FIJI, THE NEXT DAY

Jim, at the roadside, somewhere in Fiji

A hearty thank you to everyone who was so kind as to leave a comment on my last Substack post (April 14, “Memoir as Time Travel”) about my being propositioned by a taxi driver on a lonely, deserted road in Fiji. If you haven't read it, the long and the short of it is, I talked my way out of it.

For many readers, it brought back memories of the days when they were naïve, lone travellers and the silly things we've all done. Luckily, it usually worked out OK. For those for whom it ended in tragedy, we'll never know.

You would think, after being brought back safely to the bed and breakfast in the airport town of Nadi, I would have learned my lesson. Especially the lesson about not going off with strange men!

Well, you'd be wrong! I wasn't a quick learner. I was just as naïve as I had been before finding myself on the deserted road.

What happened next could be the follow-on paragraphs in my memoir, starting:

“The next day, I struck up an acquaintance with three other travellers, a married couple accompanied by a single man. I wanted to see the seaport of Suva, which was on the other side of the island. Perhaps I thought all 3 of us could go together and it would be jolly.

As it turned out, the couple were not interested, but Jim, the lone man, was keen to go.

Why not just hitch-hike with Jim, who I'd only met an hour or so previous? (Along the lines of, what could possibly go wrong?!)

Jim and I were either short of funds or just cheap, because we decided we wouldn't pay the bus fare to get to Suva, but rather, we would hitch-hike.

At that time, hitch-hiking was not something that Fijians knew anything about.

So, each time when we held out our thumbs, and a car/truck/van stopped, we'd say we wanted to go to Suva.

“Oh, bus come along soon!” was their cheerful answer. In their minds, how else could you get to Suva, unless you had your own vehicle?

Hence, it took a very long time to make up the distance. As it was, we finally arrived at Suva just as it was going dark. Needless to say, we had nowhere to stay. Thinking ahead was not our strong point.

But a kindly Fijian man stopped his van when he saw us. Maybe he realized two young European backpackers standing by the side of the road were in need of help.

“Where are you staying?” he asked. We must have looked like a right pair of losers, as we had to confess we had no idea, and it was now getting dark.

“Come and stay at my house,” he said, and his daughter made room for us in the back of the van.

He showed us to “our” room with a double bed. I presume he must have thought we were married, and we were not going to try to change his mind.

So, I slept side by side with someone I barely knew and woke up the next morning still a virgin. Luckily we did not fancy each other at all. Or maybe if we had, this would be a completely different story.

We had a “breakfast” of cocoa and bread, and the daughter very kindly gave me a beautiful hand-woven basket that she'd made. I hope I sufficiently showed my appreciation, but as with most things I did/said at that time, it's possible I didn't.

Jim and I looked at each other and decided that we were not going to try hitch-hiking again. We bought tickets to go by bus back to Nadi. What we saw of Suva, our original destination, was more or less nothing.

Travelling by bus was also an experience, as it was crammed, not just with people, but with animals, especially chickens who squawked and flapped in their cages. There seemed to be a lot of baskets with produce as well. Every one on the bus seemed to know each other, and there was a bit of a party atmosphere going on. Or maybe the shouting was arguments, I have no idea.

With a chortling, grinding engine, off we went, the windows empty of glass and only rolled up curtains to keep out the rain, if that should occur. There may have been some dogs and babies along too. Whatever or whoever was on the bus, there was a lot of noise.

Half way to Nadi, we had a roadside stop, where there was an umbrella shaded cart that sold food of some description. What it was that I ate, I have no idea. It looked like a small, dried scone with a raisin in it. Jim had something too and I took a photo of him, probably just to remember this strange occasion. (His photo above.)

I remember it was Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and instead of turkey dinner with all the trimmings, I had a flat, dried, “something”. At least it didn't kill me, or even make me sick. And I was in the midst of palm trees, so that was a bonus!

When Jim and I reached Nadi, we went our separate ways. We didn't exchange names, addresses or make any false promises to keep in touch. All I can say is, it was quite an adventure, and thanks Jim for being a gentleman. And, of course, thanks to the hospitality of the Fijians!

From there it was on to Australia, and adventures of a different kind.”

What about you? Have you had any strange/frightening/near-misses in your youthful travels? Let us know in the comments!

Until next Monday,

Rose