Bula Bula!

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Think this has to be the friendliest place in the world! The people here are lovely and have genuine smiles and welcomes for the masses of tourists who pour into their laidback way of life. We stopped here for 5 days as we had to change planes here anyway en route to LA and as it only cost a few bucks more to stay we thought it'd be rude not to! We also thought that after 3 weeks in a campervan in NZ we would probably want a few days just chilling in the sunshine, and would you believe, we were right! Just what the doctor ordered. We also needed to get a bit of a tan before going home showing the effects of a down-under winter (not quite as blue as a Scottish winter would leave us but not far away!)

Anyway, the island we wanted to go to was fully booked by the time we got round to booking but luckily good old last minute deals at expedia came to the rescue (again) and we got to stay at the brand new Radisson on Denarau Island for less than our preferred budget option! It was an OK hotel, bit like a souless 5* hotel anywhere in the world where they charge more for 1 drink than they pay in a week to the person who served you. However, we had a pool, a beach, our own vodka (pear Absolut - highly recommended!) and there were plenty of places to eat nearby that we didn't have to remortgage to eat in.

It was lovely. We just chilled out (with the occasional panic that it was nearly time to go home) and stored up some Vitamin D.

We tore ourselves away for a day trip on a tall ship to a nearby Fijian Island where we went snorkelling and did some more lazing. Hate to sound spoiled but while the snorkelling was OK (it was great to be back in the water again), it wasn't a patch on what we had seen in Malaysia and the Philippines. We saw lots of fish and coral but as this company, and probably many others, took people there on a daily basis the coral was looking a bit shaby and we saw lots of people stand on it. There were also lots of loud spoiled kids on the trip but we resisted the urge (along with some others) not to throw them overboard.

We spent part of another day in the local town of Nadi having a bit of a wander. Went to the fruit and veg market to stock up on a wild array of colourful exotic delights and got ripped off in the local tourist trap. We took part in a kava ceremony which is a traditional welcoming (or any other excuse for a drink that Fijians come up with-sweet!) ceremony where you drink the local home brew made from ground up kava root mixed with water. There was lots of clapping, bula-ing and drinking what looked like mucky water and then we had 'officially landed' in Fiji. It tasted a bit like mucky water and it made our tongues go numb, but when in Fiji...

We had such a limited visit to Fiji and saw very little so we'll need to add it to the list of places to go back to. There seems to be loads to see, the people are fantastic and despite the volatile political situation (there was another coup just before we arrived but we saw no sign of any disturbance to daily life) it's feels like a very safe place to be.

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