Coral Coast, Fiji

Our last stop in Fiji was in the south, on the Coral Coast. This is a lovely beach-strewn coast bordered by coral reefs. It's also very windy.

Like everywhere we went, sunsets were beautiful. And also like everywhere we went, there were brides. And photographers.

Here are some grilled bugs. I thought they were a little overcooked and we do better ourselves on the barbecue at home. But tasty, very tasty at the end of a sunny beachy day ...

And finally, we went one day to the nearest town, called Sigatoka. We thought the bridge was interesting and we LOVED the ball-shaped rubbish bins in rugby-mad Fiji. Bula!

Fiji catamaran

We left Amanuca on a little boat, that took us out beyond the reef to where we transferred to a big high-speed catamaran. One of the most distinctive things about Fiji is that people sing and play music everywhere. Wherever we went we were greeted (and farewelled) by staff members singing to us. Every meal was accompanied by live music. In the first photo you can see the hotel staff playing their guitars and singing us off in our boat.

Here is the luggage boat ...

... and the people boat.

The catamaran goes from island to island, picking up and dropping off tourists. It speeds from island to island. At each island, small boats bring out the tourists. This is the Beachcomber Hotel on Beachcomber Island. (I think. There are quite a few islands with a single hotel!)

This is Bounty Island. That little building is all there is on the whole island. You wouldn't want to be there during a tsunami, would you?

Almost a Home

Our house is starting to take shape. All these months of choosing paint, tiles, flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, lighting are beginning to pay off. We are holding our breath in the hope that our selections are going to pay off.


The entrance to the house. We have 3 garages for 2 cars and a boat.

The front door and entrance to our house

Once all the building sand is removed this area will be converted into lawn and a rose garden.

The dining room and kitchen look onto this courtyard.

And the internal rooms in our dream house ...



The study is above the kitchen overlooking the living area.

So hoping we have made the right kitchen choices.

Don's and my bedroom, and the dressing room.

We are already fighting over the cupboards and drawers.

And the bathrooms which we have tried to keep to a similar theme.



Amanuca, Fiji

After that spectacular helicopter trip, we are at Amanuca resort on Tokoriki Island. Amanuca is rather delightful, with a slightly worn tropical charm.

This is the pool that is reserved for adults only. It meandered through the palm trees. Fortunately there's a handy signpost to make sure no one gets lost.

We had some rather curious meals, but it's amazing what a few bougainvillea flowers do to brighten any dish!

The hotel may be a little past its peak, but the location is absolutely brilliant. The top photo is the view from the beach; the second photo is the view from the outdoor dining area. And the sunsets are stunning.

Even a huge tropical storm one day couldn't dampen our enthusiasm! Rain, wind, thunder, lightning -- all very dramatic on a tiny little island in Melanesia ...

Flying Fiji

Hello Island Hoppers! We were picked up on a soccer field at Denerau ...

... and flown by a Kiwi pilot in a tiny little helicopter across the sea to the Mamanuca Islands. The Mamanucas are a group of about twenty islands. One of them is the island Monuriki where the movie Castaway (with Tom Hanks and Wilson the volleyball) was filmed.

Our destination was about 20 minutes by helicopter but we stopped on the way to drop off some honeymooners at a fancy resort called Likuliku on Malolo Island. (I love these  names.) Can you see the rooms all on stilts over the water? As always, click on the photo to enlarge.

I love this photo of the large sandbank visible only at low tide.

Here we are arriving at the Amanuca Resort, on Tokoriki Island.

More about Amanuca in my next post.

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.