Crossing the date line and losing a whole day just like that was a bizarre feeling. We left Chile on Thursday 13th November and arrived in Auckland, 13 hours later, on the 15th November! It's quite remarkable how, for the 14th November 2008, Kat and I ceased to exist!
You can't fly direct to Fiji from South America so we had to go via Auckland, NZ. You'd think having to wait 12 hours in Auckland airport would be boring but Kat and I managed to fill most of the time running around like hyperactive kids, getting overly excited about the fact we were in an English speaking country! Getting a cup of tea, being able to understand announcements, and being allowed to put toilet roll down the toilet rather than in the bin was just too exciting for words!!
However, the cost of things was quite a shock to the system and we suddenly wished we'd done a lot more shopping in South America! I actually remember having a discussion about how expensive the guinea pig we bought on our last night in Peru was... "24 soles? I'm not paying that for dinner... they've only put the price up because they know tourists want to try it..." 24 soles is actually less that 5 pounds!! Oh how I wish we'd taken more advantage of the low costs when we were there.
Anyway, back to Fiji... so, after hanging around in Auckland airport for 12 hours we got on another plane and headed for Nadi (pronounced Nandi) on Viti Levu, Fiji's main island. On arrival we found ourselves in the friendliest, most chilled out airport ever, where everyone is smiling and men stand in the entrance singing, dressed in sulus (sarongs) with flowers in their hair. We also arrived to torrential rain... we English like to make ourselves feel at home wherever we go!
Although the outer islands are supposed to be more spectacular, with only 5 days and a limited budget we decided to stay on the main island and head to the Coral Coast, only a couple of hours bus ride from Nadi... and what a bus ride! The bus driver saw us walking at the side of the street (nowhere near an actual bus stop) and pulled over to see if we wanted to get on. On the bus the reggae was playing and everyone just bounced along the unfinished road with no worries in the world. About half way through the journey the bus pulled in at a fresh fruit and veg market and gave us 10min to jump off and get anything we wanted. Great! If London transport was as accommodating no-one would ever get anywhere!!
We stayed at a gorgeous beach resort called The Beach House, which is actually where Love Island (one of those awful Z-list celebrity 'reality' TV shows) was filmed. It was, as I said, gorgeous!! It was right on the beach front, tucked away from all civilisation and you only had to walk a short way into the sea to come across beautiful coral and fishes. It had lovely cabins, a pool, bar, free use of sea kayaks, free breakfast, free tea and scones every afternoon and the staff were just lovely. In fact everyone in fiji is lovely.
There were palm trees all around and I spent a lot of my time developing my coconut cracking skills, they were delicious! Kat laughed at me and said I was discovering my cave woman roots, sitting on a beach in a bikini bashing coconuts against rocks while all the other girls read books and bronzed themselves, but she was happy when I provided her with lunch!
Fiji really is another world... everyone is happy and chilled out, no one is in a rush to do anything and a busy day comprises of getting up, reading a book, smashing open a coconut or two and going for a swim. Phew... you might need a nap in a hammock after all that!
Fiji time is a concept that takes some getting used to... "the bus comes every hour" they tell you, after 2 hours of waiting there is still no bus but it's Fiji so you can't be angry! And kava is another thing that definately takes some getting used to. I can say with all honesty that 5 days was not long enough to make me love it, or even slightly like it. In fact I hate it!! It's a mildly narotic drink that looks (and tastes) like dirty pond water. They drink it day and night and on arriving at our hostel we had to (yes, HAD to... not drinking kava is, unfortunately, the one thing they frown upon!) drink it. It is a ceremonial drink and on being offered it you have to clap, down the drink in one (urgh!!), then clap 3 times and shout "Bula!". The direct translation of 'Bula' is 'live', and they use it for everything. It means hello, thank you, goodbye, how are you, cheers etc etc...
So, to summarise, Fiji was fantastic. It provided us with the perfect relaxation we needed after a slightly trying time in South America. We got a great dose of sun (in fact Kat got more than her fair share on the first day and had to spend the rest of the week covered up in the shade, bless her!), made some great friends, read lots, snorkelled, learnt how to open coconuts and embraced Fiji Time with open arms! Bula!
You can't fly direct to Fiji from South America so we had to go via Auckland, NZ. You'd think having to wait 12 hours in Auckland airport would be boring but Kat and I managed to fill most of the time running around like hyperactive kids, getting overly excited about the fact we were in an English speaking country! Getting a cup of tea, being able to understand announcements, and being allowed to put toilet roll down the toilet rather than in the bin was just too exciting for words!!
However, the cost of things was quite a shock to the system and we suddenly wished we'd done a lot more shopping in South America! I actually remember having a discussion about how expensive the guinea pig we bought on our last night in Peru was... "24 soles? I'm not paying that for dinner... they've only put the price up because they know tourists want to try it..." 24 soles is actually less that 5 pounds!! Oh how I wish we'd taken more advantage of the low costs when we were there.
Anyway, back to Fiji... so, after hanging around in Auckland airport for 12 hours we got on another plane and headed for Nadi (pronounced Nandi) on Viti Levu, Fiji's main island. On arrival we found ourselves in the friendliest, most chilled out airport ever, where everyone is smiling and men stand in the entrance singing, dressed in sulus (sarongs) with flowers in their hair. We also arrived to torrential rain... we English like to make ourselves feel at home wherever we go!
Although the outer islands are supposed to be more spectacular, with only 5 days and a limited budget we decided to stay on the main island and head to the Coral Coast, only a couple of hours bus ride from Nadi... and what a bus ride! The bus driver saw us walking at the side of the street (nowhere near an actual bus stop) and pulled over to see if we wanted to get on. On the bus the reggae was playing and everyone just bounced along the unfinished road with no worries in the world. About half way through the journey the bus pulled in at a fresh fruit and veg market and gave us 10min to jump off and get anything we wanted. Great! If London transport was as accommodating no-one would ever get anywhere!!
We stayed at a gorgeous beach resort called The Beach House, which is actually where Love Island (one of those awful Z-list celebrity 'reality' TV shows) was filmed. It was, as I said, gorgeous!! It was right on the beach front, tucked away from all civilisation and you only had to walk a short way into the sea to come across beautiful coral and fishes. It had lovely cabins, a pool, bar, free use of sea kayaks, free breakfast, free tea and scones every afternoon and the staff were just lovely. In fact everyone in fiji is lovely.
There were palm trees all around and I spent a lot of my time developing my coconut cracking skills, they were delicious! Kat laughed at me and said I was discovering my cave woman roots, sitting on a beach in a bikini bashing coconuts against rocks while all the other girls read books and bronzed themselves, but she was happy when I provided her with lunch!
Fiji really is another world... everyone is happy and chilled out, no one is in a rush to do anything and a busy day comprises of getting up, reading a book, smashing open a coconut or two and going for a swim. Phew... you might need a nap in a hammock after all that!
Fiji time is a concept that takes some getting used to... "the bus comes every hour" they tell you, after 2 hours of waiting there is still no bus but it's Fiji so you can't be angry! And kava is another thing that definately takes some getting used to. I can say with all honesty that 5 days was not long enough to make me love it, or even slightly like it. In fact I hate it!! It's a mildly narotic drink that looks (and tastes) like dirty pond water. They drink it day and night and on arriving at our hostel we had to (yes, HAD to... not drinking kava is, unfortunately, the one thing they frown upon!) drink it. It is a ceremonial drink and on being offered it you have to clap, down the drink in one (urgh!!), then clap 3 times and shout "Bula!". The direct translation of 'Bula' is 'live', and they use it for everything. It means hello, thank you, goodbye, how are you, cheers etc etc...
So, to summarise, Fiji was fantastic. It provided us with the perfect relaxation we needed after a slightly trying time in South America. We got a great dose of sun (in fact Kat got more than her fair share on the first day and had to spend the rest of the week covered up in the shade, bless her!), made some great friends, read lots, snorkelled, learnt how to open coconuts and embraced Fiji Time with open arms! Bula!
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