Fiji time

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The RWC in NZ was an amazing experience but with the wet and cold weather I was thinking about the beach a lot! So one windy day in Wellington I popped into a bookshop and looked at a few guide books for the Pacific Islands that looked ideal for relaxing on the beach for a few weeks after the RWC. The options were the Cook Islands or Fiji. Both were in shoulder seasons with the rain arriving late November/December but Fiji won as it seemed more of a place travelers would go as it was on the RTW route via the USA. I also remembered that people I’d met from the 2008 trip were heading there and recommended it. How to travel around seemed quite complicated though but after much research on the Internet and the Lonely Planet guide book I discovered the best Islands to visit and to buy an Awsome Adventures “Bula pass” that enabled you to Island hop around. I purchased a two week pass and picked five Islands from the Lonely Planet guide book to visit spending two or three nights on each and leaving 5 or 6 nights free for some flexibility in case I really liked one particular Island. I then booked the first two nights on Bounty Island resort and the next three on Octupus resort. The rest I could book on the boat and get some ideas and recommendations from other travelers. Checking the prices however it didn’t seem cheap like in South East Asia and in the resorts you had to buy their meal plan along with accommodation which worked out at anything from 90 to 160 Fijian Dollars per night.

The flight from Auckland to Fiji was an easy three hours and within 30 minutes of arriving late evening I was checked in to my hotel in Nandi-New Town Beach Hotel- and headed out to get some food. There was a festival on at the time with many fire-works going off. Nadi town itself is not that nice and the beach at New Town beach is ok but it’s a good place to get cheap DVD films and supplies for the beach. On 28^th October I headed out on the Cheetah boat to Bounty Island. The Fiji side trip was turning out quite expensive (only marginally cheaper than New Zealand) so I’d booked dorms for some of the nights. Bounty Island seemed like Paradise on arriving and it was really hot, the beach was nice and at night you ate in the restaurant area on the beach with the sand between your toes!!. The Island itself is very small and you can walk around it in ten minutes!. There was a good group staying with many travelers either coming from USA and heading to NZ or the other way round. Also Rugby is a popular sport in Fiji and there were many other people who’d had the same idea as me for some sun after the tournament had finished. It was great to swap experiences of the games and places visited and everyone seemed to have had such a great time.

After three days on Bounty it was time to head to Octopus resort on the Island of Waya. This resort was a step up from the one on Bounty and I’d booked my own cabin with shared bathroom. It was very well organized with lots of events such as a Halloween party, crab racing, trips to the nearby villages and fire dancing. The beach was superb with golden sand and calm blue water with lots of snorkeling opportunities. When you arrive they meet you from the boat singing and playing music. It was a lot busier as well though with many people coming from Australia and New Zealand for a weeks holiday. The next Island - Long Beach- was a smaller resort more for the budget traveler but I really liked it there as it was in a lagoon with really calm water. There were only four of us staying on the first night and we tried a Karva ceremony. The food was all fresh with huge portions. I had my own cabin 10 seconds from the beach. In the afternoon when the tide was out it was superb to swim in the shallow water with just the sound of the gentle waves and the rustle of the palm trees from the calm breeze. The fourth Island was the Gold Coast resort. This was a lot more basic and had no electricity or hot water but it was full of character and the meals had more of a home cooking feel about them. We visited the beach location where they shot the film Blue Lagoon with Brook Shields. Los Tea House was also a favorite with her chocolate pudding a big seller!! The Blue Lagoon resort was the last Island stop and also my favorite where I ended up staying for over a a week. It was similar to Octopus but smaller and more of a rustic feel. We went on a cave trip that was also the set for the Blue Lagoon film and they had lots of activities during the evening including traditional Fijian dancing and Bonfire night. The beach here was simply amazing and the sunsets some of the best I’ve seen. The cocktails weren’t bad too!! After just under three weeks of Islands hopping it was time to return to Nandi for two last nights before the flight to Auckland. The last two nights in Nandi were quite relaxing with Dinner at Smugglers, shopping for crafts and planning the rest of the trip. On returning to Auckland I stayed in the Kiwi Experience hotel again for one night then headed to Napier to visit friends of the family Mick and Sue again (see 2008 bog). The last part of the NZ segment of the trip was a final night in Auckland on 21st November before flying to Santiago for the much anticipated South America leg of the trip........

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Photos

Dorms
30 bed dorm all to myself on the 1st night!