Blogs from Fiji, Oceania - page 19

Arriving in Fiji was everything you'd expect and more from a pacific island getaway; the blast of tropical humidity that hit us in the face as soon as the cabin doors of the Boeing 737 swung open, the welcoming upbeat tunes of the band in the terminal who were sporting the traditional shirts with colourful wreath garments and the lovely smiling customs lady who sympathised with our unfortunate New Zealand robbery and then blessed us both to have a great stay in Fiji. Now that’s what I call a welcome! After picking up our bags and surf board we were met in the arrivals area by Harry our eccentric taxi driver who would take us on the two hour journey down the coast from the main town of Nadi to ‘The Beach House’ resort in the ... read more

The place is very relaxing and laid back. The locals call it "Fiji time" so no one rushes. We understand why because it is hot and humid. It rains most afternoons/evenings but we are in winter time even if it is 32C most days. Not much to report as we are just sitting by the beach and have refused all tours. After NZ we are all toured out. Met a wonderful couple from Bedford, Sue & Tom ad we have enjoyed a few meals and wines in their company including the Tepanyaki meal featured in the photos. The blog will resume in Honolulu.... read more

By the 5th day in Fiji, Melissa and I were getting a little restless at the same hostel and wanted to try somewhere else. Bamboo conveniently doubles as a travel agency because neighboring islands pay them to promote day or overnight trips off of the mainland. Our budget and time was limited but we were open to spending a couple nights at a hostel on one of the islands. We heard good reviews about Mana Lagoon Backpackers on Mana Island and decided to give it a shot for the next couple nights. Mana was about an hour away by ferry and we couldn’t even see the mainland in the distance anymore. We were excited about that because it meant the water would be much more clear than it was on the volcanic mainland. When we reached ... read more

The road with our hostel has a few other hostels on it but there isn’t too much else going on. Melissa, Jessie, Nate, Kyle and I decided to check out the city of Nadi to see a bit more of Fiji. We took the local bus that stops right outside of our hostel. It conveniently runs every couple hours but the schedule doesn’t mean much because it runs on “Fiji time”. This saying that they always use basically means that any scheduled time really means anywhere from 5 mins to an hour after that. Fiji time can be a real pain in the ass when I’m trying to get something done or I’m starving before dinner. Like expected, the bus came a good half hour late. This local bus was no Translink to say the least. ... read more

Fiji is sooooo great!!!! We stepped off of the plane and immediately felt the heat outside. The airport is really tropical and there were 3 guys playing Fijian songs while everyone waited in line at customs. Everyone says "Bula!" when they see you (aka hello) and it's considered rude in their culture when you don't say it back. Workers from my hostel, Bamboo, picked us up at the airport. On the drive to Bamboo I was completely taken off guard by the views out the window. I knew Fiji wasn’t the most developed country but it’s way more Third World than I was expecting. Bamboo is a bit beat up too but now I’ve realized that it’s actually pretty nice considering the standards of living in Fiji. On our first night (11/24/12) we stayed at the ... read more