Bula! "Chillaxing" in Fiji!by Amaru & Suzanne, April 30th 2010

We've been travelling all around the world and all this time, paradise has been just around the corner from us...

The idea to travel to Fiji came after Suz suggested that she wanted a nice and calm holiday to make up for India. She said that since India was MY holiday then Fiji would be hers ;) Well, I didn't take much to convince and our trip was booked.

Just 5 days before the trip we almost didn't think we would be able to travel, but the doctor said that I just needed some rest and I was free to travel.... so we did!

It was actually quite nice to get on a plane and travel for just 3½ hours, we are so used to travelling hours upon hours. Upon arrival we were too late for the boat to the islands so we spent the first night on the mainland. Early the next morning, we jumped on the Yasawa Flyer and made our way to the islands.

Suz had booked us in on the Captains Lounge on the ship and it was great. We sat in a/c on very comfy seats with an open bar. Sure it was 8.30 in the morning but another couple were travelling with us and they had arrived from the US and were still on the go... and I just couldn't let him sit and drink beers by himself now could I ;)

One thing was quite funny, Todd, the guy on the boat, was telling us that he is Canadian and that he found the Olympic Games to be a bit of a dissapointment as they were quite stereotypical about Canadians. Suz then asked if they have ever watched the show "How I Met Your Mother" as they always make fun of the Canadians there as well. Turns out that his wife, Kristen, was in the show... Apparently he works as an agent and she is an actress/choreographer... Cool!!

After a bit more than 3 hours our time to disembark had come so we said goodbye to Todd and Kristen and got off at the Botaira Resort.

We were met on the beach with leis, drinks and were advised to sit and fill in some forms. We were checking in with 2 others travelling together, a Kiwi girl and her American friend. We sat there talking to them... or more like tried to get a word in while they talked and talked and talked!

After filling in our forms we were taken to our Bure and while we were walking there the receptionist taking us made the comment that she didn't know how she would handle the American girl as she was so loud. We were in stiches laughing so hard!

Our Bure was very spacious and comfortable, we didn't have a/c but it was more than enough with a ceiling fan. We were also told that electricity was unavailable between 0.00-6.00am so we would have to survive without... The things you have to do on a remote island.

So what did we do on this island? Well, not much really. We made sure to use their hammocks (which were everywhere) while reading, swimming in the ocean and doing some great snorkeling.

The snorkeling was so great that I didn't want to stop and ended up getting some blisters on my feet from the fins (which of course later on got infected of course).

After 2 days here we felt like we'd been here for at least a week or more... and not in a bad way, we were just so relaxed!

Every afternoon everyone at the resort gathered at the bar for happy hour drinks and sunset viewing... and all three nights we spent there we had some magnificent views!

Everyday there were some activities organized by the resort but we were too lazy to do any of them... the only one we really took part in was the coconut tree demonstration. They showed us how they create different type of bags using the tree (good bags too, they last and hold quite a bit), how to peel and open coconuts and we were even shown how to crack a coconut using a "Karate" swing... Quite impressive!

The day before we left, the Kiwi and American girl departed and everybody else then shared their stories about them. The girls were nice but they were quite clueless regarding certain things and they were also very loud and talkative. Some of the guests told us that from 6am they were very loud from within their Bure.

That evening the girl that had led us to our Bure came over and said that the girls were returning the next day. We all thought that she was kidding because she was smiling and laughing but it turned out that she had the next few days off so she wouldn't have to be there!

We were also leaving the next day so we didn't care but some of the other people made sure that they were not given the Bure next to them so that they could sleep-in in the morning ;)

Before leaving our island we were sung farewell songs by the staff which was a nice touch (we found out later that this happens everywhere) and we boared our trip to the next island.

Our first stay in Fiji was more than we could hope for... The staff were really friendly and quite funny as well. The island had a great beach in high tide and in low tide - some of the best snorkeling I've done.

We just couldn't wait to get to the next island...

 

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