Blogs from Nadi, Fiji, Oceania - page 19

Hello, welcome and most importantly "Bula" from Fiji. As you will have gathered, we have safely arrived in Fiji after a 36 hour door to door journey ! The upgrade to Premium economy did help to ameliorate some of our discomfort and you can be sure that we made the most of the free Champagne and wine and other freebies on offer. Anyway, The Aquarius hotel in Nadi is basic but clean,comfortable and right on the sea front and we have the advantage of a balcony looking out over the palm trees onto the sea. Weather was a bit hit and miss for the first couple of days, this being the rainy season, but the last couple of days have been clear and sunny. The ambient temperature is 82f (28c) but the sun is very strong. ... read more

Fiji : Local Beer - FIJI GOLD...... Save water, drink beer! Bula! Bula! Bula! This means Hello in Fiji and If we had a dollar for every time we've heard or said it over the last 2 weeks then we'd never come home cos' we'd be loaded! Everyone says it to everybody over here. Total stranger walking down the street with 6 kids and that equals 7 BULA's !!! Needless to say, the Fijians are extremely friendly people. Our plane landed at Nadi airport at around 5.30am, just as the sun was rising. The sunrise was beautiful (as you can see from the photo.) The airport is surrounded by big volcanic mountains and it looked like a scene from 'LOST' or 'Jurassic Park'. We were greeted in the airport by a Fijian band playing on their ... read more

Although we were all relieved to be packing up and getting away from Aquarius it was so sad that it was going to be my final day with Nisha and Amie. They've both been fab to have around and certainly made the week in Fiji much more bareable. So we checked out then went to the Restaurant which sits looking out over the pool and the beach, and we had our final breakfast together. I must admit although the staff are rather miserable and a bit pooh the food in Aquarius is really good (especially when it's free). With my warm wheat-bix I got a cup of tea, some toast and a bowl of local fruits! The other choice was banana pancakes which were also rather yum! After we'd packed up we made our way over ... read more

Wow how hot is it. I’d forgotton how much I missed the sun. The first thing I hear when I get through customs is “Bula” (welcome). Everyone is so friendly. A lady approaches me, I obviously stand out as a lone backpacker, she takes me to the office where I pick up all my travel vouchers and then takes me to my transfer bus. So I arrive at the hostel, Nadi Bay Hotel, basic, but I get the impression this is what I am to expect of Fiji, unless I spend £1000’s. I dumped my bags and headed into town for a wander before grabbing dinner and hitting the sack. Early start tomorrow, the island hopping begins!... read more

I haven't made a journal for the 22nd September as I didn't really see all that much of it because during the 4 hour flight frm Rarotonga to Fiji we crossed the dat line, meaning that I lost a whole day - hopefull I'll find it later down the line!! The result of that seemed to be horrific on our bodies, as we arrived in Fiji at 9pm feeling unbelievably tired and disorientated. Arriving in Fiji was a bit of a culture shock, from the tiny Island it wa huge and there were so many people and grime eveywhere. I had a bad nights sleep in my new dorm and so got up ridiculuosly early for my breakfast, and for the firt time statred to wonder why on earth I was doing this foolish adventure (jetlag ... read more