Thursday 30 September 2010

A good end to a bad start

25th September 2010

MP3 track of the day – Daniel Powter – Bad Day


Weather: Hoooot!














I didn't sleep brilliantly last night, due to being worried that I'll sleep through my 5:45am alarm call to get the coach for the start of my island hopping trip. At 5:40am I got up and went to the bathroom to get ready.

When I returned a woman was sleeping in my bed. Now I'm not the most observant person in the world but I think I would have known, considering the size of the bed, if this lady had been sleeping here all night. I found it quite funny (even the guy in the bunk opposite me said he was quite confused to see me asleep when he came to bed, then to wake to see a woman in my place) until I started to get my stuff together.

When I picked up my hat off my bag it was covered in a liquid of some sort, so were part of my boots, my bag, my clothes for today (which I had hanging up nicely before she knocked them onto the floor) and my socks. The bed was also wet too which horrified me as to what the liquid could be; I gathered up my things and left the dorm.

Once outside in the light I noticed that this liquid had penetrated into my bad and had got on some additional socks that I had just paid to be washed. As you can imagine I wasn't the most happiest bloke in the world at this point and so I decided to wake her to find out what the liquid was … however she was pretty much unconscious due to the amount she must have drunk last night and trying to wake her up was impossible. I was not best pleased, however the liquid did not have a pungent smell of any kind, which made me think it might have been water and not spirits, or what I thought it might have been.

Anyway time was running out and so because of this mess I only had time or a little breakfast before getting the bus. Once at the dock things were pretty organized and I joined one queue to mark my luggage for my destination before entering another queue to get my vouchers for the trip (all resorts don't accept cash; instead you have to purchase all your accommodation on the mainland and in-return they will give you a ticket to hand to your resort of your choice) before boarding the boat.

I got on the boat (which is actually a catamaran) just before it took off. I realized that, due to problems this morning, I hadn't taken my seasick tables at breakfast. I took them straight away but I hoped that, at least for the first two hours, the water would be calm (like the inlet waters of Alaska) and okay … it wasn't.

I felt really, really ill and so I had to stay outside (a little concerned of the sun as my hat was still drying and I had no suncream on) for most of the trip. Now when I boarded the boat I went along a harbor front and got on the boat … as you do. However the resort had no harbor; instead small boats came to the catamaran, you hopped on and then they would take you near to the coast, where your resort was, before you had to walk through the water and onto the beach, finally heading for the resort. This would have been fine, if someone had told me. As I was traveling I was wearing my boots as they wouldn't it into my bag, plus I had trousers on. I quickly took off my boots and socks and headed inland (luckily the water was warm).

Once in the resort it was time for lunch, which was great as I was starving as I didn't have that much breakfast this morning. We were getting spaghetti with mince … lovely. When it arrived I couldn't believe how small the portions were; the meal was nice but I ate it all up and was still hungry … no pudding? Okay looks like I'll have to spend my own money on food then.

Finally I got shown to my dorm where I went through my bag to see what damage this mornings liquid had done. Overall it was okay, one jotter pad and my deck of cards hit the bin with my Japanese guidebook taking minor damage … I was still very annoyed.

Feeling a little sorry or myself (as the day has been rubbish so far) I decided to pig out on ice cream with a caramel sauce topping, yum, before having cake and tea (all for $6.00) which, surprisingly, the cake was huge.

Only now did my day take a turn for the better; at lunch I had met a really nice Australian couple (and just like normal I can't remember there names) and in the afternoon I met them at their apartment where we chatted for a little while. I found out that this is the Aussie girls second time in Fiji and, just like her previous time here, she had spent around £40 on a suitcase full of toys to give away to any children she might see out here (I saw them playing with a couple of children earlier). I thought that this was a fantastic gesture and, if I had enough room, in my bag I would have done the same. After we chatted they asked me if I would like to join them on a trip up the hill to watch the sunset … and so off we went.

The sunsets at around 6pm (very quickly) and so we had to set off around 5pm to make it up the hill for the show. Once up there we found out that practically all of the residents, from the resort, were there for the same reason, and it was a spectacular show. After this I was asked to join the Australian couple of lunch which was a buffet. Again the food was okay and, luckily, you could go up for seconds. During lunch a band played as we ate and it was all rather nice; after lunch the female workers at the resort all came together and sang us there welcome song with the band accompanying them. It was all lovely and then one of ladies shouted 'lets get this party starrrrted' …

… oh dear. At this point she wanted to do a couple of games for people to win drinks … which was my signal to be somewhere else. She was quite a small Fijian woman but she didn't half scare the hell out of me! Luckily this didn't last long and piece was soon restored. It was only around 9pm but both me and the Aussies were shattered, therefore we went our separate ways and went to sleep.

Toodle Pip!

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