Drive around Sigatoka

After a lot of hassle, we rented a car at Nadi and went driving around to Sigatoka town. We wanted to see the famed Coral Coast, Natadola beach, and other Sigatoka sights.

The island of Viti Levu is very green and hilly. It was a very pretty drive amidst sugarcane fields and green hills. We did catch sight of the white sands and multicolored sea of Natadola beach, but were not able to find the entrance to the beach! The resorts around were entrance only to guests and we did not get to the beach at any of the places(though we did get to the driveway at the Shangri-La).

I'd read a lot about the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, about 2km from Sigatoka, but when we reached the place, the sand dunes were a disappointment to us. The ecosystem in the dunes is truly amazing - seeing the range of plants growing, it was very easy to forget that it was all on sand. But the sand dunes itself were very minimal. We could not see the vast expanses of windswept dunes that resembled a scene from Arabian nights (as one of information brochures described it). While I understand that the wind continuously changes the dunes, I was unprepared to be greeted with the sight of bottles and crates on the beach. There was one very, very steep sand dune to climb before getting to the point on the beach. This is a difficult climb, not only because of the steepness, but also because it is sand and every step sinks into the ground and it is difficult to get a foothold. I put on my flip-flops(thongs to Australians) on my hands and climbed up on all fours!

The surprise of the drive was Kula Eco Park, opposite the Outrigger Reef Resort in the Coral Coast. At the entrance of the park, we had parrots and iguanas sit on us and had pictures taken! The park itself has a lot of native tropical trees and is very calm. The wooded trail was a good peaceful walk for us. It seemed like any other park until the peacock made the day for us. Peacocks and peahens were wandering around in the park, when one peacock took it in his head to impress a peahen and unfurled his magnificient tail. I don't know if he impressed the lady, but we were spellbound. He further proceeded to do a little jiggle and show all sides of this tail even after the peahen had moved off. If I didn't know that peacocks are naturally shy birds, I'd think that this one was putting up a display for us!

Malamala Island and Snorkelling

Though the Sheraton Fiji was self-sufficient in every way, it did not have snorkeling. Through the friendly activities coordinator, we booked a day trip to the uninhabited Malamala Island. I had wanted to go on a tour to Castaway Island (tour booked out) or the Yasawa. But Raj (and many others like him), were influenced by the 'all-inclusive' and the short 1 hour trip to get to the island. The 'all inclusive' included all food, drinks, activities, equipment.

At the first sight of the boat, I was a little taken aback. It seemed small and unattractive compared to the other boats moored nearby. But the boat was comfortable and the crew sang Fijian songs to keep is entertained durin gthe 1 hour trip to the island. The island itself is like you'd find on a picture postcard. The sea is of brilliant colours in shades of blue. As first time snorkelers, we were very jumpy. Other than the two of us, everyone went snorkeling off by themselves. The instructor was very friendly and patient and guided us along the marvelous corals. To say it is a different world down there is a cliche, but the likes of it could never be equaled in any aquarium. Apart from the corals, we saw fishes of all colours, starfishes, sea cucumbers and many other creatures.

There was also fishing and beach volleyball for those interested. After snorkeling, we were content to just sleep under the shade on the white beach. There were other people who did nothing but eat and drink all their time there! A lovely initiation into the world of snorkelling - one that we will never forget and will keep going back to.

Unwinding in FIJI on 'bula' time (10/02/04 - 10/09/04) - Trip Report

One of our most relaxing and enchanting vacations - Fiji was chosen out of necessity rather than choice for our anniversary vacation. I had to go to Atlanta for my fingerprinting by INS and I found an Air Pacific flight that was through Nadi, Fiji and needed a journey of minimum 5 days. Researching on Fiji a little, I discovered that it was a very sought after destination for Australians and a very beautiful country. So Fiji it was.

Unfortunately, our time in Fiji coincided with the school holidays in Australia & NZ, which meant that most of the reasonably priced resorts were already booked. After lots of searching and calling hotels in Fiji, I finally managed to get accomodations at The Sheraton Fiji resort on Denarau Island, about 20 minutes from the international airport at Nadi. Days at the resort were like a dream - from friendly "Bula" greetings to swinging on the hammock doing nothing to sitting on the beach watching the sunset to getting a beach massage. Though there were quite a few activities at the resort, we often ended up doing nothing but sleeping on the beach/hammock to the gentle breeze and the sounds of the ocean.

We went out sailing in a Catamaran - our first time. The instructor at Sheraton came out with us the first time and showed us how to handle the boat. He then let us go out into the sea by ourself! We initially caught good wind and went sailing at good speed into the sea, but then the wind died and we did not know how to navigate the boat further. We spent some giggling time trying to paddle the boat to the shore. We then had a second run with the instructor along with us, managed to almost run into a fishing vessel moored nearby before getting back. It was an exhiliating experience, I only wish we had tried sailing at the resort earlier.

Every night from 9 pm onwards, there was a band playing in the lounge (Planter's Lounge at Sheraton Fiji). They'd start with slow romantic songs and move on to fast numbers. Along with other guests, we'd start dancing with the slow songs and be dancing away the night. We danced almost every night and loved every moment - my classes at body jam in MSAC, Melbourne, really helped - I managed to get quite a lot steps in tune with the music!

The only downside of the place was the beach itself. It was quite murky and was not inviting for swimming. But I was so relaxed on the hammock that swimming in the beach actually seemed a lot of work that I did not want to do! Also, there was no snorkelling in the resort (Fiji is an excellent snorkelling and scuba diving haven). There is a beautiful Golf course (where current world no.1 Vijay Singh started his career), unfortunately, just starting to learn the game, we were not able play there. There are also other Sheraton properties on the Island and the 'Bula Bus' - a quaint bus with a brown thatched roof can be used to move between the resorts. We went over to Malamala Island for a day trip and had great snorkelling. We also rented a car and explored the island of Viti Levu around Sigatoka village.