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Published: October 27th 2006
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Coral Coast
The Coral Coast runs on the south east coast of Viti Levu, as you can see its quite nice. Fiji is much larger than all the other south pacific nations, it comprises over 300 islands and with only about 120 of these inhabited Fiji is a place where you can spend alot of time. We had nearly two weeks in Fiji to kill so we did a fair bit of moving around. We spent most of our time on the main island, Viti Levu.
We kicked off in Nadi (say Nan-di) where the airport is, this was only as our flight arrived at a stupid time and we needed somewhere to stay. Nadi itself ain't great and the beaches near our accomadation were totally minging, reminded us of back home. At least there was a pool, this did not get much use as it chucked it down the whole of the first day, and from talking to people at our hostel Fiji is experiencing some very poor weather. Not the best start to our Fiji tour.
Things improved drastically as we left Nadi and hit the Coral Coast, in the South West of Viti Levu. We stayed in a budget resort right on the beach called Tubakula Beach Bungalows and we got two days of sunshine and one
Sigatoga River
The Sigatoga River on the South of Vitu Levi. of rain. During this stay we got into "fiji time". Fiji time is something that all the locals will tell you about, and it consists of spending all your time doing as little as possible as slowly as possible. We like Fiji time, I think we can all lean alot from it. Met a couple from Northhampton who were very nice and we tried some of the local beers with them for the three nights we were on the coral coast. We also tested the traditional drink of Fiji, Kava. Kava is the crushed roots of the Yaqua plant mixed with water, it tastes like earthy water / a muddy puddle and as you can gather from this description is not very nice. It is supposed to send you numb but besides a slightly tingly tongue it didn't seem to have any effect. However, they love this stuf in Fiji and everywhere you go the locals drink it, somethimes for hours at a time. There is meant to be a Kava drinking ceremony that goes with its consumption involving hand clapping and lots of "Bula's".
We had a quiet few days on the coral coast, we visited the local
Sun Thingy
There was a big rainbow thingy round the sun when we were in Nadi. Never seen one before. Good Innit? town, Sigatoka, which was quite busy with a good market for fresh fruit and veg etc. We met and spoke to a few locals, who are keen to sell you stuff but not too pushy.
We moved further down the coral coast and had one night in an area called Pacific Harbour. To be frank, there wasn't much there so we were glad we only had one night, although the hostel was really nice (pacific safari club) with a pool and a big lawn sat right on the canal. The manager was a also an entertaining character. We hit the local "arts centre" (tourist trap), and even got a full English Breakfast, as most people there were from East London.
Next we hit Suva, this is the capital of Fiji and the biggest city in the whole of the South Pacific somewhere we had been looking forward to visiting. Its the exact opposite of the budget resorts and tourist traps of Nadi and the Coral Coast as most of the people here are actually from Suva and it doesn't seem to get many tourists. We were actually a little disapointed in the place it was not very friendly
Pacific Safari Club
Nice hostel we stayed at in pacific harbour. and a little rough, and its famouse for its bad weather.
We stayed in a dorm that was really scruffy and inhabited by strange people, two middle aged guys seemed to live in the dorm and never left. One chap had a habbit of talking to himself all day and the other never uttered one single word. So it was a bit of an odd atmosphere to say the least, what can you say, it was less than 5 quid a night each. I suppose you get what you pay for.
We were also both ill in Suva which may also be why we didn't rate the place too highly. It was actually a very busy place with loads of markets and people everywhere. We went to the Fiji museum which was quite good, it went into detail about the early culture when Cannibalism was still practiced on the islands, it was only stopped in the 1800's. Wouldn't have fancied visiting then.
After Suva we returned to Nadi to catch the bus for our three night visit to Robinson Crusoe Island. This is a small island off the west coast of Viti Levu. Although it is simply
Pacific Harbour Beach
The beach here is full of volcanic rock that sits on the water almost like quicksand. a tourist hotspot it was a relly good few days as once on the island all activities and food are free. We went snorkelling on the reef, hand line fishing (we both caught one), Kayaking and raced hermit crabs. They also have a huge entertainment program so we watched traditional fiji dancing (a bit like the Haka), fire walking, knife dancing and fire dancing. Of course we also drank lots of Kava as you can't avoid the stuff. The staff were really friendly and the happiest people you could ever meet, even though they have to work really long hours. Maybe we might come back and ask for a job.
As we write this we are back in Nadi waiting for our flight to Auckland which leaves this afternoon. e have seven weeks in New Zealand, a place where most people rate as being the best backpacker destination in the world. Its a hard life...... . . . . . . . . . . .
There are more Fiji photos to come but the connection in the South Pacific is too slow, so we aint got time at the moment.
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Dad
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Fiji
What's that fire walker got on under his blue leggings? hope you bring back some of that Kava - sounds interesting! Looking forward to seeing you in Vietnam, have a great time in NZ. Lots of love to you both. Mum and Dad