The Diary of Fiona J McNally

Footloose in Fiji

I have just returned from 10 days under Fijian skies with my husband and our son. I have long been a fan of and regular visitor to the Hawaiian Islands and I think I anticipated that Fiji would be very similar.

In actual fact the Fijian terrain seemed to be pretty much like northern Queensland in terms of topography and fauna.The hills and valleys were not as green as in Hawaii and the scenery not quite as spectacular. The Fijian people however, were exceedingly friendly and welcomed our son with open arms. We even found Nemo - a waiter in one of the restaurants we dined at! He took a shine to my little boy and I could see he was a bit teary when we left.

We stayed at a resort on the coral coast that offered an all inclusive package with meals and beverages. I can imagine that most people never venture off the resorts and in that case the experience they have would be enjoyable, but fairly sterile. Sean and I experienced the real Fiji after befriending a local family and visiting them in their village and going to a church ceremony with them.

i was amazed at first that no one wore shoes and that basic facilities like electricity and running water were not freely available. I thik it was the children that made it for me. They would run up to us and push their cherubic faces forward and marvel at our digital camera. One of the boys told me his father was James Bond and that I was magic for having such a contraption that could take photos and display them immediately.

Gettign back to the resort was another story. It appeared that we would have to hitch hike. The locals seemed to treat this as par for the course and helped us flag down a passing mini van. The contrast with life on the resort and the authetic way of life in the villages, was simply astonishing.

Bula Vinaka!

posted by Fiona McNally @ 11/19/2004 10:29:00 am