Day 4: This Is the Story of a… Water (Kai-Viti according to 90’s hit band, 3 Doors Down) & other American Pop Song Cameos

SO the whole reason Amanda and I are here is to help tell the story of Kai-Viti water to those of you back home. We are here to capture the story and the vision of Paul & Irshad, and to give you all a real look into the work of the company and the difference they are making in Fiji.

Today, we spent most of the day at the Kai-Viti plant, conducting interviews, filming the bottling process, traipsing around the property with cameras and microphones- all so you can see the beauty of what is going on here.

The highlight of our time at the plant was recording the interviews with Jabid, the Plant Manager, and Paul, co-founder and owner.  The passion of these men for what they do is compelling and it was fun to capture it on film.

After we finished up at the plant, we noticed there was a break in the clouds (yes, it has been cloudy in Fiji!) and so we made a break for the ocean and parked ourselves on the shore of the Intercon Resort where we watched the sunset and played in the water a bit. We discovered a Bili-bili (a traditional Fijiian boat) that had been lodged deep in the sand. Riding on one of these was on my Fijiian bucket list, so we quickly took to digging it out and trying to get it in the water. It was harder than it looked. Soon we had new friends from Israel and Australia working alongside us and with a lot of manpower we were able to dislodge the Bili and get it in the water. Happy day!

The day ended with dinner at a little Australian run beach resort. A note on food here (because I don’t think I’ve talked much about it yet)- Fiji is home to many restaurants with vast menus of food offerings. Each restaurant seems to offer a little bit of everything. Among the most common menu items: burgers, fries, fish and chips, fried rice, and a host of other Asian and Indian influenced dishes.  This dinner restaurant was in accordance with our experience so far, with an added bonus of American pop songs playing in the background while we ate. Katy Perry showing up to dinner on the beach in Fiji. Now that I didn’t see coming.