When you picture your perfect holiday, what comes to mind? Sunshine, seaside, family, friendly locals, relaxation and culture is probably what most of us are after. Whether it’s one of these things or the whole package, you’re in luck! Fiji has it all and it doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 75 or somewhere in between, there are things to do and see for every age group. I’m not sure if you’re anything like me, but holidays come with a level of self reflection, part one is below of this multi-part series on the things I didn’t know I needed to know before I came to Fiji!
Part 1 – You don’t have it that bad if you don’t have to hide in a cave – Our day in the Fijian countryside
We all get caught up in the rat race, do more, earn more, learn more, I know both my husband and I were super busy the weeks and days leading up to our Fijian getaway. What we’ve learnt since we arrived and what we saw in spades yesterday is that you don’t need much (stuff, money, status) to be happy, and the things we get hung up on which “ruin our day” are really nothing compared to the atrocities endured by the Fijian villagers less than 200 years ago!
Our day started early with a pickup and cheerful welcome from Captain Jack who was equal parts cheeky, friendly and knowledgeable about all things Sigatoka. Combined with his sidekick Tia Maria, they were a dynamic Fijian tour guide duo and before we were even all on the bus there was the friendly banter between everyone which continued throughout the day.
When we arrived at the Sigatoka river after around an hour from the township, we divided into two groups. Those doing the cave trip and those doing the jetboat and village visit. We had opted for the combo so would join the afternoon group back at the river for the jetboat/village tour. We crossed the Sigatoka river to board our off-road Jeep. With our trusty driver Moses at the wheel and Tia by his side they loaded up the eskies with our supplies for the morning and lunch. As we set-off up the hillside, Tia Maria encouraged us to enjoy the air-conditioning (open style jeep with no windows and just a canvas style roof over our heads) and back and butt massages (bumpy roads).
And enjoy the drive we did, with several stops along the way to teach us about the local area, village life, flora (a group favourite being the Flame trees which were in full bloom at this time of year). A stop at a lookout halfway to our village meant sweeping views of the Sigatoka valley and visual representation of their amazing “salad bowl” region. Tia and Moses shared stories of the water levels, the farm life in the region, what a day looked like for both adults and children in the area where recent electricity connections meant some families only recently have learnt of life with things we take for granted in Australia. Fridges, washing machines, televisions are all now only just making their way to these powered villages and changing the lives of those who live in them. They may not have much by our standards, but the Fijians we encountered yesterday were among the happiest people I’ve ever seen.
After around an hour driving through villages and the Sigatoka countryside, we arrived at a small village near the cave and it was time to appoint our “chief” which in Fijian culture is the oldest male (Lucky Dai this morning!). Chief Dai then leads the men into the community center, followed by his warriors (the other men on the tour) and then the women come in and sit behind the men. What follows and what was said is largely unknown to us tourists as it was mostly in Fijian, however the translation goes that Moses spoke to the Priest and asked for his blessing for us to enter the cave. Our offering of Kava root was accepted, as was our request to go into the cave, success! Well done Chief Dai.
We then set off on the short walk down to the cave entrance with Tia Maria telling us stories of life in Fiji and historical tales about the area. The terrain was a little rugged, so sensible shoes which you’re ok to get wet are a must for this adventure! Making our way into the cave, we were very quickly in adventure mode, knee deep in water, crouched over to make our way into the first chamber. Headlamps and guides torch as our only source of light, it was a little unnerving, however probably due to having watched the Thai cave rescue doco recently more than any legitimate risk to our safety on a bright sunny day! We went deeper and deeper into the cave system, the deepest of water endured in that first tricky entrance, perhaps designed to test us from the outset.
Stories of tribes hiding out in these caves for months from neighboring tribes, missionaries who offended the villagers and were sacrificed in what they called the Cannibal Oven did nothing to calm my sense of unease. This was more than a hundred years ago, I tell myself, however Tia Maria then decides to illustrate truly how dark it is in the depths of the cave and asks us to all turn out lights off….are we insane, I’m thinking to myself!!! Pitch black and with sound of our breath and the dripping of water from above, we ponder life as a Fijian hiding from the missionaries trying to take over their villages, how amazing the Fijian positivity is given the type of atrocities they have endured.
Making our way back out of the cave and a short walk along a country track to our lunch spot by a bubbling creek we were greeted by a spread of food already cooked and all ready to devour. Before lunch however, one must have some Kava, it would be rude to say no right?! When in Sigatoka, one must drink the Kava offered to you! It must have been the talk of the cannibal oven that made us ravenous as we tucked into our barbequed meat and salad, or maybe the desire to get the Kava taste out of our mouths that made those mongoose (?) sausages taste so good.
It was then time to make our way back along that bumpy road, through the villages with the friendly kids low-fiving us as we drove past, down into culverts where the temperature beneath the canopy of trees dropped by about ten degrees, and back to the river where it all began and where our afternoon adventure would start.
More to come in part 2 of our day in the countryside – our afternoon boat ride along the Sigatoka, village visit and the feast and entertainment which welcomed us.
