dreaming about fiji

going back to fiji....

we arrived in fiji very early in the morning. from nadi (pronounced nan-di), we had to take a small...and i mean small...puddle jumper to the malolailai airstrip. i was nervous about the flight on that small plane. i told the pilot that it was the smallest plane i had ever been on, and he assured me that it was very safe, and only 9 minutes. from there, we got on the funky fish boat over to maolol island to our resort.

the funky fish beach resort is a tiny place, quiet, and personal. we stayed in a bure, named "funky-7", which is basically a little beach hut with the minimal requirements. our bure had a bed, a bathroom, and an outdoor shower. when i was there, i kept thinking how little we actually need to be comfortable.

it was hot in fiji. i was melting. i got a nice tan. mike got a nice sunburn. but honestly, time doesn't exist there. there is really "fiji time". the only reason time was known was due to our meal schedule. meals were served at certain times during the day, and there wasn't much else to eat there. there were no stores on malolo, the only snacks you could buy were crisps (read chips), chocolate bars, and ice cream. oh, but the food was awesome!!! we all agreed that the chefs, sai and another person, were top notch; they probably could work in a 5-star resort. everyday, there were amazing lunch and dinner choices. mike's lunch for an entire week were the homemade veggie samosas. and my favorite dinner was the vege stir fry. and dessert!!!! everyday, it was fried bananas or coconut snowballs with ice cream. YUMMY!

we spent our days hanging out by the pool, swimming in the ocean, snorkeling, kayaking, and reading books in the shady hammock outside our bure. i read 4 books there, 3 chick lit and 1 mystery novel. it was great. after breakfast, we would try and beat the heat till lunchtime. joe, our activity director, jack-of-all-trades guy, would offer to do things with us, like take us snorkeling, spear fishing, island hopping, etc. i didn't do much; i often chose to sit and read by the pool and just relax. it was nice to just do nothing, after months of working my arse off in preparation for our travels.

while we were in fiji, we met a lovely couple, jen and james, from the uk. we instantly became friends, as there were only the 4 of us for a couple of days at our resort. so, we were kind of forced to eat our meals together. thank goodness we gelled together, otherwise, meals would be lonely and boring not to have anyone to chit chat with. anyhoo, i admire them so much. they both are young, 23 years old, and are in the midst of a 7 month world tour. they had already been to hong kong, australia for 3 months, new zealand for a month before they got to fiji. after fiji, they were off the to the cook islands and the states. that is so great.

man, do i miss those roasted coconuts with sweet chili sauce. i need to start studying for my nz boards. i am supposed to be doing that instead of blogging.