MY TRIP TO FIJI - 2005
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Me in FIJI 2005
Going along the path to my room.
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Me in the pool.
Every day I went swimming in the Pool.
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Vilimoni and Me.
This is one of the staff at the OUTRIGGER.
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| On the 11th of November I went overseas for the first time since I was only three years old when my folks took me over to America for a special physio programmed to help me with my body. We leave Melbourne around 11:55pm in hoping I will fall asleep on the way over there because it was about five and a half hour plane trip, but had little sleep on the fly over to Fiji, not a lot, was a bit uncomfortable but it was fine. When the plane got into Fiji, the sun was all ready up, but it was only 5:30 in the morning but nice and warm, not like Melbourne is at that time in the morning. We had to meet a driver who took us to the resort which was an hour drive out of Nadi Airport. In the time of driving to the resort we saw some of the country life. Out of the city housing is very simple. Large tin sheds grouped together close to the highway or river and this is a village. Their farm is further away in the hills. They have sugarcane and pine plantations and some vegetables and fruit. They go there every day. The local bus has no windows. Cows, horses, goatees and dogs wander along the side or on the road. The main highway is two lanes wide. Nothing like Australia with our country houses on big farms with fences. They live a very simple life, not like Australian people, who are very lucky in living like we are now.
After we got to our Resort called “Outrigger on the Lagoon – Fiji” “Bulla” We were welcomed by the Fiji Staff at the Resort. The Outrigger Resort looked very nice with lots of tropical gardens, garden and beach burros and units. We decided on 2 adjoining rooms with ocean views in the main building as it had elevators but when we got there they didn’t know we had a wheelchair (but we did tell them because we ask about door widths to fit wheelchair etc) The elevator does go up to the level but then there are 4 steps to get to the rooms level. After a while they put us into 2 rooms directly opposite the beach. It only had one step into the room so we could handle that. It was also closer to the restaurants and pool. So it worked out better. One room was big with a super king size bed and lots of room and a big bathroom the other had 2 double beds, smaller balcony smaller bathroom guess which one I got??? I had plenty of room in my king size bed. Lucky me. I sleep well every night I spent there. My room wasn’t ready till later on in the afternoon but the smaller of the two rooms was so we decided to go up and have look at the room and also unpack Mum and Dad clothes. We were very tired so we got changed into our bathers as it was very hot and find a banana lounge round the pool and just watch what was happening. I lay down and had a cat nap for about an hour. I had to go for a swim to wake up; it was the first of many of my daily swims in their big pool which was about 50x25mt.but not a rectangle. The staff there got to know me in the next eight days and every time they pass me, they will say, “Bulla Brett” with a big smile. They were very interested in my wheelchair because they never seen one before. They said in Fiji they only have manual wheelchairs, nothing like electric wheelchairs. (I took my old electric chair (20 years old) incase it got damaged in the plane). Every day at the pool side and around the Resort, I watched the actives like, swimming races, water polo or volleyball, mini Olympics down on the beach, coconut bowling competitions, which on one day my Dad won a trip to the golf range (it’s a prize he really wanted because he likes golf). He said because it was very humid he was sweating a lot while he played golf but enjoyed it. One day it was raining all morning so no activities were being done so I decided I might as well go for a swim and it was beautiful and warm in the water. It bucketed down and for a while there was thunder. Mum and dad joined me later. Others came when the rain stopped. Every evening at dusk they had a torch lightening ceremony. About half a dozen guys get dressed in native dress bang the drums, call on the four winds blowing into a big seashell and one runs around lighting all the torches set in the gardens. It was fun to watch. I had my photo taken with some of them. The Resort had four restaurants, we tried each one while we were staying there also we had one eat in night because at the half way point of our holiday we decided to go on a cruise on a schooner called Whales Tale. It stops at 2 islands and passes close to 3 others. It was an all day trip. Food and drink included. When we stop at both islands, everybody had to get into a fishing boat or swim to each island to snorkel, and do you know what my dad and I chose, yep to swim. It took me about half an hour because it was about 200mtrs and I was stuffed by the time we reached the island, as I was in my float. I had a rest in swimming to the island so I just look out to the blue sea and I imagine myself out in the middle of the ocean with nothing or nobody around to help you out so I felt just for a second free and wanted to float away. While stopping at the second island, I decide not to swim to the island but I went into the water and swim around the boat. While going around the boat, I had the same image again as before but this time traveling in my float around Australia by myself one day. I hope that I can do it in the near future. It would be nice, but now, back on telling you the rest of my trip. On the trip back home on Whales Tale, we all talked about our adventures between drinks and some people made friendships and also everyone had a sing along while the crew on the boat played their guitars. When we were going off the boat, I had to be carried by Dad and the crew lifted my chair over the side. We were a little worried they might drop it but they were very strong guys. We had to catch a bus back to our Resort and expected the big bus that took us there but when we saw the bus we thought we wouldn’t get my electric wheelchair on because it was only a small bus but the driver said that we can fit. We took it apart and balanced the bottom on bags on the steps while Dad sat in the front holding the seat part. It was ok driving home to our Resort; everybody was tired so some of us had a cat nap because it was a ninety minute drive back to our spot. That was the night we had our dinner in and we went to bed early. When I was on the bus on the way up to Whales Tale, I had the chance to look at some of villages and country life they had, so I realized if someone was in a wheelchair like me, if would be so hard to be able to move around as my folk’s found out, when they went into Sigatoka. there are big steps onto the footpaths and into shops. Back at the Resort, the main restaurant had two shows during the week for two local villages, singing and dancing. They were good to watch as we had a table in the front row because during the day the manager of the restaurant saw us around the Resort and asked if we are going to see the show tonight, so we told him that we will be going there, so he made sure we had a front table so we could see everything going on. Both shows ran about 45 minutes. On the last night of the show two people who we met on the Whales Tale cruise saw us and join us after the show for a drink at our table that led to more drinks at the bar next door because the restaurant was shutting up for the night. Between drinks, getting drunker we asked more people to join us as they were sitting on their own, they did, with more rounds of drink’s and more after that till they kick us out about 1:30am so we went outside to where a band was playing guitars but they were packing up and only played one song for us so we had to call it a night. We were in bed by 2:30am. The next day was a slow day at the pool with lying around. The resort Golf range was situated across the highway but to get there you went under the road and through a paddock that had cows and horses. Luckily they were used to people but they all look at my chair. We went through the paddock a few days as my dad hit some balls at the Golf driving range. On the other side of the driving range was an eco zoo park where you can walk through to see different animals and they had a boardwalk path into a rain forest and it was beautiful. You walk through cages with colorful parrots. I had an Iguana sit on my hat. It was a funny experience for me to have the Iguana on my head. We were there for 8 days, it went to quick for us and on the last morning at breakfast all the staff’s sing to us their farewell, good luck and come back soon song. It was a sad and touching moment for all of us. We pack our bags and headed up to the reception and waited for our ride who took us back to Nadi Airport to get the plane back home at 6:25p.m and arrive back in Melbourne at 10:45p.m, our maxi taxi that we ordered was waiting for us to take home to bed. It was a long day for all of us. It was a good experience for me and now I have the traveling bug. Can’t wait for my next trip oversea in 2006 maybe to Europe sometime… |
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