A brief description of our 2005 tour (2007 to come!)

The ASU rugby team traveled to Fiji in March, 2005. The trip was absolutely phenomenal, and a wonderful life experience for the team. The day we arrived we went straight to a beach where there seemed to be no sign of life for miles. After having some free time there to relax after the long flight, we made our way to our first hotel by open air bus. We stayed at the Tubakula beach resort, where we swam in the pool, laid by the beach, hitchhiked into town, and played volleyball with the extremely friendly staff. Also while at Tubakula, we traveled to a local village, Malevu, where we participated in a traditional kava ceremony, ate delicious Fijian cuisine with our hands, and danced to beautiful guitar music with the villagers and their children. We had such a great time that we went back the following morning per invitation, to play touch rugby with some of the men. We certainly learned a lot from them, and really enjoyed the time we spent at Malevu.

After Tubakula, we traveled to the South Seas hotel in Suva, the capital city. There we experienced real city life and prepared for our match against the University of the South Pacific. The match was played at the University field, which was large and full of frogs and puddles after the recent rains. The game went well, and ASU defeated USP, soaked to the bone at the end due to a storm during the match. One more game was played that day, directly after the USP match, against the National U-30 club champions. ASU played hard through more rain in this game, but was beaten in the end.

After some more fun in Suva to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the girls from the University, we made our way to the Lagoon resort, a luxurious hotel at the heart of the island. We enjoyed being pampered, went kayaking, explored the shops nearby, and rested in preparation for the big game. Finally, the day came when we played the Fijian National under 21 team. The team was excited and nervous, and were truly amazed and honored to see U.S.A. on the locker room door of the huge stadium they were to play in. The game was played in extremely humid weather conditions, but ASU fought through and after playing a brilliant 80 minutes of rugby, we drew the match with the U21s 19-19.

We had one more day to spend in Fiji, still at the lagoon, and we spent it in many different ways. Some girls walked to the beach to enjoy the beauty of the island one more time. Others took a river tour, which had them jumping off waterfalls and navigating a river on a piece of bamboo. Others relaxed by the pool, working on their tan. In the end, this trip was filled with good times, great experiences, phenomenal rugby games, and many memories to last a life time.

Thank you to everyone who helped get us there, whether through a donation, sponsorship, or participating in one of our fundraisers, every little bit helped.

Thank you to everyone who donated their time, money, and talents to get us to Fiji twice!