When North Americans want a tropical vacation, they go to the Caribbean. But Ozzies and Kiwis have the South Pacific. And that includes Fiji! Less than a three hour flight from Auckland, we couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity to check out an island paradise. As fall progresses in NZ, it's getting steadily chillier and it was such a joy to step off the plane at Nadi (on the main island of the nation of Fiji) and head to our first idyllic destination: Namuka Bay on the Coral Coast.
The view from the room where we stayed for our first two nights:
And the indoor shower that was actually an outdoor shower!!!:
There was some intimidating coral right along the shore, but we did take a couple of ancient kayaks out on the water for a bit.
And REALLY enjoyed the yummy food at the adjacent restaurant, which showed clearly the strong Indian influence in Fiji (at one point, half of this country's people were Fijian Indian, with the other half being native Fijian/Melanisian) in the form of amazing curry dishes.
After we got a little acclimatized to this environment, which could not be more different from Antarctica, we set off a little deeper into the islands, taking buses to the capitol city of Suva and then farther up the east coast, stopping at small town markets full of fresh produce (it seems EVERYTHING grows here in this warm weather and volcanic soil!)...
...and on to the ferry landing for the boats that go to some of the outer islands. On the horizon, you can see Ovalau Island, the historic former capitol of Fiji, and our next destination.
It was nice bit of travel in a not-very-developped country, as it took a taxi and then a bus and then another bus, with long periods of waiting in-between each leg, before we FINALLY got to board the ferry to Ovalau...
...and watch the sun set over the main island as we headed into the next leg of the adventure.
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