Want to skip to the pictures, just click HERE to 1st page of thumbnail images.
Our big trip for 2007 was FIJI. Bula and Vinaka were new words added to our vocabulary; hello and thankyou respectively.
So... Where's FIJI? Its directly North of New Zealand and very near the International Dateline. Here is a general map of Fiji. Its really easiest to get a copy of Google Earth and use this tool to see where we went. I used a GPS and captured track points for about all the interesting places we visited.
Our trip started from Honolulu with a flight to the Nadi airport located on the West end of Fiji. Air Pacific delayed our flight by 22 hours and I was sure happy that we did not have to meet the dive boat on the day that we arrived. As it was, we lost out on one day of our stay at the Toberua Resort.
Toberua (pronounced TOM BER RUA) was a wonderful place for us to adjust to the new time zone and get comfortable. You can see their web site at http://www.toberua.com/. As to where this is and how we got there:
Here the link to the images from Toberua. Highlights
included:
Village Visit
Golf Course
Putt Putt and
of course
SCUBA Diving
I really enjoyed this little island. Perhaps the only drawback was no air conditioning. When I looked at the Bures, you really cannot air condition them. They are designed to be open to the sea breeze and are really very comfortable (unless you are completely spoiled for AC).
The staff was incredibly friendly and not at all stand-offish. They were willing to talk at any time and were very helpful when we had questions
And the food was fantastic. We had all our meals at tables by the beach. Admittedly, the beach changed a lot given that this island has about 40 acres of tidal flats which lay exposed at low tide every day; that's were the golf course is.
This is a great place to unwind.
On Saturday, we had to leave Toberua and headed back (via boat and taxi) to Suva and the Tradewinds Hotel where the Fiji Agressors dock. Our Cincinnati group was scheduled to fly in and meet us but were somewhat delayed by a 4+ hour bus/taxi ride from Nadi to Suva. There are 2 dive boats, one for 18 people and one for 10 people. We were on the smaller one which worked out really well for our group of 9.
Here's a map for the 7 day dive cruise.
We were picked up by a cab at the Tradewind's dock and driven about 45 minutes away to The Pearl Resort. This part of the trip had been arranged (along with our Toberua reservation by an outfit called Dolphin Destiny Adventures. Mark was my contact and it was mostly via email. I got my answers very quickly from him and he also helped when our Air Pacific reservations when astray. The Fiji River adventure was done by a group called Rivers Fiji and they did a great job for us. Sue was somewhat concerned as she expected some rough water. To help with that, we asked for a 2 person kayak for her with a guide. The lead guide took great care of Sue and she was VERY happy. The water was not very rough though the water level was low and we tended to bottom out in our kayaks which was fun trying to spin off the rocks. Only once did I get into anything that would be considered trouble when I came up against a big rock and the kayak tried to tip over against the current. I had my camera in my underwater case and that was a cumbersome package to deal with. It WAS FUN tho.
Here's another map:
At The Pearl Resort we boarded a 4-wheel drive bus and headed back towards Suva. About 14 miles East, we turned off the main highway and took a dirt road up into the Fiji Hills. On the way, we drove thru a local market where we picked up some items needed for the trip.
We had a stop along the way for a quick snack of cookies and drinks. I think this was at an altitude of about 5600 feet. You could see to the ocean and one of the other Fijian islands in the distance (the one famous for fire dancing).
We eventually reached a mountain village named Nakavika. We stopped there for a Kava ceremony and to ask permission of the chief for our travels down the river. Our lead guide is the son of the chief and will eventually become the chief of this village. He will have to move from the city back to the village when this happens.
Then down a steep path and into the kayaks. We got a bit of instruction and then worked our way downstream. It was a blast.
Just enjoy the pictures....
After returning to The Pearl, we took a cab for a 4 hour ride to Nadi and our hotel, the Raffles Gateway. I would have to rate this as an OK place but wish we had eaten elsewhere. Of all the places that we stayed, it had the worst food and the highest prices.
Our Flight back to Honolulu and then the Big Island of Hawaii was uneventful (6 hour flight from Fiji to Honolulu).
We left Fiji around 10:50PM at night and arrive in Honolulu at 7:20AM in the early morning of July 1; arriving before we left!!!
There are not a lot of pictures from this part of the trip. We stayed at the Waikoloa Marriott because it had a really nice sandy beach with ocean front, something that not many resorts on the "Big Island" have. Most have very rocky lava shores which are really not very safe ways to enjoy the ocean.
I really wanted to see manta and so planned for a night manta dive with Jack's Diving Locker in Kona. I also did a 2 tank dive off the Marriott beach with Ocean Sports (did not take camera). I was impressed with both operations and would not hesitate to dive with either one again. They both let me dive my computer with no strict time limits other than staying around the boat at the end of the dive. The dive leaders were very knowledgable as well.
The Manta dive was a bust other than turning into a good night dive with lots of eels and a nice squid.at the end of the dive. The currents had pulled all the food for the manta out into the deeper water. No food, no manta. They are rarely skunked like this but it does happen. I would recommend that you check with the dive shop before doing this dive and see how they are doing. If the numbers of manta are low, you may want to reconsider this dive. The only good news is that I did see a manta when doing my 2nd tank dive with Ocean Sports off the Waikoloa beach.
While there, we toured the Waikoloa Hilton Resort and found it to be incredible. It does not have an ocean beach and its really busy. A perfect place for families with kids tho since there is lots to do. One of the more fun things is the Dolphin Encounter that they run in a pool. Sue and I had a real blast watching the kids have a good time with this. It is an expensive deal ($239/person) for just 30 minutes but after watching, it probably is worth it. The Dolphins appeared to have just as much fun as the people.
NOW TO THE PICTURES (CLICK HERE):