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Published: October 2nd 2008
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21st August 2008 - 29th August 2008
Bounty Island
A short flight from Christchurch to Auckland then a three hour flight to Nadi (pronounced ‘Nandi’) and we were in Fiji and soon to be in shorts and flip flops again after six weeks of cold and snow. As we walked through arrivals we were confronted by various people touting their business. We were glad we had pre-booked everything as we are unable to handle that anymore. They were very tame to be honest but our tolerance levels are not what they were twelve months ago.
A transfer to our hotel, Nadi Bay Resort, where we were greeted with a traditional Fijian welcome song and a demonstration on making ‘cava’ which we were able to sample. Many people claim it looks and tastes like muddy water. They are pretty accurate! It makes your lips go tingly and numb too so you wouldn’t want too drink many.
An early start in the morning to catch the ferry to Bounty Island which was the second stop of the day and only thirty minutes from the mainland. We were the only two getting off and were met by a smaller boat
to take us to the island. Unfortunately our luggage was not on board but should be on the next boat. When we reached the small jetty we were given another warm Fijian welcome, this time two large men were singing and playing really small guitars with a flower behind their ear! Our luggage did arrive on the next boat and shortly after we checked into our beachside ‘bure’. It was quite basic but perfectly located along a quiet stretch of the beach (although everywhere on the island was quiet) and had its’ very own hammock - good times!
The next five days merged into each other as our days solely consisted of sunbathing or relaxing in the shade reading books (about one a day) in between eating. Our package included breakfast, lunch and dinner which were always generous at 9am, 12.30pm and 7pm. In addition to this was afternoon tea at 3pm which included coffee and gorgeous chunky cookies and became our favourite time of day.
We had a free trip to nearby Treasure Island included in our deal but we couldn’t commit ourselves to that kind of exertion so forfeited that. Snorkelling gear was available to hire
for free too but that was a little too much for us as well. We did hire a kayak one day though so we could paddle around the island. That took about twenty minutes then I think it was cookie time again!
If that wasn’t enough excitement we discovered that Bounty Island was the setting for the first series of ‘Celebrity Love Island’. There are pictures of Abbie Titmus and Calum Best plus all the other ‘stars’ on the wall although they actually make very little of this fact - can’t think why? The buildings used in Love Island appear to have largely been demolished but the pool looks very familiar.
We had five fantastic days here, the most relaxing of our travels and a great way to end the year. One more night back on the mainland and then we would have to begin the arduous journey of flying half way around the world and home!
The flight from Nadi left at 11.30am and arrived back in Auckland at 2.30pm. We had a nine hour wait here for our flight home so had decided to collect our bags again rather than have them transferred direct to
Heathrow. This enabled us to shower and freshen up and change clothes but also meant we had to re-enter New Zealand rather than stay in transfers which resulted in the same delay as before with Claire’s visa (the New Zealand visa stamp in Claire’s passport from before clearly no help!?). The first leg of the journey was an Air New Zealand eleven hour flight to Hong Kong where we had an hour or so to stretch our legs and then board again for another eleven hour flight to Heathrow. The on board personal entertainment helped pass the time as we watched countless films, TV programmes and played games, sleeping very little. By the time we were given an English greeting by Tom we had been in the air for about a total of twenty five hours and had left Fiji over thirty six hours ago and we still had a four hour drive to Cornwall ahead of us!
It was nice to be home though. We have missed our family and friends and look forward to catching up with everyone soon over the coming weeks. It’s nice to stay in the same comfy bed every night too and have
those little comforts back like not having to go to the toilet al fresco! Of course, finding employment again is not going to be so exciting especially during the ‘credit crunch’ (we are sick of hearing that already) and after a year of travelling it will take a little time to get into the ‘routine’ again. But as that great man Frank once said…
“It’s very nice to go travelling, but so much nicer, yes it’s so much nicer to come home”!
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