some may ask, where are tom and joel these days? well here, you can find out.

Saturday 2 August 2008

Fiji is...

Hot. After the cold, cold, but great times in Sydney over the last few days its great to come back to somewhere with decent weather. But it's not overwhelmingly so, so i can still move around in the day without too much trouble. And everything is on a tab, so i end up getting a lot of drinks.

Couply. I've only been to two places with a family atmosphere on my travels, Railay and here. There's even more couples here, I've found. And lots of groups going on two week holidays. Not the best people to try and befriend when travelling alone. It was a lot easier in Nepal, as people were, well, better. Maybe it's me. Although i have befriended quite a few Japanese students, as they all seem to come down here for a working holiday or to study English. Seems like a great place to do it. Even though their English is slightly limited it's nice having some company.

Good for walks. With the lack of conversation being made I've been taking a few super long walks along the masses of road and beach there is here. Along the roads i passed through villages, where everyone stops to talk and all the children wave at you, at first it's a bit intimidating when a huge guy comes up to you with an even bigger cleaver, but all they want is a little chat. The beaches are just as friendly, in the distance you can see the waves crashing along the coral reef, and strewn across the beach is tons of bits of coral, all of it i want to take home.

Coco Loco. Not taking any beverage with me on these long walks was not much of a problem, as the entire beach is backed by hundreds of coconut trees, and after a few minutes of bashing their fruit against the rocks, i managed to split a few open and drink some of what was inside. The rest went all over down my hair, neck, arms and clothes. But it was definitely worth it, with the beach being as remote as it was, i felt like i was on a desert island. After some more time bashing, i broke them open and scraped out the inside with my nails. Tasty.

Cheap. Another use for coconuts here is in oil, which i found yesterday when i bought a twenty dollar (7 pounds) massage at the resort I'm staying in. Again, afterwards i was covered in coconut, my hair was super greasy, but smelt so good. And it was definitely worth it, unlike my massage back in 'Nam, the masseuse was hired for her skills, not her looks. Perhaps Fiji isn't quite as well priced as S.E.A, but what hides that is that everything here is put on a nice big fat tab for you, so it all seems free at first. Which i can deal with, until Wednesday anyway.

Chilled. The resort I'm staying in is about 45 minutes from then nearest town, which is one of the reasons they give you a tab, no-one bothers to ever get out of the resort, it has everything you need. So all people do here is lie around in hammocks and go for a swim occasionally, as long as the pool/beach is close by. I think the most I'm going to do today, as the weather is a bit cloudy, is attend a free coconut jewellery making workshop. It looks hard work.

Don't get too jealous, as I'll be back in a week, and have to find a job immediately and work off my wonderful adventures. Also, i haven't got everyone presents, so a lot of you may be receiving hugs, or bits of coral as your gift from afar...

The internet is being really bad at uploading photos, so i only have a few on there at the moment.

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Love

Tom

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom

Glad to hear all is well and you are having a good South Pacific time.
You prob won't read this till you are home, ah well.

Love
Dad

Anonymous said...

what stunning photos, i want my hammock to look like that, perhaps we can rig it up when you come home, all raining here but hopefully will brighten up for your return.
coconut everything sounds heavenly as does the massage, i'm envious.
will be seeing you at the end of the week, will pick you up from airport if you'd like.
callme.
love mum x

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