It is surprisingly quiet, it was lovely to be awoken by bird song. All things considered I had a good night’s sleep despite being so hot and I resorted to the fan being on rather than the air con as the air con was much noiser. After having a lovely cold shower making me feel nice and cool, I would be hot again within 5 minutes. I have decided not to worry too much about my hair. It has taken a life of its own with the humidity. An array of fruits was laid out for breakfast as well as some Gluten Free rice krispies. I tried to contact my husband but like me, him and technology don’t mix.
At 9am, I was picked up from the house by James and his wife Lorraine who are both Fijian. They explained that there would only be me on tour. The first stop would be at a Hindu temple but as we drew into the car park, it was closed to visitors due a religious festival.
The next place we went to was the Market Hall where James guided me around the various stalls and pointed out kava which is used for medical purposes including antidepressants, it is now more expensive than beer!
Then we walked around the fruit and fish markets. James pointed out the wonderful array of different fruits and vegetables.
Next we headed to
Jack’s shop, which I am sure the guides were getting commission for bringing their customers there. There was a Fijian warrior who was playing a type of drum to greet the customers and lots of assistants who greeted you with the phrase ‘bula’. I managed to find some fridge magnets which I got 6 for 5, They were the cheapest thing I could find.
As we drove along to the next destination, James pointed out that the colour of people’s houses denotes their religions but they all get along, green is for Muslim, pink is for Hindu but there is no set colour for Fiji. There are either Muslim or Hindu schools and the Fijian can go to which ever one they want. All Fijian children must go to school and all lessons are taught in English
We drove to a Fijian village where James handed me over to a guide called Grace, we climbed into a 4 wheel drive vehicle and drove up to a path which we walked to a waterfall. On the way there was a huge digger clearing some rubble, at first it would not move but then it nimbly moved out of the way! When we walked to the waterfall, Grace pointed out various medical plants and wild pineapples. It was a bit slippery and grace would check I was OK and helped me when the path became quite treacherous. We arrived at the waterfall and I had a quick swim, it was lovely and cool but then the rain started. When we got back to the village, her family had prepared a special meal which I ate after the kava ceremony.
As we were travelling to the next destination a mongoose ran across the road, thankfully we were going slow and didn’t hit it. As we’re driving along, the heavens opened again and the rain rattled the roof of the minibus. We proceeded to the
garden of the sleeping giant. Beautiful orchids grew along the path. It was still raining which meant the wooden paths were very slippery. At the end of the walk, I was given a fruit cocktail which was very refreshing.
On the way to the last destination which was the mud pools. We saw some very cute piglets.
At the mud pools, I had to cover myself in mud, wait until it dried then wash it off in a mud pool and finally dip into the thermal pool. When I was waiting for the mud to dry, I met 2 Fijian ladies who chatted to me and then 1 of them took photos on her phone, we connected up on Facebook and she sent me the photos.
Autistic Solo Traveller 
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