Volunteer work in Fiji: Nadi
22nd of July, 2025.
As we enter the airport, there’s a couple of guys playing the guitar and singing welcoming song for us. So adorable! Welcome to Fiji!
Where to go? As I look at my map, I decide to go left. Just like that. For whatever reason. And that works out just as a charm.
I walk into Fiji Airways shop, looking for a piece of cardboard to write my hitchhiking sign. All the attendants are busy, so I ask to the security guard. He guides me to get some cardboard just outside. When I come back and ask for a marker, he gives me one from his own pencil case, and when I try to give it back to him, he insists that I keep it. And he gives me another one! How sweet? Welcome to Fiji!
I’m standing outside the airport, and in a few minutes a car stops. As they stop in the bus stop, I’m not sure if they stopped for me or just to drop someone off. But then a lady comes out and makes a sign for me to come. I walk to her and tell her that I cannot pay, she says it’s alright.
The lady is Lani, and in the car with her are Kristine and her husband Jonathan. They would become my family in Fiji.
We are going to Lautoka, to the fishing port, because Lani works in a seafood shop, so she’s doing some work. As we talk and I tell them about my adventures, they give me some advice about the marinas, and we also talk about Fiji. We have some amazing fish and chips, really delicious, and we also have pineapple with mangoskin powder, an amazing treat of Fiji.
I decide to go back to Nadi with them, to Denarau Marina, because they tell me it’s the one of the best places to look for a ride in a yacht. As it’s late afternoon already, I tell them that I will just camp somewhere for tonight, and come to the Marina tomorrow morning. But they don’t let me. They invite me to come and stay with them. And I would stay for 2.5 weeks.
Kristine and Jonathan live here with other family members. Jonathan’s father, Bakata, is not the eldest (his brother living here too, Caci, is the eldest) but people see him in a very high rank. Then there’s three of Jonathan’s brothers also living here, Mika, Dom and George, chronologically speaking. Mika is married to Ako, and they have Rosia (21) and Junia (17). Dom has one boy of 10, also called Dom. And the other little person living here is Sunny, of only 6 years old, the son of another of Bakata’s son, who is in prison. They are all nice to me, Mika is always super positive and says nice things in the morning; Dom always help me with something and even lend me a hoodie from his son; and George cooks some nice dishes for us. But there’s some traces of George personality that piss me off. I help the young boys Sunny and Dom Jr with English and some Maths. We also plays games and have some time for streches.
The only other thing which bothers me is how much Bataka drinks. He’s more often drunk than sober. And his attitude when his drunk reminds me a lot of my father when he was drunk, and that’s when I realize that, he’s the first man ever during my travels which reminded me of my father. As I was saying during my post about my volunteer work in New Zealand, I have met so many women during my travels who remind me of my mother, but never a man who reminded me of my father. Well, all the women were great and we’ve had an amazing time together, and for obvious reasons, I was not the happiest with Bakata.
The story of Bakata must be told. He was in the army for many years. Some years back, they were living in another area, in a house just outside a hotel, and right by the beach. They were really happy there, and during the time living there, Bakata would have quite a few foreigner tourists coming to stay over. He used to help many backpackers who, like me, needed a place to stay. But when they had to leave that place (the hotel was sold and brought it down), and moved here, things changed. I don’t really know why but it hasn’t been the same. And he told me that having me here it reminds him of those good times. Then a few months ago his wife died of cancer. He has always drank like this, and one day he even tried to tell me that even though his wife never drank, she had a weak health and died, while he has a strong health. I barely let him finish his thought about this. Not in a rude way but in a very direct one I told him that this is not what health is about and there’s no argument about how drinking in excess like that is terrible for a person.
Kristine’s schedule at the airport is crazy and it changes a lot, so she’s not very often at home. I always have breakfast, and sometimes we are lucky to have breakfast together. And is the same for dinner. Sometimes I have dinner at Ako’s, Mika’s wife. She is very nice and calm, speaking low and living a slow life. She makes great pancakes and other pastries for breakfast, but also curries and other dishes, and she always makes sure I have something to eat.
When Kristine is at home we chat all the time and it’s super fun. We are always laughing and having a good time. Sometime we go town to buy stuff we need and ended up buy some ice cream or other treats. It’s like we know each other for much longer, because we have a very natural relationship, even though there’s a gap of ten years between us. So I cannot really call her my little sister because we are in the same intellectual level, but we do call each other “sis”.
In a bit over a week, there will be the 21st birthday of Ako’s daughter, Rosie. Here in Fiji, this birthday is very important and celebrated in a special way. The reason being the fact that the father gives a symbolic wooden key to the child, representing the freedom for leaving the house and becoming an adult, starting an adult life. So for this occasion, we will be making the traditional way of cooking called Lovo. It consists of digging a big whole on the ground, filling with wood, then big stones. On the top of the stones, we have lots of food wrapped in tin foil, fish, chickens, potatoes, cassava, tolo (a local type of root, very popular), and the star is the whole pig which is also cooked in this way. Then you bury all of this pile with soil, lit the fire (or vice-versa, I was not there when they did it), and let it cook for many hours.
I will be helping Kristine with the decoration. Cool, right? But in the actual day it kind of turns hectic. We should’ve started early morning but ended up only starting in the afternoon, so everything was too late. But we also were helping with all the cooking in the morning. Some family member of Ako came over from Suva to help as well. Kristine and I got a certain amount of balloons and decoration, but out of the blue loads of other balloons and stuff showed up, so there was too much stuff to do. Plus, there are certain traditional decoration we must do in this occasion, all of them made with natural palm leaves and flowers, which Christine and I went hunting in the morning, because they need to be fresh. So yeah, the guests were already all arriving and we hadn’t finished the decoration yet, which was a shame. Because of that we couldn’t really get ready in time to take nice photos altogether in front of the decoration and stuff like that, which made me a bit sad. What to do? The nice thing is that in the last moments other family members were also helping. And the food got ready just by the same time as well. In the end, things looked nice and the food was fabulous and plenty. Everything was plenty. The amount of balloons we had leftover was insane, but at least the kids had their fun.
The ceremony carried on with a man from the church reading some passages from the bible and making a long speech, while Rosie was sitting in front of all of us. Junia, Rosie’s little brother, join her in front at some point. And then later one, Ako and Mika also join them. The big wooden key is given to Rosie by Mika, and then we sing some songs. Well, actually Kristine sings some songs with her absolutely stunning voice. Dear Loki, I was so surprised when she started! Like an opera singer, for sure.
The food is delicious. I try a little bit of everything. We have lots of salad too, potato salad and also pineapple. The cake is so good that I could eat all by myself. There is so much food, and I do think that’s the idea, that we give all the guests a take away box with loads of food, and we would be eating the leftovers for the next two days. If only the cake had also lasted two days… Laugh.
One night they have a kava ceremony and I try just a little bit. In my opinion, it tastes like dirty water. And actually a lot of Fijians say they don’t like it. But it’s the most well know tradition of Fiji, so you still must try.
At certain point I start going to the Vuda Marina looking for boats. I leave a note in the notice board of two different marinas: Denarau and Vuda. The first one is more popular for super yachts and the ferry terminal, but there are still some private yachts there. Vuda is the actual place you want to go if you are looking for a lift / becoming crew in a private yacht.
Since my very first day in Vuda I meet so many nice people and make nice connections. Captain Tony and his crew are very nice to me and help me a lot with some very important information I didn’t have it. It’s thanks to them that I got to understand what I must do in order to sail all the way to Brazil, which means I have to change quite a lot my plans. I get to be in some WhatsApp groups for people leaving Fiji. I make a lot of connections too, and keep in touch with many people. But it’s thanks to Tony that I find a lift to Vanuatu with an Australian couple. They would be leaving in middle August, so I decide to take my last few days before that and go travelling a lit bit around Viti Levu.
I say goodbye to Kristine’s family. It’s sad. They all keep saying that I can come back anytime I want, and if I need I will always have a place to stay in Fiji. That’s so nice! Kristine and I have a delicious Indian breakfast in town just before she drops me off in Vuda Marina. Is quite a drive from town, and the deal was that I would hitchhike there, but she wouldn’t let me. I’m very grateful for that. We say goodbye knowing that we would see each other again soon. We just knew.
It’s beautiful how the things work out and how I ended up with Kristine’s family from the very first day I stepped in Fiji. During the time I was there, I was also teaching little Dom and Sunny some English and Maths. I wish I could’ve done more than that and helping with the party, but I also know that they were not looking for anything back in exchange for their help. That’s Fijian culture, they are very welcoming to guest and super kind and generous.
10 Years Around the World 