Bula Fiji!

Well, it was a wrench to leave Oz, but soon I was off to Fiji! The flight went smoothly and I landed around sunset at Nadi Airport. Nadi is pronounced "Nandi" by the way! I was collected from the airport by the Horizon Backpackers shuttle and was soon checked into to a clean dorm with air-con; Arctic wind would have been a more appropriate term, but never mind! I was soon chatting away with my new roommate, Luke (Birmingham), who'd just returned from the Yasawa Islands, and had already visited New Zealand! So the poor lad had to play Twenty Questions with me about both! It was good to talk to him as he gave me lots of info about his experiences on the Yasawas and so I felt well prepared to book all my activities there the next day.

On Wednesday, I went down to the beach at Nadi Bay. Whilst travelling, I've met may people who've said that it's best to get over to the Yasawas and I could see why... Nadi doesn't really have the idyllic expanse of sand you would expect in the South Pacific! Never mind, it gave me a chance to buy a coconut for $5 that I didn't really want!!! You know how it goes; "Hello my friend, where you from?" "Please, take a seat, here have this it's fresh!" "So, how much would you like to give to help me feed my family?" Well, I couldn't really say 50 cents could I? They always get me on Day One, and after such a long time in Oz, I'd forgotten what it was like to travel in slightly more 'rough and ready' places! Note to self - be really prepared for South America!!!

Sunset over Nadi Bay

I then took the local bus into Nadi, much better at 70 cents one way, and organised a boat and accommodation pass for the Yasawas. I'd left all planning until I arrived in Fiji, just to make sure that I could shop around and get the best deal. As it happens, there's really only one way to do it, take the Yasawa Flyer operated by Awesome Adventures, and all operators offer it at the same price anyway! So, I spent a good few hours in the Tourist Information centre, somehow getting a $19 discount without even asking, and I missed the afternoon deluge whilst I was in there as well!

Back at the hostel, I chilled out by the pool and bumped into Luke again, once again gleaning more useful information from him, and formulated an itinerary for the islands. Now, believe it or not, I was looking forward to a week without Internet access, but of course, because of my video application, I have to check if I have been contacted for online testing to make it through to the next round! Only two resorts have Internet and so I've planned everything around that! Part of me wants to just go with the flow, but then again, what if I only check my emails next week when I am back on Viti Levu later, and miss the deadline to reply by just two days? It's not worth taking that risk, so I'm slave to the machine yet again!

So, not to worry, I've planned to take the boat as far north up the chain to Tavewa Island first, to Coral View Resort, then work my way south again to White Sandy Beach on Naviti Island. That means that I'll be able to check my emails up until the Monday deadline and then I can move on to Waya Lailai (with no Internet) after then with no worries. That's the theory anyway! Anyway, I'm just using up my last bit of mainland credit now before the bus arrives to take me to Port Denarau... if I do make it online this week, at $12 an hour, please don't be expecting any blogging! You'll just have to be patient until I return next Wednesday!!!