Blogs from Nadi, Fiji, Oceania - page 10

I am in Fiji. Last night was pretty incredible. Blame it on the 3-250ml bottles of NZ wine I had on the plane (I love Air NZ), but I make friends very quickly and easily. As soon as I got off the plane I sat on a bench by the door, waiting for the shuttle to the hostel. A large black woman sitting next to me asked me what was in my travel trunk (I've been dragging around a large plastic "tough box" as my luggage). So, I told her. Clothes, Johnny Walker, etc... She asked how much I wanted for the bottle of Johnny Walker (black label). Having absolutely no idea what the going rate is for JW Black in Fiji, and figuring that I wasn’t going to be able to drink the 2 bottles ... read more

Just to set the record straight or should I say set your minds at rest as we dont know how much the hurricane has been in the news, we are fine. We got a small fishing boat out to a tiny island called Bounty when we arrived in Fiji. Bounty Island is where Celebrity Love Island was filmed for thoes who watched it. The next day we were told that the American navy had banned all boats on the water and that we were marooned on the island....oh know we were devestated to be marooned on a paradise island as you can imagine. We were having a whale of a time, there were a few moment that it got a bit scary as the only information we would get was from the emergency radio broadcasts....I felt ... read more

Hey guys, just to let you know I've arrived in Figi safe and sound but I have no phone coverage so if you've tried to text thats why you haven't heard back!! I'm off to travel round the islands (aka paradise) in the morning and I don't think the internet access is great so you won't be hearing from me for a couple of weeks until I get back to the mainland or reach New Zealand!! Crazy stuff, I feel like I've lost a limb without my phone which is pathetic! FYI I've made friends with a Scottish girl called Mairi so have spent the last 2 days with her but shes doing a placement here with the red cross for 8 months and starts tomorrow so we will be parting ways :( Its been good ... read more

Sun, sea, sand, tsunami warnings, high winds and sideways rain. What more could you ask for?! Nadi As we fly out of Auckland the pilot informs us that the weather in Fiji is quite simply perfect. However by the time we arrive in Nadi we are told that the weather has somewhat deteriorated. In fact it is raining so hard when we step off the plane that we begin to wonder if we had actually landed in the right country! We join the world’s longest queue for immigration and wait the best part of an hour for the two officers to clear two plane loads of people before collecting our bags. The traditional Fijian band in the arrivals hall do their best to brighten the afternoon bur the persistent rain is making their job a difficult ... read more

Thursday 22nd October in Fiji, The Coral Coast We arrived at Nadi airport at 4.50am and got given shell necklaces and greeted by a Fijian band. After an hour and a half minibus ride to our resort, the Warwick, on the coral coast, we began to chill out over a big breakfast buffet, with views across the turquoise lagoon to the breakers crashing on the reef. Yes, we had made it to paradise. The resort was nicely landscaped and the rooms were high standard with hardwood polished floors, massive walk-in showers and satellite TV (not that we are watching much - just BBC world). Lots of fish can be seen in the crystal clear lagoon…along with crabs and eels and star fish….and the resort had its own little island which has a restaurant on. We have ... read more