The Nomadic Life - Fiji and Hawaii Madness ...

Author: Sean Tickner

14th January 2008

Fiji: Island Paradise

Bula, the traditional Fijian greeting was echoing in my ears as the Airhostess welcomed us to this little Island Chain located in the South Pacific. As we flew over crazy outer reefs and caught a brief glimpse of Cloudbreak, Tavarua I was ready to score some fun little reef breaks and immerse myself in the culture of another foreign country.

We landed in Nadi, the Capital of Fiji with lush green Mountains off in the distance and prepared ourselves for the Bus Ride to "The Beachouse" which was to be our Base camp for the next 12 Days. The countryside we drove through reminded me a lot of North Coast KZN, with rolling hills covered in Sugar Cane. After a 2hr trip which took us past numerous villages and a few Towns as well as some amazing views of the Southern Coastline known as "The Coral Coast" we arrived.

We had booked into a great Backpackers that literally sat on the beach. We spent our first night lying in hammocks watching the swaying palm trees and thinking of what was to come.

We woke every morning to a great breakfast of toast, cereal, fresh fruit and Tea and Coffee, a great way to start the day. We soon discovered a classic little right reef break, straight out in front of the backpackers. A solid 300m paddle to the outer reef in water as warm as a bath and a channel running right next to the break, perfect. We had a fun reef break right on our doorstep with nobody else out. Timing our surf had to be 2hrs either side of High Tide or we'd be scraping the reef. Chris Green and I surfed it almost every day, some days we had it a bit bigger and a bit of a cross-shore wind. Trading barrels and banging a wrapping end section or sitting and watching the fish swim around the reef in the crystal clear water was all in a day's surf. The paddle back to the beach was probably the most annoying aspect but we often spent the time chatting about the sick waves we'd just scored in such an amazing place. The surf was fun, the conditions were almost always just right and the little surfing crew of Bodyboarders Myself and Chris Green and My Surfer Girlfriend Alex were revelling in the absolute beauty of this amazing Pacific Island.

When we weren't surfing we were relaxing around the pool, meeting new people and throwing back an ice cold Fiji Bitter Beer. There was also some awesome snorkelling in the waters on the Reefs that surrounded us. We were fortunate enough to go on a "Jungle Trek" during our stay which took us up into the dense rainforest behind the backpackers to a waterfall that had a relaxing pool to swim around in and cool down. Half the experience was trudging up and down the small foot-path that due to recent rainfalls had turned into muddy, slippery little puddles, loads of fun.

One experience that's absolutely necessary in Fiji is a traditional "Kava Ceremony". It's a social gathering where you all sit in a group and drink a local drink that looks remarkably like dirty dish-water. It's made from a root that's dried and ground up and then mixed with water. It doesn't have too much of a taste but it leaves your mouth numb, which feels really weird. It's quite a process, you have to clap once, say "Bula" to the group and down the liquid that's handed to you in a coconut shell and once you finish everyone claps 3 times. In the traditional villages they are pretty strict about talking and taking photos so be careful.

We spent 12 glorious days at "The Beachouse", surfing and relaxing plus we all received free massages to relax us even more. The Fijian people are extremely friendly and you can sense that in everything they do, everyone smiles and greets you with a friendly "Bula".

Finally our amazing experience was coming to an end and we packed up and headed to the Airport. On the way there we heard the sobering news of Tropical Cyclone Daman and its path directly into Fiji. As we heard more and more news of Airlines cancelling flights and the outer Islands being hit by an upgraded Hurricane Daman we began to wonder if we'd be setting off for Australia again as planned. We arrived at Nadi International only to see that our flights had been cancelled! After spending 3hrs in the queue we finally managed to find out that we were delayed for 2 days while the Hurricane blew past and we were going to stay in a nearby Hotel free of charge, woohoo. Well we set off for an extra 2 days in Fiji in a fancy hotel overlooking Nadi Bay with perfect weather because the Hurricane had veered away from the Main Island at the last moment, epic.

Fiji was definitely an absolutely amazing experience, with some classic surfs, new people and friendly smiles from all the locals. We were fortunate to have a break right in front of us and we just happened to have some good luck and scored. We had a great time.

Here are some tips:

1. Be aware of different Cultures and have respect for that.
2. Try as many new things as possible but also remember Fiji lends itself to relaxing and doing absolutely nothing, enjoy.
3. The Fijian Dollar is stronger than the Rand so you have to budget pretty well.
4. Find out where the nearest general store is, they are cheaper than food from the hotels and that includes good old 2min noodles.
5. Fiji has 2 types of Beers, Fiji Bitter and Fiji Gold, try them both and decide which one you prefer.
6. Always look for special deals on accommodation, check out www.hostelbookers.com for Backpackers all over the world.
7. Fiji's climate is Tropical, we were there in the Wet Season, humid and occasional rain but pretty hot so pack accordingly and bring mozzie repellent.


Hawaii: Aloha!

We arrived in Honolulu, Oahu in the early morning and were fetched from the airport by fellow Nomad Rider Jonathan "Oros" Oliff and his girlfriend, Kim Royal, and set off for the North Shore. This was my second season so I was looking forward to hitting the world renowned surf spots with a little more experience than the last time.

We were welcomed by howling Tradewinds and some swell but the Billabong Pipe Masters was being held so surfing the fabled Pipeline on my first day was out. My Girlfriend and I spent most of the day recovering from jetlag anyway.

We've been here for 3 weeks and unfortunately it's been raining almost every day, little annoying showers that hit as soon as you think the sun is out. The swell has also been particularly erratic. Many early morning surf sessions have been prematurely cancelled due to lack of swell. I managed a few sanity saving surfs at a very small Rockpiles with fellow South Africans Rylin Richardson and Jared Schafer. We've been rewarded with some fun surf at Off The Wall, trading a couple waves with Oros and some local Hawaiian chargers.

Charles Pass arrived on Christmas day, which we spent preparing a yummy Xmas Feast which went down really well after a solid diet of 2min Noodles and Pasta Sauce. Since then the South African crew of Myself, Oros, Charles and Sacha Specker have had some decent waves at Pipe and Off The Wall as well as a couple close-outs at Keiki Shorebreak.
We've had a few early morning sessions with a stacked crowd consisting of Hardy, Rawlins, The Player Brothers and a couple other guys, watching the current World Champ banging a big Roll Spin out of the pocket at Pipe is definitely fun to watch.

Josh Kleve arrived just before New Years, strengthening the S.A Crew. So with a strong crew of riders and Videographer Colin Van Dongen we've been keeping an eye on swell charts and Web-Cams, waiting for the right conditions. Finally it hit, the past few days has seen some monster swell hitting the North Shore, Pipe almost unrideable with sets rolling through from 3rd Reef. We headed off to Waimea Shorey and had some crazy barrels with the infamous rip threatening to pull us out to the Point where it was breaking in the 15ft Range. Josh Kleve managed to scoop into some solid ones and Charles Pass got pitched on a bumpy barrel and managed to hold onto a couple, lots of fun for everyone.

Pipe was a little bit more manageable in the afternoon and Sacha, Josh and Oros managed to tame some beasts that rolled through. Amazing stuff to be witnessing and with a new and bigger swell expected for Sunday, we're all waiting in anticipation. Unfortunately, with the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout being held at Pipe, there's no chance of surfing in the optimum conditions. So we get to sit on the beach and mindsurf the crazy pits rolling through at the infamous Pipeline.

So stay tuned for new updates and hope everyone has a great New Years!

Big thanks to my Sponsors Factory 7 and Nomad.

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