With only one week between me booking this trip and the day I left for Fiji, it left minimal time for me to have to wait. Perfect! Tuesday 15th November rolled round as quickly as expected and I wheeled my carry-on luggage through Gold Coast airport early doors in search for a flat white. Armed with a beach towel, three bikinis and sans hair dryer, a short three-hour flight took me from Gold Coast to Nadi airport in mainland Fiji. My island hopping tour began the following day so I had organised a night in a hostel in the meantime. This is very common as a middle step between flights and island hopping.
As I stepped off the plane, I was instantly met by a tremendous ‘BULA!’ from the airport staff. ‘Bula’ means hello/welcome in Fijian and is said at every opportunity possible! I had been told that the Fijian people were friendly, but I didn’t expect to experience their friendliness this quickly. I walked to a number of smiling faces and a man playing a guitar singing a welcome song and I had to tear myself away in order to meet my arranged transfer to my hostel. As a small airport, it didn’t take long to reach the arrivals gate to find a smiling lady holding a sign with my name on it. It was a great relief to see this smiling lady as the early start coupled with a three-hour time difference had made me more tired than I had expected to be.
Sat in the back of a rickety white mini van, myself and three other girls became acquainted with one another and soon found out we were all staying in hostels within a minute of each other. Dinner companions, great! The large windows of the mini van allowed for great views whilst we travelled to the hostels. Compared to where I am based in Australia, the greenery here in Nadi was refreshing and the hills in the distance were also something to be ogled at. Travelling alone can be both exciting and scary at the same time but after only a mere half an hour of landing, I already felt at ease and was nothing short of bursting to head to the Yasawa Islands bright and early the following day.
For now however, it was a beer on the beach (at the bottom of my hostel!) and a tasty veggie curry for dinner. In all my excitement and travelling in the day I had forgotten the last time I had eaten anything was at 8:30am that morning, it was now 8:00pm. Usually a big advocate of the whole ‘who forgets to eat?’, today I had forgotten to eat and so this locally sourced platter was eaten with the most content of feelings.
Port Denarau was calling my name and so late evening I headed back to my dorm and got my head down for the night ready for the early start in the morning. Minus the three snorers out of a dorm of six, the sleep was adequate enough. I didn’t care anyway, I was headed to paradise the following day!
LP x
LozinOz 