Fiji: Voivoi weaving

Sea plane!

I was slowly getting my appetite back following a very long sleep. I ate very little of my lunch and dinner yesterday despite really wanting to eat them. Breakfast as usual, buffet style but I found a Fijian food.

These little doughnuts looking things are.... Fijian pancakes and taste like one too. Haha.

Day 4's little activity was voivoi weaving. Voivoi is actually pandanus and they are traditionally used for weaving mats. The staffs set themselves up in front of the restaurant. When I joined them, there were already 2 different groups working on their voivoi weaving. Group 1 was a mother with her daughter working on a bookmark and bracelet respectively. The other one was a couple, both weaving bracelets.

I didn't know there was an option of bookmark but then again, I don't have the habit of using thick bookmark in my books. It would look better against a white towel eh but this was a beach towel.

The voivoi bracelet I weaved

I was contemplating of joining the trip for line fishing but wasn't sure how motivated or patient I would be so decided against it. So it was swimming in the beach and lazing around.

Lunch was BBQ lunch with some salads. No tummy issues after eating this round of bbq lunch though.

From the first photo, that was the worse of the weather actually but only a few drops of rain. Otherwise I am glad with superb weather.

Sky with clotted clouds

I generally have meals by myself as most people are travelling as a couple or with family, so it was much easier that I sit around by myself. I don't have an issue though. I have learnt how to have a meal by myself.

Bruschetta as appetizer

Entree of prawn dish

Passion fruit sorbet

Fish

Hazelnut cake with ice cream

As opposed to the day before where I only finished the sorbet and appetizer, I finished everything on the plate today.

The activity of the night was supposed to be bonfire but for some reason it couldn't be arranged.

Day 4 cost breakdown:

• BLBR dorm bed: NZD $100 for 4N (NZD $25 per night)
• Compulsory meals plan (B/L/D): NZD $300 for 4N (NZD $75 pp/day)
• Voivoi weaving: Free

Side note: Can't wait to get started on paint brushing :D

Fiji: Sawa-i-Lau

Sawa-i-Lau island is made of limestone caves, they are off the north coast of Nacula. We were also told that  this famed limestone cave was where the movie "The Blue Lagoon" was shot. At the time of my visit, the water was a mixture of rain water and seawater due to heavy rain from the week before.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a very poor swimmer and still attending swimming lessons, which unfortunately the lessons don't give me much joy lately (another story, another time).

I could swim but hopeless at treading water so having to keep up at treading water the whole time make me uneasy. I put up my hand when Pete asked if anyone wants a life jacket. Yes, the same Pete who led the mountain hike the day before. I was the only one in the whole group who took a life jacket.

I didn't bring my camera as it isn't waterproof though I brought along my phone, I thought it is small enough to hide it in the bag and honestly, nobody is going to steal my ancient iPhone4.

The water was cold, likely shaded from the sun. Entrance to the cave was descending via a staircase into water. There is a sky lit opening in the middle of the cave. I'm referring this as cave 1. I was glad that I had a life jacket on me as I am pretty mobile with the life jacket. In fact the rest of the group was holding on to the wall to avoid treading water the whole time.

My biggest fear of visiting this cave was the getting from cave 1 to the next cave, cave 2. To get from cave 1 to cave 2, we need to swim underwater to avoid hitting our heads on a solid stone roof. I was told it was just a second (it felt much longer to me) though it wasn't long. Pete had a big torch and showed us the tunnel that we need to swim through. If anyone not keen on going through to cave 2 could stay in cave 1.

In my case, I had to take off my life jacket, handed it to the other staff who was with us, and swim through. I could feel my head being pushed down so my head won't hit the stone roof. Once reached cave 2, Pete who was there waiting will tap on our heads to indicate that it was safe to resurface.

Cave 2 was dark, the only source of light was Pete's (pronounced Pe-te, 2 syllabus) torch. He told us about presence of water eels, made us shout "Bula" and conveniently asked us if we remember his name. Haha. I wonder if he would left us in the cave if we don't remember his name. Grin. I was the last one to get to cave 2, I was also the last to leave. Pete swam with me out to cave 1.

I found a blog post on Sawa-i-Lau that is very informative.

Once we were done with the cave, we were free to free outside or check out a few tables of vendors selling trinkets by the beach. If you don't have cash on you, just quote your room or bed number and pay the boatman upon return at the resort.

By this time my stomach cramp was getting a little more frequent so I was glad when we departed for the resort. We reached back at around 11 am. In fact, the cramp actually started even before going for the cave trip but I was quite stubborn to go to Sawa-i-Lau on this Wednesday. BLBR organises trip to Sawa-i-Lau on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As I reached BLBR on Mondays afternoon, and departing on Friday afternoon, I would prefer to go on Wednesday and want it to be a very relaxing Friday morning.

After landed back at the resort, it was almost like I was drugged and I slept the whole time till the next morning, aside from setting up alarms to get up for lunch and dinner (haha, yes, glutton). I skipped breakfast to avoid aggravating my stomach before my cave trip.

Yes, I still carry my camera to the restaurant in my drowsiness state. I didn't expect the seafood was cooked with cream, I had some but not a lot as it didn't sit with the cramping.

Chef special of seafood mornay served with crispy tart, lemon rice and side salad. 

There was a kokoda cooking lesson that I wanted to join and set an alarm for it as well, but couldn't lose the sleepiness so I continued sleeping. = ="

More of the soft pillowy buns

Entree... I can't remember the name

Soup of the day - borscht soup

Sorbet after entree

Steak with mashed and vegetables

Meringue ice cream

Day 3 cost breakdown:

• BLBR dorm bed: NZD $100 for 4N (NZD $25 per night)
• Compulsory meals plan (B/L/D): NZD $300 for 4N (NZD $75 pp/day)
• Cave trip: FJD $79

Side note: Happy lunar new year!

Fiji: Mountain hike and village visit

There is a board in the resort restaurant that listed out the whole week's activity, else the board outside the office and dive shop are updated in the late afternoon. The board at dive shop also has information on diving trips. I saw the activities for my day 2 in BLBR and decided that I will get up at before 8 am for a mountain hike.

I woke up at 7, got ready and had breakfast before meeting at the dive shop for the hike. Breakfast was usual continental buffet spread. One of the BLBR staff, Pete led us to the hike, in his slippers. The hike was quite leisurely and the whole walk took about 1.5 hours. I think it helped that Pete walked very slowly in our consideration.

Going down was a gravel road and passing through a mangrove area before reaching back at the village.

It was back to beach time after hike. Yay to seeing fishes just by looking into the water!

Can you spot the fish?

I was very well fed so next up was lunch. I ordered beef curry masala with rice, roti and poppadum with condiments for lunch for my day 2.

One of the staff asked if I want any drinks. I asked for a non alcoholic recommendation and he brought me a Fijian punch. A pretty and refreshing drink eh? :)

I joined the village visit trip. We visited the Nacula village, one of the biggest village on the island.

Meke dance by the villagers

Pop up shop after meke dance

The villagers set up an instant pop up shop selling some handmade handicraft. They only accept cash and don't really have any small change so keep your cash in smaller nomination.

This cute little doggie followed us as we walked back to the boat, then jumped excitedly in the water, splashing the water around. Haha.

Dinner for day 2 was BBQ buffet dinner, which after excluding all other probability, gave me mild case of food poisoning. Activity for Tuesday night was coconut bowling which I was roped into because it was 4 person to a team. I have hand, eye, leg coordination issue and didn't score any points. Oops.

It is essentially bowling, just the bowling ball was a coconut and the pins are plastic bottles with sand inside.

Day 2 cost breakdown:

• BLBR dorm bed: NZD $100 for 4N (NZD $25 per night)
• Compulsory meals plan (B/L/D): NZD $300 for 4N (NZD $75 pp/day)
• Mountain hike: Free
• Village visit: FJD $10

Side note: Restless...

Fiji: Getting to BLBR and a kava ceremony

The flight landed in Nadi International Airport closed to 6:00 am. There was a welcoming song as we walked towards the immigration. It was a small airport and the complimentary bus shuttle to Port Denarau was not due till about 6:50 am. I thought I would sit outside the airport for some fresh air while waiting. Probably not the most brilliant idea. As I stepped outside the airport, I was greeted by some Fiji mosquitoes. 3 bites lined up on my arm almost instantly. Thank goodness for me at least doing some reading up prior to the trip. I brought with me a mosquito repellent and Australia's most famous souvenir, Lucas Papaw.

Outside Nadi International Airport

A white colour coach pulled in the arrival's hall car park. The bus then went around some hotels to pick up other guests heading to Port Denarau. I was almost dozing off sitting in the coach, it took about an hour to get to the port due to the 'scenic' route.

I picked up my tickets and had some spare time to get myself a muffin for breakfast plus a bottle of Fiji water. Grin. Some reviews I read mentioned that it was interesting to see the rest of the islands as Blue Lagoon Beach Resort (BLBR) where I was heading to was one of the last resort, a 4 hour ferry ride away.

This is one of the first island, I think South Sea Island

A smaller boat would pick up the guests from Yasawa Flyer back to the guesthouse(s).

The ferry shuttle (Yasawa Flyer) I was on had a Captain's Lounge

After maybe 3-4 islands, I fell asleep. Haha. Well it was a short flight with time difference so I had limited shut eye. I wasn't sure if I would get seasick from this, so on the safe side I popped an Avomine pill to be sure.

I pretty much slept majority of the time but had to wake up on off worrying that I missed my stop. Haha.

BLBR to the right, Oarsman's Bay Resort to the left

Like the rest of the resorts, BLBR sent a boat to pick us from Yasawa Flyer. Another boat picked up the luggage. There was also a welcoming band as we approached BLBR and we were handed our welcoming drink as we arrived on the island.

After checked in, dropped my bag and did my social obligation with my dorm mate, lunch was in order! I wanted to have fish suruwa (it was technically a fish curry dish cooked in coconut milk) as it was on specials but they have run out of it. So I ordered a kokoda instead (Fijian ceviche). The menu description was fresh catch of the day marinated in lemon juice (traditional style) served with fresh coconut cream, vegetables, steamed rice with a side of fresh salad.

The rest of the day was spent sleeping. I guessed the napping on ferry was not sufficient, I brought a book with me but ended up sleeping throughout till almost dinner time.

I was surprised I didn't fell off the hammock on my nap

I participated in a kava ceremony which pretty much was on schedule everyday. Kava or yaqona is Fiji's national drink. It is a drink made from mixing the powdered root of a pepper plant (Piper methysticum) with water. The root of the plant is pounded and placed in a cloth sack. It is then mixed with water in a tanoa (the brown colour wooden bowl).

In the kava ceremony, everybody sat circling a tanoa (the brown colour wooden bowl). The leader strained the liquid and fills a small bilo (a half coconut shell), then presented to the guest. The receiver of the bilo (the person who will be drinking the kava) must cup hands, clap once and say "bula" (cheers) before down the contents in one go. After that, return the cup to the bearer and clap again in cupped hands, saying "maca" as a signal of gratitude. I've also asked and no, the powder cannot be eaten. Lol.

I had dinner with my new acquaintance, D, he is a Colombian studying English in Brisbane. Dinner for Monday was a 3 course meal.

Soft, pillowy bun

Please pretend this is clear, I obviously didn't check how the  photo turned out. I only have this one - bruschetta as appetizer

Entree: fresh tuna with chili mayonnaise, taro chips & basil pesto

Main: filo parcel filled with ratatouille vegetable served with curried mash & tomato chutney

Noticed the sorbet at the back? That was served between entree and mains. 

Dessert: nutty sandy ice cream with biscuit tuile & lemon jelly

As you can see, by the time we had dessert it was getting dark. I had good company and of course, happy tummy, happy me. Haha.

Activity for the night was crab racing which I didn't participated. D and I attempted to have a little stroll on the beach to offset the yummy meal but it didn't really work out, because.... mosquitoes. Haha.

Day 1 cost breakdown:

• BLBR dorm bed: NZD $100 for 4N (NZD 25 per night)
• Compulsory meals plan (B/L/D): NZD $300 for 4N (NZD 75 pp/day)
• Port Denarau boat transfer: NZD $252 for round trip (NZD $126 single trip)
• 1L Fiji bottle water: FJD $3.85
• Berry muffin: FJD $6.90

Side note: Please, please, please confirm my flight!