Morgues, Bodies, and Fancy Martini Glasses

Our first 2 nights we stayed at a well known hostel that goes by the name of "Horizon", which is literally 30 feet away from the beach and all the other hostels housing travelling youngens. We weren't quite fans of this place for a few reasons. 1. Grumpy cranky-pants of staff. 2. Extremely annoying german 18 year old brats that were also staying at the hostel. 3. We felt like what they advertised on the internet, and what is actually provided were two very different things (something that we have found very prevalent here in Fiji). For example it said " Free Internet"- and it turns out free in Fiji means $8.

So we decided to move! We spent the $8 to find another hostel that had 3 things- free wifi, self-serve kitchen, and it should be near the beach. We thought such a place to be impossible in our budget, but we found one! It was called Bamboo, but there was no phone number, no directions, and no ratings. Hmmm. Not a good sign? Jon was getting a little bit antsy from lack of food, and I was getting cranky at the level of antsy-ness so we packed our bags, loaded them on, buckled them up tight, and set out to find a taxi that could help us find the place. We had the address, and it seemed it shouldn't be far from here. The first taxi driver said he had no idea where it was (which is quite unusual in Fiji- the taxi drivers know everything about everything- or so they say), but he would drive us around to find it for a ridiculous price. We were wise to Fijians trying to rip us off at this point so quickly dismissed the man. We found another taxi who also had no idea where it was- how strange? We grew more frustrated and more cranky. Our bags were heavy and it was bloody hot outside. We started doing the "ughhhh" sounds- DANGER DANGER. The taxi driver asked another taxi driver in Fijian language so we couldn't understand, but the man who was being asked started laughing and repeated "Bamboo? Bamboo??". He pointed to a sign that read "Bamboo hostel" that was literally 10 feet from where we had been standing stomping our feet from the beginning.

The Bamboo is a brand new hostel, a really nice fellow named Richard (from New Zealand) and his son Henry run the place. Instantly we felt right at home. This place was exactly what we were looking for- and for only $8 a night. So we settled in, and had a great time for the first 2 days of our 4 day stay. On the 2nd I got fairly sick from heat stroke so I stayed in bed all day! When Jon came to check on me, Richard (who we had become slightly close to) came in ecstatic that they had a booking for 20 people, but he had to move us to another place to fit the booking. We said yes, as they had treated us so well during our stay. (Richard made me happy face eggs on toast in the morning )

On the way to the house that Richard was house-sitting (where we would be staying), this nice man told us a story that will forever be imbedded in our minds. I don't think it is something to be put on the internet- but lets just say it involved a possible assasination of one of his good friends, a breaking in of a morgue, and a police chase. YIKES!!

A bit of background: so far in Fiji what we have seen apart from the rich-tourist hostels (what at home we would call dumps) a ton of poverty. Some areas look like a World Vision commercial. Including the cute little black baby with a convex stomache and flies on his face. Quite an eye-opener. We only saw this because after about 3 hours we grew tired of being around the rich snotty 18 year olds staying in the hostels. We decided to venture into town and had an amazing time, and learned alot about Fiji culture.
So, my story about our new place continues. We drive to Port Denarau, and turn into a gated community that can only be described as the Hollywood or Beverly Hills of Fiji. There are definitely places like this in Canada in the VERY wealthy communities, but they don't have palm trees and hammocks and a private boat. As soon as we pulled up it took our breath away. I can only describe the house as 6 star. It was AMAZING. We went from staying in a 16 person bedroom with ants and rickety beds to having our own private villa with egyptian cotton sheets, air conditioning and doors that open up to one of the most beautiful pools I had ever seen. The kitchen was AMAZING as well. We had an ice machine (one of my favorite characteristics of the place), and tons of fresh papaya, pinaepple, and watermelon. So long story short- we stayed in a millionares mansion for 2 nights for $16. We ate his food, swam in his pool, and watched 4 christmases on his giant flat screen tv. Leaving would have been more difficult if we werent on our way to Beachcomber Island.

To occupy our time at his house, after growing tired of all the luxuries, we used some of his 20 top of the line bicycles and biked to downtown port denarau. We also snuck into the Westin and used their amazing spa pool. We went for lunch and then came back to the mansion, made drinks in fancy martini glasses, and watched a movie. Who else was with us? I know it sounds like a reality show- Jon, Richard (not the owner, a boy we met from Victoria), Sven (the sweden photographer man), and myself. We had a BALL!! And when we are in person- we will tell you more about the story in the car...

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