The trouble with paradise
In my head, the Fiji part of the trip went something like this: 1) Land in Nadi, Fiji 2) Catch a boat to paradise island from outside the airport 3) Be lying on hammock drinking cockatils in the sun within the hour.
The reality was somewhat different.
I’d read that Fiji’s humidity slaps you in the face as you step off the plane. What I hadn’t expected was how much everything in the air conjured up memories of Kenya and by extension all the concomitant challenges like trusting the taxi drivers, the road users generally and the roads (pot-holed to the max). Everything about it told me I was back in Africa.
And the sun wasn’t even shining; we were in the middle of a cyclone.
Contrary to my visions of being at paradise island within an hour of touchdown, I in fact had to stay overnight on the mainland before catching a boat the next morning.
One review on Trip Advisor, entitled “Don’t stay here” has this to say:
…isolated from anywhere else … which means you have to eat in their restaurant. Stick to fish and chips and pizza – anything else is poorly cooked. The ‘continental’ breakfast consists of rice bubbles, toast, fake orange juice and tea bags. The staff lack communication abilities, even amongst themselves. And check your account when you check out for extra costs. Disappointing, cannot recommend.
Well in actual fact it wasn’t as bad as all that (in my experience). Although to avoid the 30-bed dorm that I’d been warned about, I paid out for the luxury of a private room which I’m pleased of, but for an overnight stop off I didn’t even want to do it felt like a bit of a waste of money.
The next morning the bus transfer to the ferry was an hour or so late but I didn’t let that dampen my spirits. Weather remained disappointing but still. Soon I was to be experiencing the most unimaginable paradise on earth.
The driver arrived with bad news: the waters were extremely choppy thanks to the cyclone and woudl be delayed. That’s if it ran at all.
Well it did run. But what should have been 1 hour, was two hours. And choppy doesn’t begin to cover it. I clutched to my stomach and once my mind had decided that I wasn’t going to vomit, my next concern was the number of times my head was hitting the ceiling of our 10-seater. I was on the back, virtually IN the water, getting sprayed for the full 120 minutes. It was pretty awful and all I could think was “I’ve got to do this in return as well!”. That, and “turn back I want to go home!”.
[ to be completed.... one day]
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