Author: Rosencrantz O'Dowd

Good cheap accommodation here is harder to find than I expected.

After a lot of  lost-in-translation phone calls, the options seem to be limited to airbnb and home stays.

When I finally struck a real estate agent who could understand me, I was told that apartment and home leases of less than a year are like snakes’ balls.

HOMESTAYS v. AIRBnB

Home stays can be much cheaper, of course, and can offer a ‘real’ local experience –  more intimacy.

But that has its downsides too. You’re living in someone’s pocket, so there’s a loss of privacy. Your quirks are in plain view. You have to hold conversations. You’re more often than not sharing a kitchen or bathroom. Homestays will often not have air-conditioning or fans.

With AirBnBs, prices aren’t so good, and exact locations – which are important here – aren’t shown until after they’re booked. A photo can be worth 1000 words of bs.

On the other hand, searching and booking is easy, and hosts are rated by guests,  they tend to play nice.

TOWN v. COUNTRY

Another young players’ surprise has been how difficult it is to get accommodation near the sea. I know that’s nothing new, but I found a way in Vietnam, Thailand, and Adelaide.

In Nadi, locations near the water go for the price of an aeroplane. To the south, and then East toward Suva , the seaside options are a) a gated resort , and b) a stay at a village.  The first is expensive, the second involves charm and giving up all or most mod-cons. I had one place booked in Viseisei , but the owner has bedbugs.

Further North, in Fiji’s second city, Lautoka,  there is no swimmable seafront. The option there is a ( cheap ) $10 FJD round trip to an island maybe 3 kms offshore.

CURRENT OPTIONS

I have to leave here on June 14.  Right now, there are two possibilities I’m thinking on.

The first is a homestay about 6 doors up the road. This is with an Indian man I got talking to on my wanderings. His brother,  who I happened to share a bowl of kava with in another episode, also lives there. Rent would be $125 FJD / week, a generous offer not to be sniffed at. I like the neighbourhood, it has a good vibe to it. It’s central, and the shops and market are nearby. The big downsides are the deranged local dogs, and no aircon or fan.

The other is yet-unseen place down in Sigitoka.  I made tracks for it today, but mis-timed the buses, so went for a swim at Wailoaloa instead. It’s a farm house, apparently about 10 minutes’ walk from town, and not so far from the beach. It’s probably a longshot.

If both of those fail, there are back-up options which involve either spending a lot of money, or heading a little into the countryside.

Youtube videos.

 

 

 

 

“How do you like Suva,” asked the taxi driver.

I was about to reply honestly, when I saw the expectant look on his face.

“Yeah, it’s great,” I said.

A relieved smile crossed his face.

Far be it from me to give him the news that it’s wet, and hard to get around.

WET

Suva is even wetter than Whangarei, according to the boffins;

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so it proved. It rained, off and on, most of the 24 hours I was there.

TRAFFIC

My hotel was near a school. Big mistake. When school goes in ( 7.45 a.m. – 8.45 a.m. ) or out ( for an hour after 2pm ) there is traffic lined up as far as can be seen.

The taxi drivers I met ( four of them ) told me that’s typical, and is just as bad at office closing and opening hours.

COLONIAL BUILDINGS

The rest of the batch of short videos I took are at youtube.

THE BUSES

The bus service between Nadi and Suva is fantastic. I paid $40 for the round trip, Nadi – Suva Wednesday, and return Thursday.

The trip ( ~= 120km ) is about four hours each way, in comfortable buses with air-conditioning.

The only downside is the music, which is dire Christian drek.

It’s an express service, which stops at Sigatoka for a food break, and several small towns on the way. At Sigatoka, it cost me $1 at a bus station stall to buy five Indian dough balls made with flour, eggs, and spinach. Bawachi or Palak without the cheese.

Sigatoka is on a river, and close to some swimmable beaches, so it is a candidate for my new base after the lease runs out here in Nadi in 12 days or so.

THE ROUTE

The route, the Queens Road, is dotted with small villages. Many of them are doing it hard, full of subsistence-level concrete and tin shacks.

At one quick pick-up stop, a couple of white girls embarked. They were being herded by a Fijian man and his young daughter, who’d likely been hosting them. As the bus pulled out, the Fijian man gave his daughter a quiet fist-pump. He’d possibly just earned a few months’ wages.

The rest of the coast has been claimed by gated resorts commanding weekly rents which would easily buy a new car.

THE HOTEL

With my usual foresight and planning, I’d booked the hotel the night before.

I’d paid too much for a room about 15 minutes’ walk from the city centre, and was disappointed with the result, a concrete box containing a bed.

Resigning myself to my fate, I tried to set up the TV-HDMI connection with my laptop. No dice. After an hour, a small puddle formed on a bedside table. It was coming from the air-conditioning.

After complaining as tactfully as I could, the desk girl ( as in Vietnam, this hotel was run by super-capable young women )  upgraded me to a delux room upstairs. With an ensuite. Booyah!

VAPES

Part of the reason for the trip was to shore up my vape supply. Everywhere in Fiji I’ve asked I’ve been met with the kind of look you’d get if you asked for crack.

I was able to find a vape shop. Which wasn’t easy, given that a licence to import e-cigarettes for sale is gold here.

That, and a chance to see the Coral Coast and Pacific Coast, made the caper worthwhile.

A day at home yesterday listening to rabid dogs was enough of a spur to make the trip to Lautoka today.

The bus trip, which would have been about 45 minutes had I gone straight through, cost $3. Three!

As it was, I jumped off on a whim at Vuda village, and found a hidden beach almost worthy of a brochure.

After a chat with a couple of villagers, I jumped back on the bus to Lautoka ( another dollar ).

I spent the day wandering the streets.

Chance Encounters

One of the people I bumped into by chance, named Raj, offered me a place to stay. Only $300 / month for a private room in his house.

It sounded feasible, but by that time it was late afternoon, and I was hankering for something to eat and a good lie down.

Earlier, I collared ( and paid, mind ) a taxi driver for a quick tour of nearby ‘burbs which are dog-free and affordable. His recommendation – Kashmir, where he thinks I’d get a house to myself for ~$600 month.

I’d decided in the first few minutes that I liked it – it’s population is larger, and there’s a more compact town centre. It looks more affluent, and so possibly freer of crime. Having said that, there were street beggars, as in Nadi.

It has a huge central market, below, and also some street food stalls like South East Asia.

I finally stumbled home, over-heated and hungry at around 3pm six hours after leaving Nadi this morning.

Videos

I’m going to be doing more videos and less writing on this trip. You can see the videos on my sleepy youtube channel, which I’m now tidying up.