And the first internet and cell phone coverage in three months. Wow, have we been off the grid!
Of course one of our first chores was dealing with government bureauocracy. We needed to extend our visas by a month to ensure we wouldn’t be rushed to find a weather window back to NZ in November. So we dutifully set off to immigration only to find out it’s their lunch time (1:45). OK, we can wait. Anyway, long story but it took an hour of I’m not sure what, to get to the point where their internet connection went down and they couldn’t complete the process. No problem, just pay the fee (about $100 US for the two of us). After the fee was paid the woman in charge said, “OK we’ll call you when it’s ready”. Huh? I asked when that might be and she said, “Oh, sometime next week”. Well, we know about “Fiji time”. Actually it’s delightful except when dealing with government. So I said we really needed the visa extension by Monday since there was a weather window and we’ll be leaving for the outer islands again. It took ten more minutes of gentle back and forth to decide that Monday morning at 10 O’Clock would work. I emphasize gentle since arguments get you exactly nowhere in this culture, but takes a long time to get there.
So, we’ll see what comes Monday when I show up at the appointed hour.
Wow. Now you dudes are really doing neat stuff! A canon find!! Special shells!! Native fire starting rocks!! An historic spoon!! Nothing beats finding really cool and unusual stuff; especially if it might be historical. Not only do you find a piece of history but you get to discover its historical context. And, if you’re really lucky, you might have found a piece of an unsolved historical puzzle. Way past cool.
So, in order to get past the bureaucratic red tape, can’t you just have a kava party? Or roast a pig? Things seem much more civilized in the outer islands.