Fiji, Part 1

Ah, Fiji, you stole our hearts in just two days.  Your beautiful countryside, your beautiful people (the nicest ones one earth, truly), and your ‘Fiji Time’ way of life – we will be back!

Just past the International Dateline (to the west), below the Equator, is a small country set in the South Pacific – an archipelago [a sea or stretch of water having many islands] of more than 300 islands!  Viti Levu is the main island, home to Suva, the capital, and Nadi (spoken: Nandi) where you find the main international airport.  Home to almost 900,000 residents who speak English, Fijian, and some Fiji Hindi (among other languages), this country has become one of our favorites and we barely scratched the surface!

NOTE:  Traveling from the US or Australia, you do not need a visa for a visit less than 3 months, which is a gift – one less thing to chase before departing for Fiji!

When planning our trip to Australia, we chose to use [eafl id=”371″ name=”STA Travel” text=”STA Travel”], an online travel agency that gears its deals and services to students, mostly.  However, many years ago we discovered there ARE perks to being teachers – STA Travel has teacher rates that compare to the discounted student rates offered, so we use them A LOT for our international travel!  The key is to call to make your bookings as they offer better rates over the phone than those online.  If you can prove in any way that you are either a student or teacher (in any capacity), then you can use their services!  In fact, anyone can book through them, but rates will not be as great for those who do not fit into their targeted audience.  Either way, we began searching for one-way flights out of LA to Australia and discovered that flying through Fiji was cheaper than flying direct.  As we searched more thoroughly (and chatted with several lovely STA representatives) we learned that we could do a two-night stopover in Fiji for no added cost (other than for the accommodation, food, and activities we chose while visiting).  We originally thought a week would be a great bonus to our trip, but the flight costs doubled after those first two nights, so we landed on a quick stop to whet our palettes, knowing we would probably be back someday!

Having never flown [eafl id=”373″ name=”Fiji Airways” text=”Fiji Airways”], we began to research a bit to make sure we knew their processes and procedures.  What we discovered is that they are much more strict on their baggage limits than other international airlines in terms of weight, thus forcing me to re-pack our bags several times (twice in Grand Rapids and Higgins Lake, once in Denver, and again in Los Angeles) to make sure the weights of not only our checked luggage but also our carry-on bags did not exceed their limits.  I may have become obsessed by these limits (I am sure Alan and the kids would attest to this), but when you read reviews saying they charge you $150 a bag at the gate if it is over 15 lbs or 7 kgs, then you darn well want to make sure your bags are lighter than  15 lbs!  We had also read many reviews stating that the flight attendants and flight itself were not as good as other international flights to the South Pacific, but we were pleasantly surprised when these silly reviews were wrong!  Upon check-in at LAX International, a woman greeted us with “Bula” (hello in Fijian) and the warmest of smiles.  Not one mention of the weight of our luggage or our carry-on items was uttered.  The woman behind the counter simply placed tags on our carry-ons that stated “Approved Carry-on” and gave us our boarding passes!  While waiting for our flight, Niyah befriended a little boy, Reinov, born in Canada, but his entire family is Fijian.  He and his Aunty played with our kids for over an hour – he was clearly smitten with Niyah and she with him!  Boarding began 45 mins before take off, which is common for an international flight.  Again, “Bula” and warm smiles and comments made to our children about their ‘adorable’ suitcases, but nothing else – no scales to weigh carry-ons, as mentioned several times in reviews.  We found our seats, which were roomy and as comfortable as economy seats are typically, and got settled in before most of the other travelers began boarding – traveling with 4 kids comes in handy for early boarding!  To our surprise, Reinov and his family sat down directly behind us – more entertainment for the flight!  LAX to NAN is an 11 hour flight over the Pacific.  We will write more about flying on long overhaul flights with children in another post, but let’s just they rocked it – mostly!  Niyah was the most restless with some outbursts of tears and screaming at least three times during the 11 hours – all during the ‘lights out’ period of the flight, which meant most people were attempting to sleep.  Joys of traveling with a 23 month old!  Overall, the meals served (two – a dinner about an hour after take-off and breakfast, about two hours before landing) were fine – nothing to write home about, but definitely edible and had flavor.  I had ordered the gluten/dairy free meals and I dare say they were more tasty and appealing than the typical meals!  Dinner:  grilled chicken, rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a rice cake.  Breakfast consisted of eggs, tomatoes, a Larabar, and fruit cup.  The bonus of ordering a ‘special’ meal is that you get served first!  Seriously, when do I EVER get to eat before anyone in my life?  I took this as a gift from above!  Not bad in my book!  Alan and the kids had a pasta (overcooked a tad) and chicken dish for dinner and Alan had scrambled eggs with chicken sausage for breakfast, while the kids had pancakes with some type of fruit sauce, Kirra had something different though, french toast with custard! The flight attendants were attentive, kind, and gave their warm smiles freely!  I dropped a pen at one point and before I could even bend down to pick it up, one of the male flight attendants was there handing it to me!  I am not even sure how he saw it drop!  Take-offs and landings were smooth – pilots were vocal several times during the flight on updates to the flight path and any turbulence, etc.  This is something we actually look for in an airline – our belief is that if the pilots talk and share over the PA, then it’s a good airline, or at least it helps settle our flying nerves a bit knowing there is an actual human flying the plane who cares about his/her guests enough to share a bit of info!  We would definitely fly with Fiji Airways again!

Upon arriving into Nadi, Fiji, “Bula,” could be heard throughout customs, which was a quick and easy process of getting stamps in our passports (the first official stamps in the kids’ Aussie passports) and collecting our luggage.  No drama, no worries.  The Nadi airport is small, compared to places like LAX, so it was very easy to navigate and find the rental car counters.  We had booked through Avis  prior to our arrival, which is highly recommended as you will get better deals booking outside of Fiji!  There are local rental companies, but again, we would suggest renting with an international company, such as Avis, as there are more protections for you as a driver!  When checking in to get our rental, we learned that we had an upgrade to an SUV as the van we had booked had been in an accident the night before – a man and his two kiddos were driving back to Nadi to return the van and hit a HORSE!  The van was severely damaged, the man and his kiddos were fine, and the horse ran off, so we are not sure of its condition!  This surprised us at first – how does one hit a horse?!  But we quickly realized that horses are a main mode of transportation for many Fijians (we saw children riding them to school, men and women riding them work), so this horse probably came loose from hits rope on the side of the road and the man didn’t see it in the dark.  What a frightening experience!  During the check-in process the Avis rep did mention to watch out for other livestock as well – cattle, horses, and goats are found wandering along the roadside – this was not an exaggeration!  While they prepared the car for our use, Alan ran to the airport store to buy some snacks for the 2 hour car ride to our accommodation – he came back with bottles of Fiji water, two bags of lollies (gummy frogs and snakes) and two bags of crisps (potato chips).  I mean, what else would make sense at 6am in the morning after an 11 hour flight?!  Ha!   He hopped in the right side of the vehicle to drive (Fijians drive on the left side of the road like many other countries, including Australia), quickly acclimated himself with the vehicle and we set off for our drive down to the Coral Coast at the south end of the island, our home for the next two nights!

Knowing we had limited time in this beautiful country, we wanted to make the most of our stay and get to [eafl id=”374″ name=”The Beachouse” text=”The Beachouse”] as soon as possible to settle in and relax!  Our phones were not working great, so we did not have any maps to guide us – just some spotty directions we could gather from the interweb!  The kids were a tad nervous that we were not going to find our way, but we tried to assure them than many people, long before our time and the time of cellphones and internet, were able to find their way – I am not sure this helped their worry, but we felt proud of our efforts!  We chose to breathe in the countryside, the sights and smells, as we drove south along the coast.  Many people will tell you not to spend any time on the main island of Fiji as it doesn’t have much to offer – the islands off the coast are where most people head or picture when thinking of Fiji – I am sure you can picture it now:  pure white sandy beaches, lush tropical gardens, infinity pools overlooking the bluest of blue oceans – paradise.  All I have to say is that I am SO glad that we did not go to smaller islands this trip!  The main island is GORGEOUS and very diverse – small mountainous regions, lush rainforests, farmlands, coastal regions that vary in sandy and coral beaches, and quaint villages that line the main highway, The Queens Highway (Fiji is a part of the Commonwealth).  This is what we hoped for when planning our short stop in Fiji – we wanted our kiddos to see the real Fiji, not the commercialized resorts with lush white sandy beaches (although, if you know me, you know those beaches were calling my name).  We wanted them to meet people who live in the villages, to see the schools, the stores, the gardens, the houses, the cars and public buses, the paths and roads that these Fijians take daily to work or school.  We wanted our kiddos to see and experience Fiji in its most natural state, or at least as natural as we could in our short stay.  Our pictures posted here will tell the tale of our drive – simple, beautiful, and just what we hoped for!

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