We left from Boston on time, around 5pm. We then flew to LAX, landed, had a brief layover and got on our next flight to Fiji. We were delayed about and hour and a half due to a passenger that insisted on getting off the plane, with her bags after we had taxied to the runway. We were so exhausted from out last few weeks of wedding mania that we did not have a problem sleeping for a good portion of our 10+ hour flight to the big island in Fiji called Nadi (Pronounced Nan-Di.) We felt pretty good when we got off the plane, pleasantly surprised. The trip to South Africa felt longer and harder. Then, however, we had an eight hour layover, in a tiny airport. We grabbed a cab and went to the town of Nadi to find some lunch. Nadi was a bit run down, we learned they had had a major flood back in May (or March), that caused many of the shops to close or move. We ate lunch at a small little place. The seats were covered in Coca-Cola red slip covers. I had pancakes, Justin had something meat-ish. We learned quickly that much of the Nadi shops are owned and operated by the Indians, as the native Fijians call them. There seems to be just a hint of competition in Nadi. We had lots of offers by Fijians to come see "True Fiji culture" at their off the main road shops. We didn't venture far, I was hot, tired, cranky, hungry and dirty.
We did stop by to peak at a very large Hindu temple that was at the end of the main road. It's colors were astounding. Easter egg colored, intricately carved ornaments adorned the structure. Traditionally garbed worshippers carried plates of food in circles around the temple. Soft music floated from within one of the inter sanctum's open doors. (will have photos posted later)
After that, we grabbed another cab and headed back to the airport. I wanted to sit and relax and maybe sleep some more. When it was time to board our puddle jumper to Savusavu (a small town on an inlet of the second largest island in Fiji), we were asked to walk through the security line. Literally, that's about all we did, walk through the line. They scanned our bags as well, but it took all of 2 minutes. It was awesome. We walked out to board our tiny little plane- much like the ones we've taken to Nantucket now and then. The kind that has 3 seats in each row, you can't stand up straight, and there is no place to put carry on luggage. We sort of just piled it in our laps and prepared for our 55 minute jump to Sauvsavu.
The flight was a bit bumpy, we spent much of the time immersed in thick white clouds. The few times we could see below us, the views of the Fiji archipelago were incredible. Lots of lush green islands surrounded by turquoise blue and sandy colored reefs. There were often patches and expanses of reef where there weren't any islands. Landing in Savusavu meant circling a surprisingly very hilly terrain, and heading for a very short, but paved landing strip that ended back in the ocean. All we could think of was that it looked like we were about to land in Jurassic Park. We had one of the smoothest landings I've ever experienced. The airport was literally a sign, a small structure, but no walls. Welcome to Savusavu!
Our resort, Koro Sun, is located in Savusavu, so we were only about a 15 minute car ride away from being able to shower, sleep and eat. The 8 hour layover had sent us over the edge. We needed a home. Our resort had said they'd send us a van to fetch us and bring us back to the hotel. We were to be greeted with song and coconuts. It became clear however, that the driver was somewhat confused. While the Koro Sun van WAS there and he DID have coconuts for us to drink, he only had half of us on his list of arrivals. Thus began my slight fear that we were going to run in to a few hiccups. And hiccups we had.
We fit all of us arriving weary travelers into the van and left the luggage behind, pretty much just hanging out in the open, for another driver to come back and get. The van drove fast down Hibiscus Higway. A small part of paved road between the airport and the main clump of resorts. For those Harry Potter fans out there, think of the night bus, with the shrunken head laughing as you zoomed down a bumpy windy road. Lots of trees, some views of the ocean, and several Fijians walking the road yelling bula! as we passed, carrying large rusty knives. The knives we learned, are for cutting down coconuts.
I digress. We arrived at the resort, were shuffled into the clubhouse and offered foot massages in delightfully cool water, freshly shaved coconut shavings and coconut oil. This felt awesome. We then found out that our Edgewater Villa was undergoing maintenance with no idea of when it would be fixed. Also, there was not another room ready for us. We needed to wait as they cleaned one... This was also happening to another honeymoon couple. We lounged in the clubhouse and helped ourselves to tea. We were exhausted and glad to just rest a bit. This did get old, about 2 hours later when it was close to 6pm on Tuesday night and we still had not showered, been shown to a room, or eaten anything. Finally, around 6:30pm we got into our Bure. I won't go in to details, but we were not happy by that point. We have two showers "in" the room. One is a very cool high stone walled shower, that is... outside the master bathroom. The other shower is in the second bedroom but is dark and not so nice. The light for the outside shower was broken so we didn't really have an option to shower, and at this point, were late for dinner. We ate a fast dinner and went to bed by 8pm without showering, determined to get ourselves moved to a better room in the morning.
In the morning, it was raining, but we opted to take a shower outside anyway. We at least got hot water. We headed down for breakfast and after a decent meal, we felt human again. We talked a bit more with reception though not much progress was made. They offered us a few things on the house that will include a couples massage and a private candlelight dinner at some point. We may get to move in a few days when another Bure becomes available. Over the last 2 day however, they have cleaned our private pool and seemed to have gotten our jacuzzi to work. We do have a small screened in porch off of our bedroom which is our favorite spot. Our room is growing on us. Once you get used to the leaking toilets when it rains, the occasional leaking ceiling as well, the ants, the shy gecko here and there, and the loss of power daily, it isn't so bad. It won't be the luxury beach honeymoon we had hoped for, but it will be an adventure.
The people here couldn't be nicer. The staff always remembers your name and says hello all the time. The food has its good parts and its "just okay" parts. The island is thick with greenery. It is humid but a comfortable temperature. Coconuts grow all year round and are the main source of income for most natives. They use literally every part of the coconut tree. The coconut itself has at least 7 main parts that are used for various things- most of which you've heard of by now... Oil, milk, water, meat. The outside husk of the coconut can be braided in to rope, worth a great deal now a days as only the elders tend to know how to braid such a rope. The palm leaves are woven into several types of baskets used by men and women to carry things. The stems of the palm leaves are stripped and used as the straw for brooms. There are also mango, papaya and banana trees all over.
The flowers are all bright shades of red and magenta with tons of habiscus lining the "highway".
We have taken a few pictures of the resort but are waiting until the weather gets nicer to finish them up. I realized that I have photos on our big camera that I haven't uploaded yet, so I will add more later. For now, here are a few!
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