Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Fiji
Well, I left for Fiji as (re)planned on Thursday at 10:30 PM. I didn't find any art galleries on thursday while I waited. I just wandered around the LA transit system.
The flight was loooooong but uneventful. I slept fitfully and by the time I got there, I had one of those annoying sinus headaches I get, that wouldn't go away. I stayed up most of the day, did a bit of wandering and went to bed about 4:00 PM. 12 hours later I woke up without much of a headache. I don't know why I slept so much, the time difference between LA and FIJI is only 3 hours and I did sleep on the plane - anyway no headache is good.
After leaving LA Thursday, arriving Saturday AM (due to the day loss that I'll get back at the end of the trip) and then sleeping or dozing all Sat away, Sunday was the real first of my few days in Fiji. Fortunately I met an Australian guy (Ian) at breakfast. He was on is one day off of the week, but fortunately, offered to drive me to the Garden of the Gods. That's a local orchid plantation originally created by Raymond Burr (actor - Perry Mason), that was now operated by the government as a park and conservation area.
We went and visited it. According to Ian it had not changed in 10 years since he'd been last there. I took a lot of pictures of flowers, but can't figure out how to get them into this blog. After spending a couple of hours there, we were driving back to the motel and simultaneously had the same idea - going for a beer or 2. It was more than 2, in the end.
On Monday, Ian had to work so I decided to spend my last day in Fiji by taking the local bus into town (Lautoka - the second largest town in Fiji). Taking the bus was my idea of a thrid world experience - there weren't chickens on the bus, but I suspect there were on other days.
On my way to the bus I was joined by a local Fijian who started talking to me and basically adopted me for the day. Looking back, that was most likely what he did for a living - meeting tourists, befriending them and eventually asking them for a bit of money. That was not his story though.
According to his story, he had had an operation (he should me a large fresh abdominal scar) and was was going into Lautoka to see a doctor at the hospital. That may have been true, but he didn;t go there. He spent the day with me in Lautoka showing me around, introducuing me to various friends and relative that we ran into. Around 2:00 PM I decided to head back to the hotel and he helped me find the correct bus (no mean feat) and then asked me if he could join me on the bus (that meant me paying for his fare and return to Lautoka - $1.40). I agreed. Once we were on the bus I thought about getting off at our eventual stop. It was a bit isolated and thought, what if he mugs me? Hmmmmmm?!?!
I considered getting off the bus while still in Lautoka and taking a taxi. He really seemed not the type and quite a gentle person, but you never know. In the end I decide to take a chance. He didn't mug me but he did ask me for money after we left the bus. It was not threatening in any way - he seemed embarassed to ask and asked only for $5. I gave him $25, which was less than what a taxi would have cost.
It was an adventure to remember Fiji by. Tues AM I left for NZ and was met by M&B. That's the next story - less of an adventure but great fun.
The flight was loooooong but uneventful. I slept fitfully and by the time I got there, I had one of those annoying sinus headaches I get, that wouldn't go away. I stayed up most of the day, did a bit of wandering and went to bed about 4:00 PM. 12 hours later I woke up without much of a headache. I don't know why I slept so much, the time difference between LA and FIJI is only 3 hours and I did sleep on the plane - anyway no headache is good.
After leaving LA Thursday, arriving Saturday AM (due to the day loss that I'll get back at the end of the trip) and then sleeping or dozing all Sat away, Sunday was the real first of my few days in Fiji. Fortunately I met an Australian guy (Ian) at breakfast. He was on is one day off of the week, but fortunately, offered to drive me to the Garden of the Gods. That's a local orchid plantation originally created by Raymond Burr (actor - Perry Mason), that was now operated by the government as a park and conservation area.
We went and visited it. According to Ian it had not changed in 10 years since he'd been last there. I took a lot of pictures of flowers, but can't figure out how to get them into this blog. After spending a couple of hours there, we were driving back to the motel and simultaneously had the same idea - going for a beer or 2. It was more than 2, in the end.
On Monday, Ian had to work so I decided to spend my last day in Fiji by taking the local bus into town (Lautoka - the second largest town in Fiji). Taking the bus was my idea of a thrid world experience - there weren't chickens on the bus, but I suspect there were on other days.
On my way to the bus I was joined by a local Fijian who started talking to me and basically adopted me for the day. Looking back, that was most likely what he did for a living - meeting tourists, befriending them and eventually asking them for a bit of money. That was not his story though.
According to his story, he had had an operation (he should me a large fresh abdominal scar) and was was going into Lautoka to see a doctor at the hospital. That may have been true, but he didn;t go there. He spent the day with me in Lautoka showing me around, introducuing me to various friends and relative that we ran into. Around 2:00 PM I decided to head back to the hotel and he helped me find the correct bus (no mean feat) and then asked me if he could join me on the bus (that meant me paying for his fare and return to Lautoka - $1.40). I agreed. Once we were on the bus I thought about getting off at our eventual stop. It was a bit isolated and thought, what if he mugs me? Hmmmmmm?!?!
I considered getting off the bus while still in Lautoka and taking a taxi. He really seemed not the type and quite a gentle person, but you never know. In the end I decide to take a chance. He didn't mug me but he did ask me for money after we left the bus. It was not threatening in any way - he seemed embarassed to ask and asked only for $5. I gave him $25, which was less than what a taxi would have cost.
It was an adventure to remember Fiji by. Tues AM I left for NZ and was met by M&B. That's the next story - less of an adventure but great fun.
