Flying to Fiji, we are instantly in love with this island. The people that we meet are so friendly from the Flight Attendants on South Pacific Airways to everyone we meet in the airport on our arrival, they all greet us with "Bula." I think they are saying "Hola" and I respond in Spanish "Hola" to them. They eventually correct me telling me a few of the words that they use when greeting people. We learn "Bula" and "Vinaka." Bula means Hello and Vinaka means "Thank You."
I feel bad that my guard is up with these people right away despite there genuine friendliness
. We have a couple heavy backpacks that we were pushing on a cart. As we went through the airport, many people offered to get us transportation, but I ignore them acting is if I know exactly where I am going. I remember my experience in Peru where I heard about a German that was scheduled to go on a tour. He met at the location and when a local person asked him if he has meeting the tour of such and such, he said yes and boarded the apparent taxi. The man was robbed, beat up and left on the side of a dirt road.
Although I usually arranged transportation ahead of time and only went up to people that had my first and last name on a card, this was not needed in Fiji. The people in the airport were trying to be helpful and they actually gave us good information on how to get to our transfer. Our transfer company was helpful and offered to watch our bags outside the door of the company. Nevertheless, I refused all offers and watched our bags like a hawk. This too proved to be not necessary and after starting a conversation with our bus driver, we realized that we were in a different place than what I had seen in South America
. Perhaps there could be danger of theft, but if it happened, it would be a very slim chance of happening.
We engage in a lengthy conversation with our bus driver. He is genuine and friendly telling us about Fiji with pride and enthusiasm. Kristin is all smiles. We are sitting outside in the parking lot with warm weather. Although we are waiting for other passengers, we are in no hurry. We love hearing about the story from our driver and realize that we immediately love this island. New Zealand was beautiful, but it lacked this conversation with locals. Although I think of myself as being interested in talking to anyone, anywhere, during our stay in New Zealand, we had limited conversations with people that lasted longer than a few minutes. I seemed to pry for information from the locals in New Zealand, but their responses were short and to the point. We did have a couple conversations with farmers. One person was extremely genuine with pride of New Zealand, but he had Alzheimers and repeated himself and the stories he told us
. We enjoyed meeting him, but were sad when we asked his name and he did not know it. Other than that farmer, perhaps one other conversation of length during our two week stay in New Zealand. Coming to Fiji, we realized that this is what we lacked in New Zealand. The culture and experience that I enjoy the most of my travels comes from conversations with people that I meet. This memories are greater than the sites that I see or the food that I eat. Fiji had not only a culture of people wanted to share with you experiences, but they all looked you in the eye each time they said "Bula" and smiled to you. They were genuine in their friendliness and we loved the culture immediately.
Arriving to our Westin hotel, we could not believe how lucky we were. The poor economy enabled us to get such a good deal that basically we bought the airfare and the 5-star Hotel was almost free for the week. This hotel was beautifully landscaped with river rock ponds surrounding the open air hotel. I requested a oceanfront room in which they gave us one of the best rooms on the property with sliding doors overlooking the ocean
. We arrive to our room as the sun is setting sitting on our private balcony is total relaxation. Decorated in a Polynesian style, this hotel was the original hotel in this area. Our room is beautiful and it is nice to get settled into the room after living in a camper van for much of the past two weeks. It was quiet and relaxing. The weather was incredible I have been to the Caribbean several times and loved it, but it was not as nice as Fiji. I had been to Hawaii, but the culture in Fiji was what I missed about Hawaii.
We eat our dinner on a remote table on the beach one of the many restaurants on the hotel property. The resort is almost empty. The economy is drastically impacting islands like Fiji and I wonder if they will be able to survive the current economic conditions. Our hotel is in Denarau. It is the tourist section near the airport. Many of the tourists go to a private island that is even more quiet than our beach, yet our beach is pretty relaxing. The private beaches have white beautiful sand compared to the dark sand on our beach. Our hotel has unique pool architecture, a sea wall with lawn chairs, cabanas and other huts overlooking the beach and a swim area. We can walk to the Sheraton next door to sit on a beach without the sea wall. There are windsurfers, kayaks and hobie cats that we can take out for sailing. Various excursions can be arranged via guest services such as jet skis, diving, snorkelling, parasailing or trips to neighboring islands. I could not ask for for.
Day 43: June 9th We arrive in Fiji
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Denarau Island, Viti Levu, Fiji
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2025-02-14