white sand beaches. On our descent, mooing of cows could be heard in the distance as we traversed alongside cassava (tapioca) plants and other cultivations. Reaching the beach, we had a proper tea and coffee service before boarding a metal flat bottomed boat which whisked us off to a reef for snorkeling, viewing colorful soft coral swaying with the wave action. We returned from our hour at the reef to a sumptuous buffet lunch.

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Off next to the local village where we witnessed a Yaqona/Kavu ceremony, dancing with the locals, during which our own cheerleader, Phil, was designated ‘Chief’, which title he carried for the duration of our cruise. He actually looked like a white version of Fijian royalty! Maggie bought a wood necklace at the shell market and we witnessed a ‘meke’ (storytelling with wonderful singing and perfect harmonizing). The children were attended to by one of the elder women while their mothers were performing. A young teenage boy who was part of the ceremony was cracking up over the festivities, eliciting laughter from all in attendance. Conga lines were formed, with Maggie behind a Japanese man, kicking up his heels, in contrast to his normal solemn and staid self! We anchored for the last night aboard ship, next to an island with a sheer rock face and green pine-like trees, reminding us of our Northwest countryside. The crew had us prepare for a skit for our upcoming final meal, “International Night”, grouping up by countries. There were 8 Americans and ‘Jersey’ Jerry said he would guide us, which ‘Chief’ Phil graciously agreed to, handing him the baton. As Team USA we discussed rapping, singing “We Are the World”, “Born in the USA” and “Happy Birthday”.

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Last day, up at 6 AM once more for a swim. The seas were rough with big swells on our small boat launch to the coral beach in a fairly protected cove. Returning, the seas were even worse and our ship had to come to us. After that unique experience, we motored on to the 57 acre island of Nanuya Lai Lai, owned by Blue Lagoon, mooring 20 meters from shore, anchored to two coconut trees with heavy hawsers. Snorkeling ensued to our cove’s point, with no need for fins. Later, a small metal boat was used to take us for reef snorkeling close to Turtle Island, 100 meters across from Nanuya Lai Lai. This turned out to be the best snorkeling yet, with black coral hosting multiple types of colorful fish, including small blue fluorescent ones. We were regaled by green soft coral looking like desert cactus, swaying back and forth, with 1.5 foot long giant clams laying nearby. One of our crew, Rodney, brought over a blue star fish for us to touch. We were in no hurry to return to the ship since the water was so buoyant and the effort to snorkel, so little, so Maggie and I, the laggards we were, ended up returning in the last boat. We lunched with the Japanese family of 3, the mother having a great command of English and thought I looked like Bill Clinton (I thought that was better than Gary Busey, at least). We rambled on about politics, New Orleans, and sundry matters.

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Maggie and I passed on the volleyball match between our ship and the Blue Lagoon sister ship (Yasawa Princess) which was tied to a coconut tree. We rested onboard before ferrying in the 20 meters to shore for the evening Lovo (Fijian underground oven for cooking our last night feast), with picnic tables set up along the shoreline.

 

We kidded ‘Chief’ Phil about his wanting to leave before the skits and avoid embarrassment, since we had not come up with anything the day before, let alone practice it. Our leader for the effort, ‘Jersey’ Jerry, copped out totally, and couldn’t even look at the rest of us poor Americans. The Aussies went first, stealing our “Happy BIrthday” idea (obviously, like us, they took the easy way) and then did some creative rhyming song about this cruise…8 Aussies soundly defeating 8 Americans!! The only saving grace for Team USA was ‘Chief Phil’s bantering, as he had already decided he was aligning himself with the Fijians. The Germans did a good job, as did the Japanese. The Fijians were superb with their singing and war dancing. They were deemed the winners!

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Our time with Blue Lagoon ended the next morning, getting underway at 5:20 AM to mitigate headwinds, ensuring our arrival back on Viti Levu at noon to catch our flight aboard a 19-seater Twin Otter Beechcraft Queenaire for an hour flight to Savusava on the island of Vanua Levu. Before disembarking we took a group photo after which Phil thanked the crew for their professionalism, as ‘Chief’, speaking for ‘his people’ (meaning all of us guests).

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We will rejoin you on the island of Vanua Levu in the next dispatch,

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Bula (Fijian for ‘Cheers’), Stan & Maggie