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Now before you start, I know what you're all thinking. "Lucky things being all the way in sunny Fiji having a ball!" Well, have I got a story for you!
We landed last Friday afternoon in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) in the afternoon and as soon as walked off the plane we were met with a wave of humid, hot and sticky air. We'd read the day before that there would be showers everyday and little sun so we were pleasantly surprised. We were picked up by the shuttle bus owned by the backpacker place we had booked into and were in our room half an hour later. On the bus also was a 19 year old girl who had been travelling on her own through Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand! Honestly, I couldn't have done the last 3 months on my own and I'm nearly 30!!
This backpacker place was recommended in our Lonely Planet travelguide so we knew it would be ok, but we were very pleasantly surprised that it was even nicer than we had read. As soon as we had dumped our stuff in our en suite room (that's not a regular thing believe me!) we headed downstairs to the little bar, grabbed a couple of beers and headed outside and saw that we were literally on the beach! In between the beach and the 'hotel' was a lovely little pool, lots of nice tables and chairs and 4 hammocks gently swinging in the breeze! It was stunning and looking out to sea was just a blanket of lilac. We couldn't believe our luck and felt glad that we had chosen to come to Fiji! We then had a lovely dinner with this girl we'd met, a nice chat about all out travels and headed to bed.
The next day we hung around the pool area, even though the sun didn't quite manage to come out, read our books, lazed in the hammocks and had a few more Fiji Gold beers (really yum beers!). That evening the heavens opened and there was a tropical storm outside, quite romantic really, but it didn't look promising for the rest of the week!
Before we arrived in Fiji I had booked up into the Ratu Kini backpacker hostel on Mana Island for 5 nights. Although you can barely see Fiji on a world map it is actually bigger than you would think and had 100's of islands off the mainland. We didn't really have enough time (or money) to go island hopping and see lots of them so we decided to stay on just one, Mana Island. It's the biggest island in the Mamanucas island group to the left of the mainland and the hostel again was recommended in Lonely Planet.
We took the South Sea Cruises catamaran out to the island and on the way stopped at various other tiny islands to drop people off and wow what a trip that was. It slightly reminded us of the Great Barrier Reef as there are lots of coral reefs around the islands and the water is the clearest blue you've ever seen. When you're on the boat, in the distance you can see brownish lumps way ahead dotted around the water until you get closer to each individual island and then it's like God is shining a bright light down on them. It's hard to describe but it's breathtaking. All you can see if bright blue water ringed around a tiny island with gorgeous yellow sand and lush green trees and few bures (huts) on the beach.
After an hour or se we glided up to Mana Island pier and were met by singing Fiji folk welcoming us to the island. Well, that's what we thought but no, they were welcoming the Mana Island Resort and Spa guests, not us pheasants who stay at the backpackers resort! A lovely Fijian girl came up to us with a big beaming smile and asked if we were staying at the Resort and Spa. We smiled back and said "No, Ratu Kini". You should have seen the speed that the smile left her face in!! She's frowned, pointed to our bags on the pier and told us to pick them up and move down the pier!! Honestly, I'm not making this up!
So, we walked down to the end of the pier and again was met by a friendly smiling lady who asked if we were staying at the Resort and Spa (to which the entrance sits at the end of the pier on the beach) and again we replied "No, Ratu Kini". Almost knowing the reaction we were going to get we didn't smile back! She told us it was down the beach and we weren't allowed to walk on the path in the Resort and Spa, no that would be too easy and nice, we had to walk down the beach carrying 2 huge backpacks and 3 smaller bags, all by ourselves. Walking on sand isn't easy by itself, but with all that, my god, I was really to swing was anyone connected to the bloody Resort and Spa!!
We finally arrived, sweating and swearing, at Ratu Kini and was not too pleased to say the least! I can't describe it but it just didn't have the vibe we were going to like, plus this was the start of a series of unfortunate events!
Firstly, they didn't have our booking, but luckily they had a double room available for us to stay in for 5 nights. We paid up front, had some questions answered and were then told that if we wanted to leave early we could but we would need to pay 1 night's forfeit - a bit strange we thought. We were shown to our room, sorry I mean dive, and found that there was no air conditioning ('fine' we thought seeing as it was an island) but there was a fan! Yey! But no, we couldn't use the fan to cool our sweating bodies down because the electricity was turned off between 10am and 5pm! That means, no lights, no fan, no charging of ipods, nothing. Now I know this is an island and we're backpacking but this is the year 2009, we need electricity for goodness sake! We also had no toilet roll, no towels (because they werent' dry yet we were told) and no hot water! Things weren't going well and we'd only been there 5 minutes! We told ourselves it would be fine, let's sit on the beach for an hour or so and catch some rays - apparently the islands get more sun than the mainland so that made us slightly happier!
After 10 minutes we decided we were bored so we went for a walk down the end of the beach and back. Going back to when we were checking in, we were told that the Mana Island Resort and Spa is owned by Japanese and they are fiercely strict about outsiders going anywhere near their property so we were only allowed on the beaches, no where else on the island! Nice hey?! After our 15 minute walk (the island isn't that big remember!) we had a beer and went back to our room for a cold shower and then headed back to the bar to get some dinner. I ordered a stir fry and Kav ordered a chicken curry. Mine wasn't too bad although it was cold, but Kav's chicken curry was made not of chicken but of bone! I swapped with him because Kav without food is like a child with no sleep - it's not pretty! Kav loves food, more than life itself and he can cope with cold water, no electricity, no loo roll and an island that only had enough room for a 15 minute walk but this was the last straw. He was out of his seat quicker than a bullet leaves a gun to go and check us out the next day and book us back into our first hotel for the remainder of the week! The next morning we were so excited to be leaving the hell hole, but of course something else had to go wrong first! Their water pump had broken and there was no water coming from any taps!! We left half an hour later on the boat back to civilisation and had never felt happier!!
The moment we stepped back into Aquarius (our first hotel) we were so happy! It really is a lovely place and the staff here are so friendly. We know them and they know us by our first names, the food is wonderful, the view is stunning, there is quick internet, Nadi town is a fun trip for shopping and we've lazed about reading books, watching movies and chatting to loads of other backpackers - something we haven't been able to do much of in the past because we've been staying motels as they've been cheaper than staying in double rooms in hostels!
On Thursday night we did a night excursion to Robinson Crusoe Island where we took a boat to the island, took part in a traditional Kava ceremony (Kava is their national drink made of a narcotic plant stalk and tastes like cold gritty dishwater!) and watched fire and traditional Fijian dancing. We also had dinner that had been cooked in a traditional lovo which is an underground oven. They use very hot rocks and bury these with the food underground but it tastes wonderful!
So all in all, apart from the mishap in the middle, we've had a great time in Fiji. The weather hasn't been perfect but Fiji is an amazing place. It's beautiful, the people are so warm and friendly and the history is fascinating too. I'd love to come back and do more of the islands and I'd really recommend you come visit! Ask for Fanzana at the Aquarius and she'll take care of you!
Tonight we're flying to Honolulu for a week in Hawaii! We're staying in Honolulu tomorrow night and visiting Pearl Harbor before flying to Maui for the rest of the week.
Don't forget to send me all your news!
Love to all,
Sally xxx
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