Well as expected, Fiji was just beautiful and e\/erything I expected.
Day 1
There was a group of Fijians at the airport with their guitar, welcoming the people off the plane. We got to our airport transfer with little fuss, although this was our first lesson about Fiji time....
We stayed at Denarau, a short dri\/e from Nadi and spent our first afternoon there exploring the resort we were staying at, booked in some tours and caught the Bulla Bus down to Port Denarau.
Day 2:
The following day, I went back to Port Denarau and got an hour massage and a facial = a bargain at $FJ100. After lunch and my massage and facial, we headed back to the resort where we spent the afternoon relaxing in the coolness of the swimming pool which o\/erlooks Nadi Bay.
I should add, that by this stage, I was really really enjoying the bed in our resort. Not for what you might think though - it was just so unbelie\/ably comfy that I ha\/e come back to Australia and am looking for a bed just like it!!!
The buffet breakky was also unbelie\/able - you name it, and it was there almost: bacon, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, sausages, fried tomatos, spring rolls, hash browns, corn flakes, coco pops and god knows what other cereal, doughnuts, pancakes (with a choice of syrup and cream), chocolate croissants, and all sorts of other danishes, not to mention diff types of bread, fruit platters, fruit smoothies, about 3 types of yoghurt and muesli. They also had a juicer so you could make your own fruit juice, or just pour the pre-made stuff: orange, pineapple and apple. You also had a choice of coffee and tea (heck, why not just ha\/e both!) and also champagne. Needless to say we took our time eating breakky!
Day 3:
On Saturday, we got up early to eat our buffet breakky (but not so much today because we were going on a boat!!!) and went to Castaway Island. There we did some snorkelling and some swimming in the pool. The highlight of my time there was ha\/ing some bread in my hand and ha\/ing heaps of fish come and eat it out of my hands. When there was no more bread left, they were nibbling my fingers! It was \/ery cute!
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| Castaway Island - just gorgeous! |
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| Fish just off the shore at Castaway Is |
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| Some fun in the pool at Castaway |
On Sunday, my birthday, we got up early again and had another buffet breakky and this time we were off to Robinson Crusoe Island. I highly recommend this tour. From our hotel, we got a bus to a ri\/er. At the ri\/er we got on the boat. We were a little confused why we'd be going on a boat in a ri\/er to get to an island that is supposed to be in the sea, until we realised that the island is certainly in the sea, but just up from a ri\/er mouth!
When we arri\/ed, we were told about the a\/ailable acti\/ities for the day. I headed straight off and got another massage ($FJ25) and a pedicure ($FJ25). By the time this was finished, it was time to watch the unearthing of the Lo\/o (Fiji's \/ersion of the Hungi), and the Beqa men walking on hot coals. We had lunch and after lunch there were performances - traditional dances (both men and women), knife throwing and, of course, flame throwing. Afer this, we went out on the boat for some snorkeling. Unfortunately we didn't get to stay long as there was a strong current. When we got back to shore, my Sydney Boy and I went and had a bit of a swim in the pool before I relaxed in a hammock beside the pool with a good book (Jodie Picoult - Keeping Faith)... All too soon it was time to go back to our hotel!
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| A glimpse of Robinson Crusoe Island |
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| A descendant of the Beqa men walking on coal |
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| Some performances |
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| More performances |
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| Fish @ Robinson Crusoe Is |
On Monday, we had a relaxing day. We slept in a little, and took our time eating breakfast. We caught the free boat o\/er to an island called "Akuilau" where there is nothing except toilets and 9 people who li\/e on the island. We also went to the Sheraton \/illas and had a couple of cocktails at the pool bar. We swam in our own resort swimming pool, and simply relaxed...
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| \/iew at breakfast |
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| \/iew from Akuilau back to our resort |
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| The little pig who is a pet for the people who li\/e on the island - seems a bit cruel doesn't it? |
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| Lea\/ing Akuilau to go back to our resort |
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| Swimming in the pool at the Sheraton \/illas |
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| Swimming in the pool at the resort |
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| Enjoying the spa at our resort |
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| My Sydney Boy watching the e\/ening ritual |
Day 6
Unfortunately, all too soon, our holiday was o\/er. The next morning, we packed our bags and headed once again for our final breakfast in Fiji. We e\/en got our own farewell song at breakky from the staff. My Sydney Boy used our final morning to go explore the Sheraton, but I stayed by the pool and read my book...
On the plane home, a Fijian man sat next to me on his first trip to Australia. He told me that his wife had just gi\/en birth to their 3rd daughter in Fiji and that Australia is his country of hope because he would like to mo\/e here one day (which is little surprise when their a\/erage wage seems to be about $FJ2.50 an hour!!!). He was coming to \/isit his wife's sister who already li\/es in Australia in the hope that he will like it. We talked about Fiji and about Australia and he asked me to write my name down and that if it was OK with me, he would like to use my name in his daughter's name. I said that this was fine so maybe if he was telling the truth (fat chance, but it's a nice thought isn't it?) my name will become popular in Fiji ;)
Oh how I long to be back in Fiji already...
