TRAVEL | FIJI | CELEBRATION | MILLENIUM
Fiji For the Millenium
Celebrating the end of the world in style!
I will say that the Globetrotters July writing prompt “Celebrations Around the World” originally threw me for a bit of a loop. Of course, I have witnessed or experienced a few different celebrations as I have traveled, but none really had me itching to write about them.
Usually, I like to let the prompt get me excited, but this one wasn’t for some reason.
But then, inspired by another article about eating strange food in Peru, I started writing an article about the time that I likely ate rats in Fiji (see below.) Once I started writing that story, I realized that my Millenium trip to Fiji is the ultimate travel celebration post!
Thus, I was finally inspired to write!
My apologies to those who may have seen one or two of these photos in the other post, and there may be some repeat information as well:)
Do you remember where you were to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium?
It was a date that I was actually really excited about. All the doomsayers, electronics manufacturers, governments, and nut jobs told us that the world would end, and I wanted a front-row seat to see it happen.
A year before it came to be, I decided that I wanted to make this monumental change of the clocks a celebration, and decided that I would kick off the millennium in style by going on a trip.
I realized that Fiji is the first (some do argue this fact) country on the other side of the international date line, which would make it the first to see the big event. What better place to witness the end of the world from?
May as well be the first to go, I figured.
As I wasn’t wont to travel solo, I convinced a childhood best friend to come with me. But we decided that we didn’t want to just go for a couple of weeks, we wanted to make it a big trip. Air New Zealand had flight specials going on, and you could book a flight that would island hop to anywhere that they flew. This meant that we could go to multiple stops through one booking. I don’t even know how I learned about all of this because this was before the internet. (GASP!)
I still remember exactly where I was sitting when I made the call to Air New Zealand (by landline, of course.) My friend and I weren’t living in the same town at that time. She was still back in my hometown in Alberta, and I was living on the other side of Canada in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I was 22 years old and needed some excitement in my life. Since moving out to PEI, first for college, then to Cape Breton to work, three years earlier, I had not traveled much past Eastern Canada.
One day in a book store, I noticed a South Pacific Lonely Planet Guide, and it was from there that I started to plan our adventure. My friend hadn’t traveled much at that point, however, she did accompany me on a family holiday to the Caribbean once, so I knew that we could travel together. Back then it was expensive to phone each other, so she mostly let me do the planning, which was fine by me.
Phones and fax machines were what we used to organize things back in those days. I can’t tell you how much extra the phone bill was for the company that I was working for while I organized this trip, but it must have been significant. I used my work office as my planning cave. It was here that I was talking to the Air New Zealand representative.
“Wow, this sounds like a great trip you have planned.” She said.
I knew it would be great. We were to spend two weeks in The Cook Islands, three weeks in Fiji, three weeks in New Zealand, and two weeks in Tonga.
As this post is meant to be about the celebration aspect of our trip, I will focus on our time in Fiji.
We must have arrived in Fiji a few days before Christmas because we had time to go eat rats up in the mountains before heading to the island that we would stay on for both Christmas and New Year, Wayalailai.
Wayalailai (waya-lay-lay) is an island in the Yasawa Islands, a chain of islands northwest of the main island in Fiji. If I remember correctly, our boat left from Lautoka, the biggest city that was closest to those islands.
As our boat pulled up to the island, the turquoise waters licked at the shore, the palm trees rustled in the light breeze, and the white sand glistened and sparkled in the sun. I could hear laughing and carrying on happening around a game of beach volleyball that was happening, and thatched roof huts spread out before us in both directions. I could feel the peaceful vibe wash over me as we approached.
Yes, I could see that spending two weeks in this spot would not be hard at all.
We were there for a few nights before Christmas and it gave us time to get to know some of the other travelers that were there. We made fast friends with a few, many of which had the same plan as us, to spend Christmas and New Year on the island.
Little did we know what was in store for all of us!
Our days were spent frolicking on the beach, playing volleyball, snorkeling, and just hanging out. But once in a while the staff would come and tell us that the nearby villagers would be hosting an activity.
One day we followed them back to the village and were taught basket weaving, another day they taught us all about how they make their traditional meals. On yet another excursion, we had the privilege to witness a traditional Kava ceremony.
For Christmas, the village hosted all of us in a very traditional way. We got to witness them roasting the pig in the sand, and all of the food being prepared for the big meal. Huge pieces of cloth were laid out on the ground where we were to sit, and mountains of food were on display.
The villagers sang songs and the children put on dance demonstrations for us. Though we couldn’t understand much of the meaning behind it, we truly appreciated the cultural show that was on display.
Again, the week between Christmas and New Year was spent frolicking in the tropical life that Fiji presented us with. We got to be friends with a few of the locals who hung out at the camp. One guy in particular, Jerry, was the life of the party. He didn’t need alcohol to be the life of the party either.
He garnered attention simply through his vivacious personality.
Years later I got a message from a British friend that we met on Wayalailai that had returned to the island for a visit, and he told me that Jerry said hi! He was that kind of guy.
Shortly before New Year, I got really sick. I still have no idea what was wrong with me, but I lay in our tent in a puddle of sweat for 2 days while a fever wrought havoc on my body. My friend would bring me water and food if I needed it, but beyond that she didn’t really know what to do with me. It was over 30 degrees and I suffered the heat in the tent. If I tried to go outside, the breeze would send me into fits of shivers.
It was pure misery.
Fiji had a high occurrence of Dengue Fever, and I still, to this day, wonder if that is what had hit me. On New Year's Eve, I was still quite ill, but the fever had broken, so I was able to get out of the tent and try and join in the festivities. My main problem was an incredibly sore stomach. Consequently, I didn’t eat much and just sat and witnessed much of the fun happening around me.
Of course, there was lots to watch!
The evening celebrations started with a procession down the beach at sunset. We foreigners all sat around with much interest while watching the festivities unfold. Again, there was music and dancing from the local villagers, always a feast for the eyes.
Next we were served appetizers and snacks while we waited for the sun to go down.
Of course, the food was served on traditional platters made by weaving palm leaves together. I still remember the food being very delicious. At least, that which I could stomach anyways.
As the sun set the locals blew conchs which made soft honking sounds that rippled off into the distance. This was a regular occurrence at sunset, but this night was extra special.
We were all giddy with anticipation of the new millennium arriving.
We made our way back to the village where the villagers had yet another huge spread of food set out for us. Of course, they had been preparing for this day and night for the past few days. We were all looking forward to this huge feast!
The village center had cloths and ground covers laid out again, the traditional way that Fijians eat. The food covered an immense area and it was served through a buffet style and we all helped ourselves. (Sorry, I can’t find photos of the food!) I didn’t eat too much from the main meal as my stomach was still in pain, but I took great satisfaction in watching the antics unfold around me.
Throughout the event, there were drums and music playing from a group of the villagers and at some point, one of the foreigners got up to dance. Well, that set off a huge dance party, and the real festivities began.
At midnight they set off fireworks from the beach. They really were very small and nothing to get excited about, but the villagers and the kids were ecstatic. We learned that they had never seen fireworks before, a fact that I found unbelievable in my young and naive state. I think I took more joy in watching how excited they were than in watching the fireworks themselves.
This was truly some sort of magic to them!
After the firework celebration we made our way back to the camp bar. Of course, Fijians don’t generally drink alcohol, and us foreigners were all itching to get the real party started. Again, I didn’t partake in the libations as I wasn’t feeling great, but I was still happy to be a part of it and to watch the antics unfold. I was determined to be a part of this huge celebration, one way or the other.
My insistence in staying up was greatly rewarded as at about 2:00am, our Canadian friend Jason made his appearance on the dance floor wearing only a pringles container to cover his bits!
New Years was finally complete!
We had some good laughs and continued the party well into the early hours of the morning.
At some point somebody yelled “Hey, the world didn’t end!”
We all hooted and hollered and celebrated this wonderful time in our lives.
Later on that day I called my parents who were in the throws of their own New Year celebration. “Guess the world isn’t going to end after all eh!?” My dad said.
No, it sure didn’t!
It was a very sad day indeed when we finally packed up to leave the island that we had called home for two weeks. The villagers had become our family and the friendships that we had made with travelers from around the world still warm my heart.
I am also still in touch with a couple of them!
We bid the island farewell and made our way back to Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji to fly to our next destination.
Next stop, New Zealand!
We left Fiji with very fond memories. It was exactly what I had hoped for, and much more when I had concocted the idea for the trip many months earlier.
It’s amazing to think that this trip was 22 years ago, the memories are still so fresh. It’s also interesting to realize that I was 23 at the time of the trip, which means that it was almost half of my lifetime ago! I am so thankful for Medium and the Globetrotters publication for pulling this story from the depths of my brain. It feels great to finally be getting some of these stories written and memorialized before I really do forget them all!
Thanks so much to the Globetrotters crew (Adrienne Beaumont 🇦🇺 | JoAnn Ryan | Gerald Sturgill | Anne Bonfert | and Crystal A. Walker) for giving us a fun prompt to write about. I have a couple more stories cooking, I will see if I get time to write them!
Happy travels!
xo Jill
To read about some more exciting celebrations from fellow Globetrotters:
Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We paint FREE murals in exchange for accommodation. Check us out on Ko-fi!
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