So
came November 5th 1992 a cool clear day in Edmonton, I went to the
airport along with a friend or two and my parents as I started my first big
trip. I remember my father walking with
me, just the two of us, not saying allot and at the end of the walk just before
going into security he gave me a letter to read on the plane.
I got on the plane found my seat, and will admit when I
looked out the plane window after the door closed, for the briefest of moment’s
I thought WTF am I doing. Going half-way
around the world for 6 months not knowing a soul anywhere. I had a minor panic attack that lasted all of
10-15 seconds.
Now, seeing as it was 1992, my plane ticket was extremely
important, back in those days, I literally had all my plane tickets with me for
7 months, tickets to NZ, to OZ, within OZ, to Cooke’s and home. If I were to lose this, it would be a major
undertaking to get it replaced. I wish I
had take a pic of if before I left, as would have been a cool before and after,
but this an airline ticket after almost 7 months of travel.
I was flying from Edmonton to Nadi, Fiji, on a very hopscotch
route, Edmonton – Vancouver – Honolulu – Nadi.
It was not too bad a flight but made it tough for getting rest as we had
to de-plane and board twice before landing in Nadi. By the time I arrived in Nadi it would
November 7th as I had lost a day going across the international date
line and had very little sleep. In 1992
I had no November 6th, it was a day that did not exist for me, I
left Edmonton, November 5th and arrived in Fiji almost 14 hours
later and it was November 7th.
So there I am in Nadi, enjoying the heat of Fiji, watching
the luggage carousel go round and round, people took bags and went on there
way. I was excited to get my bag and get
started. Soon there were fewer people
and still no backpack, not really important it only has everything I own for
the next 6 months, no biggie.😟😨😣
Soon there were just one other fellow and me, and this is
how I met Murray from Switzerland as we were the only two without luggage on
the flight. We went to the lost luggage
and I tried to explain where I was coming from, Edmonton, no response, Alberta,
no response, Canada, oh yes the luggage official had heard of Canada and
assured me my luggage would be here within a couple of days. Murray got about the same response.
I told Murray that I was staying at Seashell Cove Resort and
he could come with me if he wanted to. I had no idea
what the place was like, all I knew was I needed some sleep and would worry
about my luggage later. As I was to find
out on this trip, it was common for backpackers/hostels to have vans to take
customers to their accommodations and sure enough there was a van waiting for
me and had room for Murray.
The place still exists but has changed a great deal from the
simple backpackers I stayed at.
I
had booked I think, 2 nights at Seashell Cove knowing nothing about it, other
than I think it was mentioned in Lonely Planet Fiji.(back then Lonely Planet
guides were the best resource for backpackers)
I figured I would be tired and wanted a place to crash when I first got
to Fiji. I was very tired but not too
tired to notice the lush vegetation on the way to the resort, someone commented
on a coconut tree and soon we were screeching to a halt. Out hopped our driver and up the tree he
scurried, a few whacks of a machete later and we were eating fresh coconut. The first of many coconuts I was to consume
in the next couple of weeks.
We arrived at Seashell Cove and found my room would not be
ready as we were there mid-morning. I
thought that’s fine, as I had no luggage, I would just sit by the pool, relax a
bit.
Well, as I sat in the deck chair watching the
ocean and feeling the warm breeze, I undid my shirt as I was quite warm. My eyelids grew heavy and I thought, I will
have a little nap, 10-15 minutes at the most.
Well I was more exhausted then I counted on and I awoke hours later,
feeling hot and looked down to see a nice red stripe down the middle of my
chest from the first of many sunburns.
It
appeared that my bed was ready and away I went to explore Seashell Cove and
what $15 a night got me. I have to
admit, I was very naive about backpackers and hostels at this point and so was
not expecting much.The
place was lovely and clean and seemed to have fresh fruit everywhere, which was
amazing. Don’t get me wrong there were
some things I had to get use to like showering in cold sea water and not sure
if you have ever showered in salt water but tough to build up a lather of any
sorts. I remember to this day tracing
out the pipe from our big drinking tank of water where we would fill our
glasses and water bottles only to find it led outside to the rain barrel.
That’s
right, showering in salt water and drinking rain water, not luxury accommodations
but was clean and the staff were so friendly that I remember them to this day.After
getting settled, I watched the first of many sunsets from poolside, tomorrow
would be another adventure and much more awaited, I was here in Fiji, settled
in had a bed and had met my first traveler.