Days: 1-2 (25th May 2018 – 26th May 2018)

Total distance travelled: 3,890.06 kilometres (2,417.17 miles)

It was some time in December of 2017, and I sat at a table of random colleagues and new friends.

This was my first STA Australia Managerial conference, and in a dining room inside and overlooking the playing arena of the MCG (The Melbourne Cricket Ground, a 100,000+ capacity sporting venue here in Melbourne), a substantial volume of booze had been consumed, and a charity auction to support CanTeen (a charity that supports teens suffering from cancer) was about to begin.

As events would unfold, I walked away from that evening the ‘winner’ of a 7 day island hopping pass through Fiji, inclusive of a few other bits and pieces (such as a day pass to the Malamala Beach Club)… with my ‘win’ having cost me around only two thirds of the RRP of around $2400AUD.

Ultimately, the price mattered not, as it was all for a great cause.

There was however, the small matter that I’d outlayed roughly one and a half grand without any consultation with Sarah, for a trip at a yet to be determined time, to a country we’d never once discussed visiting.

But hey, it was a country we’d never been to, so ultimately, all good, yeah..?

We had until the 31st of December 2018 to utilise the trip (it was not inclusive of flights, more an island hopping package), surely a long enough period of time in which to have Sarah forgive me for this…

Fast forward several months, and we’d locked in flights and dates for our trip in May of 2018.

We certainly hadn’t expected to run into an Olympic silver medalist, and even less so a Winter Olympian as we boarded a flight for our first trip abroad, sadly, in almost a year.

But there we were, feeling somewhat cold on a Winters night, dressed as we were headed for warmer climes.

He, David Morris, winner of a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi games was of course comfortable in a tee shirt (given how little snow we receive as a country, any success found in the Winter games is somewhat surprising).

Sarah complemented his mother on her pink socks whilst everyone else laughed (in truth, cold as she was she was a touch envious) and we’d soon gone our separate ways as we boarded our flight for our respective journeys.

They were headed to Fiji for a wedding, although we didn’t know that yet. Us, we were headed for some much needed R&R (Rest & Relaxation). It’s not normally our thing, but we both kind of figured we could do with some time out… and I’d hardly given us the option to not do so at some time!

From Melbourne, the flight to Nadi is a convenient overnight one, and a short one at that (try four and a half hours, which from Australia to anywhere international is the stuff of dreams).

As such, a full nights sleep was never going to be possible, but we made the best of it, Sarah especially, snoozing her way through much of the flight, even as I tucked into a late (or is that early) chicken dinner (my second meal of the night after some tapas we’d had at the airport)!

At the baggage carousel, where I’m sure Sarah was still eyeing off those fluffy pink socks, we learned of the wedding.

We had other plans, figuring given our likely condition (we assumed, reasonably fairly, there’d be some level of tired), so thought day one would be a good opportunity to utilise our free passes to the Malamala Beach Club.

Once our ‘luggage’ appeared on the carousel, checking it looked not to have been the best idea with the top of my case, including the extendable handle smashed
and inoperable (eventually we were able to jimmy the handle back in so at least the handle was flush with the case, but that time was not now).

No longer being able to wheel my bag (unless I’d been the height of an Oompa Loompa), meant an awkward carry ensued where I was thankful the the bag was at least light.

A quick x-ray later and we through and into Fiji, “Bula!”

We’d very quickly get used to that term, a one word phrase that can mean so many things.

“Hello”
“How are you?”
“To your health”

Essentially, it’s the universal Fijian greeting.

We walked past a couple of money changers before spying an ATM/Cashpoint where we figured we should get some local cash at which point Sarah questioned “You did bring the ING card didn’t you?”

When I alerted her to the fact I had not, she pointed out that she’d asked that same question on the bus to the airport (turns out when she’d asked that question, I’d heard it as did you bring the 28 Degrees card).

Great for using as a credit card abroad without fees, but shit for making cash advances.

Still, it was all we presently had, so withdraw some we did… in hindsight, perhaps too much, but time would tell.

Sarah had emailed the place we’d booked for our first night (Tanua Sky Lodge) in regards airport transfers, but had never heard back (we were certain we’d read they were included when we’d booked), and after a little bumbling about, we asked one of the many locals spruiking some service or another who pointed us as to the right area in which to wait, all initiated with a friendly “Bula” of course!

In short time, our transfer appeared, however whether it was specifically for us or simply ran back and forth between our hotel and the airport was never clarified.

It was hours before check in was available to us, however we figured we’d be able to leave our bags before our ride to Denarau Harbour came to collect us for our day of relaxation.

We queried all this upon arrival where we were told no problem, of course we could leave our bags, they’d get popped in a luggage storage room awaiting our return.

With an email confirming we’d get collected for the harbour at 9am, we settled in to wait… and were quickly startled from our reverie by some tooting near reception.

Our bus was here, it was time to go! …at 8am!

With our bags left in the lobby area as directed by the lady behind the counter, we grabbed our day pack and bundled ourselves aboard.

First impressions of Fiji had been a little surprising. Our only other Pacific nation experience had been Vanuatu for Xmas back in 2012, however compared to their
sister island nation, Fiji at a glance seemed both better developed and also more affordable.

The roads were by far better, modern construction was dotted in between those more aged structures, smeared as seems common in tropical places with a mould like grime, and the prices we’d seen, even in the airport were far cheaper than back home.

Then our bus crossed the narrow creek that separates Nadi from Denarau Island, I’m pretty sure an artificially made island (I don’t think it’s reclaimed land, rather the
waterway that severs it from the mainland is) and we truly saw the difference between the haves and the have notes.

For an Australian comparison it was a little like Port Douglas. Home to a lot of the swanky hotels, compound like homes protected by 24/7 security (home to a lot of expats) and plenty of razor wire and of course the port precinct (where should the fancy take you, the Hard Rock Cafe is a dining option… such fancy never struck us).

In fairness, I’d imagined the harbour area as all concrete and high rise apartments and the like, but it was a much greener area than that.

We alighted the coach and I proceeded to walk the wrong direction to check in for the boat, but we were quickly in the right place trying to make sense of where we needed to be and when our boat would depart.

Uncertain if our voucher was sufficient for exchange, there was a hint of nervousness, however the only part that seemed to bamboozle them was how to include our $50 Fijian dollar vouchers that were also part of the day package.

Basically, they told us to come back later whilst they got it sorted.

So we wandered the harbour precinct a little, snapped some our first Fiji pics and explored a small supermarket where we found we could have even purchased for ourselves some of the same muesli bars we’d brought from home.

At a quarter past nine as suggested, we wandered back as suggested and collected our food and drink voucher as agreed, delivered in the form of a handwritten note on a page ripped out of a receipt book.

Very official looking!

Half an hour later we were aboard, and roughly the same time again we were on our approach to Malamala Island.

Malamala Beach Club boasts that it is a world first. A beach club that is actually a whole island!

Our destination for today was indeed an island, and on first impression, it didn’t look half bad.

There was a bit of a dash from the vessel, as people hurried off to stake a lounge by the bar and infinity pool, but for us there was no need.

For the day, we’d have our own two person cabana, complete with phone so we could call for drinks or food which would all be delivered whilst we relaxed!

We had a quick test of the waters, enjoyed a complimentary watermelon icy pole (I’m pretty sure some places would call it a water ice or a water lolly) and settled in for a bit of a nap.

With a short rest out of the way, we utilised our credit and started with a couple of Fiji Bitters and a serve of root fries (Taro, Yuca and Sweet Potato) with a delicious tomato and pineapple ketchup for dipping on the side.

After a bit more rest, we figured it time for an explore, so around the admittedly small island we went.

Roughly a third, part of which was all that we knew, comprised the cabanas on the beach, ours with room enough for two, although a few had capacity for larger parties.

The large dock pretty much marked the centre of the island if you were to draw a line directly through it, and the rest was where most of the action occurred.

A small reception area for settling tabs, a large covered dining area fronted directly onto the infinity pool and another deck area, and it was here that everyone not in a cabana, was clustered.

You could hire snorkel and fins, kayaks or long boards if you fancied a little SUP, but for the main part it looked like today was all about tanning and beers or cocktails by (or in) the pool.

Another separate deck area was currently empty, and a final function pavilion was signed as reserved, although with nobody else arriving this particular day, who for remains a mystery.

Back at the cabana, reading became napping, broken by the odd beer which all felt wonderful, although as the afternoon wore on, the wind certainly increased
making it eventually a bit on the chilly side, so a relocation to the deck became in order.

It also seemed like the perfect time for another morsel, so a serve of sliders was ordered, washed down with another round of beers, our view; the blue sea
beyond the infinity pool and some of the other guests sunning themselves in deck chairs on the sand.

Departure from the island is a two stage process, the first batch of people rounded up an shipped out at 16:15, with us, the later group (we would have been content to depart at this earlier time, however it was never given as an option when we checked in) to leave an hour later.

At least it meant there was now ample space by the pool!

We hadn’t figured our combined $100.00FJD each wouldn’t get us far, maybe a snack and a drink each, yet incredibly when it came time to settle our account, we only had an additional nine dollars to hand over.

As cabana guests (I’m assuming) we were given a box with a couple of nice choc chip cookies (we ate them on the spot) and eventually made our way to the long wooden dock to await collection.

With the boat not in sight, we relaxed in a pair of beach bean bags as the wind began to whip the palms into a frenzy, and the sun disappeared behind a field of cloud it didn’t seem likely to return from.

Still, there was no sign of our ride back to Port Denarau.

Some of the staff began to float amongst the waiting crowd (finished for the day and waiting for a ride home as well) and eventually an announcement was made over a PA system we never knew existed (we hadn’t spotted any loudspeakers anywhere).

With the high winds came rough seas, and rough seas meant our ride back to the main island couldn’t dock.

At this stage, it was unclear what exactly that meant for us and to our chances of getting back to Nadi, but in time a small boat appeared that was in no way capable of carrying all of the islands remaining guests at one time, and as for its ability to ferry us all back to the mainland in fading light and in rough seas, we were sceptics.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the plan, rather we were being transferred to the larger vessel which had been able to dock.

What this did mean though, was all of us on board, would need somehow achieve this whilst violently it bobbed up and down “like a cork in the ocean” (to Australian sports caller Dennis Cometti).”

In spite of the adverse conditions, this was achieved in two trips, and it was under the cover of darkness that we slunk back into Denarau Harbour.

Our fears that the coaches might not be waiting were completely unfounded. Of course they had not departed, for without the boat, they hadn’t their passengers!

Back at Tanua Sky Lodge we could now actually check in, although to see our bags still sitting in the lobby, exactly where we had left them, alerted us to the fact that their move to a secure luggage locker never occurred.

Our room was basic, but serviceable, the bar fridge so cold that the big jug of drinking water within was frozen solid (we actually thawed it with some water boiled from the also present kettle), and included two double beds should Sarah already be sick of me.

With the lateness of the hour (in truth it was more the darkness than the hour), we settled on dining at the hotel restaurant/bar for the evening, a greasy and oversized serve of fried chicken and calamari, a somewhat disappointing end to a relaxing and eventful day.

* QANTAS return airfares to Nadi cost us $689.44AUD each, which I purchased through work at STA Travel

* Our day pass to Malamala Beach Club was part of Awesome Adventures Fiji package which all up cost us about $1,500.00AUD at a charity auction