Denerau, Fiji

Smuts and I spent a week in Fiji. It takes about five hours to fly to Fiji from Melbourne -- a very comfortable length of time to be on a plane heading out on holiday!

Here is a more detailed map of Fiji and all its big and little islands. We are travelling to three different places in Fiji over the week: I've labelled these on the map below.

We flew to Nadi and stayed for two nights in Port Denerau, about 20 minutes' drive from Nadi. Denerau is is an artificial island that was reclaimed from the mangrove swamps and is now a bustling resort area, where the  Hilton, Sheraton and Westin have lavish hotels, and there are a number of manicured golf resorts. We stayed at the Hilton.

Off the plane and into the pool. We started off with strangely enjoyable blue cocktails!

This was the view from our room. And below that, you can see Smuts on one of the beach loungers. That's the life.

A walk along the long beach took us past the other swish hotels. Guests at one resort can use the facilities at all the others.

These resorts do a roaring trade in weddings, so all have their own chapels. This is the chapel right on the beach at the Sheraton. All very well, but what if the weather is awful?

Can you see the parasailor above the pool? (I do love taking photos while I am relaxing on a pool lounger.)

What would a holiday be without some food? Top photos are little crab cakes and a delicious duck salad. One night we ate at the Denerau marina. On the table we have some prawn skewers, local sourdough bread and fresh walu.