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Beachside Resort Gardens
View from our Bure in the first resort we stayed in, on the coast near Nadi Airport.Bula!
We've been in Fiji since last Tuesday now and are suitably sunburnt.
The first few days we stayed at a resort on the coast near the airport, getting used to the high humidity. The resort had a pool and great food so we lived it up for a while.
We then went out on the Thursday to Nananu-i-ra, an island off the North coast. The island was beautiful, with long white sandy beaches and hammocks underneath swaying palms. We stayed in a treehouse and lived on food we brought from the mainland.
We did our first scuba dive there and will probably get our PADI certification in Australia. We've also bought some snorkelling gear, and the reefs you could swim to from the beach were incredible, some of the best snorkelling in Fiji.
Had our first taste of Kava out there, a powdered root that is sieved in a cloth through water. Everyone sits round a Kava bowl and take it in turns to drink from a cocunut shell. It's a mild narcotic, but unless you drink a lot you don't feel much more than a furry tongue and a little
Beach at Nananu-i-ra
The beach at the front of our resort in Nananu-i-ra. relaxed.
Kayaked round the island and trekked to a deserted beach. Watched the sunset from the ridge at the top of the island and generally relaxed.
Then we went to Lautoka, the 3rd biggest city in Fiji, on the Sunday. It's a big indo-fijian place, the indo-fijian population was established when the sugar cane plantations were created here. So we ate fantastic curries and stayed at a cheap hotel for one night.
On Monday we headed off to the highlands in Koroyanitu national park in a 4x4 to stay at Nasi lodge next to a traditional tribal vilage called Abaca (prounced "ambartha"). We were welcomed by Kalissa, a member of the village, and were sat drinking tea (some kind of tea) and playing cards for a while before we found out that she was the grandaughter of the president of Fiji, who also happens to be a King.
Went hiking through the rain forest to a waterfall one day, and to the top of the mountain the next day. We were able to pick fruit from the trees as we walked, I enjoyed the manderines most.
The lodge was quite basic, we didn't have any
Other Beach at Nananu-i-ra
This is the beach that we kayaked and hiked to. Had the whole beach to ourselves. water for a few days so began to smell quite badly. The rats on the roof were also a bit of a pest, but the barking pigeons in the forest were hilarious, they sound just like a small dog when they squawk.
Wednesday night we went down to the village and sat in one of the houses, drinking Kava and chatting to a few of the villagers. The village is really close knit, everyone trusts each other and all the nearby villages are interdependent. They live in harmony with the land, in a very ecologically-friendly way. When it doesn't rain for a long time, Kalissa told us that someone is sent to the top of the mountain to light a fire to create rain. "What can you do in the city if it doesn't rain?" The kids in the village are split between wanting to stay in their homelands and the lure of the cities.
Today we came back to Nadi and had a huge pizza for lunch. Tomorrow we're heading out to the Yasawas islands.
The Fijians are unbelievably friendly, they just approach you in the street and introduce themselves before asking you all about your
life etc. It's so safe here compared to the UK, we're definitely coming back!
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Love the blog...missing u loads already! xxx - Natalie