Advertisement
Published: January 4th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Perfect Setting!
The view up the beach from Nananu Island Lodge. We landed in Fji on the morning of Tuesday 7th November. The heat hit us as we stepped off the plane - it was a lot warmer than New Zealand! We got the free shuttle bus from the airport to our hotel.
Our hotel was really nice and we had booked to stay for 3 nights. Basically, we didn't want to tour the different islands in Fiji for the simple reason that we wanted to do as little as possible. So, we had had a certain island and resort recommended to us (by a guy we met in New Zealand) but it was fully booked for our first few nights in Fiji. Therefore, we were staying at the hotel in Nadi for 3 nights and then moved to the island. We did very little in Fji, except relax and enjoy the weather, therefore, this blog entry will be brief!!!
The 3 days in Nadi were really nice. The hotel had a pool so we spent some time there. We did venture into Nadi town on the local bus one of the days but the town wasn't very nice and there wasn't much there.
On the Friday it was
Private Beach!
The beach on the other side of the Lodge that we walked to (there was no-one on it!) time to leave for the island. We were going to Nananu-I-Ra which is on the north east coast of Fiji. We were picked up by a shuttle bus at 8am and driven across Fiji, stopping in the town of Rakiraki to get some supplies. It took about 3 hours and then we arrived at the wharf where we got on the small boat that took 15 minutes to take us across to Nananu-I-Ra. There is barely anything on the island, except an exclusive resort and the beachfront backpackers that we were staying at. We arrived and the location was perfect - right on the beachfront, with hammocks all across the front. As our boat was pulling upto the beach I saw someone I thought I recognised getting into one of the hammocks. I looked again and it was Monica - who we had worked with in Dampier (Western Australia). It was completely bizarre - we knew that we were going the same way as each other (with the same stops) but of all the places to see her by chance!!! The Island is a tiny island with hardly anything on it and most people who go to Fiji go to
Beautiful Views!
A view of the beach as we were walking to it. the other islands closer to Nadi - it was really bizarre. She was with her friend - Red - who was lovely. They were due to leave the island the next day but we spent the evening with them. It was a great night. We had a couple of drinks at the bar and then got invited to go to the staff kitchen and join them for some Kava. Kava is a local drink to Fiji. It is made from the root of the Kava tree and it makes your mouth and tongue go numb. You also get a tingling sensation and it makes you feel really calm and slows you down. There is a ritual that you have to do when sitting around and drinking it too. Everyone takes turns and you have to clap 3 times before and after and say 'bula'. It was good fun. We sat drinking it for a few hours and the locals were playing their guitars and singing too. We felt very calm at the end of the evening!!!
The next day we said goodbye to Monica and Red. The rest of our time on the island was spent completely relaxing and
This is the Life!
Karen getting some maximum chill time!!! enjoying our surroundings. We took a walk across the island to the other beach. The walk gets a bit tricky at times but, once on the other side, we realised it was well worth it - the beach was beautiful and there wasn't another soul on it! It was paradise. We also had a few games of volleyball and swung in the hammocks. We met some great people who we spent most of the week with. The couple who were sharing our beachfront bure (they were in the other room) were from Northampton of all places!!! We both got taught how to play Poker by a couple - Leon and Louise - and we spent our evenings sitting by the bar and putting our lessons to practice! We also walked up the hill to the sunset hut a few times and saw some great sunsets.
One afternoon Jamie did an Introduction dive which he loved. He took his time deciding whether to do one or not. He finally went for it and loved it but it was then too late for him to fit in a course! Still, he had a few hours worth and enjoyed it and now
Coconuts!
The only danger on Nananu-I-Ra!!! knows what it's like! Its supposed to be one of the best places in the world for diving.
All in all, we had a fab time on the island and completely enjoyed doing nothing! The evenings were really good as everyone would socialise together (as there weren't many people there in total) therefore, we met some lovely people and enjoyed spending time with them all. We had fun in the evenings together. The island was beautiful and it was all perfect.
We headed back to Nadi on the Friday afternoon. We spent the Friday night in the same hotel as we had stayed at previously which was nice. We then left for the airport early Saturday afternoon.
On to the next destination - the Cook Islands - where hopefully we'll have some more great weather..................................
Advertisement
Tot: 0.111s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 16; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0788s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb