斐济群岛过大年

作者 Dr.Gigi,曾经医生，现客座教授，外语爱好者，澳总理的同传，福布斯论坛同传。。

时间 2013年春节，，一周。。带老妈和娃，，发现过年老爸最可怜，总在家看菜地。。去年我和老妈在新西兰过的年。。 相机，新进的Olympus T30 Tough 防水防摔，价值800人民币左右，傻瓜中的入门级。。去斐济。。因为要带孩子度假，斐济离悉尼最近。。 电影是我旅行单的灵感来源，一部经典80年的由16岁芳龄的Brooke Shields 完美演绎的《蓝湖》，一部汤姆汉克斯的《荒岛余生》。。。这两部电影都有在斐济群岛取景，不过拍片的blue lagoon island n castaway island有高达5000刀一晚上住宿啊！！我勒个去。。。所有去过斐济的朋友都说斐没劲也不美，，但看地图这太平洋中间的岛国，有300多岛，应该不赖啊。。去看看为什么。去了才知道，，，斐济不像马尔代夫，，如果你选错了岛，或者就近图便宜将就一下，的确是可能看不到好风景，比如渡轮上那帮可怜的中国来的团友，一大帮人被送到最近最便宜的某岛应付了事，各个一脸郁闷一点不像在度假，，马尔代夫则不同，貌似两千多岛都很美。。。斐济主岛除了Coral Coast和五星酒店集中的一带有像样的海滩，剩下的海都是灰黄色的。。但是游轮开出一小时，就看到真正的湛蓝。。。斐济有的岛很美，水清沙幼，但是环礁少，浮潜看不到什么。。。做了一周功课，最后决定去 yasawa islands..。天堂岛

游记是在途中用英文整的。。因为悉尼的朋友们等着看，懂英文的童鞋勉强瞅一眼。。中文我慢慢在照片上添加。。。 斐济很多小岛貌似被白人买断了。。。去了都是看到GM是白人，干活的是黑人。。。一周下来，我妈也晒的和黑人差不多了，她老人家不是缺维生素D吗，这下估计不缺了。。哈哈

Fiji, a Paradise of 330+ Islands and over 500 inlets sits in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, distancing it from the 21st century hustle and bustle, the virtual escapism of iProducts and so called modern life. It is surrounded by crystal clear turquoise waters promising a through cleansing not only of the body but more for the soul.

And me, a wandering traveler making up my destinations from the random impulses etched from the movies of my youth that have touched and inspired me.

Fiji, home of the eternal classics like the 1980 hit Blue Lagoon and Cast Away, the movie that scored Tom Hanks an Oscar. I was drawn to these Islands because both movies were filmed here, later finding out that it would cost thousands of dollars per night to stay on the two islands where the films were made. wait until I get filthy rich! I have many friends that have warned me that Fiji is boring with little to do. Indeed it can be, especially the main island. Perhaps they should have passed the Big Island up for the lesser islands that were my destination.

So after a week of exhaustive homework, digging into every trip advisor tip and countless Internet searches, I have shortened the list down to the Yasawa Islands for my holiday. These Islands are a 3-hour, fast ferryboat ride away from Port Denarau. Yasawa means Heaven in the Fijian language and they more then lived up to their fame!

The Island stay was pleasantly relaxing and unwinding. Tides come and go as did my worldly worries that I was trying to leave behind.

The tap water was a bit brackish but if you tell me it is for the benefit of conservation, it makes it more bearable. One has to query why they don’t build the overwater bungalows such as the ones in the Maldives. After the first day it's apparent that the geography is not the same and that the volcanic origins of the island have determined that during low tide, the coral is exposed too much to form a natural breakwater barrier.

Mum and Son prefer the rewards of picking coconuts off the trees, while I prefer snorkelling during early mornings and the sunset hours when the fish are most active and looking for an easy around meal. I just use swimming goggles because I am yet to find a snorkel mask that fits properly and doesn’t leak like a broken dam around my face. They are easier for me to wear but vision is somewhat compromised knowing from the photographs that I took that turned out much better then what I was seeing.

The snorkeling was amazing. The red bull’s-eye, busy crunching on coral for food suddenly sense the menacing floatingpredator somewhere about. They suddenly froze looking up and floating perpendicular to the ocean floor, wondering what the giant might be with the swim goggles on. Their little mouths open with curiosity and bewilderment. So cute until I kicked off a splash and dove down closer for a look, all of them scattering off instinctively at top speed, heading for the closest refuge. I was amused, thinking to myself “ Come on babe, I am sure that you fishes could correctly judge my low level of fierceness by my pathetically slow velocity in the water.plus humans could be something that u see day to day..I saw, fat bleekers parrotfish of almost two feet long, chasing each other n folicking through the corals, pikefish very much guarded at all times n refused to come into close proximity with anything else, moving fast away without sort of moving any part of its body, purple starfish among the corals in the shape of the mandarin character for human, brain corals, mushroom corals, table corals etc, giving out a purple fluorescent shine, sea cucumbers of all colors n sizes, wiggling slowly at the bottom seafloor, ready to shrink to minimum at your first poke, giant sea hare,

every now n then schools of tiny teeny fish would cross paths n i was like surrounded by little shiny snowflakes, n its amazing to see how the eclipse butterflyfish has a black banded stripe running through the eyes from top down just wide enough to cover the eyes n near the tail there's a fake eye pattern five times the size of its real eye in the obvious purpose of better self protection, i guess this is the opposite of a camouflage...reef sharks occasionally swim over in full grace, patrolling its own territory....I had to thank my cheap Olympus underwater camera for doing such a nice job, at $142 its my sofar most worthwhile purchase for the year, how I wish I had this in Belize, to be able to record memories of the magnificent great mayan reef in the unique azure waters of caribe, just two meters under there it was the lybarinthic maze of distinctive colored corals n fish, gropers of half metre long, lobsters hiding in small cavern holes, n bright colored sea snails on the pink or purple fan corals, huge nurse sharks n stingrays coming over in packs, flipping up n down checking their human friends out, welcoming us intruders with open fins lol....to me its the best meditation of all kinds, to be able to dive under water n shield from all the noises of the land world, even for just a while, to feel the true harmony one can have with mother nature n other lifeforms, thats when there's no fierce sharks of course lol...I must go to the Caribbean again. Sometime, hope not too far away...

The Village -- visited one true self sufficient island village, everybody came out n greeted us, number 1 the villagers are blessed with such natural beauty that we travellers pay up hundreds of dollars per day to indulge just occasionally, on the other hand u will see the primitive staggering state of civilization, there's nothing modern here, people actually build their own makeshift house/bure with whatever materials at hand, a big flat tree stump can serve as the dining table, an enclosed little topless shed could be the alfresco toilet just offering basic privacy...it must be stuffy warm inside the bure n its kind of summer all year round, everybody is sitting out under a small simple roofed area, trying to make most of the patchy shade to quench down the midday heat waves, one grandpa actually immersed himself off the beach the entire afternoon, making u wonder will they ever get sun burn at all, or this is a problem just for the light complexioned, grandmas frequently were carrying babies with them, i spot some rainwater tanks, maybe thats where they get the fresh water from on a dry island without lakes, every meal is cooked the traditional way--lovo feast lol... lovo sites can be found everywhere , they burn dry twiglets n leaves for cooking, n for smoking away mosquitos at night, hence the burning smell that's lingering around since I stepped on the island, reminding me of my countrylife childhood, some of my personal happiest time..everyone is sort of overweight, as is the case with most aborigines around the world. Fijians have Afro puff kind of hair, can pretty much tell the difference between an indian n local from the hairstyles, women look older for their age, the fact my son being mistaken for my younger brother n my mum's second child, not once but everytime made my day happier lol...

chooks n hens running free among the crops, mostly yam, eggplant, coconut trees and breadfruits, now it explains the grilled chicken I had over lunch, it tasted great n different from the soggy meat we had in sydney...of course coz its real free range chicken, n possibly free from growth-stimulating hormones too!!! Saw us coming the busy grandmas all took out some treasure boxes from home n trying to sell us stuff, we did buy something from everyone just to make them happy...

If my son learns to reflect how fortunate n blessed he actually is with his taken-for-granted everyday life now in Sydney, this trip would be well worth it...compared with the deprived kids over here that surviving on aids n natures grant at its own whims, one cyclone can easily wipe away everything, n tourism being the main source of industry for some time. But when i asked my son what does he think about the poor kids on the island, the reply i got was, hey mum they've so lucky they got chooks! Eugh!!