making up syllables: stick around a little waya (fiji, pt. 2)

i had an early shuttle to denarau marina so a deep rest wasn’t really in the cards. some noisy brits and an ongoing chest cold made the night somewhat restless already but that's all part of it i guess (#backpackerlife). fiji is clearly setup for the tourist trade and at the marina i heard some fellow tourists remark in glum surprise at how built up everything already was, hoping no doubt for a bit of that authentic island experience. i’m not sure where you can find that anymore friend, unless you forge your own way and perhaps get lost doing so.

i bought a 12 pack of coronas before getting on the boat, a tactic they recommend as island beers can be costly, which meant i had to lug that around for the rest of the trip. the cost of living cheaply. the catamaran serves the role of island taxi and makes a total of 29 stops in one direction. my first island, waya lailai (meaning "little waya") was only around stop 9 and is referred to as the gateway to the yasawas, the northern most strand of fiji’s northern islands. it took about 2 hours to get there and myself along with several english girls were picked up from the catamaran via a couple of small fishing boats and ushered over to the beach, our temporary home.

waya lailai ecohaven resort is known as a budget option which means its not some sandals type resort but a no frills, living with the locals type establishment. it is completely fijian owned and ran (as all my accommodations would be) and i guess that more or less appealed to me, as did the cost. i wish i had splurged on a more private room but i’m sure the dorm will be fine for a couple of nights, even though with my cold and cough i am bound to be the nuisance in the room.

that evening i decided to pay the $10FJD (~$5USD) to join a guided hiking tour to the top of the island. i was thinking it would be a leisurely stroll meant for pensioners but this was more mountaineering than hike. i was breathing hard with the heat, altitude and congestion but it was no doubt worth the difficult ascent. from the top you were awarded a lovely 180º view out toward the neighboring island of kuata. you could also see castaway island, so named because they filmed the tom hanks movie there. willllssssoooonnnn!

the descent was even steeper and i feared for my thighs but we made it before nightfall and in time for some journaling and dinner. during our sup i met some girls from hawaii who decided to leave one island paradise for another (for whatever reason) and we ended up visiting the neighboring village where we spent a traditional evening with the largest family on the island. there were probably about 20 of them in total, coming and going, cousins, aunts, uncles, daughters, etc. most of the time i sat awkwardly not talking to the italian fellow who also joined us and respectfully drinking the traditional kava root tea whenever it was offered, which was frequently. the kava is pounded into a powder and then sieved through a sarong, enough like tea that i don’t know what else to call it. apparently it has some sedative and anesthetic properties and as such it's not too difficult to explain why they down the stuff cup after cup. it’s surely not the taste which even fijians admit to tasting like muddy water.

after our cool-kids-only home visit we joined the rest of the resort guests on the beachfront for a bonfire. and more kava. if i never have to drink a cup of kava again, sedative or no…there was some unconfident guitar jamming going down and even less confident singing, no one quite knowing the words to bryan adam’s “everything i do, i do it for you” (except myself obviously but i wasn’t about to join in on no beachfront acoustic jam, i ain’t no snag). feeling somewhat anesthetized and having about as much koombyah togetherness as i could take i turned in for the night.

first three are actually from the main island, first night

denarau marina

one of the mamanuca islands, the southern chain of northern islands, probably south sea island. they are significantly smaller than the yasawas and usually in this small, perfectly circle, ideal desert island style. i didn't stay on any of these but someone told me you can walk around the entire perimeter in about 5 minutes.