![\"Fijian](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Fijian-Marketstall-Holders.jpg\" "\\"Fijian")
Fijian Marketstall Holders<\/p><\/div>\n
At the back of the market, seated on the floor and with only tarps strung overhead to protect them from the sun, were the Fijian people.\u00a0 They had all of their fruit stacked up in a really interesting way.\u00a0 Not entirely sure how they stacked things like limes 4 high but it was a cute custom.\u00a0 We saw some small breadfruit and decided to buy one.\u00a0 From the look of it we thought it would be something like a durian or jackfruit.\u00a0 It only cost $1 anyway.\u00a0 I asked the lady if it was ready to eat but she didn\u2019t understand me so I repeated it more slowly, ready to try \u2018ripe?\u2019 if that had failed but the lady at the next stall understood me and said \u2018yes!\u2019\u00a0 Then we went back to the friendliest Indian face we had seen and bought 3 small pineapples for 50c each.\u00a0 She also gave us a $1 sized one for free which was lovely of her.\u00a0 And that was the shopping strip done.<\/p>\n
We decided to walk back on the side of the road we were now on and discovered that this side was not all bush as it had partially appeared from the shop side.\u00a0 There were several schools, some para-airport businesses and a mosque.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that we\u2019re totally dumb and missed these on the way \u2018up\u2019, it\u2019s that we were now walking along next to the bushes and could now see through them to what was hidden behind.\u00a0 The footpath was narrow and overgrown but Fiji was so lush that things would grow very fast so it\u2019s possible it gets cleared from time to time.<\/p>\n
Fiji was not hot by any means but the humidity was constantly pretty high.\u00a0 We adored that the temperature did not drop at night and that it was consistently such a pleasant warmth.\u00a0 Once we arrived back at the hotel we were quite warm so put the fruit in our room and changed into our bathers and headed off for a swim.<\/p>\n
The hotel pool was really big but there was only one young woman swimming in it.\u00a0 In fact the entire hotel did not seem very busy during our first night there (before the island stay) or on our current 2 nights.\u00a0 We had a few friendly words with the girl but didn\u2019t want to intrude so just enjoyed our cool-off together.\u00a0 Perhaps because of the size of the pool, or because of the massive tree which partially shaded it, we got cool fairly quickly and were happy to get out and dry off.\u00a0 We went back to our room and had a nice shower and rinsed our bathers out as well.<\/p>\n
We then sat on our 2 little chairs at a tiny table on the concrete slab outside the back of the room and ate 3 of<\/p>\n
![\"Pineapples](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Pineapples-Breadfruit.jpg\" "\\"Pineapples")
Pineapples & Breadfruit<\/p><\/div>\n
the pineapples and curiously cut open the breadfruit.\u00a0 It was pure white and a fairly \u2018solid\u2019 texture.\u00a0 David cut a slice and handed it to me and I bit into what may as well have been rubber.\u00a0 I shook my head and gave the slice to him but he declined a taste.\u00a0 Within a minute the fruit had started to go brown.\u00a0 Since coming home and reading up on good old Google it seems that breadfruit have to be cooked.\u00a0 Oh well, for $1 we had seen the inside of one.\u00a0 We also ate the pastries we\u2019d \u2018rescued\u2019 at breakfast.<\/p>\n
According to one of the brochures there was a town nearby called Port Denarau and, seeing as this was our only full day on the mainland we decided we\u2019d get a taxi and go to see this.\u00a0 It was alleged to have a shopping centre and be an attraction so we asked at reception and she rang for a taxi for us.\u00a0 It took oh\u2026 30 seconds to arrive?\u00a0 OK, I\u2019ll be truthful, it took 2 minutes.\u00a0 The driveway of the hotel would have taken that long to drive down!!!<\/p>\n
The car was really shoddy and knocked about, the driver was not wearing a seatbelt and it was obvious that the ones in the back had not been used for a very long time \u2013 the buckles were nowhere to be seen \u2013 so we didn\u2019t bother.\u00a0 We drove through Nadi where we\u2019d walked this morning and it started to drizzle, then rain a little.\u00a0 Nothing to worry about.\u00a0 We continued on the main road stopping regularly to go really slowly over potholes and then speeding up again, and the rain got a bit heavier.\u00a0 At one point we turned right, went along a bit and then turned left, then right onto what could only possibly have been the road we\u2019d turned off of in the first place.\u00a0 The driver chatted a bit with us though he had his radio on too and the CB was not quiet for long either.\u00a0 When he was on the CB he spoke (I presume) in Hindi as we didn\u2019t understand any of it.<\/p>\n
After passing Nadi we drove through an area sparsely housed with some trees and lots of open but rough terrain grassed land.\u00a0 There was also a roadside swamp \u2013 though it was prettier than that word sounds.\u00a0 Like a very shaded small lake with trees surrounding and dotted through it.\u00a0 Then we turned into another road through 2 large brick walls which announced \u2018Denarau\u2019.\u00a0 The road here was brick paved with occasional large ornamental roundabouts.\u00a0 Each of these heralded a gateway to a housing area, each with a different estate name.\u00a0 Each estate had a metal gate which was closed.<\/p>\n
![\"Port](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Port-Denaraus-Thatched-Shuttle-Bus.jpg\" "\\"Port")
Port Denarau's Thatched Shuttle Bus<\/p><\/div>\n
Soon we saw the shopping centre and the first thing we noticed was that their shuttle buses were thatched<\/span>.\u00a0 I kid you not!!!\u00a0 We found out later that these buses deliver people to the housing estates we\u2019d just come through.<\/p>\n We paid the taxi driver with a $50 note for a $25 fare and he left us standing while he went into a shop to get change.\u00a0 We thought we\u2019d been dumped (and doubted we could have recouped our $25 by selling the taxi LOL)\u00a0 but he did eventually turn up with the change.<\/p>\n In the first shop, Jacks of Fiji, we were greeted by a really gorgeous Indian lad.\u00a0 Very friendly and extremely handsome too!\u00a0 But it was one of those shops where you get escorted personally.\u00a0 He introduced himself and even told us his name and said that he was our \u2018host for the afternoon\u2019 or some similar wording.\u00a0 Eeekkk!!!!\u00a0 It was an interesting shop and the things that most stood out for me were the turned-wood urns and bowls, they were so beautiful.\u00a0 A smallish one was $350 and the large ones were \u2018if you need to ask you can\u2019t afford them\u2019.\u00a0 They had lots of souvenir items such as the ever-present ceremonial kava bowls and other wooden knick knacks and woven leaf items.\u00a0 Also there was lots of clothing, some of which was gorgeous, but very pricey.\u00a0 The lad began to realise we\u2019d told the truth when we had told him we were just looking so when a girl spoke to him he stayed with her, phew!<\/p>\n We\u2019d just finished in this shop when it started to rain pretty hard.\u00a0 The shopping centre was only partially covered; I suppose it was best described as each shop having a verandah so we huddled around under these to keep dry.\u00a0 The centre was not finished yet though most of the shops on the ground level were occupied.\u00a0 There was a real estate agent, newsagent, helicopter tour booking agent, a *lot* of cafes and restaurants \u2013 well, for the size of the place anyway, which really wasn\u2019t that big.\u00a0 There was a Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 which surprised us.\u00a0 We don\u2019t even have one of those in Perth and they had one in this tiny place.\u00a0 I suppose there were about 8 restaurants\/cafes but only about 20 other shops.\u00a0 Definitely a tourist shopping facility as in there was no supermarket or anything.<\/p>\n The shops were empty pretty much and the restaurants were empty other than the staff.\u00a0 One caf\u00e9, I think it was the Hard Rock but wasn\u2019t paying much attention, did have a lot of people in though and there were 3 Fijian guys playing guitar and singing to them. \u00a0Then we wandered back along the front (back? front? make up my mind!) of the shops and were accosted by several men asking if we wanted a taxi.\u00a0 One of them was a lovely friendly Fijian guy with a gorgeous cheeky smile and David told him that we were nearly ready and would be with him soon and I asked how much to Novotel Nadi so he thought for a moment and said $25.\u00a0 I was just checking as we had very little Fijian money left so I wanted to be sure.<\/p>\n I decided that we may as well buy an ice cream as we\u2019d bought nothing else and then we could call it our $50 ice cream as that would be the total taxi fare by the time we got back to the hotel.\u00a0 David looked in his wallet and we barely had $10 plus a few coins other than our taxi fare home so we went into the newsagent (LOL he had ice creams advertised on his window!) and looked at the ice creams.\u00a0 They were all $5.50 each but then we saw a little tub that said $3.95 so picked up 2 of those.\u00a0 When we went to pay they were $5.50 each as well but we went ahead anyway.<\/p>\n We found a sheltered spot under Jack of Fiji\u2019s verandah to eat them and watch the rain and then the rain eased up and stopped so we were able to look at the outer surrounds of the shops.<\/p>\n Port Denarau's Yacht Mooring<\/p><\/div>\n There was canal-style living behind the shops and even the waterway had a sign up saying \u2018private, access to residents only\u2019.\u00a0 Around from this was a large marina with some quite sizeable boats moored there.\u00a0 One really was an ocean-going size with 4 or 5 decks above the water but I\u2019d still call it a boat rather than a ship.<\/p>\n Cruising Yacht Moored at Port Denarau<\/p><\/div>\n We\u2019d seen this one sail by our island a few times so it was nice to get a closer look.<\/p>\n Eventually we felt we\u2019d seen all that Denarau had to offer, which wasn\u2019t really a lot, so went back to see if the lovely Fijian guy was still there.\u00a0 David had taken him to be someone who would beckon a taxi for us and get a small fee from the taxi driver but as we went to him he said \u201cStay right there, I\u2019ll bring the car!\u201d\u00a0 It was a really nice car too, with seatbelts, so we put those on.\u00a0 We checked that it was still going to be $25 for the fare and he said yes.\u00a0 I laughed and told him he\u2019d have had to kick us out before the hotel and we\u2019d have to walk the rest otherwise.<\/p>\n We chatted very happily with this fellow and he was really friendly.\u00a0 Eventually (ever the diplomat but curious) I said to him \u201cThere are a lot of Indian people here\u201d and he, even more diplomatically, said \u201cYes, do you like them?\u201d\u00a0 David and I both smiled at his tact and I replied that they did not seem as friendly as the Fijians who always called out Bula to us.\u00a0 We had a little chat, nothing derogatory, just in general about the nationalities in Fiji but he did ask if we\u2019d shopped in an Indian owned store and not been given change.\u00a0 It\u2019s the usual practice it seems.\u00a0 Interesting.\u00a0 Obviously it pays to buy everything at once so you\u2019re only robbed of one lot of change or it could add up LOL<\/p>\n He did not take the deviation from the main road that the other driver had done but there was a little bit of roadwork in the spot we hadn\u2019t seen before so I guess it was understandable that the other guy wanted to miss it.\u00a0 He was telling us how they\u2019d had really bad floods and some of the shops had been knee-deep in water and had stock float away and this part of the road had been badly damaged.<\/p>\n He told us that he knew where the Novotel was as he had worked there in the past as a security guard.\u00a0 All of the hotels seemed to be down long driveways with a guard house and one of those bars that go up and down to let cars through.\u00a0 They were only manned (should that be personned?) at night.\u00a0 When we got out of the taxi we gave him the $25 plus the remaining 50c we had to our name, he really had been nice and we\u2019d have given him more if we\u2019d had it.<\/p>\n Next page\/…<\/a> On the other side of the road was a market.\u00a0 It had a roof and side walls but no wall front or back.\u00a0 The stalls, for the most part, had nothing but fruit and vegetables and were staffed by Indian … Continue reading ![\"Port](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Port-Denaraus-Yacht-Mooring.jpg\" "\\"Port")
![\"Cruising](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Cruising-Yacht-Moored-at-Port-Denarau.jpg\" "\\"Cruising")
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