NOTE: Andrew and I are doing great! Having some internet connectivity issues which have precluded me from uploading pictures from our current location in Australia… Out for pizza dinner right now and found that the wifi is working here! This is a longer blog post I have been waiting to get out! More coming really soon!
Today I was up early for a beautiful cruise into the port of Suva! There was only one issue – there was a cargo ship in the way which caused us not to dock on time! No wonder I had extra time on the veranda to take pictures this morning!
Other than the ship docking late, it was an early start for us as we were taking the “Jewel of Fiji” excursion which was to last 6-7 hours. I THOUGH I had prepared well for this excursion. Prior to signing up for all the excursions that we have/are taking, our Holland America agent talked to the Accessibility Department at Holland America and they read what I could physically do and what the tour entailed and guided me on what would be suitable – other than the minor issue of having to get onto various types of busses that we were aware of.
Back when we first boarded the Noordam, I met Benoit (Ben), the Assistant Excursions Manager, who contacted me regarding two of the tours that we had signed up for and he wanted to know some more information from me regarding accessibility. So I paid him a visit and we discussed all the excursions that we had signed up for, specifically the Jewel of Fiji in Suva and the Snorkeling and Village Tours on Mystery Island. We talked about what I can do from an accessibility standpoint such as walking and swimming is not a problem and where I am weak, such as stairs, especially going down them. He knew I traveled with a walker and wanted to take my walker on the tours, however I am aware than for the Jewel and Mystery Island tours I might need to use my cane. We decided the Mystery Island Tours would be fine, however he needed to find out some more information about the “Jewel of Fiji” based on a better understanding of what I could accomplish and he would get back to me.
After we left Ben got back to me with some information that the tour provider had provided with regards to the “Jewel of Fiji” excursion. He was quite encouraging with the information that he had received – the fact that we got into the long boats to go up the river from the river bank, after the 45 minute ride we would get out and walk along a path, where I could swim and Andrew could climb about 18 stairs up to see the waterfall. He had a picture of the stairs and a small waterfall next to it that I said that I would pass on climbing and let Andrew take pictures of the waterfall instead. Then we would return in the long boats to the village, I would need to climb 24 stairs up to the house where the food and ceremony was going to be held and the busses would be picking us up out the back. For me, it sounded like something I could accomplish! I was really looking forward to this excursion at last! Off we go!
We first got onto the bus – what an accomplishment! Now, on this trip we have been on some tall busses however this one took the cake! The stairs up were taller than me! Also they were not very big! That was the first challenge of the day :). The driver actually sat in a well which was about 3 feet lower than everyone else who was sitting on seats on the bus! After about 45 minutes we arrived at the village were we got off the bus (carefully) and went into a house where we were fitted for life jackets – good move! Also we were given plastic bags for our stuff so they would not get wet in the boat. Andrew and I had left one of our bags on the bus and only took the essentials with us which was one towel and a shirt for Andrew. We were both wearing our bathing suits (me under my dress).
The lady who was next to me in the line could not swim and was VERY nervous – it was her husband who convinced her that this excursion would be a great idea! Now, remember how we were supposed to just walk out to the riverbank? Nope, down 23 steps we went, which were both a bit slippery and uneven, with the last 8 or so with no railing. Finally into the long boat, we were off! The lady who was nervous about this trip was actually sitting in front of me so Andrew and I had to keep our comments about the water and the little rapids to ourselves as she was REALLY NERVOUS!
We saw lots going up the river – lots of free roaming cattle, kids playing in the water, a woman with her horse and then some river construction thrown in too! I could tell that the river was low – there were “high tide” marks on the banks which as this is a fresh water river going out to sea means that the river was running low. Sure enough, we hit some rapids that the boats ahead of us could not get up, so we all had to get out of our flat bottom boats and walk for about 10 minutes along a path next to the river while each boat and its driver went up the little narrow rapids. I was looking forward to coming down them though! I did not say that out loud…
Then we motored on for about 20 minutes and the driver of the boat actually hit a rock – which the husband of the wife in front of me told me put a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the boat! Apparently he covered it with his foot so she would not see it. We were taking on water however the water was also splashing over the sides so it was not that noticeable. Finally we arrived at the stopping point to get to the swimming and waterfall area which Ben had showed me a picture of – I was really excited to get swimming as the river water was so warm! Just like a bathtub!
We walked along the path next to the bank where the boats stopped and there was a stream next to us and the stairs which I recognized from the picture that Ben had showed me where Andrew could go up to see the waterfall and the stream was where I was to go swimming. I asked the guides and they told me that no, that was not where the swimming area was, that I had to go up the stairs a little way. Well, that was an understatement!
So up the stairs I went with my cane, along a path with 50 pound wheat flour bags filled with rocks to lead the way, and then MORE stairs – up and down! It was a total of 103 by the time we got to the waterfall and the swimming area, which I might add was beautiful however it was a lot of hard work to get there and I knew I had to go back! The most scary part for me were about 15 stairs going up the side of a rock wall with nothing to hold onto other than the side of the rock as on the other side there was a drop down into the stream, now turned into fast moving narrow river!
It was very luxurious when I was able to get into the swimming area – they had made it a bit easier to get into the “pool” by flattening out some of the steps going down with cement which was helpful. Also Mr. Cool had let the company know (it was the same umbrella tour company who did all of HAL’s excursions) that I was going to be on this excursion and there was a younger man assigned to assist me with walking and getting into the swimming area. That also really helped! It also allowed Andrew to take some pictures!
After taking a quick dip in the wonderful clean water with the waterfall behind me, it was time to go back down to the boats. I wanted to go last as I knew I was going to be slow, however some people were talking too much while I waited so we (that was Andrew, myself and our guide/helper) struck out on our own. Needless to say there was a long line of people walking back from the waterfall while I carefully managed the route and pulled over to take breaks and let people by.
Back at the boat launch area, we were switched to a different long boat to go back to the village where we started as that little hole in the boat that happened coming up was becoming a concern. I was looking forward to the trip down the river and going through all the little rapids that we sometimes struggled (or walked past) going up! Only one issue – it started raining. Oh, not just light or medium or hard rain. Monsoon rain! It was raining so hard (and most of us were just wearing bathing suits with life jackets on top) that the rain hurt our skin – it was like being in hail the rain drops were so big and hard! It was a surreal experience having the rain come down for about 30 minutes which was colder than the water, if I put my hand over the side of the boat, felt like! To ensure that I was protected from the sun, I had elected to wear a beach towel that Holland America had given us for our excursions over my back and arms, however with the sheet of rain coming down, it was getting VERY heavy!
We all just hunkered down on the boat – most of us, Andrew and I included, were wearing baseball caps or sun hats so we were protected from the pelting rain, however there were no pictures to be taken as I did not want my phone to get wet – it takes forever to dry that thing out!
Finally we arrived at the bank of the river below the house, where we had boarded the boats originally! A bunch of drowned rats we all looked like and all the boatmen were frantically trying to bail water out of the boats as most of us were ankle deep from both the rain and the “wash” that came aboard while we were coming down the river. Successfully out of the boat, now came the stair climb which my able assistant helped me with the first portion which did not have any railing.
Back in the house we divulged ourselves of our life jackets and for me, I wrung out the towel around my neck and I was VERY surprised with the amount of water that was trapped in it! Now I felt a 100 pounds lighter walking around! Despite the continuing torrential downpour, we made our way to the ceremonial hut for some lunch and entertainment.
I am always amazed at people, and I try to observe the customs of the people whose homes I am visiting. Once we climbed the 6 or so stairs to get to the ceremonial hut or community centre all the Fijians took off their shoes to walk on the mats. Most of the people on the excursion did too and a lady suggested that I sit on a cooler that contained drinks so I could take off my sandals. Yet there were quite a few people of a certain nationality of which Canada shares a continent, who just walked right on by and did not even bother. That makes me sad. It takes so much work to make the reed mats or like in Japan, the Tatami mats, and it is disrespectful not to be appreciative and follow the customs of others when in their homes.
They provided 2 different lunches – a “subway” lunch and a “traditional Fijian” lunch. Both Andrew and I had the traditional lunch as for me, that is where the gluten free food was and Andrew I guess that was easiest for him as I had to sit down and he had to get the food for me. I had rice, some eggplant mixed with spices, taro root which is like a potato and apple slices! It was AWESOME and DELICIOUS! It all went down better with an Orange Fanta too – which seems to be a popular drink in Fiji – no sugar free drinks available and my blood sugar was low so why not partake in a luxury sugar item?
Then we were presented with a Kava ceremony. I appreciated this Kava ceremony as the person who was MC’ing it had found out all the countries that people were from on the 2 busses that were on this excursion and had mentioned them all when presenting us to the chief for the Kava ceremony – that was a nice touch! The other funny thing I though which I think most people missed, was the two men who were participating, were asked what size of Kava cup they wanted – tsunami or a wave. Tsunami being LARGE gulp and wave being a small amount. The man who selected the Tsunami was actually the husband of the wife who was so scared in our long boat going up to the waterfall and he had asked me how it tasted as her had remembered I had participated in the ceremony previously. I told him not bad so that is why he said “tsunami”! He had a numb tongue too!
After that, it was back onto the skyscraper of the bus and back to the ship. We were sitting next to one of the tour leaders at the front of the bus so of course we started chatting as he saw my Canada hat and wanted to proudly say that his grandmother had flown to Vancouver on the new Fiji Airlines flight! I mentioned that I was aware of the flight as I volunteer at YVR and that lead us into the discussion of Mr. Cool and how, as it was a Monday, he was at work today at the airport. It was at this point in time I found out some very interesting information though!
After the “Leisurely Nadi” tour on Sunday that we participated on in Lautoka, all the tour guides who work for Tiki Tours went to Mr. Cool’s house for kava. Then at 2am, the busses arrived to pick them up, then go to Nadi to pick up some more guides and they all drove to Suva which was 4 hours away, to be ready for when the ship arrived at 8am to put on all the scheduled HAL tours of that day, including the one that we were on! I was amazed! Zack, the tour guide then told us that at this time of the year, there are not enough ships stopping so this is really a “one off” type thing that they do – there are usually 2 ships that stop with similar itineraries on their way from North America to Australia and then 5 months later, the reverse happens. They do get some smaller ships stopping on Fiji Island cruises however these “larger” ships (which the Noordam is NOT large) they do have to do the commute due to the amount of staff needed for the excursions.
All the time we were having this discussion with Zack, it was raining outside and also inside the bus – the water was running down in a stream in front of him from the overhead bin area! I am not sure if that was a function of a hole in the roof or the fact that we were driving with the front door open YET again for air conditioning purposes – however it was funny! Zack continued to talk about traveling to the Suva “side” of the island and that at the Kava ceremony which he also participated in, he actually did not understand the Fijian dialect that was being spoken at the village. Zack grew up on a different island and came to the main island of Fiji, Viti Levu for post secondary schooling in Hospitality and Tourism. I then told him that was the same education that I had – I then found out that he was a Sales Manager at a local Wyndam Resort. He loves working in the hotel industry! I think that is what made him such a comfortable tour guide too!
Soon we were back at the ship and for the 3rd day in a row, we found the Noordam being painted! This time I caught the painters in action – those are some really tall painting rollers that they use! Once on board, we soon sailed out of Suva, after 3 memorial days in Fiji and ready for a day at sea! My body was starting to show signs of frustration in terms of muscle control so I was REALLY looking forward to a relaxing day! However before we left, I did manage to get out onto the balcony to take some pictures of our departure and all the ships in the harbour around the port of Suva.
