We arrived in Fiji around 7:45pm and quickly made our way through customs and hauled our bags to the hotel shuttle van. Our first night in Fiji we spent at the Raffles Gateway, which is close to the airport and convenient location for our resort shuttle the next day. Thank goodness the room was air conditioned, since we were not used to the hot and humid outside, which was vastly different than the cold New Zealand weather we had been experiencing for months. The next morning we awoke to rolling hills with palm trees and tropical flowers and made our way to our island resort.
The shuttle drive, complete with a Mother Mary air freshener and velour upholstery, was only about 15 minutes through the countryside to the port for the boat. We were able to see fields of sugar cane, small villages, people walking, and a little bit of the “real” Fiji, which is unfortunately very poor. After I grabbed a quick muffin at a shop, we boarded on a small boat for our 1.5 hour ride to the island. Fiji is made up of 300 small islands, and we were staying in the Yasawa Island chain which is on the Northwest coast. After a pretty smooth ride we got to Paradise Cove Resort about 10:30am and were greeted by a group of staff singing a welcome song and playing guitars on the beach. After our welcome drink we were shown to our adorable bungalow where we would be staying for 5 nights and had our luggage delivered to the room. The bed and room were adorned with hibiscus flowers, had A/C, TV, wifi, and a bathroom with a private outdoor shower. we had just split. We then had our first dinner of many, which is in a covered area and opens up to the pool and view of the ocean and stars.
We ate a delicious lunch and headed out kayaking towards the neighboring island. The water was so clear you could see the coral reefs, fish swimming, blue starfish, and as far down as you could imagine. Since it was Friday they have a greeting ceremony where we were able to try Kava, a traditional root drink with an alcohol type affect, and sat with band while they played mellow music. After that the staff performed a dance and then all the people staying at the resort joined in, even Tony and I. Maybe that was due to the Kava and Pina Colodas
Each day while we were in Fiji we either went on a snorkeling trip, kayaking, paddle boarding, or just sat on the beach and read. We were even able to hike around the mountain and get a good view of the reefs on the other side. The only thing we were disappointed about was our trip to a local island village and another trip to a mountain hike were cancelled due to weather. Most of the days were kind of windy, but we only had one day of rain and it was simply beautiful everywhere you looked. It was so relaxing that we could almost not handle it and by our departure day we were getting a little ancey to finish up our trip. I am not sure the island life would be for me, considering I would start getting motion sick after even snorkeling for more than half an hour. The meals were all phenomenal and had good variety and since the resort had only opened in July there were really only about 40 people staying there and really just felt like you had the place to yourself. So our peaceful island vacation came to an end, we boarded our boat and spent the next hour on a choppy ride back to the mainland. From there we made our way through the airport, checked our bags again with much more ease, and set in NadI’s dismal waiting area. Our flight was leaving at 10pm and the kids in the airport were as tired as the parents, leading to many an irritated family. The 4 year old near us yelled to his father, “I need to go toilet!” with a quick response of “not now!” from the father, lead to a response I have never heard from a child regarding the bathroom, “but I’m desperate, I’m desperate!!”
We spent the next 10 hours flying across the Pacific Ocean, trying to sleep among the coughing and hacking of the people around us, always a comforting thing when flying from a third world country. After we landed in LA about 2pm local time, we got our bags, went through customs, and were screened through security for the 5th time that month. The difference was that every time we go through security either Tony or I hold both passports and tickets, but this time we got yelled at for it, welcome to LA. We leisurely found our gate, and I got my welcoming American snack of Cheetos and we took in the overwhelming senses of the hugeness that surrounded us. Another 3 hours flight and we arrived in Austin at 10pm Wed. August 28th and our long, wild trip came to an end over pancakes at Kerby Lane Café. But not for long, since we were leaving for Florida in 3 short days.
