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Published: June 25th 2007
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Pool time!
The pool in the Skylodge in Nadi, where we were forced to stay. Hi y'all,
Greetings from NZ - been a bit slack with the blog as actually left Fiji 5 days ago but we are still been running on 'Fiji time' (if you ever go to Fiji, you'll know what this is!).
So, you know the saga of the lost bags - we arrived in Fiji from the USA at 5am, very tired, still a bit hungover from birthday celebrations and also having lost a day after crossing the international date line. After filling in various luggage forms for a man that didn't really seem to be fussed, we managed to hitch a ride with a 'Fiji experience' tour bus to our hotel. Unfortunately we couldn't check in until 1pm (we arrived at 8am) and all we wanted was a nice lie down! We couldn't even swim in the pool as Imogen was wearing jeans and Paul just had shorts and a t-shirt on.
Eventually we got into our room and had a shower (although putting stinky clothes back on wasn't the most pleasant experience) and resigned ourselves to the fact we were here until our bags arrived. To add to our woes, it was a bank holiday in Fiji
Bingeing Brits
before tequila... in honour of the Queens birthday (weird considering we don't get one in the UK) which meant all the shops were shut.
Luckily we discovered Fiji is the best place to be if you lose your bags, as all the staff were really friendly and made us feel very welcome - in fact, they actually upgraded us as they felt sorry when they heard about our plight.
The next day we headed into Nadi to purchase some emergency clothes and then it was off to the airport to check on our bags as we were orginally told they would arrive on the next US flight the following day. However, we were told that as a result of 'Fiji time' they may turn up in 'the next 3 days'.
There was no other option but to enjoy some forced relaxation around the pool. See the photos which show this was not a bad place to be! Unfortunately this was at the expense of the trip we had pre-planned around the Fijian Islands. However, we managed to have some fun times at Skylodge and quickly became on first-name terms with all the staff. Tues night's entertainment featured frog racing, which we watched
Bingeing Brits
...after tequila! with a Frenchman called Michael we got chatting to at the bar. He appreciated the joke when Paul asked him what number he was.
Weds night featured some traditional Fijian fire-dancing. Not that we particularly noticed as we'd met up with some fellow Brits (Cat, Ian, Howard and Pete) and set about the national sport of binge drinking.
It was a bit of a shock to find the phone ringing in our room at 07:00 the following morning. It was the airport - with our bags!! They were bringing them over to the hotel! We promptly fell asleep again in celebration, only to be woken by another call an hour later from reception. Can I come and pick them up in a bit? asked Paul. Ungrateful we know, but we were a tad hungover! Nevertheless we went to get the bags and hugged them for a while. What a massive relief!
Later that day, we booked a short trip to the islands for the next couple of nights to salvage what we could of our original trip. We chose Bounty Island, as it looked nice and was only 30mins boat ride from Denarau port. We later discovered that this is
Bounty Island
It REALLY looks like that! the island where 'Celebrity Love Island' was filmed.
See the photos to appreciate how amazing the island is. We walked round it in 20 mins. We also checked out the (now ruined) set from the TV show. It's covered in graffiti and the main living area seemed to be completely missing. All that's left is the 'love shack'. We later found out that the bar/pool area of the resort on the island is actually the main set from the show.
Non-motorised watersports were free, so we took advantage of the wonderfully warm water to go snorkelling over the coral to look at the fishies, kayak round the island and eat the interesting food - one night Paul almost ate some chicken neck! There was also turtle feeding - ever seen a man feeding 'Whiskers' to turtles or cleaning them with a toothbrush?!
We had a 'bure' (a beachfront hut) which opened straight out onto the white beach and the sea. It was paradise! We discovered that it's better to snorkel at high tide and Imogen discovered that crabs can bite your toes even through flippers!
Unfortunately it was all over too soon and we had to head back to
Arrival at Bounty
They really greet you with hula guitar music! Even at the airport! Nadi and the Skylodge for one last night. Our faithful bar-lady Tess (T for Trouble) came in on her night off to meet us for a few beers before we left (hello Tess!).
Next morning we had an early flight to Auckland.
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Matt W
non-member comment
Pale Legs
Nice to see you've deliverately not got your legs tanned! Wouldn't want to lose that 'Brit Abroad' look!