all aboard to rugby town

 

Feeling a little under the weather, perhaps its all catching up with me! In fact Chrissi the only one who is perhaps not a little bit jaded yet, she'll be saving that for the homecoming I would imagine.  As to the weather, a bit of heavy rain last night, but all clear by the morning.  

So today was a bit after the lord mayors show with little inclination to travel too far or too wide. We'd been alerted that the nearest town, around 40 mins away, Sigatoka, worth a visit, for a curry! Bit early in the day for that purpose but our love of public transport out here meant we were happy to take a trip.

Stood at the bus stop and sure enough a taxi pulled up and agreed to take us there for the price of the bus, Bargain!

It was a nice little trundle across the coral coast although he kept his meter running which amounted to a lot more than he was charging us. That came to nothing though, he took his $15 and presumably was going to recoup the extra $25 somewhere else!

The town was a bit claustrophobic, all the buildings felt like they were supporting each other to stay upright, and all within a pretty sharp and sweaty radius. We'd walked all 4 streets and the market in the space of an hour. Thank goodness it wasn't market day, far too cheek by jowel both buildings and people today for me.  We did get a few decent shots of some amusingly named businesses, and a bit of the rugby history that this town is proud of. Had a chat with the one of the locals who said this province is proudly the best team in Fiji. I took his word for it.

Still a sense that life is quite hard here, but so much joy and enthusiasm, even if we didn't add further to the joy by purchasing odds and sods in the market. I'd rather we contributed to the local economy in other ways. Food of course a big part, found a (one of the 4) backstreet cafe, the girls ate cake, I had a chicken pizza, it was OK, and I couldn't be certain it was chicken!

Carys wanting to travel back in style so I got us a cheap ticket on the Suva Express. They somehow have managed to put an extra row of seats in so the normal 2-2 config so its 2-3, which means there is barely an aisle. Not ideal as the only seats left were at the back, and we had to bump into the other 50 passengers en route. An hour or so later of rumbling along (express) we were back at the Beachouse; heart in mouth as we are never sure the bus will actually stop and we were nowhere near enough to catch the drivers attention.

Joined Bryn in the lounging around the pool activity, lounging led to me actually falling asleep for an hour or so!  Felt marginally revitalised after that and with temps dipping I went for a 5k run. What a joyous experience this was, so many bulas from the local villagers, couple of kids ran with me for a bit.

That joy then translated into a blue, coconut cocktail called bula blue. Lush!  Had 2 !  It was then onto change for evening meal which I stuck to the fish and coconut theme, a hotter version than last night, but still pretty delicious. A taste of Fiji for sure now, this fish and coconut theme, always with very hefty potato wedges to both fill you up and soak up the creamy sauce.

And it was then relaxing in the bar,cider rather than cava, and lots of mellow music ranging from he likes of the Eagles and Stevie Wonder. I'm happy to put my heavy rock to one side whilst here, it is not needed!  One of Bryn/Carys mates was celebrating an early 20s birthday (ah to be back out there seeing the world with a backpack) so got a bit of chocolate cake, very nice.

(Carys)

I was straight asleep as the head hit the pillow last night, and barely stirred when Bryn came in later on, so I think it's safe to say the busy day caught up with me. I felt refreshed this morning after a good night's sleep, and started the day with my book and some breakfast.

It was quite a slow morning, and we didn't get around to doing too much, but just kept enjoying our surroundings, as, not to be pessimistic, but our Fijian adventure is coming to an end sadly. We decided to visit Sigatoka, nicknamed 'Rugby Town', which we'd stopped at on the way from the airport to The Beachouse, and missing the bus, got a ride in a taxi. I still managed to nod off on the way there, despite my good sleep - maybe it's the motion?

 It was very hot out, so I tried to stay in the shade  a lot, as we strolled around the town. I did get some doritos as a snack _ i like to try foods that are basically the same here but with slightly different names or flavours - and we got to observe what daily life is like in a Fijian town. The market was very busy, selling all sorts of fruit and vegetables, sweets, and handmade items. People were here still very friendly. It's gave the perspective of the poorer areas of Fiji, which are still more built up than the likes of the huts of the island we visited, but provide a different way of life. 

After a slice of tasty cake in a shop where they had plenty of prettily decorated delicacies - as do most of the bakeries here I've noticed - we headed back via a very cramped bus. I sat by a nice lady with a little boy, and think I almost dozed off on her a few times. 

Head nodding, we arrived back at The Beachouse, where the weather had taken a bit of a turn. After the downpour of last night, which I narrowly missed by being in bed early (I couldn't distinguish between the sound of the rain and the fan when falling asleep last night) I hoped the beachy weather would maintain for our last couple of days, despite by apprehension of the sun. however, by the time we were back, the winds had picked up and it was almost chilly - not quite, but you can feel the difference after several days of intense heat. 

This meant sadly I decided not to go for a dip, and I'm hoping tomorrow - being potentially my last chance - will provide better conditions for swimming. Dinner was lovely, spent chatting with some of the friends Bryn has made. I opted for more pasta, which was comforting if not very exotic, and then some strawberry and vanilla ice cream to top off the day. The rain has now started again, so it's not looking good for tomorrow, but there is time yet - fingers crossed everyone!