Roast Chook in Fiji
This blog post was written in May 2014 when my family lived in the Coral Coast town of Sigatoka. I have copy/paste it here to give a good glimpse into our family life in Fiji. I have written an update at the very end of this post.
It's Roast Dinner on Sundays. We created a little tradition with our Neighbours "Up Top". And we love it. How could you not love this?
Roast chicken, carrots, potatoes, and pumpkin, beans, peas and gravy. Plus, because we are in Fiji, we add Fiji's favourite root vegetable, Kasava. There's no denying it... it's a carby meal. We aim to eat around 6pm each Sunday, all together around the big brown table. Some weeks it takes us a little longer to get organised. Some weeks we have guests and other weeks we don't. Take for example the Sunday just gone... there was myself, and my 2 girls, there was Jacqui and Danny (who live "Up Top"), there was Danny's Niece, Bulou, who was here visiting because it is school holidays at the moment. And of course, Togi, who is also staying Up Top.
Last week we had two lovely French travellers join us, who are spending 6 months travelling the world. They have been to the most amazing places - their stories were entertaining. Jealous is an understatement. We also had my mate, Kiti and her 'new' boyfriend. Wasn't that exciting for us!!! So many questions flew around the table that night. It may be interesting (or not!) to know that our meals that have fed up to 10 adults and 4 kids are always cooked in two electric fry-pans. One belonging to me and the other belonging "Up Top". We don't have an oven here...
And that our gravy is super delicious but costs $10 for the teeny-tiny box from the supermarket. We did bring a stash of gravy with us from Australia, but used it all up. So this is what we use now.
Speaking of having no oven, we also have no television, so every chance she gets, Coco runs "Up Top" to watch theirs. This is Coco and Bulou watching cartoons before Family Dinner on Sunday. They were so engrossed, they didn't even see me take the pic (even with a big flashy flash!)
And after I snapped the TV Gals, I couldn't resist a quick pic of Togi, and little baby Chloe. Togi is the 'manny' (man nanny) Up Top. Coco will sit watching TV with him for hours, not saying a word. But here's saying something - out of 4 other available seats, she always chooses the one right next to him.
Sometimes if we run out of something, like ice-cream for dessert, we walk down our hill, take a sharp left to the little corner shop.
A little closer...
Yes, he is just wearing a towel??? "Smoking kills!" and so does reaching through the many layers of security to ask for some ice-cream or phone credit, and then reach your hand all the way in to pay.
We walk back up the street, and past the flat we used to live in, way back in 2010...
The one on the end, furtherest away. It was small but cute, 2 bedrooms and a loungeroom, small kitchen and bathroom for $350FJD a month. Yes folks, thats about $50 a week in Australia. And in case you are interested, the house next door is For REANT right now...
We pass the local school, where you will be "prosecuted for trespassing if you do it after 4pm".
And back to Home Sweet Home ... well that is the Up Top house you can see in the background, ours is down the driveway (walkway) to the left. And I don't know what is up with Coco and her arms in all the photos.
After dinner, of course, we have to wash the dishes, so while in Fiji, we do as the Fijians do. We don't use that whimpy Palmolive dishliquid, we use Axion Paste. It solid and gets soft(ish) when you put a wet sponge in it. It fights grease and grime. It's hardcore.
How blessed we are that our Neighbours are not only caring and funny, but that we get to have dinner with our 'family' every Sunday night. You are all welcome... next Sunday from 5.30pm. Hope to see you there...
P.S that's Jacqui and Danny, Jewel and Coco, and Bulou... Love from Fiji x
Update 2017
We miss these guys a lot - they still live there, and I assume Sunday Night Dinners are still a "thing".
We lived very simply then - it was a deliberate choice to do so - a detox from the excess of Australian life. Whilst we didn't have an oven, there are houses there with ovens - you can definately cook a Roast much easier than how I did. We also didn't have a car, much furniture or a television, so our days were spent hanging out with eachother, and very simply. We watched DVDs on our laptop and ate like "locals" - the weekly Roast was a big treat for us (especially the gravy!!). We would be in our beds come nightfall, as we didn't have much else to do. Our beds were foam mattresses on the floor. Looking back now, I am so proud of us! I attempted to "homeschool" the kids - that's a story for another time.
We stayed in that house for around 3 months, after which we came back to Australia for a few months and then moved back to Fiji. That time we started out in Cuvu, Sigatoka (other side of the bridge to this place), then moved into the Capital City, Suva. After 6 months in Suva, we went back to Sigatoka, and finally back to Suva after a year. When I write it like that, I realise just how many adventures we have had in Fiji. No wonder it is in our hearts!