World ExploraSean: Fiji Time

Before I could enter Japan, I was required to purchase an onward ticket. I had two options; The first was to book a flight home, the second was to travel for another six weeks, so I could make my trip abroad last for an entire year. Three minutes later I had a flight booked to Fiji. I took Korean airlines, which ended up being pretty awesome. I got a full lunch on my leg from Tokyo to Seoul, then dinner and breakfast on my way to Nadi. I was also able to catch up on movies, the Lego Movie is awesome!!! I could only last through four minutes of both Robocop and a Keanu Reeves samurai movie before switching to the new Jack Ryan movie.

When I finally arrived into Fiji, I was instantly hassled by immigrations. Fiji's website says travellers that need to apply for visas in advance are required to purchase an onward ticket, but several countries, including the US are exempt from acquiring a visa. That, however is not the case. No country is exempt from a visa, you simply get it on arrival. Apparently this is a common miscommunication, as the Swiss girl in front of me had the same problem, and there were another dozen people stranded outside immigrations with us. I figured I might as well go to Hawaii next, so I purchased 15 minutes of wifi and booked a ticket to Honolulu. My life is pretty awesome :).

When I got down to customs, the guy working the immigration booth who forced me to buy the onward ticket, was now inspecting bags. Apparently feeling the need to hassle me further, he decided to personally look through my bag and then took my two external hard drives. He went to a room and came back fifteen minutes later and told me I was good to go. My theory is that he was just hoping to score some movies, because the only reason they can invade your privacy by taking your personal computer equipment is to search for kiddie porn. However, after looking in the mirror and seeing my greasy stache, I couldn't help but wonder if he really was searching for the latter.

I mean seriously, does this look like the face of a pedophile to you?

Pretty much everyone in Nadi stays at one of the backpacker places along Wailoaloa Beach, which is a twenty minute bus ride from the actual town of Nadi. My entire plan for Fiji, was to chill out and to work on developing some writing ideas. However, I'm far to ADD for that and got insanely bored of Nadi pretty quickly. The beach wasn't really that great, the water is super shallow, it isn't particularly clean, and people are constantly trying to befriend you to sell you stuff. Locals constantly burn fields as well, but I consider being showered by ash just as good, if not better, than a normal shower, so I considered myself sanitized most days.

Fires weren't limited to just the fields, however. One night as I was eating my dinner, I pushed my computer off to the side to clear way for my plate and began to dig in. A few minutes later, a guy came up to me and said the following, "Bro, your computer is on fire." Apparently the candle behind my computer was too close and was slowly melting the outside casing, which in turn was burning out the pixels on my screen. I'm not entirely sure how a human being can be so unobservant, but that's the hand I was dealt with. It's a good thing I'm pretty, because it's clear I'm not going anywhere with my brains.

After having the stress of my computer catching on fire, I partook in the traditional Fijian libation known as kava. Kava is an earthy flavored drink made from roots that mellows you out. It was created as a peace drink when different tribes met with each other, because Fijians used to be cannibals. It doesn't really seem that strong, it just kind of numbs your mouth and mellows you out. It's like drinking weed, but without the fun parts of getting the giggles and eating a ton of food.

Although everything I said was just a picture in my head, I think we can make it...

I never ever cried when I was feeling down. I've always been scared of the sound. Jesus don't love me, no one ever carried my load... I'm too young to feel this old.......

Are you gonna live your life wondering, standing in the back looking around? Are you gonna waste your time thinking how you've grown up or how you missed out? Good things are never gonna be quite what you want, but even at 25, you've gotta start sometime...

All the trips around Nadi cost a few hundred dollars and I decided I'd rather die of boredom than poordom. Thus, I caught a bus to the capital, Suva. I ended up meeting an Aussie named Dan, A German named Nic, and a Norwegian named Miriam, who were all up to get down. Suva's night life is legit; There are bars scattered all over and there's live music abound. Somehow we even caught an American Blue Grass show. Our second night there was Miriam's friend Jonathan's birthday, so Drunk Sean began his comeback, one that culminated in drinking every night for two weeks straight. During our last day in Suva, one of the hostel owner's kids received his First Communion, so we demolished a giant feast of chicken, steak, fish, crab, shrimp, salads, cake, etc. It was the greatest thing that's happened to me.

Entrance to this club comes with a free stabbing

Fiji isn't really what I expected, it doesn't have that Indonesia amazingness, but it's still nice

Suva Sunset

After Suva I was planning to go to one of the smaller islands in Fiji, Taveuni. However, the boats run intermittently and I wasn't going to be able to catch a boat for three more days, so I decided to hit up the Coral Coast instead. I was only planning on staying there for 4 or 5 days and then going back to Suva to catch the boat to Taveuni, but Nic and I ended up meeting some Germans and a Fin - Fabian, Tomas, and Minna. We spent our days watching the World Cup, eating, and lying on the beach, with occasional side excursions to kayak, play volleyball, snorkel, run, hike waterfalls, or cook meals together. Night time was a lot easier, we just drank. Perhaps the most important part of this trip, is that I can now open a beer without a bottle opener, thus solidifying my status as a bad-ass.

The first night I stayed there, I was awoken by a crazy Kiwi at seven in the morning, who was adamant that I was in the wrong room and that I had broken into an all female dorm. While this did seem like something Drunk Sean would do, I told her that it was probably just a mixed dorm, but she just kept yelling at me. I then showed her my key, and told her this was where reception assigned me, to which she simply responded that I was wrong and I needed to "Grab my shit and get out immediately." I told her that she was being incredibly rude and that this wasn't an appropriate way to talk to someone, so she simply stormed out saying that she was going to reception to take care of this.

After putting on my glasses and getting up for the day, I suddenly realized that the girls in my room were underage teenagers, and realized that for the second time in Fiji, I was suspected of being a pedophile. I don't know where my life went wrong, but I probably deserve it. At the same time I could only wonder, what kind of chaperon books teenagers into a hostel. I eventually moved rooms later that morning, but the Kiwi lady never apologized to me. Everyone else thought I should have complained about her to management, but in all honesty, it actually made me appreciate the fact I no longer work and deal with people like that everyday. If that's the worst I've been treated in a few months, I'd say I have no reason to complain to anyone.

Cus Penny and me like to roll the windows down, turn the radio up and push the pedal to the ground. And Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies, close our eyes, pretend to fly. It's always Penny and me tonight.

Show me how you do it and I promise you, promise that I'll run away with you. I'll run away with you...

Beach Hike

I don't use petrol, I use Zoom 50

After the Beach House, I was once again planning to go to Taveuni, but the Germans convinced me to come to Nadi with them so we could all watch the World Cup Final together. I ended up heading there a day earlier than them and ran into Miriam and Jonatan, such a small world. They were leaving Fiji the next day and needed to get rid of all their coins, so everyone at our table emptied their change and we bought as much booze as possible. Usually a bartender would be pissed if you bought a beer with nickels and dimes, but he was so impressed, he gave us a free beer! Gotta love the Fiji attitude!

The World Cup Final was between Germany and Argentina, so the Germans were intent on getting massively drunk. The game started at 7 AM in Fiji, so we had no choice but to spend the entire day drinking after Germany won. The next morning, the only three of us left were Fabian, Nic and myself. Fabian and I decided to head to Taveuni (Finally!), but Nic had already been there, so he went to check out some closer islands instead.

GERMANIACS!!!!!

Foamy Victory Beers

Taveuni is supposed to be similar to Hawaii, and is a lot less touristy than the island I'd been on, Viti Levu. My thirty hour journey there was sidetracked as soon as I started, but that's a story for another blog.

Random GoPros

It takes me less than four minutes in any country to act like a complete douche. Check out the plane photobomb right above my head though, that's just awesome