Lickable Wallpaper

For some bizarre reason Eddie and I had thought that nine days in Fji might be too long and we had actually considered shortening it, but it wasn’t worth the cost, so off we went over the pacific ocean with very low expectations and absolutely no plan. But after a bumpy start (avoid the tour desk woman in the Nadi Bay Hotel, actually avoid the place in general, stay at the Blue Water Lodge, fabulous place) we developed a love for Fiji. I don’t want this post to go on and on about the places we stayed, so I’m going to bullet point the main things, but basically we loved the place! I can see so clearly why its a honeymoon destination – it is the most relaxing place I have ever been!

I’ve seen nice beaches and stuff like that before but in Fiji there was such a lovely vibe that you just don’t get everywhere. The place is beautiful, the people are very nice (except the Nadi Bay Hotel staff!) but not over the top and we got no hawker hassel at all; there was no-one trying to sell us anything! All the other tourists/travellers we met were lovely and its probably the first place where we’ve met so many people every single day; everyone just chats to everyone in Fiji! Its so laid back. We planned to do lots of activites like diving, snorkelling, rafting, village trips, hiking etc. but we got so relaxed along the way that we just chilled out, played cards, talked, ate and drank. We’ll have to go back someday to do all the other stuff!

So some tips for anyone going there (or for us if we ever return!):

• Stay in the Blue Water Lodge in Nadi if you need to be in Nadi (where the airport is) for a night or two. Gorgeous place, same price as a hostel, says its a hostel but it’s really too fancy! Absolutely fantastic food too and great staff!
• We did three days on the Yasawa islands -two on Bounty and one on Waya Lai Lai. Don’t bother with Bounty. Waya Lai Lai is beautiful, the food is good, the dorms have mosquito nets and the staff and villagers serenade you on arrival and departure! They also did a cool traditional dance for us, we went fishing with them and all in all we just loved the place. We could have spent way longer than two days there. But at that stage we had booked the Beachhouse…
• Stay in the Beachhouse if staying on the mainland! Its where the 2006 ‘Celebrity Love Island’ programme was filmed and its the coolest little hostel ever. Again, a very fancy hostel – its really a full hotel-type resort, but for backpackers. There’s lots of cheap activities on offer but we got too lazy to do them except for the coconut jewellry making which was free, so we both made rings from coconut shell

• If visiting more than two islands, buy the Bula island-hopping pass even though it seems expensive. The ferry is a rip-off anyway, so you just have to accept it or not visit the islands. Fiji is not cheap – dorm accommodation is about 15 euro a night. Book ahead (just a few days even) and book Waya Lai Lai and maybe Octopus and Manta Ray (they were booked up but we heard great reports of them especially Manta Ray).
• Stay for at least two weeks if possible and I wouldn’t say two or three months is too long!

Tags: Beachhouse, Blue Water Lodge, Fiji, Fishing, Jewellery-making, Nadi Bay Hotel, Waya Lai Lai

Buy printed photos of Fuji and Beachhouse, Blue Water Lodge, Fiji, Fishing, Jewellery-making, Nadi Bay Hotel, Waya Lai Lai, at Lokofoto.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 7:44 am and is filed under Fiji. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.