It is warm already and the disco beat is booming over the resort from the restaurant which looks down to the beach protected by an offshore reef. Back on terra-firma slabs of scrambled egg on toast slide, glazial-like, into bottomless pits. Amazed staff are shocked at the speed the food melts away – is this global warming ? The pool is a foaming mass of screaming bodies. The table tennis table is the scene of much hilarity with more energy being expended fighting for the bats than pinging or ponging.
The resort dog is either called Roberto or Eddie, depending who you ask. Roberto / Eddie loves the pool but not getting wet – dog bites bleed. Other wildlife includes a cat called Stumpy (half a tail), Snowey (white fur) and Stinky who we kept well clear of.
Two coaches, yes actual coaches arrived at 10:30, on loan from the museum, to take us all into the nearest town (Sigatogo for those with Google Earth). There were the usual notices inside the buses – No alchol or drugs. No more than 50 standing. But on one of the buses, where the window seats filled last, there was “In Emergency Push Out Window”.
You see things looking out of the windows of buses – funny that. A string of telegraph poles across the reef with guy walking, trousers rolled up to his ankles, carrying a whippersnipper. A picture from National Geographic and seen all over the world of local kids jumping off the bridges into the river. The contrasts in financial wealth that exist side by side in a place where the beauty is only surpassed by the warmth and welcome of the people.
11:15 offloading into Sigatogo with the usual warnings issues to the guys – stay in groups, haggle and watch your money. The market we amazing –smells of fresh bread overlayed with a blocked drain. Stalls full of vegetables (I assume they are) and the local narcotic, Kava. I spoke to one of the stall owners for a while and got the news. It is a tuba that gets dried, ground up and drunk. In moderate doses it has positive medicinal effects although the locals seem to be drink it socially. In high doses, like any alkaloid, it presents a Pink Floyd trip into psychadelia. The plant itself can also be eaten and is an aphrodisiac but due to the pschotropic nature renders people anti-social – a typical evening can be EAT, ROOTs and LEAVES. We are offered some to try but fear where and in what state we might awaken.
There is a high India community in Sigatogo as evidenced by the some of the stall owners who can be quite persuasive as the clamp onto your arm and drag you into their shops. One of the boys was being fanned and fawned by two beautiful Indian girls while a third was adding jewellery to the bag of trinkets he was buying. I don’t think the haggling was going too well. There was good stuff and there was other stuff to buy. Teletubbies sitting next to Bollywood Tshirts. Rugby shirts galore including Joeys Old Boys. You could even buy a genuine Rolex for $5 which sat next to Joss sticks for $6.50. We figured Joss sticks are a commodity in Fiji. Mark Ronald was in seventh heaven as he found a shop selling XXXXXXXXL T-shirts. He was so happy bought a dozen without haggling – they shut up shop after he left. Mary got a Tshirt from the local TAB.
The local police station was a serious affair, painted blue with high security fencing nailed onto some of the holes in the wall. Beneath it the guys were getting their hair braided to varying degrees. One of the boys was disappointed as he got knocked back – “they won’t braid my pubes”. Enough said…
We left the town, much the richer around 1:30 and headed back to resort in time for the guys to have lunch, a swim and get ready for training. U15s went up at 3:00 followed by the U14s at 4:00. It is the most idyllic place to train - just fantastic. There is of course the danger of falling coconuts. Mark Ronald was making notes for future work on the oval next year.
Some of parents were having a grand finals party on the balcony as they watched the AFL final.
It was very hot and humid – a goods taster for what it will be like playing. Rehydration is critical for the boys with the water boys busy.
Talking of water boys, Moz is taking a whiskey and it is not even dark yet although it is where Moz is. In contrast one dad is drinking the resort water – this is collected from the local river and rain, filtered, refiltered and then stored in 25 year old tanks for a rainy day. It has giving him the shits but that is more to do with the company he keeps than the water.
We noticed that the tables in the rooms were made of plumbing pipes – this became more obvious when the toilet.
Dinner was a mix of Chicken Stir Fry, Stir Fried Vegetables or Chicken Pilau which when put side by side looked the same. It was very nice, the players wolfed it down but then locust aren’t selective either.
After dinner there was an arm wrestling competition, organised by the resort. Before this started we all same Michael Gullick happy birthday – again. The kids fought through to a final between Kale Disher and Timmy Conlon that ended in a draw. Nadine Leckie won the womens comp and Mark Ronald won the mens. Some of the parents are seeking medical help to replace dislocated shoulders and popped veins. Geoff Benstead was accused of not trying although he was up against Mark R.
Most people gathered in the bar to watch the Sea Eagles game while one the beach the guys were contributing to global warming with a huge bonfire. We were going to watch the game on the big screen but the humidity was so high it kept cutting out. Does not ogre well for tomorrow. So, we all scrunched around the 15” television and had the commentary booming across the resort. Four new guests joined us in the bar and it was discovered that they came from the Frenches Forest and went to Forest High and Davo. Her brother used to play for Wakehurst and the only reason they had come away was to get away from the rugby.
Early bed for most people as the heat and walking caught up…