Bula from Nadi, Fiji. I arrived in Nadi this morning for a week or so in Fiji - the plane was going to stop here for a few hours, so I thought why not turn it into a few days? It’s lovely and warm compared to Canada’s west coast, and between the mugginess and the myna birds, it could almost be Auckland! But first, a recap of my final few days in the Great White North.
Where I’ve been:
I think last time I wrote, we were in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. In Nanaimo, Nicola and I made a new friend, Roos from the Netherlands, who joined us heading west to Tofino. We had two nights on the rugged west coast of the island, which reminded me of southern Aotearoa in some ways, with windswept trees and slightly desolate beaches. After a couple of days in Tofino and Ucluelet (I still don’t think I say it right), we headed back across the island, said goodbye to Rose, and had the night in Lake Cowichan. From there, we cut back across the island passing Port Renfrew, stopping at Sombrio Beach, continuing south to Sooke and then back to Victoria for our final night on the island.
After another night in the float home, we headed across to Vancouver, where after a walking tour of downtown, Nicola and I parted ways. I had another couple of days in Vancouver, and explored Stanley Park a little. I stayed with a family friend who spent a bit of time with Dad’s family when he was a boy, and she shared lots of stories with me about those days which was really nice.
Then a few hours in Los Angeles (though not really, I walked about 600m through LAX from one terminal to another), and now Fiji!
What I’ve seen:
One fibreglass goat on a fibreglass roof. There’s a town called Coombs which is famous for a shop with goats on the roof, but it was closed up for the winter so we could only find a fake one.
Some pretty cool trees at Cathedral Grove - a part of the forest between Nanaimo and Tofino with massive old cedar trees covered in moss and very pretty.
A pretty sunset behind a lighthouse at Ucluelet. We timed our walk just right so we could walk around the point as the sun was setting and we got all the gorgeous views.
A pretty impressive collection of totem poles in Stanley Park that are quite iconic to Vancouver. It was really interesting to read the information panels and learn about their various backstories and carvings.
Today outside the hostel in Nadi there was a man up a coconut tree tossing coconuts down. There are lots of signs saying to beware of falling coconuts, and I tried to be quite aware when they were thumping down a couple of metres from me.
And in between:
At one point we crossed onto a private island thinking the tide was going out, but then had to run back and got wet feet when we realised it was actually coming in eek. It seemed like part of it was public, but most of it was the section of two houses - quite an interesting place to have a crib! Lots more icicles on Sombrio Beach, as well as purple kina (though probably called sea urchins rather than kina here), a bright colour that you don’t see in nature very much. We woke up in Victoria on our last night on the island to overnight snow, and had a real Canadian experience digging the car out (though there wasn’t that much snow and very mininmal digging was required).
Please don't question the quality of some of these, my phone is running out of storage and my laptop is running out of battery and I'm running out of steam so this is what you get x
I can’t forget about food!
I don’t have many pictures of food from recent times. There were some very delish fish and chips and donuts at Granville Island in Vancouver, a third Nanaimo bar from Nanaimo, a last A & W stop in Sooke with very good sweet potato fries and onion rings, and final Timbits at the airport. And then I just had a yum fresh passionfruit while writing this.
NICOLA’S KNITTING NOOK
No more Nicola, so we’re back to the knitting nook for the final installment! After I think about four months (but not 100% sure on that haha), the cardigan was completed in Tofino, with the addition of buttons bought in Nanaimo. Yay! All done! Now I need a new project, so if you need anything knitted, let me know and we can discuss my rates x
I’ve been in Fiji for just over 12 hours now, and in classic Briar style, I’ve already managed to get sun burnt woops. I have since slid into the shade, and will try and stay sun safe. Next time you hear from me, I’ll probably be back in Aotearoa…
Please reply to this email! I care about you too! What’s going on in your life? What have you seen? More importantly, what have you eaten?
Bring back Nicola’s nook