Fiji...contrasts and tsunamis

Our last two days in the South Pacific were spent in a lovely beachfront hotel in Nadi, Fiji. And I DO mean IN the hotel! Fiji appears to be a place that deserves some serious exploration but we were continually advised not to venture out into the city. This country has a turbulent history with the last coup taking place in 2006 and it is now under military rule. Our first day there we decided that we REALLY needed to do some serious shopping so we called for a taxi. We were warned by the concierge as well as the cab driver that it is pretty dangerous and we should be very careful. The taxi dropped us at "Jack's of Fiji" where you can buy everything from clothing to kava bowls to an extra bag to get them home in. We bought all three and then some. When we had finally melted the plastic, the store’s concierge called our cab to come and pick us up. Everyone is concerned about your safety, or it would appear so.

That evening the hotel was providing a program of traditional dance and, since we had an ocean view the performance took place right below our balcony. Whoo hoo! We indulged in a wonderful dinner and then purchased a nice bottle of wine to enjoy while we sat on the balcony and watched the show. The Fijians are very talented, as are all the South Sea islanders and the show was super. Each of the islands we have visited have a different style of dancing and the Fijians are no exception. Regardless of where we go, however, my favorites are the fire dancers. There were several young men here who were “playing with fire” but the one I enjoyed the most was the young woman who was swinging two buckets of fire around and around herself.

When we awoke the next morning, Chris turned on the TV while I was in the shower to see if there might be some news on (up to then all that had been available was rugby and religion). That morning was different. There had been an earthquake off the coast of Samoa that morning followed by a tsunami that was now headed our way. Given the information provided by the weather people (that it wouldn’t amount to much in Fiji) and the fact that we were on the west side of the island we weren’t terribly concerned but we did keep a close watch on the water. All we really noticed was the tide receded and came back in quite a bit faster than usual. We asked a couple of the hotel employees if they were worried about the tsunami but, not only were they unconcerned, they hadn’t even heard about it!

Our biggest concern was all our new friends. Most were in Vava’u but the last we’d heard from Hipnautical, was that they were in Apia, Samoa. We sent out several emails and then just waited. Unfortuantely, we were unable to contact the family we’d met who lived on Niuetoputapu island or John & Veronika from Suwarrow. Reports have come trickling in since we returned home and all our cruising friends are fine and had little or no effects from the tsunami. Guy & Karen told us that Nico’s family (on Niuetoputapu) are all safe but they lost their home, their boat and pretty much everything they owned. Still, 10 people are known dead and several missing on that tiny island. Help is trickling in but it is slow. The cruising community has begun gathering together things they can take that will help the people get back on their feet. As for John & Veronika, we have no news. We emailed them but the message was rejected so we can only hope they are safe.

All in all, Fiji was beautiful with sand like silk, warm, warm water and wonderful people and we would both love to go back and see more of it. Who knows…maybe we’ll take “Faith” someday