Day 21 - This city is the second largest city in Fiji and on the other side of the same island from Suva. From what I've gathered it'd be less than a 200 KM drive between the cities. We sailed here during the night though. Unfortunately, today was Sunday. This island, because of missionaries, is very Methodist. That made cannibalism a no-no. It also continues to mean that Sundays are for worship and not other trivial pursuits.
We never take the overpriced, overbooked tours offered through cruise lines. We walked outside to where dozens of different folks sell identical 'packages' for much less than half the price. We talked with some ladies who arranged for us to take us to Nadi and other sightseeing for $US 25 each.
Our small a/c bus held about 25 people and was pristine as it was practically brand new. It smelled of paint and plastic. Our destination town was approximately 30 km from the port. We first headed to the "Sleeping Giant" mountains. An "Old Man of the Mountain" rock still exists here but is more attuned to Pacific island lore. Strangely, we have a very, very hometown connection here. We paid $10 each to visit orchard gardens started from the collection of our New Westminster hometown boy, actor, Raymond Burr. I will have to look up more about the connection between Fiji and the man buried in a cemetery at home.
The next stop was a privately-owned hot springs. The entrepreneur brothers must have had an argument and now two establishments sit side-by-side. The draw is mud pits which, from what I understand, are just a modern attempt to cash in on spa treatment crazies. Were it not for one particularly keen woman on our bus, we might have been convinced our tour guide to skip it. Oh well, it was a relaxing 40 minutes even for everybody else.
The bus then headed into Nadi town. We stopped briefly at a Hindu temple, the largest in the South Pacific. During British days, many from India came to work in the sugar industry. Earlier on, this area is where missionaries first landed on Fiji as well. In a twist of fate, this is the most rapidly developing part of the nation. The international airport is close and the weather drier. We didn't spend a lot of time in town for shopping, but we managed to buy four stuffed-roti packets from an Indian lady on with a sidewalk table. We knew these would come in handy for our final trip destination.
We got to the 'island' of Denarau in Viti Levu. The development shows just how much money is sloshing around international markets. The land has been developed from mangroves to premier real estate and a handful of premier resort complexes. We were there for the Sofitel resort for swimming. We did enjoy seeing how the other half travels. The all-inclusive had a ginormous pool and beachfront. The alcoholic drinks started at around $US 10. We sipped on the bottles of water we had filled on the ship and the food we bought a bit earlier.
Our group had to board the bus at about 2:15 pm in order to go back to the port. Returning took more than an hour through the rather interesting terrain. We had one remaining 10 Fijian dollar note, so we spent an equivalent of $US5 for a polished shell for our souvenir cabinet at home.