Bula from Fiji!!

In May we headed to Fiji!  On our way back home, we stopped in Sydney for a few days.

As soon as we stepped off the plane the ground staff welcomed us with a loud Bula! Bula is a greeting in Fiji. Like Aloha in Hawaii.  We thought it would have been super easy to just pick up a taxi, but that would have been too easy. After walking around the arrivals area for awhile and asking around we finally found a shuttle going to our hotel. After getting settled into the shuttle van, we started talking with the other couple and as it turns out they were from Hong Kong too! Since it was late when we arrived at the hotel, we went straight to bed, but the next morning we went out on our balcony for our first real view of Fiji and the view definitely did not disappoint!

After a long morning walk down the beach, we staked out our beach chairs for a late morning siesta under the palm trees. For lunch we walked over to a fish and chips restaurant at the hotel. We went with the fresh  calimari rings which were HUGE. In the evening we made the 10 minute walk down to Port Danaru which is where all the island tours depart from. Port Denarau has numerous eating and shopping options - and even a Hard Rock Cafe.

The next day we went on an all day tour to two of the outlying islands, South Sea and Bounty Island. Upon checking in for the tour they gave us a sticker noting which tour and islands we would be seeing, everyone had different stickers. After about 30 minutes we arrived at the first island, and luckily that was our stop. After a brief introduction to the island by the staff we were left to do whatever we wanted.

You could walk around South Sea in less than 5 minutes, so there wasn't much to see except crystal clear water, sand though the baby black tip reef SHARKS 10 feet from the beach made for some excitement. Melissa found a hammock and took a siesta while I got in a kayak to paddle around the island and take a closer look at the sharks.

After a BBQ lunch we took the a boat to Bounty Island. Bounty was much larger than South Sea, but we had already had so much sun at South Sea so we found a nice place in the shade to rest until it was pick up time.

Leaving Bounty Island in the sunset

When the mothership arrived to pick us up from Bounty Island we grabbed some seats on the top deck to watch the sunset and get a few final views of Bounty Island. 

When we arrived back at the hotel we heard some drums  which lured me to the beach where a polynesian fire show was about to start. After the long day in the sun we were ready to get some sleep, but we had to make a quick detour to catch the hotel's polynesian fire show. 

Our last day Melissa had to do some work, but at least she had a nice view. She had some big deal closing so she had to spend a few hours on conference calls and constantly checking her palm, they don't call it a crack-berry for nothing.




We went down to the port and had an authentic Fijian dinner... Indian food. The British colonials brought Indians over to work in the sugar plantations, and now 40% of the population is of Indian descent. Before dinner we walked along the beach enjoying one last Fijian sunset and it definitely didn't disappoint.