Back from Adventures in Fiji

Craig DeWitt Headshot

Bula! That's "Hello" in Fijian. What a wonderful country. And I thought Hawaii was nice. Advertisements say that Fiji people are the friendliest in the world, and I would have to agree. Everyone you met, including those on the side of the road during the 4-hour bus ride from the airport to the boat dock, would wave and offer a friendly "bula."

We were on an island about 45 minutes off the mainland. There were four villages on the island, each with a chief. No roads, just footpaths and boats. The resort had a phone and Internet connection, but I think that was it. What electricity there was came from generators. Kids didn't have computers, TVs or iPhones. Very laid back, easy, friendly, healthy lifestyle. "Primitive" might be used to describe it compared to our lifestyle, but I would rather call it "terrific." Fine food, superb diving, great people. Our dive master offered to put us ashore on an island with the last remaining cannibal tribe. (At least that was his story.) I saw smoke from a fire, and could have sworn I heard drums. I did bring home a souvenir cannibal fork.

Buildings had either slab floors or elevated wood foundations. Wood floors were single-layer 1-inch boards laid directly on joists. There was no finish on the flooring, but every house had large mats woven from local palm-like leaves. Shoes were not worn inside.  Most of the wood was said to have come from palm trees. It looks kind of like a strand-woven mix of caramelized and plain bamboo with small dark and light stripes. I wonder if we'll see some palm flooring in our part of the world someday.

Vacation, for several years, is finally over. It's a long trip, but worth it. I left the resort 8 a.m. Saturday morning, boated 45 minutes to the mainland, rode the bus for 4 hours to a day room at a hotel, went to the airport at 7 p.m., boarded the plane for LAX at 11 p.m. Saturday night, got to LAX 11 a.m. Saturday morning, boarded a plane to Detroit at 11 p.m. Saturday night, got to Detroit at 5 a.m. Sunday morning, boarded a plane to Asheville at 11 a.m., and finally got to the house at 3 p.m. Sunday. Somewhere in there we crossed the international date line and daylight savings time change, so Saturday lasted 49 hours. Now I've got to get back to work and pay for that trip.

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