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Published: February 19th 2005
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We actually arrived yesterday (Friday) but didn't want to add to the already huge post. This is where the diarised journals stop and the interesting only stuff appears, we'll keep it updated as much as we can and will include photo's as and when we can.
We arrived at Nadi (Nan-dee) International Airport around 1pm, it was a 3 hour flight from Auckland and we gained an hour too, we're now 12 hours ahead of GMT.
The heat instantly struck us, it had just stopped raining and the humidity was as hot as I've ever felt, it was only 25 degrees but felt about 35+. We've arrived in the hot and wet season, the other being warm and dry, it averages about 29 at this time of year with a humidity factor that is in to the high 30's, brutal.
Fiji was the least planned part of our trip, there were so many options, before we planned to visit here I would have guessed that Fiji was one island, it is in fact a group of over 300 islands although only 100 or so are populated. The population is made up of indigenous-Fijians and Indo-Fijians, it roughly tips
Our hut
on the Coral Coast about 53% to the later.
We had decided to stay on the main island of Viti Levu for our trip, it isn't as busy with tourists as the outer islands and is an awful lot cheaper, we settled on the Coral Coast, some 2 hours drive from Nadi and another 2 hours before the Capital city of Suva.
We had just missed a bus to the coast so we started haggling for a taxi. The driver offered us the trip for $100, I offered $50, he goes down to $85, I offer $50 he makes his last offer 'local price' of $65, I show him a $50 note saying that's all we've got and he grudingly accepts.
We're in his car now and I'm not convinced that he knows where we want to go so I read out the location from the hostels website. "That's 200KMs away" he says, "I can't take you there for $50!" Fiona makes for the door saying that's all we have so we'll need to wait on the bus, he pleads for another $10, we agree that we'll wait and and see how far is and if we agree it too far
Andrew running for the water
on our beach in the Coral Coast then we'll give him "an extra $10 for his coffee".
The road trip is uncomfortable and very hot, we pass a lot of villages with people living in corrugated iron 'houses'. We arrive just after 4pm and I worked out that it had cost the driver about $10 in petrol to get here, the 17 pounds that we've paid in a fare was real cheap so I gave him a $10 tip for loads of coffee, he was well chuffed.
Anyway our hostel, it's real nice, we have a hut in the gaden called a bure, there are 2 outside toilets and 3 showers that use rain water, very cold rain water, which isn't as bad as it sounds after a day in this heat.
There are no shops or that in walking distance so we're at the mercy of the kitchen/cafe/bar here, it's all good though, quite cheap for us but I think it's expensive for the locals, breakfast is about 1 pound, lunch about 2.50 and dinner is 3 pound, the beer is about 1.50 and wine 2 notes a glass, there is a happy hour however from 6-7 when it's half price, very popular
Fiona at the beach
on the Coral Coast it is to.
The best part about this place is that he beach is 20 feet away from us, it's small but nice and as there's hardly anyone here it's ideal. There's a lovely breeze off the coast that cools you down and the sea must be about 15 degrees, at least.
This could in fact be Paradise, we'll keep you posted.
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