As Chinese New Year rolled into Singapore ( along with alot of worry about the Heineken virus), we decided to jet off to the South Pacific- Fiji! Fresh off their dash back to the US- Mom and Bee really enjoyed another 10 hours of flying ! We caught up with Nan and Nonno on their way back home from India and then watched movies on our red eye
We arrived in Nadi ( major airport in Fiji) to greetings of “Bula” (literally translates as “life” but is said for almost any greeting) and the rhythmic sounds of the Lali welcoming drum! We met our tour guide Gabby who quickly explained that we were now on Fiji time- no hurry, no worry! 1st stop was the Garden of the Sleeping Giant – a botanical garden under a crazy mountain- that, well, looks a like a sleeping giant. It has a huge collection of orchids, awesome vines, and gorgeous trees many of which were flowering.
Next stop was a fruit and vegetable market for some sweet pineapple, delicious mangoes and tiny bananas! After a delicious curry lunch, we hit up the extremely colorful Sri Siva Subramaniya Hindu Temple. There is a huge Indian influence in Fiji – as when the British colonized Fiji from 1874 to 1970 – and farmed sugarcane – they brought many laborers from India who stayed – because, why would you ever leave Fiji? The population is only 900,000 – now 57% indigenous Fijians and 38% Indian-Fijians. Fiji is 64% Christian but a strong Hindu (28%) and Muslim (6%) population as well. The temple was unique for its awesome colors, cool paintings and the odd rule of no photographing in the temple but a guide who insisted we take pictures only one step down from the main floor!
We cruised down the west coast of Viti Levu- the main island of Fiji- past the rolling bright green hills (everything is green in Fiji) to our hotel, the Intercontinental at Natadola Beach- a gorgeous mile long stretch of sand forming a horseshoe shaped, super calm bay! A bit jet lagged , we explored the hotel, caught a gorgeous sunset, the nightly firefighting ceremony and a choir performing Fijian church hymns. We grabbed some pizza and sandwiches and called it a night.
Day 2 started with a huge breakfast buffet feast – featuring tons of fresh fruit ( guava was our favorite unique offering), cassava cake and taro chips ( they love their root veggies in Fiji). Then we meet with Gabby for a drive down the coral coast. We stopped to pick up some local artwork and for some photo spots along a black beach! Then hit up Mango Bay- a cool rustic resort (popular for school groups) where we chilled on the beach and saw some awesome white striped fish. Then over to Biasevu village, where we had our 1st Kava ceremony. Kava is a prized plant whose roots are crushed into a powder, mixed with water and served in a bowl that is passed between the village residents and the visitors during a welcome ceremony. It was quite ritualistic with clapping and plenty of “Bulla” and “Vinakas” ( thank you).. none of us really like the taste and it numbed they back of your tongue- but when in Rome… Next we took an awesome jungle hike, crossing 9 streams and ending up at Biasevu waterfall – perfect for a dip as the cool pool was surrounded in a perfect green amphitheater. Bee, Jay and Dad even swam right under the falls for an awesome back massage!
On the ride back we stopped at a 50’s style diner for solid burgers and fries ( go figure…) and then more fish watching and phototaking at an awesome old wooden jetty at low tide!
At the hotel, got some pool time in ( Dad even tried his 1st snorkel of the week) before drinks, a another gorgeous sunset, the fire lighting ceremony, giant chess and traditional Fijian dancing. Steak sandwiches and salads rounded out an awesome Day 2.
Day 3 was meant to be surfing but the mirror lake quality of our bay dampened those thoughts for the week. Instead by 8AM we had swum out to the house reef for a family snorkel! Truly awesome with tons of bright blue fish, purple stag horn coral, a green mossy coral, a rose shaped coral, beautiful yellow fish with bright blue eyes, and some big red fish with huge eyes! (Dad didn’t do so well with identification) There were also these very cool caves / holes where big schools of fish hung out. Also it was the easiest snorkeling ever – with no waves at all! (stay tuned for some underwater footage courtesy of the go-pro)
After breakfast, we met Shakim our guide for the day who 1st took us to a cool coastal view from the championship golf course at our hotel and then to the Sigatoka Sand Dunes- the largest one in the South Pacific! What started as a steep hike turned insane as hiking up huge dunes on hot sand in sandals is really challenging! The dunes were unique as they were partially covered by a mahogany forest – where troops of noisy fruit bats and flying foxes could be seen! Also saw a humongous golden orbit spider with a giant egg! Walking on the coast, we had views of some much rougher surf and gorgeous coastline! Here we also saw a few more of the bright red flowering “Fiji Christmas trees”- so cool! Throughout the trip Shakim regailed us with stories and jokes regarding how his cows only drank Fiji water!
All those black dots are bats! 
We then walked through the crazy Sigatoka markets for salted pineapple and yummy bananas and hit up a souvenir store for Fiji rugby shirts. After a ride down the Sigatoka river valley, we stopped at Lawai- a Fijian pottery village. Over half of Fijians still live in villages, where land and food are shared communally, 300 of your closest family live next door, and a chief still runs the show. We took a tour of the village- including their outdoor kitchens and church – and the were greeted by ~15 residents and the matriarch singing traditional tunes. After another round of kava ( not any better the 2nd time ) we had a pottery demo ( all done by hand- no spinning wheels), did some dancing and bought some souvenirs ( pretty awkward as 12 or so ladies had their items on display next to each other arranged on the floor on the village house). After saying our goodbyes, we stopped for some great dry curry ( chicken , lamb and even freshwater mussel curry) and headed back.
That night back at the hotel was the cultural highlight- after the fire lighting ceremony, a full on fire show where the Fijians juggled and spun fire – and even lit parts of the beach on fire – in an awesome ceremony performed right in front of a bright pink sky! One performer through his torch 20 feet in the air! After drinks, dinner, giant chess and cards, we called it a night
Day 4 was our resort day. Mom and Dad caught an early swim and then Jay and Bee took a scuba class in the splash pool. Next up, we took a short boat ride out to the bigger reef! Jay and Bee rocked a 40 minute dive to a depth of 18 feet while Mom and Dad snorkeled above! Highlights were Nemos that hiding’s the wavy noodle like coral ( and a momma Nemo who challenged you if you got too close), a school of green fish hiding in tan stagnhorn coral, a manta ray, huge schools of yellow and blue fish, coral that changed color when you touched it and Christmas tree worms of every color! And then in the most dramatic moment of the trip ( or her life of you ask Mom)…as we went to get back on the boat a black and white sea snake approached… and then started hissing. Mom ran up the ladder to safety ( later found out hat they are indeed poisonous)
After that near death experience we opted to stick to the safer activity of rooting for our hermit crab in the great hermit crab race ( unfortunately we picked a Dud- didn’t even move out of his shell).. We had some Indian pizza ( yogurt, peppers and Tandoori chicken) for lunch, competed o the putting green and giant chess board, and hit the pool. Mom and Dad did a last snorkel on the house reef ( low tide brought trickier conditions but we saw a lion fish and two puffer fish) and then Jay, Bee and Dad rode horses on the beach. After enjoying one last sunset, fire ceremony and crescent moon in the gorgeous open air dining area, we packed our bags for our last day!
Day 5 found us racing north ( well after we got passed the traffic) to Port Denaru for our island cruise. We would spend the day with Cruisin Fiji- the only locally owned day cruise company- making 3 stops in the gorgeous Mamuca Island group. (We learned that these islands were the location for multiple seasons of Survivor.) We rode on the front deck- catching some rays as we raced past the mountainous islands with perfect beaches- all remnants of old volcanoes. Our 1st stop was a sandbar near maybe 50 feet by 20 feet surrounded by perfect water every shade of blue with islands in every direction. We splashed in the waves and did a little snorkeling to see giant schools of minnows!
Our 2nd stop took us to Monu island for an awesome rock formation and shear cliff with perfect turquoise water. It also overlooked the lush green hills of Yanuya Island, still occupied by a local village ( who turned down a $50 Million offer to sell). Highlight here was deep water allowing for 20 foot jumps off the top deck of the boat! We all tried it multiple times- awesome!
Our last stop was Monuriki island- where Castaway was filmed -the movie Mom and Dad saw on their 1st date! We had a lovo lunch ( cooked in coals buried underground) of chicken, fish and taro – all with an awesome coconut cream sauce. Listened to Sweet Caroline on the guitar (they love that song in Fiji), hiked around a bit to see the film spots and enjoyed swimming off the perfect beach. A long ride back was highlighted by seeing school of fish jumping like 6 feet!
After an ice cream dinner, and a swim to ease our sunburn in our pool, we packed up for our long travel day (17 hours including the layover in Sydney)….
Fiji is a truly amazing place- and they have it all- culture, villages, beaches, snorkeling waterfalls, and crazy friendly people! Definitely one of our favorite trips!
“Fiji and you – perfect together”! I believe you will help increase tourism with these photos and descriptions.