Advertisement
Published: April 13th 2007
Edit Blog Post
CK: Arriving in Fiji was a bit of an indian experience. (Not only due to many of the taxidrivers being indo-fifjian.) We were not quite ready for Fiji, missing being in New Zealnd already. But things worked out fine. We stayed one night in Nadi (for people who are looking for traveldetails, there will be a paragraph at the bottom) and then took a cab to the Yasawa Flyer from Denarau (as the bus left from the side of the road, not from the hotel drive where we waited, oh well).
Tickets were easily booked at the marina and off we were to the Yasawa islands. first stop was Waya. We thought we had booked there for 4 nights. As it turned out the telephone number in our guide book belonged to a hotel on the mainland but they were good enough to accept the cancellation of the booking and the place on waya had space for us. The "resort" had 5 bure and a dormitory. So it was never really crowded and we found it a great first spot to be in Fiji. We went snorkeling most days and otherwise sat in the shade under palm trees reading and
chatting with other travellers.
We had never snorkelled before and it was absolutely amazing. I felt like somebody had thrown me into a tropical fishtank. Beautiful coral, warm water and lots of colourful fish. My favourite being the Moorish Idol and the Ananome Fish. We saw most of the cast for "finding Nemo"! Another amazing find in the Yasawa water were the blue starfish, they looked almost unreal at the bottom of the sea.
TK: The weather in Fiji was Hot and Humid as we stepped off of the plane; ideal weather conditions for my New Zealand Sandflybites to scream out asking me to scratch them one more time again and again. Once through immigration and customs a cool light shower began. It was perfect. The sun continued to shine and little rainbows were everywhere. From then on my anger, and irritation (if not my itches; Fiji, and indeed the whole of the Pacific (so I have heard) is smothered in mosquitoes) was dampened and I began to ease into relaxation. The next day we took the Yasawa Flyer boat and watched the islands pass-by. 2 hours later and we had arrived at our first island resort:
Sunset is
wrongly named; but you do see a good sunrise if you are up early enough. The resort had a great beach; Waya is seperated from it's neighbour Wayalailai (little Waya) by a narrow sandspit. In low tide you can walk from one island to the other, while in high tide you can still just about ford the sea if you are careful. The accomodation - bure (thatched small rooms) was basic and the food was really basic. (It was amazing that in a country with fruit growing everywhere and surrounded by ocean that we rarely had either fruit or fish.) But the location and sea was enough of a distraction for the first 3 days.
I felt really mean one day after we had gone snorkelling with our guide Dix who speared a Rainbow and Parrot fish. That lunchtime he served us up the 2 grilled fish while the rest of the guests at the resort looked on enviously as they ate their plain rice and spam sandwich. From there we moved on to Oarsmans Bay resort on Nacula Island. We had heard good recommendations of this location and so turned up without booking or confirming. Unfortunately
the resort had no private bures left and so we were left to spend our only night in a dorm together. The matronly boss didn't like the idea that we turned up unannounced; she also didn't like it when I asked for a discount (seeing as I hadn't booked through a travel agent who would have taken his cut through commission fees.) She did agree to ask the management about whether we could have a discount. When I chased her up several hours later she said that she was the management and made it clear that no discount would be available. To make matters worse she tried to charge us an extra F$10 each, and then make us pay twice for a water taxi. Regardless of the level of hospitality, the food was better than on Waya and although the beach wasn't quite up to Sunset's location it wasn't far behind. Snorkelling wasn't quite as good though as the coral was too dense in the low tide. (Beware of getting caught in coral at low tide, it is very painful and when you destroy the coral you realise that as a traveller it is not just the exhaust fumes from
all of the plane flights that turn you into an eco-terroist (I know it doesn't right the wrong, but I promise I plant several trees upon on our return to the UK.)
After just the one night at Oarsman's we moved on to Davids place at Tavewa island. This was the most bizarre of the resorts during our stay in Fiji. It had been recommended by our friends Kristy and Jeff who we would later see in California, but the guide book referred to "mixed reports." Certainly the travel agent at the airport was so pushy he nearly turned us off - it just made us certain not to book through him; and we were able to negotiate a discount direct ourselves. When we arrived at the resort we were met by a charming motherly figure who wouldn't stop kissing us. She was assisted by 3 other men. We were the only other people at the resort. For the first night the 6 of us sat in a large dining area while the 4 fijian staff looked on at the 2 of us as we ate. The food was generally plentiful but of mixed quality, sometimes it was great,
sometimes it wasn't. The next night we were joined by another couple, but they left after only one night so again we had the place to ourself! We ended up staying a total of 7 nights; the staff were friendly (although the manager could be brusk; maybe its how they are trained in customer care!) I used the time to take a PADI course and learn to scuba dive, (Ideal conditions to learn in; warm water, great visibility, fine coral and plenty of fish,) using Westside Divers on the neighbouring island of Nanuya. As the week wore on several other couples stayed and it felt as though we were no longer entertainment for the staff! By the end of the week we were treated to a "lovo" meal. Lovo (like a Hangi in NZ) is cooked over hot stones in the ground and covered in earth. It tasted great but was slightly dry, an amazing experience which I would reccommend to anyone. Claudia is probably not going to agree to me digging up our own garden lawn, but if anyone wants to try it back home in England I can give some good hints. By the end of the week
it felt like we had connected with and understood the Fiji/island way of life; it was like we were leaving a homestay rather than leaving a resort. (As we stayed over Easter we were taken on a night boat crossing to an Easter church ceremony on a distant islandis where it seemed like half of Fiji was crammed into a small church: the donation offerings were also interesting; not only was there the usual cash offering, but there was also a large bunch of green bananas a very expensive looking bottle of single malt whisky) Looking back, Fiji island life is expensive - and the guide book was probably correct when it described David's place as having "mixed reports" but i wouldn't let that deter any fellow travellers. If you want paradise, then look for your personal eden elsewhere, but the experience was definetly memorable, and surely that is what you travel and go on holiday for; to make memories.
some travelling details for the Interrested:
Ysawa flyer run by awesome adventures, who happily book your resorts for you but they will take approx. 20% commission, so book yourslef and ask for a
discount!
in Nadi: West's Motor Inn, they pick up from the airport, 60F$ for a double room, old fashioned but very clean and professional, incl. pool, Telefon: 6720044
on Waya: Sunset resort, 120 F$ (if not booked through travelagent but direct), basic bure including toilet and private cold shofwer, Tel: 6516773
on Tavewa: David's place, 190F$ for provate bure, incl. bathroom, Tel: 6652820
Otto and Fanny's on Tavewa has the same prices as David's but great food and its closer to the snorkeling spot (our recommendation for next time), Tel: 6652820
Advertisement
Tot: 0.216s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1361s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb