Bus ride to Lautoka
20 June 2016 | Saweni Bay
Had a great day yesterday, we caught the bus into Lautoka. The plan was to walk along the track to the main road but just as we set off a bus came rattling down the road, it had Lautoka on the front so we got on. We knew it was going to be a longer trip when the driver turned right at the end of the track instead of left, the direct route to town. The bus rattled and rumbled and lurched through the gears and at times we thought we may have to get off and push as we didn't think it was going to make it up the hills but the driver kept the old girl going.
We soon turned off the main road again and onto more gravel roads, up and down and round and round we went stopping to let people on and off every two minutes. No one batted an eye lid when a guy got on the bus carrying a machete! He sat with us and told us he was off to work in the fields cutting cane, when he got off two other guys got off with him also carrying big machetes.
After a month in resorts we got to see where real Fijian people live and most live in substantial block wall, iron roof houses with a neat garden, some growing crops by the house too or with a small herd of goats or a cow or two. We noticed a lot of the roofs had wire tied over the top for extra security in a cyclone. Luckily the people in this part of Fiji got off lightly with Winstone with not too much damage but we did see quite a few coconut palms with the tops missing.
It took us a good hour to get to town after our tiki tour of the local area and as it was almost lunch time we headed to the Norhern club for a bite to eat and a cold beer. It had been a dusty ride on the bus with open sides so a cold beer was just what we needed.
After lunch we popped to the market for our fresh fruit and veges then headed back to Saweni Bay in a taxi, we just didn't have time to go on the bus again.
By the time we got back on board the boat the day was almost over, it had taken us most of the day to get a few supplies, back on land I would have squeezed that into my lunch break. This was much more fun though.