Bula Vinaka! Welcome back to Fiji!

The deluge!

I landed in Nadi at 7pm on 5th May and as soon as I stepped off the plane, I was hit with a wall of heat bringing with it the smell of Fiji which has become so familiar to me.  Its hard to describe it but its almost floral, earthy with a hint of sweat mixed in, or at least that's what it smells like to me.  It wasn't long before I was walking out of the airport with my luggage to find a taxi and already was finding it very hot and muggy.  Checking in to my hotel was easy after the short taxi ride so I immediately set out to explore the hotel grounds in the dark and find some dinner which was also easy at an outdoor shack serving light meals.  I sat down with my kindle and a glass of wine while I waited for my salad but as I sat there, I felt raindrops and by the time the meal arrived the heavens opened so I was invited to take my dinner back to my room with me.   I was pretty tired so it didn't take me long after dinner to cave in and I slept really well, perhaps the first decent nights sleep I'd had since I'd arrived in Sydney.  When I woke up in the night, I could still hear the rain coming down and in the morning, nothing had changed, the sky was grey and the forecast for the day wasn't good.  So it became a quiet day reading my book in some of the covered areas of the hotel while the heavy rain came and went.

When I returned to my room for a siesta and to get out of the rain for a while, I found an email from Tim Stonhill, the CEO of Blue Lagoon Cruises, letting me know that he and his family would be having dinner the following evening at the First Landing, the hotel I'd stayed at last time, and invited me to join them for a beer.  Unfortunately I had chosen a different hotel this time so had to decline the invitation but it was a very kind gesture, something I hadn't expected.

Kokoda, served in a coconut shell

Saturday was a little better weather wise, I at least managed to spend some time in the sunshine in the morning before the heavens opened again in the early afternoon, but the rain held off long enough for the short demonstration of how to make Kokoda, a dish of fish marinated in lime juice then dressed with coconut milk, chili, onion, peppers and tomato - delicious.  That evening at around about 6pm, we had an absolute deluge of rain, it was torrential and the covered outdoor eating areas which had to be closed as the water was just pouring in through the gaps in the blinds.  I was beginning to wonder whether I was responsible for bringing the rain with me from Sydney and was a little bit concerned about the fortnight of cruising ahead if the weather was going to stay wet.  But Sunday was better, the sun came out and we only had a brief shower or two.  I took the Bula Bus from the hotel to the port at Denerau for a spot of shopping and lunch away from the hotel which was different!  I picked up about 20 postcards with the intention of writing them that afternoon but I got caught up trying to finish my book before the cruise and forgot to start on the postcards.


And then Monday came, the day for joining the MV Mystique Princess for the first of two weeks of cruising the islands of Fiji and there was definite excitement!  For one, I knew what was in store for me for the first week in the Yasawa Islands, but it was going to be especially fun as I would be meeting up with Rochelle and Carol Thompson the mother and daughter I met on the last trip in November.