Last December I went to Fiji. Never been in December before – it can be a little cyclone-prone that time of year, but for the 3 days we were there, the weather was lovely.
Just a few fears to deal with.
Fear #1. Plane flight.
Started well…
but it wasn’t so bright once I was in the air…
though I could see my house from up there
I’m going to be fairly lazy now about documenting my holiday, preferring to insert two articles I wrote about the trip. I didn’t write them specifically for print, rather to submit to an editor to say, “Look I can string some words together, can you think about hiring me next time”.
The first article is all true, bar the fact that, sadly, I had no spa treatments at all.
Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort. It’s not just about warm spots, in pools, near kids.
“Why do you want to stay there? Isn’t that a family resort?” moaned a few misguided friends. “ Why not one of the islands, like Castaway or something?” (For a start, every family I know with young children stays at Castaway).
Besides, I’ve stayed at the “Fijian” nine times since its inception in the late 60’s, for the simple reason it is the best. It ticks all the boxes, and now, with the opening of the Chi spa and exclusive 5 star bures it ticks even more.
The Fijian resort is unique in its location. You are not restricted to an island (while the resort is on the109 acre Yanuca Island it is connected to the mainland by a causeway), but you benefit from the security, and exclusiveness of an island.
“It’s like this”, I tell my well-meaning friends, “the resorts of the coral coast are beautiful and all front a wonderful coral reef. This is lovely, except the reefs are too shallow for swimming, and the beaches are oft to full of coral to comfortably lay down a sarong and ‘bathe’ .”
Of course, those resorts have lovely swimming pools.
“Then,” I go on, “you have the Denaru resorts. Fabulous and opulent. 5 star, no less. Everything you could wish for in a tropical resort, except for idyllic tropical waters in which to swim. “
Of course, Denaru has lovely swimming pools, too.
Shangri-La’s Fijian has three lovely swimming pools, and one of them is adults only.
There is a shallow reef surrounding the island to explore on a leisurely stroll. A small wave breaks on the outer edge of the reef , and there is a lagoon. The lagoon has clear water and a sandy base which makes for lovely swimming. Borrow some snorkelling gear from the water sports bure and swim out to where the sand gradually morphs into coral reef . There you can view a myriad of rainbow coloured fish – all the usual suspects, Nemo, Dory, Gill and Bubbles…. – as well as some enchanting coral, and all just a lazy 10min walk/swim from your hotel room.
Five restaurants, one cafe, and two bars, a 9 hole Peter Thompson designed golf-course, tennis, volleyball, gymnasium, deep-sea fishing, scuba, water-skiing, in fact, an abundance of water sport activities, a fantastic kid’s club, and more. The resort is extremely well-serviced.
The best part of this island holiday, however, is that there are many places in the resort where you can be totally oblivious to all of this wonderful activity. You can be completely alone.
One of these places is the two year old Chi Spa Village, home to the island’s luxurious, couples only, premier ocean bures. Assigned a golf buggy, due to the seclusion from the rest of the resort, and a 24hr butler the service, the 1 bedroom bures offer complete comfort and privacy. Stylish and tropically modern with a separate king size bedroom overlooking the Pacific, and a sunken lounge area – all dark timber beams, and soft white curtains that billow with gentle sea breezes – the bures are an unprecedented step-up in luxury for the Fijian Resort. The bathroom is huge with indoor and outdoor showers, a spa bath, and a range of delectable L’occitane products at your disposal. The real drawcard, for me though, was the private outdoor spa, in the private outdoor garden overlooking the coral reef. Champagne glass in hand, watching the sunset – blissful, heavenly, delight!
Nearby, the Chi Spa offers a menu of treatments based on the traditional Chinese five elements, that will leave you feeling even more pampered and relaxed.
For the romantics, picture this… The “Dusk ‘Till Dawn Journey”. You arrive at the spa in the afternoon, and sink into a Himilayan water bath, followed by a skin polish treatment and then a coconut oil massage. A delicious Spa dinner, and it’s off to bed in your luxury bure, lulled into tranquil sleep by the sound of waves breaking on the outer reef. Woken in the morning to a scrumptious breakfast, a facial, and then, well…. Let’s take a little, romantic step up… Adjacent to the Spa village is a chapel. It sits, bleach-white, the centrepiece of a manicured and palm-fringed garden, the altar – part of a dramatic backdrop beyond an expansive glass wall that looks out to the reef, and the ocean beyond. Imagine a sunset wedding… the smell of tropical flowers, a warm breeze caressing your bare and pampered shoulders, Fijians softly harmonising your favourite love song… I don’t think you can get much closer to paradise than that.
Fiji is one of my favourite destinations. The people are lovely, the climate is perfect and the natural beauty is stunning and varied. The Fijian Resort did become a little tired for a while, but in recent years, with renovations that managed to improve while still maintaining the essence that always was the Fijian, it has grown in leaps and bounds, and now it really does offer something for everyone. To my querying friends, I had to ask “My dears, why wouldn’t you stay there?”
We went there for Sonny’s birthday. He’d never been to Fiji before. Booked to stay in the regular Lagoon View wing (my favourite spot that I always stay in), but for one night out of the three, I splashed out on one of the new Bures in the Chi Spa Village.
So nice
Outdoor shower and indoor bath
Nice view from the outdoor spa
Tearing up the cement at 5km/hr
The prettiest chapel ever. Would love to get married there – just need to find someone who wants to marry me, first….
… so here’s some cheesy tropical holiday looks while I keep searching
This is at the lovely Natadola Beach
and this, one of the pools at The Fijian
Then out touring…
Delicious mahi mahi soup
Fiji Time
The chief’s skin was pulled smooth and taut across the girth of his stomach, as he sat cross-legged and open-shirted on the floor of the bure. His eyes were closed, his head lolled. With the sound of a hollow-handed clap, his eyes opened and he joined in on the following two claps. Slowly he shifted his gaze to me. A giant, sizing up the new-comer to his territory, his face warming into a smile as a booming “Bula!” escaped from his mouth.
Here we were, circled around a large kava bowl, in a village somewhere further west from where we had initially planned to travel. By now it was dark, and I was feeling a little like we had missed the party, as half a dozen Fijian men repeatedly apologised for being too “dope” (not that they were offensive, in their state, just sleepy. Really sleepy. Doped up in a kava-induced state of intense relaxation, as in, sleeping while sitting). What was curiously absent were the youth, and the Christian overtones of this village meeting. After all, that’s what we were told we would be attending.
You see, the afternoon had begun with a self-drive excursion to find a waterfall. Self-driving in Fiji is wonderfully easy – maps are freely available, and locals are very friendly and willing to help. With basic directions, we managed to find the right village, and with evening drawing near, swim with a couple of the local kids in a divine pool under the falls. Magic, and delightful. The Fiji we all imagine, but few of us get to sample. High on the experience, we exchanged contact details with our young guides back in the village, with promises to send them the photos we took with our waterproof camera. It was here we met William.
William was a suave young man. Freshly bathed and heavily perfumed with coconut oil, he had a voice that dripped like warm syrup off a silken tongue. Politely he introduced himself and asked for a lift back down the mountain to his friends’ village where he would be “attending a Christian youth meeting”. We were happy to oblige. In the car – our hitchhiker’s words delivered with a smooth, rich timbre – William told us of his meeting with his friends, reminding us again that they were a Christian youth group, and how, as a tradition, they would be meeting around the kava bowl. I had to stop him there. My travelling companion had never tried kava, and we were to leave the following day. William didn’t hesitate. He invited us to his meeting, agreeing that no-one should visit Fiji without trying this local crowd-pleaser.
Kava has been used for centuries in the islands as a ceremonial drink, as well as being a symbol of all gatherings. It looks like mud and tastes like peppery mud. Everyone in the circle drinks from the same half-coconut shell. The mataqali, who scoops the kava from the bowl, also decides on who’s drinking next. You wait your turn, clap once before you drink, then three times after – and don’t forget to say “Bula”! There is no standing around idly chatting, glass in one hand, hors d’oeuvres in the other. Everything, from romantic pairings and idle gossip, to choosing a leader for a coup, can be discussed over a shared half coconut shell of numbing brew, in villages across Fiji every night. It is an integral part of the culture, and to have the opportunity to join in with a kava ceremony that is not put on for tourists, is a great treat.
William told us we would need to buy some kava. It is customary to bring kava to a ceremony to offer as a gift, and there was a shop we could stop at. With a languid air, he informed us that he
would need FJ$10 for the Kava (somewhat more than market price), “and please, another $10 for a packet of smokes”, perhaps to get him closer to God?
We stayed quite a while, with the men in the hut. We told them our stories and they told us theirs. Village children, playing outside the bure, were called in for dinner, and the cooler night air filled with the scent of coconut and frangipani drifted through the glassless windows. Our tonsils were numb and our bodies were peaceful and relaxed.
In the end, we had no change for a $50, but the experience was, of course, priceless.
No pictures from the kava ceremony. Just didn’t think it was kosher.
On our way to the waterfall…
More waterfall pics here on Sonny’s blog.
Then some more action from the best girlfriend in the world. This time at Tavarua, well, Namotu actually.
We’re in a boat, that’s the nearest land
and that’s Sonny paddling to the break
and then being towed back
Wilkes Passage on the other side was working better – though it was a small day, he had fun.
Time for me to get out of the boat and get closer. I’ve never taking surf pics from a jetski before.
He’s pretty happy
For more/different pics go here
Here I am, paddling back to the boat.
Total fakey though. I really would have loved to have a go of those waves. They were a non-scary size for me (particularly on the edge). But, I was crippled with fear about the deep water. Not that I can’t swim. I’m a really good swimmer. Just hate the idea of making contact with other living things in the water. Deeper the water = the more chance of there being things to make contact with.
Biting the bullet as much as possible on Fear #2…
…do you reckon I could lift my body any further out of the water??
But it’s so divine!
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Cobalt blue velvet in the deep passages, and perfect aqua over the reefs.
I didn’t want any tiger sharks to have that view of me
But I got brave a few times
How could I not, when it looked so beautiful?
We didn’t have any snorkeling equipment with us on the boat, unfortunately, but we snorkeled off the beach at the resort, and Sonny got some great shots out there. See them
Three days is pretty whirlwind, but it was still worth it. I know I’ll go back anyway. I always do.
The tarmac is swept as I leave.
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