We're drinking at Tonga Bob's. There is a Fakalady show. What is a Fakalady? I have no idea; we have no idea. The place is packed, screaming and cheering, the empty stage…we wait. Music fills the room. Something really slick and sleazy. And then the performer comes out. Cowboy hat, tank top, high heels, lipstick, aviators. And of course a 5 o'clock shadow…the hips are kinda manly too. Hmm, this is a man, I believe. They do a little tease show, thrusting their hips hear and there. Teasing the crowd, and of course Henrik…he gets a kiss and she does this little act as though she's giving him a blowjob. The crowd goes bananas, absolute coconuts. It goes on for a while and we drink. Then we drink some more. We interact with the German dental students. For a country where it is illegal to walk in public without a shirt and you get fined if you get caught, the show was a big whoa!
The next day we go hitchhiking around the island. Dirt in my lungs, I guess I'm suppose to feel like a true vagabond, real special and all, riding in the back of this dilapidated pick-up hungover and sore. There's another party tonight and we're there. The Dancing Rooster is right under the Giggling Whale and Thirsty Turtle. Dancing Rooster has a Karaoke night. GW and TT is a bar/restaurant. I won't write about doing 'My Heart Will Go Off' with Karol, and the place going silent, that's typical. We take off around 3 after the rooster died and head for the dinghy. But Henrik is a trooper and decides to stick around as there's another party just around the corner, a local one. No amount of persuasion can convince us to go with him or him with us. We head our separate ways. In the morning I hear him coming back barefooted across the deck. In the morning after coffee and some giggles, during that silence that we all know so well after a wasted night of drinking and talking up women, Henrik begins his story. He's very good, oh yes.
The dance floor was full and dark and after the initial grinding introduction this girl gives him a peck on the lips, smiles with her eyes and administers two slaps, forehand and perfect backhand. If it were me, the firm grip on the forearm as she yanks one off the dance floor would have given it away. But Henrik didn't get it and he found himself behind a coconut palm, illuminated by a weak street lamp. And then he saw that she was a he. She grabs his pants and yanks, he yanks the other way but he can't wriggle away. They do this silly dance for a while but he persists and in the end gets away. Points firmly with his finger, assertively says 'No' and is off into the darkness. He gets to the dock and sits under the stars dimming into the distance before the rising sun. He doesn't think of what happened too much because it's not the first time and he makes no big deal of it. A guy walks up to him. Says hello and jumps in the water. Swims to his boat, but then returns. Walks up to Henrik and asks if it was him that was calling him over. Henrik says No, then the guy jumps back in the water and swims off to his boat. In the end Henrik gets a ride with some fisherman. I had no real adventures on Tonga, neither did Karol. The last night we spent by Tana island where there was a moon party. I stayed with the boat on the dodgy anchorage, but Karol and Henrik went. UV illuminated dancing skeletons to electronica and drum and bass...they return and in the morning we're off.
Four days later we're in Fijian waters. It's nice, all the currents and inaccurate maps, strong winds and uncharted reefs...yes, we've been having a blast here. In Savu Savu we join the paddling club. We paddle and drink Kava, more drinking than paddling, of course. Kava is a traditional drink, drunk in social circles. We've heard that it upsets the intestinal system and tastes like mud mixed with saw dust and dissolved in dirty drain water. It makes your lips tingle and tongue numb. It's like smoking a really weak joint. Our experiences with it are very fine. It tastes different, but it's definitely not revolting. The socializing is nice and the effects are gentle. We've had no negative side effects, except for grogginess. In the morning, even after sleeping for 8 hours, you feel tired and slow. The cure the locals say, is washdown: having a drink before going to sleep. One day we go for a picnic on the local island with some of the paddlers. All we bring is a tin of fish and some salt. In about 3 hours we have a beautiful meal in a coconut bowl, wrapped in four different leaves, with coconut cream and local vegetables found in the forest. All baked in the fire in an 'oven' made out of banana leaves and covered with sand. A few days later the guests arrive and I'm cruising around the islands with them and Tobias, Henrik and Karol are discovering the interior of the island.
Ciao,
Lucius
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