Into the South Pacific...

Reef off the coast of Viti Levu south of Nadi, Fiji. [0548]

It's in our neighbourhood, broadly speaking, but we have never spent any time in the South Pacific, apart from a great driving holiday several years ago to New Caledonia. So we decided on an island-hopping expedition between Fiji and French Polynesia, aboard the Lindblad vessel National Geographic Orion. This would call into tiny islands that we would never get to otherwise. It's an easy flight from Sydney to Nadi (pronounced Nandi), Fiji, and the time change is only one hour, so no semblance of jet=lag, which is a pleasant change from trips to Europe and the Americas.

Fiji, which gained independence from Great Britain in 1970, consists of 330 volcanic islands, largest and most populous being Viti Levu which holds three quarters of the entire national population of 925,000. Due to the mountainous terrain almost everyone lives around the edge. Nadi is the third biggest city after Suva and Lautoka. It seems that the name Fiji stems from Captain James Cook's hearing of its name by inhabitants of Tonga. Fiji was first settled by Lapita people from Taiwan between 3500 and 1000BC, successfully navigating vast ocean distances long before Europeans attempted it.

We arrived in Nadi five days before our planned departure, and spent almost that entire time closeted away at the luxury Marriott report at Momi Bay, maybe 45 minutes taxi ride from the airport. We had prebooked this taxi from Mick's Tours, and all went well except that Abel, the driver, was not waiting for us as expected. He arrived about 15 minutes later, citing "after-school traffic" as the problem. On the Fijian roads, we could see what he meant!

The two-lane road from Nadi airport to Momi Bay ran mostly inland from the coast and was generally of poor quality with lots of speed humps especially near villages. Pedestrians walk on the side of the road, warned our our approach by a friendly toot. In many places there are roadside markets, mostly fruit stalls, and we could see that Papaya was in season, but no mangos. We passed at least one impressive, brightly coloured, Hindu temple, and lots of churches. If Wikipedia is any guide, Christianity is dominant amongst the population, and we wonder why missionaries were so successful. Apart from the outskirts of Nadi, and a few tiny villages, the road was mostly through overgrown farmland and dense tropical scrub.

The Marriott resort was all it claimed to be, and our over-water bure was beautiful and exceptionally confortable. The over-water bures number about 20, and must be the best accommodation at this resort which holds about 400 guests in total. Most of the bures were occupied, and indeed, the whole resort was pretty busy with, judging by everone's accents, mostly Americans and the rest Australians and New Zealanders. We hardly talked to any other guests, who were mostly small groups of friends, or families with children, and couples like us.

Resort staff were, to a man/woman, excellent - friendly, attentive and well trained, a credit to the Hotel Manager, who we happened to meet, an Australian. We were led to understand that they live in villages in the vicinity of the resort, and are well paid "by Fiji standards". They did not give any hint of expecting tips, a welcome distinction from US establishments. If you didn't feel like walking within the large resort area, they happilly whizzed us around in electric golf buggies. We used this facility quite a bit because of frequent, usually short, downpours of rain. Cultural performances entertained guests almost every evening in Momi Bay.

The weather was "tropical', often overcast with rain from time to time, as mentioned. It was hot and very humid, as you would expect for an island with about the same latitude as Cairns. Exercising within the resort was no problem, with an excellent fitness centre, and the walk the resort from one end to the other was about 2km. There was no real point attempting to walk outside the resort, there being no footpaths and the luscious undergrowth coming right up to the edge of the paved surface. Nothing much to see anyway within a resaonable distance.

No crowds about soon after dawn at the lagoon. [4082]

Overwater bures at the lagoon pontoon at the Marriott resort. [4113]

Over-water Lagoon Restaurant. [3009]

The over-water bures stretch out into a calm lagoon with a narrow entrance to the sea, inside the fringing reef which protects this part of Fiji from ocean swells. The lagoon is ringed by beaches and waterfront resort villas, and many guests, including us, cooled off by swimming in the lagoon. We could get in down a flight of stairs direct from our bure, and we measured the tide by the number of stairs covered - these ranged from two to nine, so the tidal range must have been about a meter. Even at low tide, there was no chance of touching the bottom in the lagoon, which must be well dredged. A pontoon anchored in the middle of the lagoon was about 75m from our steps, a nice swim. Most guests preferred the swimming pools of the resort to the clean but murky waters of the lagoon, but it was, frankly, too crowded for us to relax around these pools, despite lots of space. Some villas faced the ocean and copped a nice cooling breeze, and on the ocean side there is an "adults only" infinity pool and the resort's upmarket sand-floored seafood restaurant.

Local handicrafts available in Momi Bay. [4119]

Overnight raindrops on a wildflower in the resort gardens. [0614]

These colorful finches enjoyed hopping about the grass looking for delicacies. [4143]

Soon after dawn, the blissfully deserted and mirron smooth ocean facing infinity pool. [4225]

At check-in, we were told that it was advisable to make reservations at the resort's restaurants. We like to make last minute decisions on such things, and so did not take to this advice. Reservations proved to be essential at Lagoon and Fish, but we fould that the mian restaurant Goji always had space available. For dinner, there was the choice between a-la-carte and buffet (complicated by weird and restrictive dining packages) and the food was always good.

Vivid red sunset and its reflection in the Marriott lagoon. [5534]

The Marriott's over-water bures seen from the lagoon after sunset. [0562]

Outside the resort, (yes, there is an outside to this resort!) in the foothills behind Nadi, we visited the Garden of the Sleeping Giant botanic garden, a small but lush valley featuring many beautiful orchids (over 2000, they say, but we didn't try to count them). Elsewhere, a private lookout (belonging to Rosie, the same lady who owns the bus which got us there, up a steep and rugged dirt road) gave some pleasant views of the Pacific Ocean and the mountains.

Sneha, a guide in the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. [4179]

Warning sign in the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. [4177]

One of many orchids in the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. [4169]

We attempted to visit the village of Viseisei, apparently the oldest settlement in the country, first settled 2000 years ago, and once visited by Prince Charles. We weren't as welcome as Charles and were politely informed that it was Sunday, a day of rest, and please go away, which we did. The teenagers of the village were more welcoming. My large camera was a magnet to them, and they wanted their photos taken as long as I could tell them where they would appear.

View of the foothills countryside from Rosie's lookout. [4208]

Photo hound in the village of Viseisei. [4212]