A crazy nonstop day at work today, so I thought I’d spend some time this evening reviewing our short escape to Fiji before I forget everything.
I had that “I’m juggling a hundred things at once and my brain is full” feeling a number of times today and my recent memories are bound to be the first casualties of the resultant brain fade.
Four members of the family were able to organise a long weekend off work together so we decided to take a flying visit to a tropical island to gird our loins before the onset of winter. One of the offspring had unavoidable work commitments so stayed behind to dog sit.
We chose Fiji as it was the nearest with handy flights available. A bit of googling showed that Natadola beach was just an easy drive from Nadi airport and was the best beach for snorkelling on the mainland, so that’s where we booked. It’s only 60 kms from the airport but the trip takes an hour due in a large part to the extremely hairy driving of the locals, who can either go 20 kms below the speed limit or 20 kms above, but nothing in between. The reasonably priced resort was undergoing renovations (so soon no longer to be reasonably priced I imagine), which left us with an eye wateringly expensive place which we booked anyway as it was only for a few nights. It was a golf resort, apparently, although they did a terrific job of hiding the golf course which is rather surprising considering they are usually quite large.
Our room had a fantastic view out over the beach, and was light and sunny. The offspring also had a water view but it was out across the estuary and the room was quite dark. Otherwise the units were identical and quite luxurious. The bathrooms had two sinks which is a feature that always impresses.
The staff were Fijians including some Fijian Indians, and were all very friendly. The resort had three restaurants, and the food was of pretty good quality, but the same could not be said of the cocktails unfortunately. The service was excellent, there was no evidence of “Island time” that I’ve come across before. A relaxed attitude is fine but not when you’re thirsty. On our final night, all the staff at the restaurant sang us a beautiful farewell song which I was dreading but it ended up being quite touching, as the acoustics made their lovely voices quite magical. Not so magical when the maître D took Simon aside at the end and asked him to write a review for Tripadvisor.
The resort organises a fun family beach clean up event every Saturday morning at 8 am. Strangely enough, our two offspring were the only volunteers to turn up. They were supposed to meet up with us an hour later for breakfast, and by the time they were an hour late we were beside ourselves, envisioning kidnappings, alcoholic comas, murder/suicide pacts, or any combination of the above. It really spoilt our appetites. They joined us at 10, sweaty, sunburnt and covered in multitudinous insect bites. They had collected a huge sack of rubbish each, earning a drinks voucher for their pains. They were clearly feeling quite pleased with themselves, and we were proud, although I did warn them about this sort of White Saviour behaviour, and the dangers of colluding with corporate greenwashing. Honestly if they come down with Dengue Fever I will struggle to stop myself from saying I told you so.
The highlight as always for me – apart from quality family time, clearly – was the snorkelling. There were huge numbers of fish of many different species, and the coral looked fairly healthy. The visibility was only so so, but the water temperature was perfect. The main problem was the very strong current. I made a strict rule that we should always snorkel with a buddy, a rule I broke on the last morning because I figured I knew the beach by then, and I had long flippers on. Unfortunately, that was the day I was caught in a rip. For quite a while I was going nowhere trying to swim back to shore against the current, in spite of strenuous effort. That was scary, especially as it came only a few minutes after almost being run over by a couple of jet skis, a la my namesake, Kirsty MacColl. I tried swimming parallel to the beach for a while, but it didn’t help, so I was nearing exhaustion by the time I got out onto the sand. So, not a tremendous beach for the novice.
In summary, we had a great time, but would I recommend it? Yes, I think I would but with provisos.