Bula! Fiji Part 1

Bula!

This past week I returned home ( to Brisbane) after an amazing experience in Fiji. It wasn’t your typical tropical destination that most people would do when going to Fiji. I, on the other hand like to do more things than just drink and sit by the ocean all day. I found a tour company that was suggested by one of my roommates whos friends went a few months earlier. The tour company was called The FeeJee Experience. There had been nothing but good reviews and the fact that I would be able to see the main island of Fiji in a different light made me intrigued. Each day was filled with new activities, culture, and experiences that I know I would have never been able to experience without this company.

Getting to Fiji was pretty easy, besides all the customs stuff that you have to do, it was smooth sailing from Brisbane! It was only a 3 ½ hour flight to get there and a 4 ½ coming back. I took Air Pacific with my friends Melissa and Kelly and we began our journey at 6am on Easter Morning! I loved Air Pacific, I will recommend it to anyone! With a 3 ½ hour flight we received a delicious full meal and movie. It’s funny because Air Pacific is the sister airline to Qantas, which I would NEVER recommend to them, because their service is horrible. Anyways, the three of us arrived in Nadi International Airport at 5pm local time to be greated with “Bula!... Bula! …Bula!” In every direction.  We met up with Tourist Transport and they set our accommodations for us for the rest of the trip! The first night was interesting, for the first time, I experienced culture shock.  I didn’t realize that Fiji was a third-world country, and that was a big shock. The first day I felt terrible about being there, and how sad it must be…but I soon realized as the days went on, that the Fijians were happy, content, and didn’t want to change anything. Needless to say, the experiences that I am about to share really helped.

Feejee Experience Day 1:

Our guide and driver picked the 3 of us up at our hostel at 8:15am. We travelled from Nadi to Mango Bay, Coral Coast. Our first stop was in the Nadi Town markets to buy water and food for our BBQ lunch. We stayed there for minimum time because a lot of the shops were closed because of Easter Monday. After driving for a while, we stopped at a famous beach, Natadola Beach. It was absolutely beautiful! The water had to have been 84 degrees and it was so clear! We stopped there for a few hours, because our guide Ruben, told us lunch would be ready…when it was ready. About an hour  and a half later, BBQ was served. It took so long because, the local Fijians were out in the ocean catching fish for us to eat! Talk about catch of the day! Since I don’t eat fish, I had some delicious chicken instead, but the fact that we literally watched them catch our fish was awesome! 

Right after lunch, about 8 locals came and set up their jewellery that they make for a living. There were only 2 adult women, and the rest were young Fijian boys under the age of 12. A very different way of life but I was able to talk to some of the boys and they all make the jewellery by hand and with a small hand machine to sell for a profit. I ended up buying a coconut bracelet that was really different and I felt good, since the little boy I bought it from made it himself.  After lunch, our group went to Malomalo Village to visit and learn the traditional customs of a Fijian Village. It was so eye opening and a great experience. These people have housing, but there is nothing in the houses, it is just a protective area for them. Each village has a church and you must wear a Surong, that covers your knees and your shoulders cannot be shown. From there, we made our way to the Coral Coast and went sand boarding down the Sigatoka Sand Dunes! It was so scary! The hill was so steep and I was just thinking “am I really going to go face first on a boogie board here?”..well of course I did!  While everyone was becoming exhausted, the night was not over! We finally made our way to Mango Bay, a beautiful hostel with a beautiful view! That evening we watched crab racing, and participated in our first Kava ceremony. Kava ceremonies are held when new visitors come in, it’s a welcome ceremony and it is held in villages and hostel in Fiji went new guest arrive. The Kava was well, DISGUSTING. It isn’t alchol, but after a few cups of it, it makes you go numb. They call it Groggy. The Kava comes from a root and it harvested after 5-7 years. After that, I was ready for bed! Our hostels were nice! About 16 people per room, but we had misquote nets around our bunks so it was like everyone had their own cocoon!

Day 2:

This I decided to be my typical, relax on the beach and drink day. The tour was going to be heading into the rainforest to see waterfalls and experience the outdoors, but the past few weeks in rainforest had done me in! That wasn’t the only fact, our tour guide said that our shoes will be ruined on this trek and we will be walking up to our thighs in water…im adventurous, but I didn’t want to ruin my $100 Nikes for another rainforest. So I ended up going straight to Uprising Beach Resort. When I got there, a few of us were there before breakfast ended, so we ate another breakfast. Anything we could get for free, we would take full advantage of it! But the morning got better! Since we went though this tour company we were able to get full body massages for an hour! For $35 Fijian Dollars! ( our money is worth double there) 
So, needless to say, I took full advantage and then spent the rest of the morning hanging out. The rest of the group got back at around 1pm so we had  a group lunch and the rest of the day/night off. It was so relaxing! But by the time we had to go to bed, it was not as fun! We were in the “tree house” dorms, which sounds great…but in reality it was a big room with 28 beds, and 2 toilets and 2 showers. Awesome. So that night was a terrible nights sleep, but that’s okay, it was about the experience! Haha.

Day 3...continued in post below!

Fiji: Part 2

Day 3:

From Pacific Harbour, we headed out early in the morning because we had a lot of driving to do! We were heading to Volivoli Beach! But before we got there, we had a few more stops to make that were just as exciting as days prior! Our first stop of the morning was to go to Wailouta village to meet the chief and for our group to participate in a real sevu-sevu ceremony (Kava Ceremony!). We made sure our knees and shoulders were covered and we began our journey. The ceremony wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before. There was about a 5 minute prayer that was in Fijian before we could start and all women have their feet to their left or right, while all men sit cross legged. We were able to have Kava again, but this time it was not as strong, and I actually semi didn’t mind it. Once the ceremony was over, we were split up and I went with the chief’s wife. There we learned how to make bracelets out of Bandana leaves. We were able to keep the ones that we made, which was really cool, because now I have a bracelet that I made myself! 

Once we were done at the village, we then went to the local school. This was the most rewarding, because of course; children just instantly make your day. This school had 3 teachers, 3 classrooms and 6 different grades. Grades 1-2 were together, 3-4 together, and 5-6 together. It was amazing to me, grade 1 hasn’t learned English, grade 3 understands English and Fijian, and by grade 6 they are fluent in both Fijian and English, and are then learning Hindu.  Very different school system but the children were so happy with so little. That was probably one of the highlights of my trip.

During that day we also drove by Suva, Fijis capital city and we were able to stop at their “white house” and take a picture with the guard. After a full day of this, we found ourselves at a BEAUTIFUL resort called Volivoli beach. It was what you would imagine Fiji was like! It had a pool, sand, great rooms with only 8 people in them, amazing views of the sunset and sunrise..just amazing!

Day 4:

This was our last full day in Fiji, and as a group :-( . We started late that day, so that morning, the girls and I woke up early for the sunrise, went back to bed, and then woke up and hung out around the pool for the rest of the morning. We headed west to complete our circle of the main island and our first stop of the day was lunch. In Fiji the second largest population there is Indian. We were able to stop in Ba Town for a traditional Indian curry lunch. It was all about the Indo-Fijian culture and it was diffinatly different but I loved it! I never really ate curry before, and I feel in love with it. I also was able to make my own tortilla and everything! After a delicious experience in Ba Town, we headed to the Sabeto Valley mud pools and hot springs. It was a select few from the group that decided to strip down and go into what looked like a black hole, but don’t worry, I of course was the first one in :-). It was really gross at first but then a lot of fun. 

Who wouldn’t have fun in the mud! I didn’t wear my bathing suit in because I heard that mud pools could ruin it, so I decided to wear a sports bra so I could just throw it away afterwards. Once we were done with that, our adventure was pretty much over. We met for dinner in the town center of Nadi and we were able to have another traditional Fijian meal for our final dinner together.  The girls and I called it an early night though because we had to be at the airport at 6am.

Overall, this trip was 100% worth it. If I had the time and the money I would have loved to stay longer, but reality had to hit me and we had to go back to school. The FeeJee experience was worth the money, the places they took us, was so unique and I was able to learn so much about the culture and the Fijian way of life. I’d recommend it to anyone :-) 

Bula! (means hello and goodbye!)

"Look at all the sand! Well, it is the largest sand island in the world..."

This past week was spent in the beautiful sand island named Fraser Island.  This island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world and is also a World Heritage site. I didn’t go here for just fun though. For my Biol2001 class, it was a 5 day research trip to study the sand dune transact, the Sclerophyll Forest and Rainforests that were located in the island. To be honest, I’m so happy I went. I learned so much information about trees, animals and the vegetation, that I can now easily tell what one tree or plant is from another.  The only way to get around the island was in a 4x4. We took some comfy looking Land Rovers from UQ all the way to the island ( 4 ½ hours) and then for the next 4 days, our road was the beach. Each day consisted of rocky off-roading, waves hitting our rovers, and lots and lots of bugs!

Each morning was filled with research. The first day  I was up at 5:15am. This was an ungodly hour since I haven’t woken up this early since I’ve been in Australia…but it was for a good reason! I was required to go bird watching! It was awesome! We were able to spot about 18 different birds within an hour and I learned about how and why they go to certain trees, their calls, and about their colors. A few birds that I was able to see were Honeyeaters, Doves, Grey-Shrike Thrush, Varied Trillers and many more. Once that was over, our first day of research had begun by learning about the sand dune transects. We had a 100 meter area where we took down notes every 20m on what ground cover there was, the types of trees and different shrubs. The afternoon was spent at Eli Creek, a natural spring creek in the middle of the forest! It was only about half a meter deep but it was refreshing!

The second day we headed to the Sclerophyll Forests to do research on ground cover, canopy cover and new plant growth. It was long and tedious but very interesting! I was able to what types of trees grow where and why, as well as the different plants. Once we did that, we moved to doing plants and had to classify what they were and their traits. Once the morning of research was done, we ate lunch and suffered ( and I mean suffered! Too hot! And giant spiders!) through a 7km hike through the forest, which on the other end, was a lake. It was so refreshing, but before that, we stopped at a 50m sand dune, which we had to climb, but we could jump off of it! I felt like I was in the desert, yet there was forest surrounding the area.

The third day, we journeyed about an hour out into the rainforest. This time we worked on the canopy cover, the size of the trees, and the leaf litter.  This was a quick morning, because my group wanted to get out of the rainforest and all the bugs as fast as possible! I’ve never had a problem with bugs, but these bugs in the rainforest are REALLY big! For example, I almost ran into a Golden Orb Spider, check it out. Its terrifying when your inches from it. That afternoon, was absolutely amazing to make up for a scary morning. Our group headed to Lake Mackenzie, which is a white sand beach with clear blue water! It was so beautiful, and since its so natural, we couldn’t wear any sunscreen when we went in, just to preserve the lake! Luckily it was a slight overcast, so no burning occurred!

The final day was exciting. We were done with our research, my team stayed up all evening to finish imputing our data, that by the end we were all going insane. We went to Lake Wabby for a few hours in the morning after our breakfast, and this lake was bright green! Each lake that we went to was a different color from the vegetation, and the sand was also different colors because of the nutrients. This final day at Lake Wabby, I truly felt in the dessert. When we arrived, all you could see was sand, but when you looked to your left, there was a forest! In the next 100 years or so, the dunes will actually take over Lake Wabby, and as you can see in the pictures, the sand is slowly taking over the forest. Its so amazing how nature works.

I could go on for days about all of the extra stuff that we did, but overall these were the highlights of the trip. I hope you enjoy the photos and soon I will be putting together a video blog about my trip on Fraser. I would do it now, but I have to pack for my flight to Fiji in the morning :-)

Cheers!

“Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toilet. And that's only a recent development.”- Barry Humphries

For the next 5 days I will be in Fraser Island with my Bio class for a Research Trip. So until next week, there will be no post. But I'll leave you with my first attempt at a video blog. Let me know if you like it by commenting!

(ps. if you want to comment you don't have to have a Gmail account, just post as anonymous!)

Enjoy!

One Question. What is your answer?

I found this on you tube today and fell in love with it. I'm not a usual you tube viewer but this was such a wonderful video. I don't like posting random videos that I feel isn't worth watching. So please take 10 minutes and check it out. The question is interesting and makes you think. In the end, what is your answer to this question?

'if you're out surfing serious waves and you wipe out, you don't land on soft snow. It's usually either very sharp coral, or you get raked across the beach gravel and sand while you're tumbling underwater."- Frederick Lenz

This past weekend was absolutely fantastic! I went to Arrawarra Beach in New South Wales to learn how to surf. I packed up by backpack and headed to catch a bus in the center of Brisbane at 7pm on Friday night. I was happy and ready for the trip to begin. All these weeks I thought the ride down was a 2 ½ hour journey…well whopps, 6 hours later, I arrive at Mojo X Surf School. The beach was absolutely beautiful and very quiet. It was like a little hidden beach since no tourists are here and the only locals are the surfers. Once I arrived it was about 2am, an hour ahead of Brisbane.

The living arrangements were simple, the host said “okay, 10 of you in this room now, go!” and go forth!  There was a total of 32 people on my trip and it was awesome to be able to talk to people from around the world. I roomed with Canadian, some Dutch girls and a few Norwegian men. We all went straight to bed for our first morning of surfing at 9am the next morning.

Daylight came very soon on Saturday! One of our Surf instructors woke us up by coming in and banging on the walls of the cabins. What a scary start to the morning! We had a delicious breakfast and had to be ready by 9am to be at the water. Before we headed out , we learned about the tides and how not to get caught in the rips, which was useful since a Cyclone was right around the corner and the waves were HUGE. Each of us grabbed a wettie ( wetsuit) and the instructors gave us surfboards depending on our height.  Once we heading to the beach, we learned the steps to get on the board, what to do if you fall, and all of the rules of the ocean when surfing.  And then finally, it was time to ATTEMPT to surf.

You’d figure since I love every other water sport and adventure sport I’d like surfing…well, this is the one exception.  I was so completely terrible. I mean I wasn’t the worst person out there but I think I had more of a fear of the water then anything. I learned growing up that when waves like this arise, you don’t choose to go in them! Surfing is all about getting into those terrible waves that most people stay away from! Don’t get me wrong! When I got up on the board, I felt like I was the coolest person ever! But then when I fell and a wave got me..that’s a different story!

On that Saturday we had 2 lessons. One in the morning and one in the evening. My entire group was exhausted by the time we were done with our second lesson that a lot of us were in bed by 9pm. My favorite part of the day?  The was an area that I would like to call paradise in the Surf School. There was sand and three hammocks, looking up at palm trees and blue skies, and the beach was around the corner. I’m 100% sure I have not been that relaxed in years.

The next day? I was up at 6am, before the sun. We had our final surf lesson at 7am so we were privileged enough to eat breakfast outside as the sun was rising. That was absolutely beautiful! The beauty soon went away when I could barely move from the amount of pain I was in! I guess after all those falls, my body wasn’t too happy with me! I also discovered that my knees, and all of my fingers were cut up from the surf board! No worries mate, my surf instructor just duct taped my hands up!  It was an overall successful morning but I was happy to be done! Everyone in my group was in pain! It was only a 2 day trip and some people do 5-10 day trips! Yikes!

Overall, I would recommend Mojo X Surf School to anyone! It was totally worth the money, and I was able to try something new! It was a great weekend away ( beside the whole bus ride part!)




*Reminder, if you click on the photos, they will enlarge! :-)

“Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”- Oscar Wilde

This has been a quiet blog this week, since my classes are starting to pick up!

Just a quick update!

1.    "   I am going to be gone all weekend J Friday, I am going to Brisbane Forest Park for a research trip then I am going to learn to Surf from Friday-Sunday at MojoSurf. Lets just hope this cyclone doesn’t interfere! The swells the days we are learning to Surf are going to be about 12ft high. I am 100% positive that I have never even seen waves that high, never mind SURFING in them.

2.       I booked my flight to Fiji! My roommate Melissa, my friend Kelly, and I are going to be staying in Fiji from April 4^th-9^th! I am beyond excited! Never did I think it was possibility to actually go here!

3.       I actually have assignments due on Friday. One of my assignments is worth 30% of my grade ALREADY. Its hard because if you do bad on one assignment you are very likely to fail the course.

Enjoy the weekend! I hear its beginning to look/feel like Spring in Ma! I miss Spring! We are heading into our Autumn. But Brisbane’s Fall gets to a chilling 70 degrees. J

xoxo

"Eating Ants the Australian Way"

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." -St. Augustine

This is just a quick post!

I wanted to keep everyone updated on a few things! I’m sure you love hearing about the life in Brisbane but I bet you would love to hear about my travel plans as well!

Each month I have about 2 weekends to travel. Here is my current itinerary so far and a little excerpt on what I’ll be doing during the trips.

19^th March- Biol Field Research Day Trip to Brisbane Forest Park

Brisbane Forest Park is a rugged national park that encircles the Brisbane region from the west.  This full day field trip offers a great chance to experience some of south-eastern Queensland's magnificent rainforest.  At Walkabout Creek Wildlife Centre you will  get to see a platypus, a wombat and mainland Australia's largest marsupial carnivore, the spotted quoll.  Other animals include various rainforest birds, freshwater fishes, turtles, snakes, lizards and local wallabies and kangaroos. 

19^th-21^st March- Mojo Surf, Surf Weekend ( literally departs 1 hours after Field Research)

This is an awesome way to start your surfing career and escape the city for the weekend. Departing every Friday evening you will head to one of our secluded purpose built surf camps where the vibe will wipe away the hustle and bustle of the city. By day you will be learning to surf on some of the world’s most pristine and uncrowned beaches. Saturday night is always a blast around the campfire telling tall tales, meeting new friends and experiencing the best lifestyle on the planet.

28^th March- 1^st April- Fraser Island 5 Day Research Trip

Fraser Island World Heritage Area is the world's largest sand island.  The 5 day BIOL2001 field trip to Fraser includes 4WD transport, accommodation and meals.  Activities include hikes and four-wheel drive excursions to various island ecosystems, ranging from the beaches to the towering inland rainforest.  Highlights include visits to spectacular freshwater lakes and giant sand dunes, as well as spotlighting for wild dingos.

2^nd -8^th/9^th April- Nadi, Fiji! ( we are booking this on Monday if the flight prices stay the same.)

First stop this morning is Wailolola Beach where your Guide and Driver will outline the Feejee Experience product. Then it’s onto Nadi Town markets to get some supplies and barter with the locals. From Nadi town we head south to our lunch spot and one of Fiji’s most famous beaches, Natadola Beach for sunbathing, body surfing and mingling with the locals all whilst your Driver and Guide cook a BBQ lunch. Early afternoon is the first cultural experience at Malomalo Village, where your Guide will explain traditional customs in a Fijian village. The last activity is on the Coral Coast itself - sand boarding the Sigatoka sand dunes! Later in the afternoon we arrive at our accommodation, Mango Bay - a beachfront resort, complete with free snorkelling, kayaking, pool, volleyball and loads of other free and paid activities.

22^nd-27^th April- Syndey

We just booked this today on a “happy hour sale” so we have no current plans but we will make some! J

I love and miss you all from home. <3

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating"- Luciano Pavarotti, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Food. This post is all about Food.

The first few weeks here in Brisbane were excellent. But I already began feeling sick of eating the same things every day. The grocery stores are similar to ours but the food, well I can’t complain to much. I actually really enjoy all of the food here! Except for the mayonnaise, yuck. I asked my mom for a few easy recipes that I thought would be simple but Australia doesn’t have the little things!

For example, I wanted to make my moms delicious Stuffed Shells, (obviously NOT as good as hers,but I wanted to attempt) but for the past week, 3 grocery stores, and a fresh pasta market later…I’ve come to the conclusion that Australia, or at least Brisbane does not sell large shells. This was an unfortunate discovery but I am surviving. What else don’t they have? Well cheese is a bit different. They don’t have string cheese, or any of the wonderful laughing cow cheeses. Only the basics. It also seems like every flavor of cheese I get it called “Tasty” cheese. What is that supposed to mean?! This is labeled on my shredded cheese, my parmesan cheese, and my slices of cheese. I just want some Mozzarella!

On the other hand let me begin on the topic of Candy! Or as the Aussies call it, Lollies. I may have fallen a little head over heels for anything confectionery in this country.  Now, everything delicious and really unhealthy for you is way overpriced here, but about once a week I spend my change on some new treat. The first thing I bought was a package of starburst babies. This was a recommendation from the lovely Chris McCarthy, and I wasn’t allowed to leave Australia without trying these. So the very first week I decided to buy these” babies”. They tasted just like any other fruit snack but I think that these Aussies are a little out there. These fruit snack are literally molded babies! I’m sure some of you will be offend but when eating them I can’t really say anything but, “these babies are delicious” or “what flavor baby did you get?”. If heard in the wrong context, well you get the point.

This other delicious chocolate delight would have to be the TimTam. These are made with a variety of different chocolates, with wafers in the middle of them. I guess you could compare them to a Kit Kat, but less crunchy and more chocolaty. I believe there is about 8 flavors and I have had about 4 of them so far. They come in a pack of 8 or 9 and if your really craving the chocolate fix, you could eat them all in a sitting or two.

The third and final treat would be Pods. Pods cannot be related to anything in the US and I’m almost positive my dad would love them. Pods are bit sized candy similar to what you get at Halloween or something. They only have a few flavors, like twix and crunch bar. I have only had the twix so far and it was awesome! Okay, so imagine a bit sized twix, but the cookie is in a little cup form with the perfect amount of carmel and chocolate in the middle. This is the only picture I didn’t take, but I just had ot show everyone anyways.

Here is a few pictures of the lollies that I have been talking about. The pod picture is probably the best because: 1.) I didn’t take it  2.) There’s food in the picture and unfortunately my candy is gone by the time I think of taking a picture.

Fast Fact of the Day!

If you are looking for the cheapest meats. After about 4pm, all of the butchers and grocery stores give price reductions on meat. This goes for hamburger, to chicken to fish. I think this is one thing I won't be looking for a deal on.

P.S- If anyone is having trouble seeing the photos that I am posting here, if you click on  the photo, it will enlarge it! 

Love & Miss xox