Bula from Fiji - November 13, 2011

Bula from Fiji!

We made it!

The flight from Calgary to Seattle was a cinch after we were able to confirm the departure time and a bit of an emotional goodbye between Mom and I (Dana).

Before our flight from Seattle to Los Angeles we had some time to kill so we had a bit of a nap at our gate then went to look for a plug-in to charge Adrian’s laptop and iPod.  Half an hour before our departure time, we decided to head back to our gate. Looking at the board to confirm our gate we saw it had changed. Luckily it was only a few gates down but we jogged over to find that they had just called for the final boarding. We made it JUST in time!

From Seattle to L.A.

The Los Angeles Airport was ridiculous. It was very difficult to find out where to go from switching from Alaskan Airlines to Air Pacific even after getting directions from several people. Once we turned up at the correct terminal we found insane lines. Partly because the lines for Philippines Air and Air Pacific were intertwined but also because there were a lot of people flying Air Pacific. We had a bit of a time getting Adrian’s boarding pass because for whatever reason they didn’t have a printed one when we picked up the rest of them at YYC. If he had had it, we wouldn’t have had to worry about the lines. 

Once we got the boarding pass, we had about half an hour to spare before we started boarding. No wonder it takes an hour to board a 747. It fits a lot of people but we also had to take a 10ish minute shuttle ride to the plane. It then took another 10ish minutes for us to drive to the strip. Some people joked that we were driving to Fiji. The ten hour flight didn’t seem too long somehow. We were both pretty excited and our flight attendant, Jonah, took good care of us ;)

"Yay!", "Yes!", On the plane to Nadi, Fiji

Since we were greeted with a welcome song at the Nadi Airport, the friendliness and welcoming has not stopped. I’m not sure if they are that way because they rely so much on tourism but it seems as if they are very friendly with each other as well. Either way, we like it! The first day consisted of catching up on some sleep and getting our bearings of the island. We ended up going to bed at 9pm that night and waking up at 6:30am the next day.

Breakfast was at 7am in time to catch our bus to Port Denarau at 7:30am. Boarding the vessel for the Yasawa Islands started at 8:20am and we started moving just before 9am. It was a five hour ride to the Tavewa Island with stops along the way for other people getting off at other islands. We met a girl traveling on her own and I’m guessing she was from Australia. We also met a guy from Manchester who was island hopping. He gave us tips on traveling through New Zealand as he had been there three times before, as well as for Australia and SE Asia a bit.

Coralview Resort is nice but we can’t compare it to anything else yet. I am still in awe of how blue/green the water is here! And clear and warm! I’m used to Central California waters- dark and cold. It’s also very hot and humid outside with not much of a cool down in the evenings. Not a surprise we both burnt the first day on the vessel ride from sitting outside and then again yesterday. Thankfully Adrian packed some aloe vera which we used up pretty fast. We were both exhausted from the sun and probably jet lagged a bit so we went to bed around 9pm again.

On the Yasawa Flyer

Our first of many welcome songs to the resort/island

Yesterday was our first full day on the islands. Breakfast was at 8:30am and then we were off to the Sawailau Caves. It took an hour to get there on a small motor fishing boat. Once we got there, we walked down into a water filled pit. We swam in there for a bit until it was time to venture into more of the caves. This involved diving through a narrow tunnel :s A little freaky but once we worked up some courage, it wasn’t too bad with the help of the guides. I asked for some history or interesting facts of the cave but the one guide admitted he didn’t know too much about them. After lunch back at the resort, we ventured to a private beach. It was longer but other than that nothing different from the closer beach. The water was so shallow and clear, I swear we could have walked across the ocean to the other island. Just before dinner we got a bit of a workout hiking up to the top of the island to watch the sun set. Beautiful!

Inside the cave after diving through the dark, narrow tunnel

Our "private" beach

Sunset at the top of the island

While here we had met a couple from Australia here on vacation; Jeff from the Netherlands who is backpacking through Fiji, New Zealand and Australia for 6 months; Sophie and Victoria from Denmark who are backpacking through Fiji and Australia for 4.5 months; and Marie from the Netherlands here for her diving certification.

Today we are off to our next island – Naviti Island – and staying at Korovou Eco-tour Resort.

E-mail (post) you all again soon!

Love,
Adrian & Dana