Blogs from Nadi, Fiji, Oceania

Sunday 4thMarch Farewell NZ, hello Fiji. We had a good flight across the Pacific and touched down in Nadi in the early afternoon, being greeted by some welcome hot and humid weather plus being serenaded at arrivals by the local Bula band. No problems checking through customs despite declaring the fishing gear and Sue’s NZ sea shells. We found a waiting taxi and negotiated a price to the hotel about 7 kl away. A warm reception on arrival then it was a case of drop the bags off and out for a swim and chill out in the hammocks next to the beach. The remainder of the day was spent adjusting to Fiji time and slowly putting together a plan for our three week stay. Also treated to a spectacular distant view of a series of ... read more

Having not slept too well after the trauma of the phone loss, I decided on having a quiet relaxing day planning my week in Fiji. O2 fortunately confirmed that the phone wasn't used before I put a barring order on it so that's one relief. The fact that someone somewhere has the photos of my chest injuries from my car incident is something else - expect graphic postings on some bruising-injury-fetish website soon, should such a thing exist... I did not a great deal today but get pampered. Firstly a pedicure - which revealed that despite the weeks that have passed, sandfly bites take longer to heal than most. One quick file over the top and huge craters in my feet were revealed, to the horror of the beautician. The pain I felt was worse, I ... read more

Naz: Having had a jam packed 2 months in Australia we were looking forward to relaxing and island hopping in Fiji. However, when we got there we realised that Fiji was actually right in the middle of a cyclone and that going on a boat from the mainland to all the smaller Mamanuca and Yasawa islands would not be advisable. After booking a 5 day tour a few days later through what we now know as a 'pirate' and then the boat never existing we decided to demand our money back and just make the most of being on the mainland. The first bit of traditional Fiji which we experienced was the 'Kava ceremony'. This is where you are welcomed into Fiji with a 'legal' powder crushed from tree roots which is absorbed into water before ... read more

Hey everyone. So on the 11th we left sydney, we had originally planned to fly to LA via Fiji with a 2hour stop over. The airline cancelled our flight from fiji to LA so we were stuck in Fiji for a night and day (what a shame). We secured a discount at the Hilton run 'Beach Resort & Spa' on Denarau island in Nadi and settled in for the night. We visited the bar and had a couple of fantastic cocktails each. The room was something else; big king size bed, big spa bath, washing machine + drier, BBQ and an amazing view over the private beach to the islands beyond. After the best sleep we had both had in a long time we woke up and went to the travel counter. Asking for a good ... read more

Bula from Fiji! Apologies for the big gap between blog posts but we've been too busy in our hammocks to get online! Nah, hardly any internet on the islands so we decided to wait until the mainland to do the next update! So, we've just finished our 12 day island hopping tour of the Yasawa Islands, Fiji, which has been amazing! The islands are paradise basically! We've stayed on 6 different islands over the 12 days which has been perfect as we got to spend a couple of nights on each island and got to know some of the locals on each one :) We tried the traditional Fijian drink of Kava, which is made from a root....and pretty much tastes of root! (Or muddy water as most people describe it!). One night Rich was "chief" ... read more

Sorry the last blog entry on New Zealand was so late, there is almost no internet in paradise. After a 3 hour flight, Nicci and I entered the airport without a plan. Luckily the second you step out, travel agents swarm you like bees to honey. By the time I finished my smoke, Nicci had already picked a women and had a plan. After many months of traveling and just finishing a action-packed 3.5 weeks in NZ, we decided to skip cramming as many islands as we can into our 2.5 weeks and just pick 3 places to spend more time relaxing at. After receiving our ‘Bula’ (more on Bula later) beads made of small white shells, we caught a cab to Stoney Creek Resort for our first night on the main island. On the ... read more

So here I am, once again, ready to embark on another journey. It really doesn’t feel like its been a long time since my last trip. Time to take it to the other hemisphere. I had two separate tickets; one to Honolulu, and one from Honolulu to Seattle. My first stopover would be Nadi in Fiji. The boarding attendant accidentally tore my boarding pass, and so I had to wait a little longer before they could get me my seat, but no big deal. I got a seat on the upper deck of the 747. From here it was just sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying the flight. Feelings of euphoria came over me; I was very happy. There was no decent entertainment on the flight, so I put on my iPod, which sufficed. I had fish ... read more