First Landing

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Geo: -17.61, 177.45

With the Melanesian Championships finished and Fletcher's course complete we had one day where we could just be tourists. Fletcher had made sure we could have a night to go to First Landing, a resort just north of Nadi on the road to Lautoka.. He had been there several times before and wanted to take me to dinner there. Last week we decided to stay there too so I went online and booked the last available roo, Tis happened to be a Villa which originally was priced at $236. Though that was more expensive than we would usually pay the description of the place told me there were two King sized beds, a living roo and kitchen. So I thought it was worth it. It turned out that the price quoted was in US dollars and with charges added it was just over $AU400. But it was worth every cent!!

We set out from Suva about 9-30am in our hired Hyundai the brakes of which scraped every time Fletcher put his foot on them. It was very pleasant driving along the coast renewing our acquaintance with the island. It being a Sunday morning we saw many villagers in their best clothes heading to church and we passed several full churches in the various villages we drove through. We stopped at the Novotel, which used to be the Trade Winds, for a short look. It had not changed much. We then drove on arriving at Naviti Beach Resort about 11. We thought we could have brunch there but when we went in, the restaurants were finished with breakfast and not yet ready for lunch. We had a walk around remembering staying there in the '80s.

Back on the road we went through Sigatoka and finally pulled in to the Fijian at Yanuca Island about 12-15. This is our favourite resort on the Coral Coast and we have stayed here a couple of times before. We parked in the guests car park but then were confused as it was on the other side from the Lobby. However, we were told by an employee that if we walked straight ahead we would find the beach and the restaurant. It was a long walk on a warm day and Fletcher found it a bit challenging. There is a lot of renovation going on but the lawns and the beach were much the same. We had lunch in the Lagoon restaurant, a pizza and some calamari which was bit chewy for our taste. We had seen some golf buggies ferrying people around and we asked if one could take us back to the car, but after waiting 20 minutes we walked!

Back on the road we headed for Nadi and then on towards Lautoka. We spotted the turn off for First Landing and drove along a winding road through a village and then we were there. This is supposedly where the first people to ,on Fiji are supposed to have made landfall. The resort is right on the sea and has a man-made island across a short bridge. The island is in the shape of a foot and is called Big Foot island. It was being decorated for a wedding that was to be held there that night. Form Reception it was a very short walk to our luxurious Villa Royal Room 101. A plaque next to the door informed us that the Prince of Wales had stayed here during his visit to Fiji in 2005. We were amazed to find we had, not only very generous accommodation , but our own private pool and BBQ area with our own front lawn.

We went over to the island and inspected the wedding set up and then went to the bar for a drink. We had a beer then bought a bottle of wine to take back to our room. We then had to have a swim in the pool. It was cold but really great. When we came inside for our pre dinner drink we found the Crows/Carlton game was on TV. We managed to see the last 10 minutes of the game so that was great.

We had booked for dinner at 7pm and we sat outside in the warm evening air being entertained by the lights and the sound of the wedding speeches. We ordered the seafood platter which was amazing. So much food but really delicious. We had a lovely meal with nice wine and excellent service. There were even some fireworks at the wedding!
This morning we had to wake up at 5-15 to head to the airport. We had been given a Continental breakfast package last night so we had coffee and toast with vegemite before we left. It was still dark at 6 when we made our way to the car. We were surprised that Reception was not open but they have the credit card details so we headed off.We returned the car to the airport and then checked in and went to the Fiji Airways lounge. Fletcher realised he had left his small carry on bag containing his phone at the Villa. I rang the resort to tell them Yvonne will be there tonight and tomorrow so we asked if they could give it to her to bring back.
The flight to Brisbane was 4 hours and I had a very large woman sitting next to me wedged in between me and the window. She had to get an extension for the seat belt and though she tried to get them to move her, the plane was full. She looked very uncomfortable and I was on a lean towards Fletcher. In Brisbane we changed terminals and had about an hour in the Qantas Club before boarding the plane for Adelaide. We had had a nice break from the cold and had enjoyed meeting up with everyone once more.

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