Day 1: Nadi, Fiji
What an amazing, packed first day!! First off, I left LAX on Saturday night at 11:30pm and landed in Nadi at 4:45am Monday morning! It is nuts to me how I just missed a day. I was thankful for getting in so early, going through customs and receiving my luggage was so easy! Then I looked for my shuttle or taxi to the Mecure Hotel, where Rebecca was. This guy comes up to me in a car and says the hotel shuttle broke but he’s there instead. Just praying that the people and Fiji are honest I hop in the car. Not even a mile down the road we pick up a hitchhiker!! This is 5am and I’m a little worried and a little excited about this new found adventure I set myself up for. He tells me he is his friend, but they exchanged names so I knew he was a hitchhiker. A couple miles down the road he tells the driver he’s okay and hops out!! Crazy. We arrive at the hotel, the man helps me with my bag, and I check into beck’s room. The guy brings my bag up for me, how nice! I put the key in, the light turns on and THERE’S BECK!! I was so excited to see her I freaked out, of course, and the hotel worker thought we were crazy. It was an awesome, well needed greeting!!
After catching up for a minute we decide we need some coffee, so at 6am we start our day by walking.. and walking.. and walking until we find a McDonald’s; which is like NONE other that I have seen! We got English muffins and coffee and they told up to sit down and they would bring it to us. They brought our food to the table! It was a restaurant/ sit down type of atmosphere- kind of cool! After looking at some brochures and my Fiji book we made a rough plan of our trip. We walked back to the hotel and went to the tourism desk to have the lady start helping us book and secure all of our activities we planned out!
After planning, we went and sat at the bar and ordered a latte. Pure bliss so far J Then we put suits on and started walking towards the beach. We walked probably 2 miles, ok a little more, until we hit the water. Walking around Fiji is an experience I have never had, the towns are so quaint, the houses are so different, and the people are so friendly and warming. We got on the beach and started walking, and were stopped by an old man telling us he has “bou juice”. Curious, we follow him. He sits us down on a bamboo rug and we watch him cut open what looks like a coconut. We consult him about this and he CLAIMS its “bou joice” and is good detox, healthy, good for you, everything. He then goes into describing his family life, and his “HUGE” tank of a wife. “I mean she is huge” is what he said over and over. Beck and I really were at a loss at what to say to that. He gave us the “bou juice” and coincidentally it tasted just like coconut juice! Then he opened a dried up one and we ate it, tasted just like an almond! After bonding, we kept on our way. We walked a while, then after landing in a crab mine, we ran and jumped out of there and headed back where we started. We stopped at a hut for lunch and a drink, and then started walking back. Time is no matter for us, we have no sense of time, direction, the outside world, nothing. It is the most incredible, free feeling I have ever experienced.
When we got back to the hotel, we jumped in the pool and figured out what was next. We decided to go check out this local surf spot, but the taxi driver (who later became our chauffeur) recommended we check out this mudbath hot springs place. We take up his offer and head on our way. After a long, bumpy drive, we arrive. This place was crazy! Homemade steps into this hole in the ground, then this guy put mud all over us, we let it dry, went back in this 2.5 feet hole, the guy called beck a pussy until she jumped from a tree into this hole, and she jumped. J She looked up and smiled at me, and there was mud ALL in her invisalin!! I was dying laughing, she asked why then when I told her she didn’t want to smile but she wanted to laugh because it was hilarious and she could only imagine what it looked like J This whole time were a little concerned because we figure there is snakes and frogs in this mud hole, he promises us there is not. At that time beck spots this HUGE frog and she’s like o yea? What about that one?! Definitely gross. We get out from the mud hole, after semi washing all this mud off, and walk towards this natural hot spring. What looks to be another mud hole, but a little cleaner, we hop in that, only to find out this one is 100 degrees! It was so nice and comfortable! We clean off in there, and head over to these ladies who had a plastic tarp on the ground. We lay down and got 15 minute massages and after being smothered in coconut oil, say Vinaka to the ladies and head back with our driver. On the way back, school was out and the kids were walking home from their bus stop. They were the cutest kids ever, all in their school uniforms. Were going really slow, and with our windows down these kids start getting all flirty and shy. We look back and one of them puts one hand on his hip, and waving with the other said “Have a nice day!!” in this flirty little cute tone!! All of his friends grabbed him and started laughing and, o my gosh it was TOO cute! We start heading back, and stop at the local farmer’s market to try some Kava which is the country’s national drink, a ritualistic type beverage. It wasn’t what we expected, it is made with water and a type of root, very bitter, left your tongue numb, and is claimed to make you tired and lazy (which was not good with the major jet lag I still have). We also got some bananas, oranges (which were green?) and tried a papaya.
Going back to the hotel now, we thank the cab driver and go up to shower all the crazy stuff off of us. We went down, had a drink and dinner at a Thai/ Indian place, but were both feeling extremely tired and out of it so about 730 we got back, and now I am about to pass out. Tomorrow is going to be huge. We are leaving Nadi and going to Suva, the country’s capital city. There we are going on a three day scuba diving expedition so it should be fun!
Day2 Nadi to Pacific Harbour:
We woke up early, and got on a 730 bus to Pacific Harbour. This was a very nice bus, a greyhound comparison to America- just keep that in mind. It was very long, the flow of traffic is a lot slower and there are a lot of mountainous roads to climb; and with the bad road surfaces, it was a slow pace- which no one had a problem with- its FIJI TIME! Fiji time is a popular phrase used, which we got used to very quickly- someone says 730, they mean just past 8. It’s a very relaxed, chill, UN AMERICAN atmosphere, something in which I got used to very quickly and could get used to forever. We went through a lot of little villages and it was about a 3 hour drive. We arrived at the dive site just after 12, I got my scuba gear, beck and I said goodbye and she went off to the hotel. I was very hungry at this point, because we hadn’t eaten yet.. major detail. HAHA. I met Mikayla, who was also finishing up her certification- she was from Aus and her and I became friends and dive buddies right away. We did 2 amazing, breathtaking coral dives and returned back to the dive shop about 630. I met back up with beck at the Uprising and was starving!! We ate some dinner then cashed out early for the night. It was a little rainy and overcast in pacific Harbour.
Day 3 Pacific Harbour:
Beck and I woke up about 630 and went down for some breakfast. Breakfast was amazing; with the most fresh fruit, pastries, and coffee (beck mocked me because I am such a health nut so I could not get over how fresh everything tasted over here!!). We arrived to the dive shop about 8 and got our stuff together for our morning dives. We did two dives again, both coral dives and they were awesome! We got about 80 feet down in the dives; and it was incredible! We had some funny instructors on our boat; they loved Rebecca! They were trying to push her over and were laughing at her; she was joking with them and having a good time. We stopped at an island in between dives to have tea, cookies, and to do some snorkeling. On our second dive, beck ran out of air at our safety stop! So I helped her out J good friend I am! We got back to uprising and had some lunch and went out kayaking. The lady warned us to stay close to the resort because the lady that morning claimed to have seen a shark. So the lady was like “I’m not saying you’ll see a shark…but you MIGHT see a shark..” We had some good laughs about that one. After kayaking we did some homework and had a latte at the internet café. About 7 we put our books away and came back for a drink, and while sitting out by the beach bar we met 2 of our new friends Tim, Risto, and then later this creepy Ryan. We had a couple of drinks with them, creepy Ryan tried hitting on Rebecca, she told him to beat the trails and we went to bed.
Day 4 Pacific Harbour:
This was an incredible day; jammed pack to say the least! B and I woke up early, had breakfast and went to the dive shop for The Shark dive!! AHH the day had finally come to dive with sharks. This day was sunnier then the past 2 days in Pacific Harbour, we went 100 feet our first dive and watched them feed the sharks, b got bitch slapped in the mask by a bull shark. It was so cool to see the huge sharks SO close, and yet feel so calm and unharmed. The second dive we went 60 feet, and saw the same thing, it was such a neat experience and I am so happy we did it! We were back by 1230, had a quick lunch, changed and headed off to go ziplining! It started raining on our way, but it was fine; it actually was more awesome since we were ziplining through the rain forests! One thing that’s majorly different about America and Fiji is that everything is more spaced out, and it’s hard to keep track and give good estimates of time because of the Fiji time. So typically the cab drivers stay with you the whole day! We finished up ziplining and went back and since it was raining we chilled out and had a latte and did some more homework. We came back around 7 for dinner, and then, the fun began! Tim, Risto, and Tui show up to the Uprising and we hung out with them, had a couple of drinks and they all played pool. Around 11 we decided to check out another place so we had to Liquorland and then The Pearl; which was empty so we headed to Tui’s house to hang out. We hung out there talking around the table until about 130 then decided to hit up the Drege, the local club/bar down the road. What a fun time; I know someone from America hears club and thinks scummy, dirty, and grinding dancing. But, Fiji clubs are 180 degrees different. They are so much fun! Everyone talks to everyone, hangs out, the dancing is really clean; people actually liked my dancing over here in Fiji and thought it was cool! (Yep, HAHA to all those who think I suck. I was very happy for my new friends and their acceptance of my dancing! I seriously had the best night of my life; I met a lot of cool new people. We finally left about 4, and everyone in the truck wanted barbeque. I was confused, but went along with it. It turns out a barbeque is a 24 hour trailer type thing that people are living in. They ordered 5 BBQ’s and we waited. In a barbeque is sausage, usually a lamb chop, egg, a root type thing that I forget the name, and couple of cucumber slices; very interesting J After that, someone in the car wanted more liquor so we stopped off at the after hours liquor store; which was actually someone’s house! They did the exchange; there were a lot of people actually- SO COOL! We finally start heading back and by that time it was morning so beck and I got around, and left to go grab breakfast at uprising.
Day 5 Pacific Harbour back to Nadi:
Still with no sleep from the night before, beck and I changed and went to grab some breakfast. It was really funny because everyone at the hotel knew us and knew we were just coming in; “good night girls?” We told them of our night, it was so awesome, but kind of awkward, because who knew what they thought! Hah we labeled it our “walk of shame” J hahaha..We made so many new and awesome friends on this trip; at the hotels we stayed at, people we met at the hotels, around, in taxis- we honestly made so many awesome friends, and I blame that solely on the chill environment here; everyone is so nice, warming, welcoming, and friendly. It feels like my type of environment; people are always happy- just like me! The one thing I like the most is no one here asks me why I am so happy; a question I get multiple times DAILY back I the states. I could honestly really get used to living in such an environment that compares to my personality and lifestyle. Fiji just does it for me; I found my new happy placeJ. After breakfast we took a cat nap by the pool before packing and heading to the end of the road to get picked up by the bus. Assuming we would have the same bus, we walk towards the end, really tired and excited to get 3 hours of shut eye on the bus. We left about 11, on the public bus. Everyone who thinks were crazy for diving with sharks has no idea how calm and relaxed that experience was compared to this bus ride. 3 hours later, and praying to God we would make it, and the bud would make it without breaking, we arrive at Nadi airport. We catch a taxi to Club Fiji Resort, on Wauilola beach. It was a beautiful, secluded resort. We checked into our adorable 1 bedroom bure, put our suits on, and head directly to the beach to cash out. We rested for a while, moved to the hammocks and rested again. We then decided it was time for a little homework and internet session with lattes (of course) to try to find our new friends on facebook J (how lame!!) We then decided to go plan our day cruise to Beachcomber’s island resort at the front desk for the next day. We booked a full day trip, and then went and had this chef prepare Japanese in front of us. We ate and then went to bed about 8- finally! I can honestly say I have never slept that good in my life.
Day 6 Beachcomber Island:
Up early again to catch our 730 taxi for the Port. We made coffee in the room and planned out our night and next day which was to rent a car and take a road trip!! Our pickup was a little on the later time, surprise!!- because of Fiji time! I was so hungry, which wasn’t new.. Im always hungry! And I get grumpy when I don’t eat, so beck’s definitely used to that! J We hop on the bus to port Denarau get all checked in for our day cruise, and get on the cruise! It was about a 45 minute ride to Beachcomber’s but it was really cool to see all the little islands along the way! We arrive to Beachcombers and head to the beach to get a little more rest; I was still pretty tired from the previous night! We relax for a while, and then walked around the island! It was only about a 15 minute walk around the entire island! That’s how little it was, just a resort on an island- awesome. We then have some coffee, and then go switch to laying over on the other side which was way smarter because there was a breeze. We did some swimming and then went in for lunch. The lunch was SO fresh and fantastic! After lunch we went snorkeling around some of the reefs around the island and then go and dry off, buy some souvenirs and head back to the ship. It was a fast day, but a lot of fun and was so happy we did it! Meanwhile we are getting super excited about the night that lies ahead- our road trip!! We get back to Mecure, and beck runs across the street to start figuring out which rental car place we could get a car from (there were 3 across from our hotel). All of them were full, so we were going to get back on the bus which was heading to the airport and get one from there. I see the bus just pull out so in a state of emergency I fling my arms up for a taxi! One pulls over right away and it was so full, 2 people already in front and back. Beck and I climb in and tell them were going to the airport, which they already were too! And.. even better. The guy sitting next to us worked for Budget car rental!! It seriously, couldn’t have worked out any better. We chat it up with everyone in the car, tell them were sorry for the immediate rush but they were very happy and friendly and glad to help us in our road trip! We get to Budget and Luke, our new friend, got us this awesome SUV for a great price. And we were off. We picked up our bags which we kept at Club Fiji, and grabbed some coffee and got on the road about 730! It was awesome, we were blasting the music, rolling along the one highway in Viti Levu, a two laned, horribly paved road. It was awesome, and the experience we had was unforgettable. Beck killed a frog, almost nailed a cow, and we had to stop for a horse crossing, it doesn’t get any better than this! Also, I was just kindly reminded we almost hit a dog that was trying to race us. He merged out in front of us, she SLAMS on the brakes, the car behind us is inches from rear ending us, but thank God because we saved that stupid stray dogs life. HAHA. I was very happy when we finally arrived at our destination, that was the gnarliest, craziest, most intense road trip ive been on yet- I cant tell you how many times I slammed into the windshield and threatened to put my seatbelt on J haha. We arrive at Uprising about 930, grab a drink, and bam! There’s Tui and Risto! We went out by the beach where they had a couple of more friends and we all just hung out there for a while. Beck told them she really wanted to go to Drege again, but both of us still had not showered since our full day at Beachcombers and traveling, so Tui said we could go shower at his place before we went! We go over there, shower and change, hang out for a bit then head over to Drege. It was a local band playing this night, which was even more fun because it was Fijian dancing to Fijian music instead of American music! We hung out outside on the deck overlooking the river and danced. One culture difference we found odd, but respectful, was that random people would come up to beck and ask her to dance, but to the guys we were with. Tim and Risto kept saying no to people, she asked “why” and they told her they asked if she could have a dance with them. Beck wasn’t having it. She marched over to the guy that asked, and had a dance with him! It was so awesome, she danced with a couple more locals, and it was seriously, so chill. She commented to me later that it’s the most fun dancing ever- I had to agree. Then, I was re-pulling up my hair and BAM! Lost an earring (which im known for doing at home). I drop on all four’s, make everyone else do the same and the hunt and search is on. Little to my knowledge Tim found my earring in another group of people! He called to beck, “is this it?” and put it in his pocket. Just when I’m about to give up Tim says “Lindsey is this it? It was in my pocket”. I FREAKED out, did a little dance and hugged everyone because, and my earring was once again lost and found. I had the time of my life; it was so much fun just dancing and hanging out- the night was so clear and the sky was FULL of stars! On our way back to Tui’s, he and I were in the front seats when all the sudden this bright thing fell from the sky! It was so close to ground that Tui actually stepped on the brakes! It was a shooting star!! My first shooting star I have ever seen in my life; it was definitely something that put the icing and decorations on the cake; very surreal moment.
Day 7 Roadtrip to Pacific Harbour:
We ended up crashing at Tui’s later and then woke up, chilled for a while, grabbed lunch and I submitted some homework at Uprising, then we were back on the road! Recapping the most amazing, random road trip and our fun times, singing, and just taking in our surroundings the whole way back to Nadi. Our new friends recommended us checking out Nadadola beach on the way home; so we stopped off and made a slight detour. Our slight detour turned into a 45 minute expedition through the roads on rocky one lane path filled with random pot holes and speed bumps. The drive was better and more entertaining then the beach itself! It was really cool, and the resorts down there were breath taking! We continue on back to mecure, checked in, got our suits on, and still tired, we went down to the pool to grab a cat nap. We failed, so we grabbed a latte, and Bessy, a very nice lady and our new friend, recommended we go to Tu’s Place to get some good fish for dinner. She was not wrong, it was amazing, and SO FRESH!! We returned the car to Luke, and Luke actually brought us back to Mecure- which was so nice of him! People would never do that in America. We ended up going to bed early because we were so tired from our second all nighter of the trip.
Day 8: Sigatoka and Nadi:
Emotions are starting to kick in for me; I am extremely attached to this place. I can honestly say I have traveled and stayed at a lot of places so far in my life, but no place has ever made me feel so accepted and a part of as Fiji has. Fiji has been such an amazing, honestly a life changing experience for not only me, but I also think so for beck. Really diving into the culture and Fijian experience has been a life changing experience I will keep with me forever. My heart officially belongs to Fiji and I will be back to reclaim it. From the warming people, to the new friends we made, to the natural beauty and peacefulness this place has to offer- it’s truly heaven on earth. Fiji has changed how I view a lot of things in America, and even though I know I won’t fit in, it does not matter because I am my own person, truly one of a kind. I love how happy I am, and I will not let anyone bring me down. I don’t want my phone ruling my life; I hate that at ANY time in America, y can be hanging out with someone and your phone will ring and TOTALLY interrupt whatever you’re doing and whoever you are hanging out with. Phones are rude and they add so much unwanted, unneeded stress into ones life. I can say I have loved having my phone off and away for 10 days, I’m going to hate it back in my life. I love how laid back people are here, no one is ever late because its “Fiji time”. I love how this morning before we left for our salad bowl cave tour beck and I were drinking out morning latte by the bar and the tour booking lady comes up to us and tell us our ride is there, but “no rush just whenever you are ready”. We felt horrible because other people were in the car waiting for us, but the people that got us and told us it was time had not a care in the world and were not one bit concerned at our tardiness- Only in Fiji.
Anyways, onto our day 8 experience! After our lattes we hop on the van to Sigatoka to begin our salad bowl cave tour experience. We stop at a local shop in Sigatoka town and purchase some gifts for friends and family. We continue on our journey to the village. It was another bumpy, winding, unpaved road trip experience- once again! We arrive at the little village, and have our traditional kava ceremony for the people of the village to welcome and accept us into their village for the day. Afterwards we went and used the toilet in someone little house and continued onto the boat for our cave tour. After walking down a beaten trail we arrive at the cave. It was so awesome- so much history of Fiji is held in that cave! It used to be a place to hide. Also in 1999 a wedding was held in the cave! An American woman and Scottish man were married in this cave- so crazy! I think that said 700 candles lit it up and 300 some lanterns- crazy! Also he said in the cave there was this area of water that there was no bottom. This American man went down there in his scuba gear with a 500 meter rope and never touched bottom- something like that; but enough to convince the village people there is no bottom to the water in that cave. He also mentioned that during his descent on ledges there were human skulls everyone. Tons of skulls- gross. Also before Christianity, their official religion in Fiji spread the country there was a lot of cannibalism in the country- and they would actually burn some people in the cave- both men and women! But only the men would be able to eat the bodies. Then the word of God hit the country and spread like wildfire and there has been no cannibalism since. That cave was awesome, and the experience to walking there and getting some of the rich history Fiji has to offer was awesome. We went back to the village for our lunch, prepared by the people of the village. It was AMAZING and SO FRESH!! After lunch we had the entertainment. The village people sang for us during lunch then we had dancing afterwards. I was chosen as the tester to show everyone what the moves were. Me, Lindsey Scheltema, who gets told NOT to dance in America was the person to demonstrate. I don’t care what anyone says to me anymore, I LOVE how I dance, I am my own person and I will stick to that until the day I die. I love dancing and it makes me so happy because I’m just moving and no one Fiji cares one bit! They thought it was awesome, and the fact I was so happy was good enough for them to see! I can not get over how different dancing is in Fiji versus America. That is another one of the huge culture difference. Dancing here is so much fun, so laid back, innocent, and fun! They have the traditional dance which is just the guys arm around you and your moving back and forth, awesome. We also learned the Romantic dance, which is just the same as traditional dancing except instead of being side by side you are facing each other. Then there was the happy hour dancing, which was just being crazy all over! We stood by the wall and a local would come up and ask us to dance, it was so awesome. The guys that wanted to dance with me all wanted to “happy hour” and everyone else was doing the traditional.. so here I’m jumping up and down with this guy going all around everyone else, it was so funny!! I had a blast, to say the least. We had our goodbye, farewell to the village, and then started to head back to Mecure. Beck and I chilled out for a little while, and then walked to the Bounty for a fantastic last dinner- so fresh! Then we did a little last minute shopping, and now were just laying low, beck’s packing and I’m writing. My emotions are everyone right now, I feel like right when I start figuring out my life, I get curveball; which is why I love my life so much and would not change it for the world. I know I will be back to Fiji; I would love to come here for a longer period of time. We will see, only God knows where my life is heading, but I couldn’t be more excited about where my life will lead me!! Tomorrow morning, bringing beck to the airport, is going to be rough for sure. We can not get over how this is our last night, time has flown and everything has gone so fast, I wish I had a pause moment and could relive everything we have just experienced in these 8 days. We keep commenting how we could relive and do absolutely everything that we have just done again, and again. This has truly been such an amazing experience. At dinner tonight we had a huge heart to heart about how in love we are with our lives. We get to travel the world, we have found what compatible travelers we are, and yet at the end of our trips we get to go home to amazing families that love us more than anything. We are so blessed and truly have the most amazing lives; would not change them for the world. This trip has truly brought our friendship and closeness to the next level. We’ve always said from the minute we met in Holland Starbucks we would be friends forever, but her and I needed this rekindling trip more than anything. Our friendship is so strong and we have had such a perfect, unforgettable trip together!!
Day 9- Nadi
Well, after watching nickelodeon’s The Penguins of Madagascar J we set the alarm for 530 and hit the bed. 530 rolls around..B and I pack her up, and I headed to the airport with her to have one last morning latte together. We get to the gate, and almost get her checked in when they announce the flight to Sydney is over booked and they are asking for volunteers. Beck looks at me and said “Think I should ask?” We ask the guy if there is any chance she can get on the same flight as me straight to LAX and give up her seat to Sydney. The guy said he would check into it. Meanwhile she and I are getting, pumped. A little too excited, we decide to chill out. He comes back and said; yes we can make that work. We freak out, beck is going to not only spend the whole day with me BUT get on MY flight at 10pm to LAX!! Were pumped, we went and had our latte because the guest services was working with other people. He comes and gets us from the café and we go and finish up all the details. They not only got her on my flight, but also got us sitting together on the SECOND floor of the plane!! AHH, I’m stoked. They also gave her 200 dollars for volunteering her seat, sick, and a hotel for the day including meal vouchers!! It didn’t get any better than that, so we went and got checked into Tabua, drop her bags off, went to Mecure and I checked out and got my bags, and off to our new hotel. We chilled for the majority off the day, doing homework; I hit the gym up, we just laid out and relaxed. Now were at the airport, waiting for our 10pm flight. It’s a weird feeling, I’m happy to get home and into my routine again, until Vegas next week, but also a part of me will always be left here. I seriously love it in Fiji, it is the most incredible place and I feel extremely blessed and privileged to have had this opportunity to come here J
