Jun 11-21: My Fijian Detour

With a handful of days left before my flight home, I decided to squeeze in a quick trip to Fiji. Amazing diving, wonderful beaches, and great sun... it seemed like a very relaxing way to spend the tail end of my trip. Why not?

Fiji is a collection of islands in the south Pacific. I opted for a budget backpacker tour, starting from the main island moving to the northernmost of the Yasawa group of islands, then stopping at islands for a day or two on the way back. This type of touring is generally jam packed with youngsters, looking for a fun way to see the world.

There were 6 people in our core tour, 3 German fellows, an Australian, an English lady, and me. We spent a week together, riding the big yellow boat (the Yasawa Flyer) as though it was some sort of giant smelly bus reeking of the same colorful odor of a wet towel left in a pile in the bottom of the closet. We stayed at 4 islands in 6 nights, each with its own special charm.

Coral View is a scrappy resort with incredible scuba diving on the northernmost island. Koruvu is a charming spot with a nice outdoor pool, and the most incredible manta ray snorkelling experience you can imagine. Kuata is a tiny island, where they will take you snorkelling while feeding white tipped reef sharks (I liked it so much I went twice). Beachcomber is a tiny island the size of the resort, known as a party island with a ridiculous 200 bed dorm.

The cool part about touring Fiji was that every resort was small. With somewhere between 30 and 40 guests (excluing Beachcomber), all eating the same meals at the same time, it was easy to get to know new people. At every port we would meet new people, some on similar tours, some doing their own thing. We met a handful of Canadians, some lovely English folks, the odd Australian and oodles of Germans.

I was in Fiji when the world cup started. It was wonderfully refreshing to see an international sporting event with people from around the world. The first game of the tournament was England vs USA. A group of 3 English guys were up (and drinking) at 6:30am. They had improvised a little, using markers to draw jerseys on their backs, cheering loudly whenever anything of note happened in the game.

I have exercised much restraint in my curio shopping over the past 6 months, staying away from all of the shops and stands selling tacky tourist items I would just shove in a box when I got home... But passing through downtown Nadi on a Saturday morning, I picked up the greatest souvenir at a car parts store... an authentic Fijian Taxi sign. I can't wait to mount that on my car back home.