We're at a Outrigger Resort on the coral coast on this last week in Fiji, The resort is very nice - similar in many ways to the resorts we've visited over the years, but different. When we arrived at the resort we drove up to park our car, and were greeted by the attendant. As he opened the gate, he raised his hands high in the air and yelled "BULA!" in a loud booming voice. It startled the heck out of us, and then we started to laugh. The attendant does this every time we park the car.
Today was a rainy day, so John asked that I play bingo with him after lunch. To my surprise I won the first game and a free cocktail. As I said to John, it's nice to win. John was one square short, and kicked himself that we didn't swap bingo cards at the start. Elizabeth joined the kid's club today, and enjoyed hiking, egg tossing, snorkeling, and boogie board racing. She was the only kid her age there who wasn't from Australia or New Zealand. She said that her new found friends first didn't believe that she was from Canada, and when they finally believed her, they wanted her to choose which of the two countries she liked best. She wisely didn't choose.
John has been kicking around the resort doing his own thing. He befriended a number of the Fijian staff members, and convinced one to drive him around the resort on a golf cart. It all worked out until they got a flat tire and had to walk the rest of the way back. He also talked his way into the gym to use some of the exercise equipment, even though you're supposed to be 17 years of age or over. The latest of his shenanigans involved first getting a few dollars from me to buy a snack, and then using the code on the receipt to access the Internet laptops in the cafe. The only problem was he needed to be 15 to use the Internet cafe by himself without a parent. John claimed to be 14 and 1/2, hoping that the attendant would be nice and let him in. She would have none of it. I'm not sure how claiming he was under 15 was going to help his cause.
The resort is intended to showcase indigenous Fijian culture. Catheleen overheard an Australian father admonish his two young daughters, who were around five years old, to get out of the pool. He said that they didn't travel half way across the world to swim in the pool all day, and rather need to go experience some Fijian culture. First of all, I'm not sure five year olds even know what culture is, and secondly, they didn't travel that far. There are cultural experiences to be found here though, including listening to some of the singing groups performing around the resort. Singing is a tradition here, and they even have a poignant goodbye song a group sings as some of the guests depart.
Almost all the staff seem to be indigenous Fijians. Many of them are quite overweight I've noticed, in stark contrast to the typical slim Asians we're seen all throughout South East Asia. Speaking with Lynn last week, she noted that the diet in Fiji is very poor, which contributes to a great deal of heart disease, diabetes, and an early grave for many. Too much of everything is the norm for many unfortunately.
We've driven to the local town a few times now. It's a small town but buzzing with activity. They have a covered market with fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood, and many vendors sell their vegetables and other items on the street, mostly spread out on mats. One lady had conical sea shells for sale, all fresh with the muscle or sea creature inside the shell. I don't know what type of sea food this was. We stopped by a few Indian stalls selling sweets, and picked up a few squares and balls, all brightly coloured and tasty. As always, we ended up at the bread shop to pick up some fresh bread, butter and various pastries. It's funny that inevitably an indigenous Fijian will strike up a conversation with us and point us to his store or a Fijian market, and warn us about the local Indian vendors who are supposedly aggressive. Funny thing though, the Indian vendors have been anything but aggressive. What a strange rivalry exists between these two groups.
We're enjoying the sunsets around here too. Just tonight we had dinner at a restaurant along the coast and just marvelled at the clouds, calm sea, and setting sun. It's nice to take it slow and enjoy the moment. As they say around here, we're on Fijian time.
Here's Elizabeth's silhouette after sunset near the restaurant.
