So after arriving to be greeted by the band of 3 jolly Fijians playing an absolute tune, we spent the night at Nomad's Skylodge in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) before catching a bus to Suva, the capital, the next day. Although we got to see a bit of the country flash by on the journey, it was spoiled by some heavy rainfall, understandable considering we knew we were arriving at the end of the cyclone/monsoon season, but we didn't know that rain was basically gonna be the story of our first 5 or 6 days in Fiji. We did manage to see some of Suva despite the weather, and its a pleasant town although you wouldn't have thought it was a nation's capital. Lots of people we met later on the trip said they didn't visit it cos of the coup and subsequent violence that they expected to follow. All we saw were a couple of checkpoints on the road which administered no checks. Scary. Turns out the best time to visit a country is after a military coup.
On the 17th we got a bus to the town of Nausori, which cost $1.35 (bout 45p), where we were gonna stay the night before heaidng to Leleuvia, an island we'd booked on, the next day. Sounded like a plan, though when we got to Nausori we saw no sign of any accomodation whatsoever.... it was a truly Fijian only place. Luckily we got off the bus and Ryan got approached by a random old guy who started the conversation by the most common of greetings, "You English?". When we answered yes he seemed pleased and started chatting some more. This is when our Thailand teachings kicked into gear, in other words the inability to trust a stranger who walks up and starts chatting because the chances are they wanna scam you or sell you something. But this is Fiji. The guy was a ledge. Jake ("That's what they called me") used to be a British paratrooper stationed in Aldershot and said the time in England was the best time of his life. He seemed suprised we were looking for somewhere to stay but thought he might know somewhere, leading us down towards the river where he asked another Fijian who pointed us in the right direction. We got to the 'Riverside Accommodation' where Jake said goodbye but said he'd try and stop by that night with some drinks, which we happily agreed to. Unfortunately a violent storm kicked up that night so he didn't which was a shame, but we're grateful to him. The accommodation we were in basically consisted of us being rented a house for the night! The place was quite cosy, though slightly more expensive than usual... somehow we allowed the woman to get away with charging us $40 each a night because we had a 'room each'. We did have a room each until a man-eating cockroach was discovered on the wall above Ryan's bed, prompting him to flee into Pete's room, returning only briefly to rescue Bobby Robson (his autobiography) from the clutches of the evil roach.
In the afternoon of the following day we got a cheap, cardboard-clad taxi to Waidalice Bridge, where we were picked up at 3pm by a boat taking us to Leleuvia. The weather was nice for the journey, so we enjoyed the ride down the river with thick jungle on either side, before emerging into the sea and arriving on the island. First impressions of the island were yes, it's nice, but the weather ain't. On one point when it was very overcast, pete and ryan took some kayaks out to sea for a while, only coming back when it looked like a storm was approaching from the mainland. It even rained slightly, but when we got back we were sunburnt! Quite badly n all. That's how strong the sun is in Fiji. So imagine how hot it was if we skip out a couple of depressing days to when the rain suddenly stops and the island is basking in glorious sunshine. Then it got seriously hot, and we were finally allowed to do what we came here for, lie on the beach, swim and generally relax. Plus when we fancied doing something there were kayaks and snorkels to take out for free, volleyball, beach rugby and trips to local villages or other islands. One trip we did took us to 'Honeymoon Island', which was a genuine desert island, although you wouldn't want your honeymoon there! It was just some sand in the middle of a perfectly clear, blue sea, with an additional couple of plants and birds.
Honeymoon Island
On evenings the locals always politely harangued us into joining them for their 'Kava parties'. When we asked what kava was we were told it's a local narcotic drink! It's made by taking the root from a kava plant, mashing it up and filtering it through a bag with some water into a kava bowl, which are seen everywhere in Fiji. The kava is then drunk from a coconut. We had some and at first weren't sure what to expect, although we suspected we might start hallucinating and be led back to our but by some strange dancing bunnies, or something along those lines, caused by what we thought was the Fijian version of magic mushrooms. To our relief, but also to our disappointment, the kava did absolutely nothing. It tasted like dirty plant water. The fijians on the other hand, seemed to be totally spaced out after an hour or so of drinking it and playing music. Strange, seems like its the opposite of alcohol, the more regularly you drink the faster an effect it has.
'The General' squeezing his root
After nearly a week on the island we were enjoying it a hundred times more than the first couple of days, but we decided another week of pure relaxation wasn't for us. Before leaving Ryan and Pete kayaked to another island nearby, where we found the nearest thing to paradise we've ever experienced. A totally deserted island beach, clean sand, perfectly clear water, palm trees swaying in a slight breeze which provided a nice relief from the baking heat. Perfect. We could have stayed there another week!
Back on the mainland we spent a few more days in Suva planning our next move, opting to catch a bus and stay at the Beach House backpacker resort, where the latest series of Celebrity Love Island was filmed. The "celebrities" had left messages on the wall and everything... shame the show was crap. It was a nice resort with a pool, hammocks, nice beach, everything you needed to relax, which is what we did. Relaxing is the point of coming to Fiji, hence why the whole of Fiji can fit in one blog article!
Celebrity Love Island beach
For the last few days before LA we stayed at Nomad's Skylodge again and had a great time just swimming, sunbathing, reading and playing volleyball, its all you need! Our flight to LA was at 10pm on 5th May. We arrived in Los Angeles at 1pm on 5th May. We were swimming in Fiji and driving down Sunset Boulevard (where our hostel is, in Hollywood) at the same point in time. Work that one out for yaself and we'll see you in 9 days time...
On the 17th we got a bus to the town of Nausori, which cost $1.35 (bout 45p), where we were gonna stay the night before heaidng to Leleuvia, an island we'd booked on, the next day. Sounded like a plan, though when we got to Nausori we saw no sign of any accomodation whatsoever.... it was a truly Fijian only place. Luckily we got off the bus and Ryan got approached by a random old guy who started the conversation by the most common of greetings, "You English?". When we answered yes he seemed pleased and started chatting some more. This is when our Thailand teachings kicked into gear, in other words the inability to trust a stranger who walks up and starts chatting because the chances are they wanna scam you or sell you something. But this is Fiji. The guy was a ledge. Jake ("That's what they called me") used to be a British paratrooper stationed in Aldershot and said the time in England was the best time of his life. He seemed suprised we were looking for somewhere to stay but thought he might know somewhere, leading us down towards the river where he asked another Fijian who pointed us in the right direction. We got to the 'Riverside Accommodation' where Jake said goodbye but said he'd try and stop by that night with some drinks, which we happily agreed to. Unfortunately a violent storm kicked up that night so he didn't which was a shame, but we're grateful to him. The accommodation we were in basically consisted of us being rented a house for the night! The place was quite cosy, though slightly more expensive than usual... somehow we allowed the woman to get away with charging us $40 each a night because we had a 'room each'. We did have a room each until a man-eating cockroach was discovered on the wall above Ryan's bed, prompting him to flee into Pete's room, returning only briefly to rescue Bobby Robson (his autobiography) from the clutches of the evil roach.
In the afternoon of the following day we got a cheap, cardboard-clad taxi to Waidalice Bridge, where we were picked up at 3pm by a boat taking us to Leleuvia. The weather was nice for the journey, so we enjoyed the ride down the river with thick jungle on either side, before emerging into the sea and arriving on the island. First impressions of the island were yes, it's nice, but the weather ain't. On one point when it was very overcast, pete and ryan took some kayaks out to sea for a while, only coming back when it looked like a storm was approaching from the mainland. It even rained slightly, but when we got back we were sunburnt! Quite badly n all. That's how strong the sun is in Fiji. So imagine how hot it was if we skip out a couple of depressing days to when the rain suddenly stops and the island is basking in glorious sunshine. Then it got seriously hot, and we were finally allowed to do what we came here for, lie on the beach, swim and generally relax. Plus when we fancied doing something there were kayaks and snorkels to take out for free, volleyball, beach rugby and trips to local villages or other islands. One trip we did took us to 'Honeymoon Island', which was a genuine desert island, although you wouldn't want your honeymoon there! It was just some sand in the middle of a perfectly clear, blue sea, with an additional couple of plants and birds.
Honeymoon Island
On evenings the locals always politely harangued us into joining them for their 'Kava parties'. When we asked what kava was we were told it's a local narcotic drink! It's made by taking the root from a kava plant, mashing it up and filtering it through a bag with some water into a kava bowl, which are seen everywhere in Fiji. The kava is then drunk from a coconut. We had some and at first weren't sure what to expect, although we suspected we might start hallucinating and be led back to our but by some strange dancing bunnies, or something along those lines, caused by what we thought was the Fijian version of magic mushrooms. To our relief, but also to our disappointment, the kava did absolutely nothing. It tasted like dirty plant water. The fijians on the other hand, seemed to be totally spaced out after an hour or so of drinking it and playing music. Strange, seems like its the opposite of alcohol, the more regularly you drink the faster an effect it has.
'The General' squeezing his root
After nearly a week on the island we were enjoying it a hundred times more than the first couple of days, but we decided another week of pure relaxation wasn't for us. Before leaving Ryan and Pete kayaked to another island nearby, where we found the nearest thing to paradise we've ever experienced. A totally deserted island beach, clean sand, perfectly clear water, palm trees swaying in a slight breeze which provided a nice relief from the baking heat. Perfect. We could have stayed there another week!
Back on the mainland we spent a few more days in Suva planning our next move, opting to catch a bus and stay at the Beach House backpacker resort, where the latest series of Celebrity Love Island was filmed. The "celebrities" had left messages on the wall and everything... shame the show was crap. It was a nice resort with a pool, hammocks, nice beach, everything you needed to relax, which is what we did. Relaxing is the point of coming to Fiji, hence why the whole of Fiji can fit in one blog article!
Celebrity Love Island beach
For the last few days before LA we stayed at Nomad's Skylodge again and had a great time just swimming, sunbathing, reading and playing volleyball, its all you need! Our flight to LA was at 10pm on 5th May. We arrived in Los Angeles at 1pm on 5th May. We were swimming in Fiji and driving down Sunset Boulevard (where our hostel is, in Hollywood) at the same point in time. Work that one out for yaself and we'll see you in 9 days time...
