From: jimtoer@idt.unit.no (Jim Toerresen)
Subject: Fiji - a travel report
Reply-To: jimtoer@idt.unit.no (Jim Toerresen)
Organization: Div. of CS & Telematics, Norwegian Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 08:39:31 GMT

This is an answer to a posting requesting info about Fiji.
It has disappeared from my list due to age...

I spent one week in Fiji in June '90. It was a week I always will remember!
We (my friend and I) arrived Nandi Airport and went through to the costom.
There we met the first representative of 'the worlds most friendly people'.

When I had finished the costom check I picked up my wallet, which I had
kept in my light bag. There was some few (5-10) US$ in it.It came as a
shock to see that the $'s had been 'confiscated' in the costom.

I went to a police/airportsecurity-man and explained my amazing story. He
seemed friendly and asked me to follow him back into the costom area.
There I was asked to point out the thief. It was an easy job due to a scar
on his chin. Then I was guided to a table in the room where I was asked
to put my backpack down. 

Now the show should be starting. While I explained the situation and
asked to get my money back two costom officers started to emty my
big backpack. Only the small one had be inspected on my first pass.
This was done *while* I was asked to open the big one (so he good
grab the US$...). 

Things went out and was opened in a way I had never seen before. 
Every single thing (and that was many) in my backpack was inspected in detail.
While this was done the crowd (including the thief) grew bigger.
Soon *all* costom and police officers from the whole airport was watching the show...
The whole nasty bunch seemed to enjoy this kind of entertainment.

My request for the missing $'s went soon over in a request to get my
backpack back. When I had explained what the last pill in my medicine 
box was for, they smiled and said the costom check was over. 
I could go now. Puh!!!! Was this 'the worlds most friendly people'.
It had to be a misspelling in my guidebook. Should the correct be 'the
worlds most corrupted people'???

The same day we went by bus to Suva to look for more friendly people.
We had got the island Leluvia recommended from other travellers. The place
wasn't listed in any guidebook.

We took bus to Nausori and continued to Bau Landi. It was a two hours
ride. When we came there we understood why B.L. wasn't on the map. 
It was just a small pier and a shelter. We had been told that a boat should
arrive there and pick up guests to Leluvia every day at 2 pm.
Just a little late the boat came and we cruised out into the Pacific.
Soon the last palmtree disappeared. Some birds (like sparrow) was flying beside 
the boat. Suddenly they dived *under* water and stayed there for a while.
They suddenly appeared again, wow, it was flying fish!

After 1 1/2 hour a small tropical island appeard in front of us. Palm trees
in the middle and sand beach around the whole island. There was no pier, so 
we waded the last meters up on the beach. There we were showed around on the
island. The only people living there was those running the resort. The tourists
who stayed there was backpackers. The standard wasn't of high class, but just
perfect for us. There was built small and big huts partly of palmleaves.

The food was made under the palm trees and tasted excellent. The where lots of 
things to do during the day. While we played volleyball the coconuts whistled 
beside us on their way to ground. When the sweat came out we went snorkeling
in the sea. The temperature was just perfect although it was in the middle of
the winter. Swimming around in the sea outside Leluvia is the nearest you come
to be in a aqarium. Both corals and fishs where in all possible colors and
formations. The seasnake that kill people with it's poisened bite made it
more exciting.

In the evening they made a big fire on the beach. The Sulu-party could start...
Everyone carried a special kind of cloth like a skirt and the locals made
a orchestra. The local Kava drink was served in a coconut shell. We danced 
around the fire in the dark tropical night while the slow waves reached the 
beach. Amazing!!!

We left the island after some days to continue to our next destination.
We felt that we really had experienced 'the tropical-island-dream'.
The welcome I got on the airport was now just a funny story and I would more
than ever like to go back to the friendly country.

-Jim

P.S: The resort is run by the people from Old Capitol Inn on Ovalau Island. They
can be contacted by phone for more info. The Tourist office on the airport has
also got info about Leluvia. 

-- 
Jim Toerresen                                # E-mail: jimtoer@idt.unit.no
Division of Telematics and Computer Science  # Phone: +47-7-594458
The Norwegian Institute of Technology        # Adr. Skansegt. 21
N-7034 Trondheim, NORWAY		     # N-7014 Trondheim, NORWAY

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