Fiji

I shall start with Fiji!

I had a fantastic holiday there; the people, the food, the scenery, the music... everything was wonderful. I also met lots of like-minded travellers, which made the whole thing even better.

I first spent 2 nights near Nadi, not the most interesting place, especially as it rained quite a lot in that time. I however managed to go for a walk and visit a village where I took part in a kava ceremony.

But the real holiday started when I got on the boat that takes backpackers and other tourists to the Yasawa islands. The weather definitely improved that day too, so much so that I sunburnt my legs without realising... I spent the next 10 days mostly wearing my sarong, as I was really badly burnt... I will always remember my foot swelling up, my legs bubbling after a few days... not the best. I'd like to think that this time I have learnt my lesson... it would be about time too.

I went on to spend 7 great days going from island to island, from resort to resort, getting on the Yasawa flyer like everybody else every couple of days... that is just brilliant because you end up bumping into the same people every few days, either on the boat, or when turning up at a new resort! I really enjoyed that, as it was the main reason I had chosen to go to Fiji in the first place. Last year in Tahiti, I had got a bit bored in the evenings due to the lack of travellers and entertainment. I certainly had a great deal of both in Fiji!

I got up to the usual holiday activities, although this turned out to be more of a beach holiday than I had planned. But I truly enjoyed it, it was nice for a change to relax properly, instead of going from activity to activity. This way, a couple of days were happily lost lying in a hammock, or by the pool, just reading and watching the small fijian world go by.
When I wasn't learning to be a beach bum, I would go snorkelling, swimming, walking, diving (yes! I did my first dive!!!), drinking cocktails during happy hour (and also during the happier hour when the cocktails are actually hitting the system...)...

The resorts I stayed in where all full-board, as there usually were no villages or shops anywhere. So we were cooked for 3 times a day, sometimes 4 if they were giving us an afternoon snack! The food was usually gorgeous, lovely Fijian fish with quite a lot of carbs though, but also lots of fruits. Yummy, got my fill of pineapple again! Once, there was an indo-fijian chef and we had some excellent curries and lovely things like that...

One of the activities I enjoyed the most was the day sailing trip on the Seaspray. A whole day of being taken from beautiful island to beautiful island on the Mamanuca group... visiting a village (another kava ceremony), bbq lunch on the boat (the fish was just soooo tasty), swimming and snorkelling by the island where they filmed Castaway with Tom Hanks, flirting a little with one of the crew... ;-) and then it was time to head back to my little resort on the little Bounty island (seriously small, you can walk all the way around it in 15 minutes... it's also where they filmed Celebrity Love Island). Good times.

Then it was back for 2 nights in Nadi, but in a better hotel than the first time, right by the beach. Had a nice dinner with people met on the island/the bus over... my last full day on the main island was spent doing a little shopping in Nadi (not much there), going to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant (beautiful orchid place created by Raymond Burr, the Hollywood actor) and meeting with a nice Fijian girl I had met on the sailing trip.
Unfortunately, that night, I ended up lying mostly on the bathroom floor instead of my bed... I think I must have drunk some abd tap water by mistake, and as a result, I was sick all night! not so much fun.
Travelling the next day was no picnic, not having slept, being completely dehydrated and still feeling pretty sick... but the airport staff were nice, they put me in a nice VIP lounge to wait, where it was cool and there were free drinks and snacks (could only face drinking water though...). Oh well, got back to wellington safe and sound, went straight to bed and eventually recovered... there, happily ever after!

Go Fiji, great time!