My wonderful experiences in the tropical paradise
The Fiji islands are located in the South Pacific, midway between Melanesia (Solomon's, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea) and Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, the Cooks and French Polynesia). They are south of the Equator, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn and west of the International Dateline.
Fiji covers more than 300 islands. On several of these islands you can find beautiful reefs, lagoons and unspoilt natural vegetation. We had to experience what we came for, and were almost unaffected by the situation and we found our paradise.
Nanunu-i-Rai Island
Photo: Idyllic beaches on the island Nananu-I-Rai.
This island is an untouched small island with beautiful clean sand beaches, blue crystal clear water, big palm trees and colourful flowers all around. It was just what I expected a paradise to be.
Photo: An eager Viking breaks through the dense jungle searching for some "pretty" victims.
Later on during our stay we surprised some people there: in full Viking equipment (horns, swords & everything) we penetrated the dense jungle and attacked two Swiss girls on the beach (poor girls).
We lifted them up on our shoulders, carried them to the shoreline, and threw them into the water. Guess, do you really think we became popular after this? Yes of course, and so we got new friends!
Photo: Charming man, Sigbjorn Huun, Sir John conquered Fiji.
My travel mate Norwegian Sigbjorn (with the popular nickname Sir John) introduced our horrifying Viking-show.
This gentleman also impressed the girls there very much, and they flocked around him most of the time.
Beachcomber Island
This island is a small island where people from many places go for having fun. It's wild, it's outrageous, it's barefoot and carefree. It was just what I needed. People go to this island from all over the world.
The most popular activities are swimming, snorkelling, learning the Fijian language, playing volleyball, dancing, drinking and partying. But there are some unique experiences I remember clearly: the Viking show!
Photo: Viking show.
We danced an Norwegian traditional dance
Seksmannsril with complete Viking equipment (dancing in a circle by six people: three boys and three girls). The show must go on.
Photo: Viking show.
The terrifying "Seksmannsril" become successfully introduced in Fiji. With complete Viking equipment we danced the night away.
Photo: After the dance.
After the dance we took the Viking grip. We lifted the girls up on our shoulder and carried them away. They screamed, but no mercy!
The audience applauded wildly, and some other men found inspiration too. The party life there was great!
Kava ritual - in the beautiful surroundings
One evening my travel mate Geir attended a Cava ritual. A person call Papa (chief) arranged it. People sat around in a ring and tasted a strange liquid from a plant, served from a wood saucer.
They all made a big toast! Later Geir became so intoxicated that he had problems finding the way back to the dormitory although Beachcomber was a small island. 10 minutes was all it took to circle it by boat. Furthermore we got on well with the local people and tried to learn more about their traditional customs.
Photo: Mingling with the locals on Beachcomber Island.
The local women were very nice, but most of them were too big for me. The sun was hot, and soon I looked like a Pink Panter.
Breaking up is hard to do
The day we left this island a lot of girls followed us down to the beach. I think that was mostly because of my fried Sigbjorn, who was a big charmour, and attracted a bunch of Australian and British girls. The last thing I did was to throw a girl with all her clothes on into the ocean. This was my way to say "lovely" goodby. Travelling did really take the shyness out of us, and sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind! After we boarded the boat, they started to wave at us.
I am sure our friends felt some tears too. Hopefully they understood that we were not as bad as we pretended to be. Our only excuse was "Sorry, we are Norwegians (Vikings)", and because of that they forgave us without problems.
A few days later, after we had left the country we heard about a new coup. The paradise isn't what it seems to be on the surface. Cannibals in Fiji are just from the past, but visitors can risk encountering other problems there.
In Fiji you have to look for what is good, and you will get the best out of your holiday. It is up to you how you make it. I had a good time there, and with the right attitude, I am sure you will have a good time too.
Stein Morten Lund, 22 July 2000
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