After getting to LAX and checking our bags in (which were searched beforehand), going through customs twice - no food on other side and finally getting onto the plane and falling asleep rather rapidly - I slept most of the way as was shattered from all the driving, we arrived in sunny Fiji at 5am local time on Saturday 4th October.
Once through Fijian customs and duty free had been bought - bottle of rum and bottle of Pimms - essentials obviously we found a hostel called The Beachhouse, had some very good remarks said about it. It took us 3 hours to get there from the airport by bus so by the time we had checked in and got our dorm we had been travelling non-stop for just over 2 days!!
Our dorm was nice, pretty basic and was wooden as were all of them, there were dorms and private rooms . The first thing we decided to do was go swimming in the Pacific which was gorgeous very warm just like bathwater and very shallow and clear which suited me perfectly and it felt good. There is a bar/cafe on-site, you could have full body massages and back massages and they also arranged numerous tours too. At 4pm each day you get afternoon tea which consisted of scones, butter, jam and tea. It was at our first afternoon tea session that we bumped into Emma and Dave whom we had met on our canyon tour - small world!
We went shopping one day to a town which was about 30 mins drive from hostel which was cool, on way back got the bus to drop us off at the Warwick Hotel where we decided we would go up market and have a cocktail which was yummy!! We left there and started walking back to the hostel and ended up having a lift in the back of a truck sitting on palm tree leaves - was fun.
We decided that seeing as the Warwick Hotel was sooo nice it would be good to go there for dinner one night so we suggested it to Dave and Emma who were more than happy and it meant we could all have some decent food. It was an asian buffet which was yummy scrummy. We had cocktails to start and then dinner washed down with wine and beer and a taxi back to the hostel where we joined the rest of our gang. The wine has started to take effect as we thought it would be a laugh to play sharads on the beach by moonlight - it was great fun!!
I enjoyed my time in Fiji even though we both had dodgy tummies and Ells got food poisoning but I would go back but probably go and visit some of the other islands. It was a well needed break from all the travelling we'd done before. The weather was warm, sunny, humid although did have one day and night of rain but that was fine. Met some great people too ie Dave and Em, Mary, Helen, NIck, John, Andy and Lee - who was into his Karava big time - its a muddy looking drink which doesn't taste great but makes you very relaxed...