A night to remember...

As I lay in bed writing the New Year’s entry, I can’t help but think “where do I begin?!” After our tiny plane landed, we hopped out and walked 10 ft. to the “terminal” where we could watch our bags as they were unloaded onto a little card. The baggage guy, who was also the ticket guy, wheeled the cart to the terminal and that was that. Fastest luggage process EVER! Since we already learned the hard way that the guide book never lies (maybe I’ll get into that later), we followed its map and walked the ½ mile to our accommodations (i.e. small cluster of cabins that Justin calls a campground…or hell). The family that runs the place (Bibi’s Hideaway) is amazing. Really though, Fijians have been some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. After getting the lay of the land from the owner, we were taken to our cottage. I won’t get too into describing the “buildings”, but let’s just say THANK GOD for mosquito nets!! That said, don’t tell Justin but, I actually kinda like the place. The coolest thing has to be the fruit. Yes, fruit. The owner planted dozens of trees (oranges, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, mango, banana, etc.) and it’s all free to pick & eat. Actually, one of our neighbors just brought over some pineapple which I am enjoying right now. Sooo juicy! And it GREW like 20 ft. from my bed!!

Now for New Year’s. Umm, yeah. After a couple hours of asking around, we found the best place to party. Luckily, it was at the resort next to our place. We learned the hard way though that on an island without electricity, except generators, it can be quite dark when walking from one establishment to another. Our walk from the restaurant to the New Year’s bar took about 20 minutes in almost complete darkness…so that was…umm…fun.Anyways, once we made it to the bar we were pleased to see that they weren’t charging a cover like they previously mentioned. Either that or we just managed to sneak past the bouncer. Oh well, it worked for us :) We commenced celebrations immediately (i.e. drank a few Fiji Golds to numb the pain and fear caused by our dark walk). There were a lot of locals hanging out at the bar and after a short time they asked us to dance. It was pretty funny because after each song everyone would say “thank you”, pat each other on the shoulder, and clear the dance floor. Very different from bars & clubs in the US! Near the end of the night, we were asked to an after party with some Fijians. We accepted, piled into the back of their pick-up truck and headed to the village of Somosomo for “the real party”. The ride was amazing because it was a clear night and we could see all the stars & Milky Way. Additionally since Taveuni lacked ANY breeze, the wind in the pick-up bed was much appreciated. On our way to the village one of the girls turned to me and said “they will soon attack us with water, don’t get angry”. Uhhhh….what?!?! Unbeknownst to us, it is a Fijian custom to “wet” people on New Year’s Eve. Within minutes we were drenched... The caviat is that if you get someone wet, you have to provide them with dry clothes. Our Fijian cultural emersion continued with the mystical creation that is homebrew. Yep, we drank lots of moonshine. Homebrew was essentially fermented fruit juice that tasted like a blend of wine, beer, and old socks…but mostly like old sweaty socks. One bucket was aged for 1 month and the other for 2.

After the buckets of homebrew were finished....

...we piled back into the pick-up truck and headed to Prince Charles Beach to watch the first sunrise of 2009. Don’t worry, the older lady who stayed up all night innocently baking cakes drove us. Look at the picture…isn’t she innocent?

On New Year’s Day, pretty much all we did was lie on the beach, under a tree, and sleep off the effects of homebrew. Unfortunately, it is easier to get the effects of homebrew out of your body than it is your clothes. We STUNK!!! Thank goodness we were wearing borrowed clothes!

:) Ryan