1st stop: Nadi, Fiji

Amazing Fiji landscape

Being that this little stop was an unexpected addition from a flight change the airline made, I was grateful for any amount of time I had here.

Not knowing much about Fiji and not having enough time to research, I had booked the hotel, Aquarius on the Beach, strictly based on price & location. I did not want to waste time traveling as we only had 24 hrs and most certainly wanted a place on the beach. Luckily the beach is only a 10 minute drive from the airport. We got a private dorm room for $40 CAD which included breakfast. Basic room but the hotel came well equipped with a beautiful open lounge area, rustic hammocks large enough for 2, a nice pool and of course, steps away from the sandy beach.

Tri-pod

 

We arrived in the pouring rain and our taxi driver said this had been the norm for the past 5 days and according to the forecast, had no intention of stopping any time soon. Our 1 day in picturesque Fiji and it was pouring – great! However, given the circumstance of our opportunity to even be in these fairy tale islands, or traveling all together, I made sure to love every moment of it, rain or shine.

Local fisherman

To my surprise, it didn’t take me long to adjust to ‘island time’. I have a disorder called ‘unable to keep still for even a minute’, however this magical island seemed to cure me instantly. We spent the morning strolling the beach in our rain coats, accompanied by our new friend, Tri-pod. Tri-pod, the name he inherited due to his 1 bum leg, was one of the many local stray beach dogs. After the most blissful nap to cure my jetlag, I feasted the yummiest roti I have ever tasted (a very large Indian population here) followed by some Fiji Gold, the local (& very tasty) beer. The afternoon was spent strolling through the village. As it happened to be Fiji day here, the locals were out celebrating. We caught a pick up rugby game (the national sport), some beach volleyball and a game of what seemed similar to tag. All along the way we were greeted by smiling faces yelling ‘Bula’ everywhere we went. The friendliness of the people was impossible to ignore and the smiles were contagious.

Almost knowing as if it was our last chance, the sun unveiled itself and entertained us with a gorgeous sunset. After taking it in, we wandered over to another hostel/resort, attracted by their $1.50 beers. Some Kiwi divers were deep into their Fiji day celebrations and invited us to join them. Shortly after, some locals who obviously had been celebrating their national day, joined us and like so many random nights when traveling, this evening turned into quite the fantastic night. We were entertained by the national anthems sung by each of the representatives, including ourselves. Not one of my proudest moments as I struggled to remember the words!! There was then a ‘Hakka’ stand off between the Kiwi’s and the Fijians. Hakka is the dance used prior to a rugby match meant to ‘pump up’ the players. You could just imagine how entertaining this was! As hard as it was, we said our goodbye’s and we’re greeted off by a touching farewell song from the locals. It got me teary eyed! So high on the night, we ended it off with a beach hammock cuddle under the stars (and large bats!) with yet another Fiji Gold in hand.

By chance, we logged online before climbing into our bunk beds only to find yet another change in our itinerary. We were now schedule to leave at 12:15 i/o 8:15. So as were woken by the bright, hot sun, we took advantage of our few gained hours with a morning swim and beach run.

Ahhh, Fiji – how you managed to tangle me in your blissful web of beauty in just under 26 hrs, I’ll never know. But I have a feeling you’ll be seeing me again.

For now though, it’s off to Brisbane, Australia!