Thursday, January 19, 2012
Coral View
Next stop Coral View Island Resort, we pack up and head on to our little boat to take us to the big boat and off to our next island adventure, it was sad saying goodbye to our first island, meaning that Fiji was going bye way too fast and we would be back in the US very soon... exciting but also depressing. Has anyone ever strived to reach a goal and follow a dream, reach and then think whats next? I feel like that will be what I was to face landing in the USA June 27th, after 6 months of legally drinking, to not being 21 for 3 more months...depression.
Anyway, we take a nice cruise on the boat for a couple of hours tanning on the deck to the farthest island out, we reach coral view! and it is a beautiful island, much bigger than the last with high mountains and a beautiful layout, not much of a beach though, but we get off and are starving for lunch. Check in and put our stuff on our beds in our 'hall' thats pretty much the only word to describe it as a hall pretty much an airy open structure with 20 beds in it, bunk beds. four showers and 4 toilets in the back. privacy is not something you have when traveling as a poor college student in a third worlds country, but theres something humbling about learning to coexist and share with complete strangers from all over the world, it was refreshing! We met a couple of wind surfers that had been there awhile and said this place had pretty good food, THANK GOD!
After lunch we explored and laid out on the beach and decided to see what this place had to offer, we hiked a little to the windward side of the island to see another aspect of Fiji and it was breath taking! After that we decided to go on a shark dive! yup a SHARK dive, pretty much we go down they throw dead fish in the middle and we sit at the bottom in a line waiting for the sharks to come then we ascend, quite normal if you ask me! We spent one night here and then our plan was to head to Mantaray Resort after the shark dive!
Anyway, we take a nice cruise on the boat for a couple of hours tanning on the deck to the farthest island out, we reach coral view! and it is a beautiful island, much bigger than the last with high mountains and a beautiful layout, not much of a beach though, but we get off and are starving for lunch. Check in and put our stuff on our beds in our 'hall' thats pretty much the only word to describe it as a hall pretty much an airy open structure with 20 beds in it, bunk beds. four showers and 4 toilets in the back. privacy is not something you have when traveling as a poor college student in a third worlds country, but theres something humbling about learning to coexist and share with complete strangers from all over the world, it was refreshing! We met a couple of wind surfers that had been there awhile and said this place had pretty good food, THANK GOD!
After lunch we explored and laid out on the beach and decided to see what this place had to offer, we hiked a little to the windward side of the island to see another aspect of Fiji and it was breath taking! After that we decided to go on a shark dive! yup a SHARK dive, pretty much we go down they throw dead fish in the middle and we sit at the bottom in a line waiting for the sharks to come then we ascend, quite normal if you ask me! We spent one night here and then our plan was to head to Mantaray Resort after the shark dive!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Night time in fiji
The un started to set and the only lights were coming from the bar so we headed over to get drinks and play some cards, after sipping our drinks i noticed some little black spots at the bottom of Stef's after closer inspection they were in fact little flies... this is NOT the type of thing you want to find after you have drank half of your drink, instead of freaking out like any normal westerner would of, no were had survived 6 months in Australia and one night in Fiji, if we hadn't died yet we weren't gong to now, so we calmly walked up to the bar pointed out the flies and got beers, we opened ourselves. After playing cards and hoping we weren't going to have fly larva in our bellies we got dinner that was really good and w=met a few more people.
After dinner we got a fire show! and got to watch traditional Fijian dance and hear traditional chants! It was very cool! I think we were in bed by 7:00PM, there were no lights and no way to tell, but we awoke to the breakfast bell and sunrise to begin our first full day in the islands.
After dinner we got a fire show! and got to watch traditional Fijian dance and hear traditional chants! It was very cool! I think we were in bed by 7:00PM, there were no lights and no way to tell, but we awoke to the breakfast bell and sunrise to begin our first full day in the islands.
Waya Lai Lai Resort
We were the third stop for the boat so we weren't on there very long, we decided to stay from two nights here at Waya Lai Lai. We had to hop off our boat and hop on to the island little boat that then taxied us to our island, where we hopped off into the water and were greeted by the staff BULA! Which is hello and welcome! We were introduced to the entire staff and checked in and taken to our room, at first we were going to be staying in a one roomed house with everyone else, but we lucky got upgraded to our own personal hut!! With a view of the ocean. SCORE! we headed to our fijian bungalow and settled in, they only use electricity at night so it was very dark in our little hut and there was 4 beds crammed in there and a tiny bathroom, which was also pitch black. The only hot water is what the sun has heated up for the day. After unpacking we set out towels in hand to the beach, and the hammocks and of course lunch.
Lets talk about the food for a moment, if you are at all picky in any way shape or form and get hungry often and need a lot of variety and big meals traveling cheap in Fiji is 100% not for you. I have never thanked my mom for forcing me to participate in exotic food of the week more than this adventure in Fiji. The food was good, and the meals were served to you. I can't remember what exactly was served to us for lunch that afternoon, but it was most likely rice and some form of chicken. We ate and learned to listen to people on the boat who have traveled to previous islands before us, apparently way lai lai was not know for its food selection, we now understood why.
After leaving lunch probably hungrier than before we contemplated what we had gotten ourselves into, but then went down to the waters edge and realized why we were here, it was BEAUTIFUL, words can't describe the lushness or the blues of the water and pictures only barely capture its beauty, bad food, confined hot quarters, freezing water, and electricity for 3 hours a day is all worth the view!
Lets talk about the food for a moment, if you are at all picky in any way shape or form and get hungry often and need a lot of variety and big meals traveling cheap in Fiji is 100% not for you. I have never thanked my mom for forcing me to participate in exotic food of the week more than this adventure in Fiji. The food was good, and the meals were served to you. I can't remember what exactly was served to us for lunch that afternoon, but it was most likely rice and some form of chicken. We ate and learned to listen to people on the boat who have traveled to previous islands before us, apparently way lai lai was not know for its food selection, we now understood why.
After leaving lunch probably hungrier than before we contemplated what we had gotten ourselves into, but then went down to the waters edge and realized why we were here, it was BEAUTIFUL, words can't describe the lushness or the blues of the water and pictures only barely capture its beauty, bad food, confined hot quarters, freezing water, and electricity for 3 hours a day is all worth the view!
BULA!
Ok so people talk about traveling to Fiji their entire lives, and you see pictures of the resorts there and the amazing amenities and food and lavish decorations and accommodations, that Fiji is NOT the Fiji we went too, let me sum up the difference we paid 400$ for a week and that included the airfare, so yea....
But with that being said we still got amazing views! And we got to experience Fiji a way very few people would dare too!
We took another 'Taxi' aka hollowed out school bus with no windows, through the down town on Nadi to the marina where we would be checking in for our Bula passes and getting on the boat that would take us from island to island for the next week. As we were traveling through downtown we got to see the kids get on their buses for school and the parents head to work, i thought how different life would be if I had grown up on a tropical south pacific island, pondered that for the moment as we passed through the 'ghetto'. We then turned into this beautiful community that was gated, the homes we huge and had views of the ocean! we reached the marina and unloaded our luggage and checked in at the front desk, it was so HOT. We milled around for an hour and got lunch and headed to board the boat. Each island destination had their own boarding tag, our luggage was marked and loaded and we were off to sea to our first island, Waya Lai Lai.
But with that being said we still got amazing views! And we got to experience Fiji a way very few people would dare too!
We took another 'Taxi' aka hollowed out school bus with no windows, through the down town on Nadi to the marina where we would be checking in for our Bula passes and getting on the boat that would take us from island to island for the next week. As we were traveling through downtown we got to see the kids get on their buses for school and the parents head to work, i thought how different life would be if I had grown up on a tropical south pacific island, pondered that for the moment as we passed through the 'ghetto'. We then turned into this beautiful community that was gated, the homes we huge and had views of the ocean! we reached the marina and unloaded our luggage and checked in at the front desk, it was so HOT. We milled around for an hour and got lunch and headed to board the boat. Each island destination had their own boarding tag, our luggage was marked and loaded and we were off to sea to our first island, Waya Lai Lai.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Nadi Bay Resort, Fiji
After our flight we land and get our pasports stamped in Fiji, and go an try and find someone to lock up our luggage in the airport for the week. If you have never traveled to the South Pacific or read any books about people traveling to the South Pacific, you might not fully understand the pace at which people move here. You know how when you need to get somewhere and you are stuck behind someone going 10 miles under the speed limit, well that, but worse, is how fast things are done here. After being in Australia for 6 months we are used to the easy going pace, but this was slowwwww. We packed our carry ons in the time being with the clothes we would need for the week and we and changed into something cooler because it was at least 105 degrees inside. After finally finding someone withe the keys to the airport locker we stuff our luggage in left 20 Finitian dollars and signed our names and prayed our stuff would still be there when we got back, we headed to find a taxi to our hotel. We went to the travel agents that moved just as quickly as the luggage people, so we decided to go and get a taxi ourselves. Let me explain what we found when we walked outside, the airport was the size of a small department store there were wild animals roaming around the grounds and people and their children just walking along the sidewalks. The taxies were the peoples cars, no light up sign to let you know if they were legit or not, no meter, you just got in and prayed they weren't going to kidnap you like the movie Taken. Thank god we were all together. It was dark out as we drove to our hotel, and we all just sat looking out the window at the streets of Nadi and prayed that the car would get us there in one piece. I don't think there are any traffic laws in Fiji, if so we broke probably all of them on our ride to the hotel. We finally got to the hotel and I think we jumped out before the car even fully came to a stop =, paid and got our luggage. The hotel was very different open aired and old. We had one of the attendant walk us to our room explaining we probably shouldn't walk around at night, but told us there were guards so it wasn't of a high concern. Where were we!? We got to our room and it was sooo hot! The shower and bathroom were across the hall and there was an enormous spider in the corner of the room, we immediately got the attendant to kill it was when it all of a sudden disappeared we asked if we could be switched to a different room. We traveled to our new room, which was more of an apartment with a full kitchen and two bathroom and two bedrooms thank god!
After settling in a little and giggling over the adventure we have already had we headed to the one sole restaurant for dinner, which was very delicious! We also got fancy drinks and met up with an American girl that went to school with us in Australia for drinks, she was also spending the week in Fiji.
Our walk back to the room was full of sightings of island dogs and cats and the occasional frog, I was glad to be heading to a different island tomorrow morning.
After settling in a little and giggling over the adventure we have already had we headed to the one sole restaurant for dinner, which was very delicious! We also got fancy drinks and met up with an American girl that went to school with us in Australia for drinks, she was also spending the week in Fiji.
Our walk back to the room was full of sightings of island dogs and cats and the occasional frog, I was glad to be heading to a different island tomorrow morning.
FIJI TIME!
Once flying to Brisbane we spent the night at our favorite backpackers hostel, Chill Backpackers, before flying out the next day to Nandi, Fiji and spending a night at another hostel on the main island of Fiji, before taking a boat in the morning to our island hopping adventure! We get in some last sight seeing and Australian food before getting ready to head to the airport for our flight. we check in for our Bula passes and head to sleep. We have quite the week of adventure ahead of us.
Leaving Australia
The dreadful morning finally came, way too quickly! I was forced to wake up early and feverishly finish squeezing 6 months of my life abroad into two suit cases that seemed to have shrunk. I had to leave behind a lot of my things, including my running sneakers, sweat pants, jacket and sweatshirt, oh well i'll get them eventually, reasons to come back right!?
Now the taxi was on its way to pick me and the girls up, and now i had to face the worst set of goodbyes ever. When leaving to come here it was hard to say goodbye to my family but i knew in 6 months i would see them again, now with these goodbyes to all my new Australian friends that I consider family, I am forced to say a goodbye without knowing if I will ever see them again. It was the most emotionally painful thing I have had to do, there wasn't a dry eye for the next hour. As the taxi pulled up I took one final look around my home away from home with the friends with silly accents that became family and said my last goodbye to my favorite place on earth...
Now the taxi was on its way to pick me and the girls up, and now i had to face the worst set of goodbyes ever. When leaving to come here it was hard to say goodbye to my family but i knew in 6 months i would see them again, now with these goodbyes to all my new Australian friends that I consider family, I am forced to say a goodbye without knowing if I will ever see them again. It was the most emotionally painful thing I have had to do, there wasn't a dry eye for the next hour. As the taxi pulled up I took one final look around my home away from home with the friends with silly accents that became family and said my last goodbye to my favorite place on earth...
UNI bar one last time...
It's the last night in Townsville, and instead of finishing up packing we all head out the to uni bar from live music and the last night with all of my amazing Australian friends I have become so close too, I can't imagine how hard it must be for all of them each semester to meet new exchange students just to have them leave 6 months later. Its awful knowing that this experience of a life time is over, and I try putting off the looming goodbyes to come. So for the time being i'm out drinking and having a blast with all of my great friends, not thinking about packing or saying goodbye and catching a flight to Brisbane early tomorrow morning.
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