We had an awesome time in Fiji. I've never been to a country where the local people are so genuinely kind and welcoming. Plus the scenery was amazing! Brad's parents flew in the morning after us and it was so wonderful and funny to see them again. Our first stop was Waya Island, 1.5 hours by boat north of the main island Viti Levu. The resort we stayed at was very cool. We each had our own thatched bures (think 1-room cottage + bathroom) complete with an outdoor shower. I loved showering under the stars. We spent our time there diving, snorkeling, and chatting with a bunch of really fun and interesting people. The atmosphere there was really social and laid back. It was hot as hell though and it took a couple days to adjust with no air-conditioning. Waya Island is a small island with just our 1 (small) resort and 2 villages. All the staff at the resort are from these villages and they are so funny and warm. We had the opportunity to visit one of the villages and it was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We walked about 15 minutes over to the other side of the island to where the village was and passed through the area where their pigs are kept. Those pigs have million dollar views of the beach, sea, and bays! Once in the village we were walked around and encouraged to ask as many questions as we liked which was right up my alley. They had a kava ceremony for us where we all sat in a circle and took turns drinking this muddy root drink in the ceremonial fashion. After 3 rounds I think we were all a bit stoned and the elders just hung out with us and chatted us up. The main guy's father had just died but the villages still sang and danced for us before selling us crafts that we later learned they had bought in a major town and marked up for us. Naturally our camera battery died on the walk over to the village so we have no photos other than what Rocky took with his camera. Nice, eh?
Week 2 was spent on Beqa Island which is 40 minutes by boat south of Viti Levu. Our main reason for going here was for the big bad shark feed they do here which is rated as one of the best in the world. This resort was a step up accommodation-wise. I've attached a photo from our bure patio that shows our "yard" complete with mini pool, hammock, and ocean view. It was amazing. We dove a lot here and although the visibility was markedly less than it's reported to be we really enjoyed it. We tried our best not to be put off by the fact that every American in Fiji seemed to stay at that resort, but their loud, droning voices seemed to take over every conversation. The shark dive was intense. In addition to the nurse, bull, and lemon sharks we saw (the 2 latter being "baddies"), there was a grouper the size of a Volkswagen bug! Very fun and cool.
After Beqa we went on a 3 night cruise around the Yasawa Island group north of the main island. It's actually the island group that Waya island belongs to. Unfortunately this was the first time we had rain for any more than 30 minutes at a time and we (stupidly) ended up wasting 1 of our 2 (full) days just sitting in our room watching movies. The view of the islands was amazing though and we had a New Year's dinner and party on the beach there the next day.
Our last week in Fiji was spent on Viti Levu. We rented a car and spent our time driving from place to place and eating mangos we bought for "$2 a heap". So good. The highlands are really lush and green -a stark contrast to the pristine palm-lined white sand beaches of the islands. We did a bit of a road trip one morning to Volivoli Point for a dive/snorkel (us diving, Rocky & Joan snorkeling) and had one of the most beautiful dives we've ever done. We swam through underwater canyons covered in all colours of hard and soft corals and fans that were meters wide. It was absolutely stunning. Our second dive there we stumbled across a 12 foot bronze whaler shark. A definite baddie but spectacular to see. The day before Rocky and Joan left the weather turned due to a "tropical" depression and by the time we left the main town by the airport (Nadi) was under 4 feet of water and there were overnight curfews do try to stop car accidents from happening. I've never seen so much water!
