Anna and Ralphie were stuck in the Yasawas during Cyclone Josie.  The catamaran service was shut down and everyone was forced for spend another night on their respective island (and pay for it).  Anna and Ralphie would meet me at The Beachouse in the Coral Coast a bit later than we had planned.  They would come directly from the Denarau Marina in Nadi where we had all originally planned on spending a night in Nadi together beforehand.  This gave me an extra day in the mountains but it meant a lot of travel for my friends.

The Coral Coast was highly recommended by other backpackers.  Prices for accommodations were great!  Food prices were on the high side, but after the Yasawas, we were all willing to compromise.  The three of us got a room together.  This was going to be a nice way for us to end our time together.  Anna and Ralphie were at the end of their respective backpacking experiences.  We wanted it to be nice.  The Beachouse is a great property.  Swimming in the ocean is not really feasible because it is a coast of coral, but the pool is fantastic and the views of the ocean are splendid.  We spent our days there drinking rum, hanging in the pool, eating and bitching.

We were kind of a social magnet for others.  I guess the three of us had a certain energy.  We made many friends from around the world.  We had nice group lunches and dinners.  I think there were a few really shy people who maybe would not have talked to anyone had we not welcomed them into our little inner circle and forced them to talk about their sex lives.  Hey, what else are you supposed to talk about at a pool all day?

A Fijian surfer:

Everything was super perfect!  Then we almost got robbed.  You see, our last night, Anna noticed around 4am that a man entered our room.  We did not lock the door.  In the Yasawas the doors don’t even have locks.  Luckily, Anna watched this guy as he proceeded to take a nap in the bunk bed underneath her.  After about five minutes, she saw him get up and move towards my stuff and that’s when she snapped and yelled out, “What are you doing?!  This isn’t your room!”  and the man casually left.  He did not run or seem caught.  From this reaction, we surmised that he must have been a local drunk on kava.  Hey, when I did 8 bowls of kava in the Yasawas, I got completely lost on the way to my hut and there’s only one pathway.  Still, this incident shook us.   I only woke up when I heard Anna yell.  I always thought I was a light sleeper and someone coming into my room would wake me up, no matter how quiet the intruder.  It was a “rude awakening” for me to accept that I slept through this guy coming into our room.  It was Anna who really saved us.

Through Anna’s magic, we hitched a ride back to Nadi via Sigatoka Town.  We met some very friendly muscle dudes living in the UK.  They were actually Green Berets.  One guy was born in Fiji and was visiting his family  We had lunch at an Indian restaurant in Sigatoka and then enjoyed the ride back to Nadi together.  We said goodbye to Anna while Ralphie and I stayed at Bamboo one last time.  The next day Ralphie and I went to the airport and did our goodbye thing.  We promised each other we would meet in Europe this summer.  Ralphie lives in Gronigen and so do Romy and Charlotte who I met in Isla Holbox, Mexico.  Now I have 3 people to visit there!