In July 2010 my wife and I had our first international holiday as parents.
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Our son Elijah was four years old at the time so Fiji seemed like a fantastic and safe destination for a family holiday.
We were lucky enough to be shouted the holiday by my mother who was celebrating a special birthday. We were also joined by my sister, her husband and their two sons.
We stayed at the luxurious Radisson Blu Resort on Denarau Island.
From memory our flight from Melbourne to Nadi International Airport was about eight hours.
Denarau Island is a small private resort development and home to some of the most exclusive hotel chains such as the Hilton, Sheraton and Soffitel.
The view from our hotel room out onto the incredible pool.
From the moment we arrived at our hotel we were greeted by the friendliest and most attentive Fijian staff.
There were Fijian men attired in traditional dress who serenaded us with guitars, ukuleles and beautiful voices and women who served us tropical drinks and placed frangipani leis around our necks.
Tropical flower scents permeated the air and as we walked into reception we could see out onto the most amazing lagoon style swimming pool.
There were many families and couples swimming and lazing in the recliners strategically placed around the manmade sandy shores of the pool.
I took one look at the enormous pool bar and said to my wife "I know where I'm heading."
Denarau Island Luxury
We spent the next three hedonistic days enjoying the lifestyle of the rich and famous.
The resort was filled with Australian, English and German tourists all enjoying the sunshine, the incredible food, wonderful service and of course sampling every cocktail known to mankind served at the pool bar.
After three days of doing absolutely nothing but, eating, drinking, sleeping and swimming I was ready for something a little more adventurous.
I booked a day trip for the three of us up into the mountains to spend some time with some tribespeople in a remote mountain village.
Our son Elijah looking forward to our boat trip
We were collected from our hotel at 7 am by our tour guide and we drove for about 90 minutes inland to where we boarded an open style longboat.
The boat ride was about another hour and the scenery was similar to how I envisaged travelling up the Amazon River would be like.
Lush tropical rainforest either side of us and a wide fast flowing river.
There was an abundance of exotic looking birdlife, vibrantly coloured butterflies and unusual animal calls from deep within the forest. The air was warm, damp but fragrant floral tones delighted our nostrils.
En route to mountain village experience.
When we arrived at our location we were greeted by "The Chief", his wife and about a dozen children who were very excited to see these pale faced, funny looking humans arrive.
We were guided up the steep banks to where the village was located on a plateau.
In what appeared to be a communal meeting place which had no walls but a large grass thatched roof there were people singing, dancing, doing basket weaving and assorted arts.
Shy Fijian girl
There were two things that immediately struck me upon our arrival.
How little they had in the way of material possessions, and by little I mean nothing, but also, how happy, relaxed and content they all seemed to be.
There was an obvious hierarchical system in place and it appeared that all of the older members of the tribe were revered by all.
Fijian children not sure what to make of the visitors
"Riding through the forest"
There were also many animals roaming freely amongst the tribe.
There were dogs, chickens, one cow, several horses and numerous goats.
Every person in the tribe and every animal I saw had a calm and relaxed disposition.
No one appeared stressed, in a hurry or not wanting to be there. Living in a major city this felt foreign to me.
The Village Chief
Kava Time
Smiles all round
We were invited into the communal hut were we sat on grass mats, given hand carved timber cups with coconut water and were entertained by singing and dancing members of the tribe.
I was then invited to sit with the male elders were I was encouraged to partake in a kava ceremony. I had encountered kava previously so was wary of it's evil potency.
After sharing a communal cup of kava I was then given my own kings sized cup full of the lethal liquid.
My wife Zoe made eye contact with me and discreetly shook her head indicating "don't do it".
Fijian elder with her grandson.
Being the rebel I am I thought "what the hell, when in Rome" and threw it back.
My mouth, tongue and throat were already numb from the communal sip so I benefited by not being able taste the grey, dirt flavoured liquid.
The rest of my day is a bit of blur but thankfully most of my photographs were in focus.
By far the most vivid memory of that experience was the beauty, generosity and happiness of people who have little materialistic wealth but do have a true sense of community, family, respect for the natural world and a love of music, dance and art.
Craig George, Photographer