http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Fiji , Nadi en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:43:54 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:43:54 UTC Bula from FijiWe had arranged a hotel Sandalwood Lodge in Nadi for the first 3 nights and it was fine.The people here are unbelievably friendly. Road workmen shout Bula to us from the other side of the road and are even more friendly when they find out we are from The Mother Country. By the time we had been here 24 hours we had been invited to 2 homes for Christmas.However our destinati http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-349211.html We arrived on Fiji and took the advice of various people not to waste too much of our time on the main land and intead head straight out to the islands. After just one night on the main land we caught the 'Awesome Adventures' boat to Manta Ray island. This idyllic island resort was occupied by just 50 guests and had a sunrise beach and a sunset beach within just a 2 minute walk of each other. We w http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-348627.html Chief John Sunday 16th November 2008We left Lautoka on Wednesday and came back to the Travellers Rest on Nadi Bay where we stayed for our first two Fijian nights over a month ago. We were well remembered and that night the staff had a little Kava ceremony and proclaimed John as Chief for the occasion. There were eight of us John and myself five Fijians and one Maori visitor. We put away fo http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-345724.html Hello EveryoneWe're sorry we've taken so long to update our blog for the first time We're currently in New Zealand but we'll back track for now and talk about what we've done so far. The first stop was Fiji we landed into Nadi on the more southern mainland. We spent one night at a hostel named Smugglers Cove. It was beautiful but not quite the Fiji beaches we were soon to learn existed The nex http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-339565.html In the morning we had a fruitless shopping trip in Nadi Fiji's second city.Though we brought very little it was definitely an eye opener we're having quite a few of theseWe braved the local transportation which entailed a 80c bus trip. This was a laugh as we had no idea where we were supposed to get off. The bus was really rickety with no windows plastic poppered sheets for rainy season http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-339544.html Back on the main island for 3 days. Staying at Smugglers Inn Hostel on the beach our first real hostel But its clean the room is nice the restaurant overlooks the beach and the people are friendlyStayed round the hostel for two days and went on a trip to Mala Mala island one day. The island is about 45 mins by boat from the local marina. There were about 20 people on the boat and we were t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-334478.html We were all up relatively early and packed as well as we could without a scale. After a taxi ride to the airport we weighed our stuff and began the task of rearranging the heavy school books to bring each bag under 20kg. We checked our bags and had breakfast. After lingering around to look at the shops we went to security only to find that the carryon baggage had a 5 kg restriction. All our http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-333855.html We chose to move to another room the deluxe room which was better but only marginally. For breakfast we walked to the north end of town and had coffee and wraps which cost more than our room. We spent the next part of the day souvenir hunting. A cannibal fork or so later we headed back to the hotel to prepare post cards and packages to mail. Fiji seems about 30 years behind with most things http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-333853.html After leaving the plane we went the opposite direction to all of the other passengers and headed towards the connections signs. It wasnrsquot long before we were in the departure area with five hours to kill.Irsquom amazed at how wide awake we were given that we travelled through most of the night. I also couldnrsquot believe how quickly time passed between our flights. We used the time t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-330956.html Today is my second day in Fiji and I am already a nice color of pink. I guess I sort of forgot how strong the sun is here. I did put sun screen on but I guess I managed to forget some spots. My right shoulder and left foot are rather sore but its ok I will live.The trip over here was not as bad as I expected. The trip over to LA felt longer but I managed with my ipod. Going from LA to Fiji to http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-330245.html Nadi was literally one long road and after our complimentary breakfast we headed out for a walk. We headed towards the beach and after a few too many kilometres in the heat we arrived at McDondalds and since it was before 10.30am we enjoyed a second breakfast From there we continued on in the heat with the constant Bula being shouted at us This is the Fijian word for hello and people were even http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-328293.html Not a standard entry but...Things I missreal hot sauce not sweet chili sauce ketchup proper pizza crust seasonings bathtubs dressers speaking pedestrian crossing signs Walk sign is on across University... free internet IPA gay people recliners my cell phone seriously Bloody Marys my car fantasyscifi books 2ply quilted toilet paper thick pillows card games intellec http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-316352.html FijiOkay so its time to talk about Fiji. As usual I'm a good few weeks behind infact I left Fiji nearly 6 weeks ago and after all I've been doing in New Zealand it seems like a lot more longer than that even. Anyway here we go...So after over 5 months in Asia finishing with a hectic few days in Hong Kong and Macau it was finally tiem to say goodbye to the first stop of my journey and hea http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-312660.html This will be my last blog as were flying back home tonight boo hoo. the last couple of weeks in fiji have been a great laugh and nice and relaxing even though ive seen my bank balance slip into the red but its been worth it. spent the first week partying and beach bumming it on the islands. stayed on an island that was so small u could see through it to the beach on the other side. couple of wil http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-308026.html Hi again allI'm currently in Nadi waiting for my flight tonight. I take off at 2200 on the 27th and land at 1315 on the same day It's going to be a long day..Anyhow back to what I've been uptoWhilst on Waya Lai Lai I went on a hand fishing trip with some people I met I didn't catch anything but most the others did there were some really good size fish coming out tooBounty island is quit http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-304985.html spent the last two weeks on paradise island and cant say much about it except it was amazing and teh snorkling was amazing and the tan is back with a vengance.back two weeks wednesday which is a highly scary prospect but there are several things i am lookign forward toocheesewardrobedrawersnot having smelly dirty clothesnot washing my knickers in the showermums fish piemums cooking in generalwin http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-302604.html Hi allJust a quick note to let you know i'm in Fiji nowIn Taupo I couldn't get on the crossing but did a few good walks to see craters of the moon the volcanic activity center and climbed a mini mountain far too fast.I arrived in Nadi yesterday to a guy at the airport who's job seemed to be to greet anyone looking like a backpaker stick a shell necklace around thier neck and point them to http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-298183.html Bula Apologies for the late entry we've gotten lazy since we got to the US. Heres what happened in Fiiji..When we arrived we were more than happy to discover how hot it was after 2 weeks spent in wintery Australia. We were picked up by the nice hotel man and taken to Bluewater Lodge which was in Nadi pronounced Nandi which was really lovely and had a pool so we were quite happy there for the n http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-297255.html right we have been in fiji nearly a week and havnt actually been on a beach yet which is a little disappointing but have been staying with extended family which has been great fun and here sia small run down of a few things that have happened none too earthshatering but amusing to us all the samea i saw one of the worlds largest cockroaches on the pavement and decided to squash it with a rock http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-296338.html Bula Hallo aus Fiji besser bekannt unter dem Synonym 'Paradies' g Sind nach einem angenehmen Flug am Dienstag Nachmittag in Nadi Fiji gelandet. Was fuer eine Umstellung sag ich euch 10 Grad und Wind in Sydney ueber 30 Grad und nicht das geringste Lueftchen in Fiji Begruesst wurden wir mit einer Kette aus Muscheln und einem freundlichen 'Bula'. Wir waren bereits von Fiji positiv beeindruc http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-293021.html We're in Fiji Writing from an Internet cafe in Nadi. But more on that in a minute...Our trip officially commenced on Tuesday when we arrived in San Francisco. We jammed a week's worth of sightseeing into 35 hours visiting the DeYoung Museum having tacos in the Mission strolling the Castro browsing at the waterfront market checking out Lombard Street. We stayed with Jake's family Car http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-292578.html After 4 days of nothing but laying in the sun we got back on our boat....only this time is was raining out and we got soaked by the time we made it to the big boat.Then poor Jenn had to take Gravol due to how crazily the boat was swaying back and forth.We stayed at the Nadi Bay Hotel.We shared a room with 3 girls from England.The Hotel had the best fish I have ever eaten and cats roamed free which http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-291112.html HelloWe've not done any updates for a while Fiji didnt have the fastest internet connections and Bali was very laid back so we decided to leave it until now so this rather large entry is coming to you from our Hostel in Singapore.Fijiwe had a great time in Fiji and experienced different sides to the country. landing in Nadi airport we managed to blag some free transport to our hostel for the http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-283476.html Bulawe have been without the internet for over a week so sorry if this is rushedOn Monday night a Ngaio's it was Family Night which meant all of us going for a walk along the beach in the rain and getting completely soaked and sandy However it was a good chance to get to know them before we leave tomorrow Back at the house we ate an interesting dinner of croissants pasta and sausages whi http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-281311.html HiI have now arrived in Fiji after a more laid back last few days in New Zealand all be it with a lot of travelling involved.The night after Fly by Wire me Nicole Kathrin and team Sweeden named by bus driver Jono all hung out in team Sweedens room and just had a fun few hours.The next morning me and team Sweeden headed to Milford Sounds. It took about 5 hours to get there along some really imp http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-279803.html As we were arriving in Fiji late in the evening we had already planned to stay a couple of nights on the outskirts of Nadi town at a hostel called smugglers cove. They offered us a free pick up from the airport and having landed and got our bags we found the bus and waited for a few others to arrive. It was nice to sit in the warm evening in contrast to how cold NZ had been The trip to our h http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-279476.html Greetings from Fiji. We arrived at 5am on May 8th having lost a day going over the international dateline to a beautiful sunrise and very warm humid air. It was a struggle to get our bags through customs and find someone who would take all of us and the luggage to our airport but Gregg was in charge and he found a van to transport us to Denarau. Our hotel room was not quite ready so we stor http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-279434.html Sorry for the delay in getting the blog going After many tearful goodbyes we finally made it to Dulles with our 550lbs of luggage. The flight to Fiji was not as bad as we had thought. We all slept a little somehow Graham managed to get 3 seats to himself Gregg got to play doctor to a sick passenger we had movies to watch and books to read. Gregg's doctoring skills gave us some clout with http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Nadi/blog-279422.html