Nadi prononced Nandi !!!

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We are on our way to warmer climates, woohoo!!! I couldnt wait. I had been looking forward to visiting Fiji since the beginning of our trip and after such cold weather in OZ i was ready for some beach time. It only took 3 hours to reach Nadi on mainland Fiji but the difference in temperature hit us as soon as we stepped off the plane. Nadi airport is only small so our bags arrived pretty quick and we walked out the doors to find a women who would take us to our hostel. We had booked to stay at nadi bay resort for 2 nites but did not have any plans arranged after that. We sat on a couch and waited for the rest of the people for our bus. Everybody coming from arrivals were being given shell necklaces and i kept complaining to Craig that we never got one. After the last person arrived the lady then turned to us and gave us ours. I then felt i was in Fiji.

The hostel was also a hotel and was really nice and clean, with 2 restaurants and 2 pools. We met Mike on the bus and we were all put in the same dorm, he was English and had just came from New Zealand. He gave us some advice about New Zealand and we all went for a drink and food at the restaurant. The next day Craig wanted to play golf so we got a taxi to nadi bay golf course. The hostel gave us free clubs but i never planned on playing. When we arrived the taxi driver opened the boot and a swarm of young boys pulled the clubs from the boot, i quickly said to Craig and Mike that they were caddys and would charge them as soon as they had the clubs in hand, like what we had experienced in Asia. The boys took the clubs back and we headed to the club house. On that particular weekend the Nadi Open was being played so the only way they could play on the course was to join the competition, and so they did. They were the last to go out on the course so they were put with the club captain and were annonced by the organiser. He said that Craig and Mike had come to join the competition all the way from the UK and everyone started to clap. At this point we all hoped that they would not embarress themselves. Craig played good on the front 9 holes and was not fazed by the landing planes 100 yards away. He slacked abit on the back 9 but pulled through for a good handicap score, only 8 shots from the leader. The sun was out all day so when we finished we all were sunburnt. We walked along the beach to smugglers cove for a quick drink before the $5 taxi fare home. $5 is about £1.75.

The next day 2 new people joined our dorm, Alex and Alice, they were medical students starting a placement on one of the islands nearby. Mike left for the islands so we relaxed by the pool with Alex and Alice then went into the town. We went a little late and everything was closing so we decided to get an icecream from a petrol station. As we were paying alot of poeple came into the shop distracting the workers attention. He had already taken $2 off me and i was getting him the 70 cents when he said i hadnt paid at all. well knowing me i stood my ground. We kept arguing, Craig was on the other side of the shop with the 2 guys and i had everyone in the shop looking at me. No one stood up for me and out of principle i would not pay again. I picked up the icecreams and went to leave. the man started shouting at me and another guy tried to stop me, after what seems like forever and alot of pointless arguing i walked out. There was a police car filling up at a pump and i kept on walking. I dont know what the guy did but no police came after, i think he realised i had paid and he didnt want to lose face.

The next day and i was still a free woman so we headed off to the islands.

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