The Fijian archipelago consists of over 300 islands across 518,000 square kilometers. Australia is 3,160 kilometers to the south west of Fiji. The largest island of Fiji is Vii Levu which is where Denarau Island is and the home to seven five star resorts. I flew to Fiji on Saturday morning and arrived at the Radisson Blu Resort on Denarau Island late that afternoon. It was only a three and a half hour flight but with the time zone changes along with daylight savings, I lost a few hours.
After exploring the grounds of the hotel, I made my way to the sunset deck to watch the beautiful sunset and enjoy some dinner.
I spent the next day at the pool all day long enjoying the sun and warmth which was much needed after the rainy disaster of the Whitsunday Islands.
Monday was a repeat of Sunday and I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.
On Tuesday I took a combo cruise to South Sea Island. Upon arriving at the island, all the passengers were graciously welcomed by native Fijians.
Our first activity on the island was a submarine tour to look at the coral and fish. It was pretty neat, but I have to say that snorkeling directly like we did at the Great Barrier Reef gives you a much better first hand view! Then we had a couple hours at our leisure to enjoy the relaxing and peaceful island. Then we had a traditional Fijian bbq lunch with a traditional Meke presentation. A Meke presentation is traditional Fijian dancing, singing, and music!
After lunch we had a little more time to enjoy the island before boarding the boat for the second half of the day. The second part of the day was spent hopping between six of the Mamanuca Islands. We enjoyed the beauty of Bounty
, Treasure,
Beachcomber,
Mana,
Castaway
, and Malolo Islands
. During our cruising adventure we were able to see lots of tiny unnamed islands that make up the Fijian Island Chain.
On Wednesday I took a half day cruise to Beachcomber Island. Unlike South Sea Island, there was nothing special planned at this island, you just had four hours to explore the island and relax on the fine white sand.
As much as I love resort style life and did not want to leave the comfort of the beautiful relaxing grounds, I knew that coming to Fiji would mean having to explore some of the islands in a traditional Fijian respect because the resort doesn't really make you feel like you are in Fiji - you could really be anywhere in the world, so I'm glad I went and saw traditional islands, but in the end, I'm still a five star resort kind of girl! My observations from Fiji are that Fijians are all very welcoming and hospitable individuals full of smiles! Additionally, the exchange rate is amazing. It may be an expensive flight to get here, but once here, everything is pretty reasonably priced compared to the past three months in Australia!
Fiji was definitely a relaxing part of the trip with lots of sun, heat, and humidity but I'm definitely ready to get back to Sydney in the morning!
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