Vision Landscapes: Fiji

Fiji Islands - Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:03:35 GMT

Today I'm off on a day cruise with South Sea Cruises. I'm taking what is called the Combo Cruise. The high speed catamaran leaves Denarau Marina at 9:00 am for South Sea Island (privately owned). After lunch the cruise passes Matamanoa Island, Tokoriki, Matamanoa, Treasure Island and Bounty islands along the way.

South Sea Island

Our first stop after leaving Denarau Marina is South Sea Island. What do you do on an uninhabited island? Plenty as it turns out.

After our arrival we were told that it should take us about 5 minutes to completed walk around the island if we so desired, leaving is with plenty of time for other activities like snorkeling, scuba diving, riding the submersible ship Captain Nemo, around the reef, or just sitting on sun chairs on the beach and soaking up the sun. The water here is crystal clear, and as I was soon to find out, these little coral islands dot the whole area.

Next, it was back on the boat for a trip around the other islands. First up was Bounty Island, followed by Treasure Island, Beachcomber Island, then off to the most northern island in the Mamanuca Group is Tokoriki Island. With all the islands we only stopped long enough to take on or drop off passengers, however at Tokoriki we docked - all other transfers were by boat.

After leaving Tokoriki it was time to begin the return leg of the journey stopping at Matamanao Island as several other exclusive resorts (Mana and Malolo) before returning to Port Denarau Marina.

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The Coral Coast, Fiji - Monday, 8 October 2007

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:53:44 GMT

The island of Vitu Levu boasts few beaches except along the Southern "Coral Coast" where tropical forests converge with white sand beaches backed by coco palms and resorts. Sigatoka marks the western end of the Coral Coast, and stretches all the way to Suva, the capitol of Fiji.

I began the drive from my hotel near Nadi, intending to drive all the way to Suva, a distance of some 200km. However, I only drove as far as Pacific Harbour, 49km west of Suva. As I reported in an earlier post, the roads are not very good; the potholes made driving tedious. Additionally, every village has 2 or 3 speed bumps at each end, requiring slowing down to 20 kph - the national speed limit is 80 kph. Needless to say, by the time I reached Pacific Harbour I was pretty well worn out. I spent a little time wondering around a tourist area in town before leaving. I passed Sigatoka Sand Dunes park on the way, but it was closed, despite the sign saying it was open daily. Well, today is Fiji Day, a national holiday.

del.icio.us Tags: Travel, Fiji, Photography

Nadi, Fiji - Sunday, 7 October 2007

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 03:00:51 GMT

I arrived in Nadi, Fiji at about 1pm this afternoon. I checked into my hotel, the Fiji Macombo, shortly after arriving. I'm quite impressed with the hotel, and will talk about this later. The weather is quite warm, it was 32 C when I arrived with a high humidity. This will take some getting used to.

Initial Impressions

The first thing I noticed about the people on the island is how warm and friendly the are. Almost everyone I've run into today has greeted me with the Fijian greeting "Bula". People wave towards you as you walk by or as you drive down the street. Everyone seems to go out of their way to be nice. Hopefully, this will be repeated in other parts of the island, and isn't just restricted to the Nadi area.

The roads on the island are not very good, with signs being few and far between. Drivers seem to pass at will, regardless whether they are in a no passing zone or not. It really isn't too bad, since there isn't a lot of traffic anyway. I noticed a lot of people walking, and a lot of busses - most had no windows, with the air conditioning being the wind.

Today, being Sunday, all the stores in town were closed. I also hear the tomorrow is Fiji Day, a national holiday, so I don't know if anything will be open tomorrow or not. Today, I saw large groups of people walking with their bibles, obviously just coming from church. But, I found a Hindu temple in Nadi, and a glimpse of a mosque. Seems like there is a lot of religion here.

Port Denarau

This afternoon, being my first here, I decided to take it easy. I went to the Port Denarau Marina for some shopping and sightseeing. The Marina offers so many promises, but little in the way of delivery. The promised coffee shop is "coming soon" as is the Hard Rock Cafe, and Bookstore. There is a nice New Zealand Naturals Ice Cream store which partially makes up for the others!! Port Denarau is in the middle of a very upscale housing and hotel area, so I expect it will do fine.

There are a number local cruise ships based here, and I'm trying to decide which one I will take. More on this later.

Just to leave you with an image from this afternoon. The ship shown here is one of the ships used for full day cruises around the islands. The whole harbor is quite beautiful with a mountain range in the background. the plan for tomorrow is to drive along the Coral Coast to the capitol city of Suva.

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Nadi, Fiji - Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:34:04 GMT

Arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 5:10am after a short 6 hour flight from Honolulu. After getting off the plane, and walking along the open air corridor, the first thing I noticed was the sounds of birds everywhere, obviously waiting the rising sun. I found it a very peaceful way to arrive in an unfamiliar place. After leaving the gateway, we were directed to transit desk, where three Fijian men in native dress, two with guitars and one with a ukulele, serenaded us with traditional songs, and shouts of "Bula" or welcome. I can't think of any better way to greet arrivals to Fiji - I wonder if this is the way visitors were greeted when they arrived in Hawaii in days gone by. All the people I have met here so far, seem to be very friendly and open.

Unfortunately, there were at least a hundred people - or more - waiting in line at the transfer desk, and only two people working it. It took over an hour to get through the line and get cleared - requiring another pass through security - to get into the lounge where I could wait for my flight to Sydney. Also, unfortunately, I was charged an extra fee for excess luggage at the Honolulu airport before boarding. It seems my luggage allowance is only 30kg (about 90 lbs) total. While this may seem like a lot, for a large format photographer, it was not much at all. In fact, I left a lot of items at home, and even carried three lenses in a fanny pack on the airplane.

As I alluded to earlier, it was still dark upon arrival, so naturally I was unable to see any of the island from the air. However, now that the sun has risen, I can see that the airport is surrounded by a small mountain range. Not unlike what I can see from home, although a little more rugged, and somehow more inviting (not as much vegetation). However, there are very few homes or buildings of any kind. Nadi, is on the Leeward side of the island, so I assume it is drier here than the rest of the island. I'm really excited about being able to return here in a couple of weeks, to spend time photographing it. One final note, it is about 23° C (75° F) and quite humid.

Next stop, Sydney.

del.icio.us Tags: Fiji, Travel