Fiji to Auckland, New Zealand

 

The beach at the hotel at sunrise. We're still getting up early in the morning. Happily breakfast begins at 6:30 AM.

We arrived in Fiji in the very early morning but we'd reserved our hotel for the night before so were able to get right into our room and crash for a few hours. Then we had two more nights there. That first day we just explored our hotel area. The Crowne Plaza Fiji is enormous and was just finishing up a huge facelift. We had a choice of 10 different restaurants and bars. The pool was enormous and the beach pristine. Until our last morning it was hot, humid and bright sunshine. We ate, drank, swam and walked around. I finally got that pedicure I needed. 

Our taxi driver Oscar ended up giving us a bit of
a tour. Here's Scott and he getting a morning
kava drink. 

But the next day we ventured into Nadi and walked all over the small town. Fijians are the friendliest people I've ever met. And we met a lot of them. At the hotel and in town, people stop and chat - and they aren't trying to sell you something (which happens in many other countries). Our taxi driver showed us all over the town and got out to bring us into the market to try some kava - a small amount as it numbs your mouth. Otherwise it doesn't taste like much! He explained that tipping isn't usual in Jiji - he just wanted to make sure we had a good time! And he meant it. 

The Hindu Temple downtown at Nadi. Indians were brought in
to work the sugar plantations when the law prohibited native
Fijians from manual labor. Given it's independence from 
England in 1970, it has had a number of coups, peaceful
and otherwise, but starting in 2014 has had a democratically
elected government  

This is a local town for the residents. There were no fast food restaurants (actually very few at all) and most stores were selling the basics - clothing, hardware and cell service. There was a local market selling everything including meat & veggies and another market selling handicrafts. We picked up a number of gifts for our family there. The lunch place Oscar, our driver, recommended was Chinese and very good. But the heat really got to us and after a few hours, we were exhausted. Nadi is the sunny dry end of the main island and Suva at the other end, the capitol and biggest city - but gets much more rain. There are 330 islands in all with 110 having permeant populations.

The staff at our last night sang a farewell song
to us!

Our last night we ate at the Italian restaurant at the resort and it was excellent. Again, we chatted with several of the staff and at the end of dinner, all of them sang to us a farewell song. They are very accomplished singers and it was beautiful. 

What a difference the next morning. We were pretty damp by the time we got into the reception area but of course it's still warm so you dry off quickly. It was another early morning, we got the 6 AM shuttle - it was sad to miss our breakfast there that morning! But the airport wasn't crowded and it we were through to our gate in plenty of time to eat breakfast and relax. 

The flight was easy and entrance into New Zealand fairly quick, as long as you had nothing to declare. We had arranged for a pick up at the airport and she was waiting outside customs. What a beautiful city and perfect weather. Highs of around 70 and bright blue skies. Our Airbnb apartment was just a block and a half from the Ferry Terminal on the harbor and right in the middle of every famous designer's store on Queens Street. 

The view from the balcony down to Queen Street
and the pedestrian street and park next to it.

And looking down Queen Street to the harbor

It was a small apartment but very well equipped.
The kitchen and bath are behind here but you
can see the bed sticking out on the right. The
balcony held two chairs and a small table.
Very nice and on the 15th floor so great views.

After settling in we walked down to the harbor and around the marina admiring the amazing variety of boats. One of the America's Cup boats was available for a trip but not during our days there, so we booked a hour and a half trip out on a similar one for the next day. Then the search for a table overlooking the water began and lasted for a while. Finally a very nice hostess took pity on us and got us a table! Mexican food but quite good and remarkably cheap. The dollar buys almost 2 New Zealand dollars! 

More on our stay in Auckland in my next post (we are now in Rotorua, about 3 hours south).

Our finally won table for dinner our first night in Auckland.

And the section of the marina just outside our restaurant. 

Florida to Fiji

 

We visited our first Bucky's in South Carolina
on our way north. You start seeing signs for the
next Bucky's hundreds of miles before you 
reach them!

We leapt from Florida to Fiji in just over a week! On the 22nd we left our Santa Rosa RV Resort and drove north - one night in Madison, GA and the next day we were with our old friends Walt & Honoree in Carthage, NC.  After two lovely nights with them, they drove us up to Raleigh for one night at the La Quinta Hotel. We got on the first shuttle in the morning at 4:30 AM! 

Dinner out one night at a fabulous restaurant with
Honoree & Walt. Baby is in their care until our
return in May. 

This was  the start of our challenging time changes and varying bedtime hours. The four nights with Zoë, George and Tommy gave us time to unwind and relax. We always enjoy a lot of easy walks around Palo Alto and one day enjoyed a Whale Watch out of Santa Cruz. We saw 3 whales, one strange Ocean Sunfish and an adorable sea otter - and of course, lots of birds. 

Scott and Zoë on our whale watch trip.

The very strange Ocean Sunfish!

Tommy, George and Zoë

A few days before our flight to Fiji on Fiji Airlines we received an offer to bid on an upgrade to Business Class. We bid the minimum - still a lot of money but the idea we might get some sleep on the 10 hour overnight flight was too tempting. And we got it. It was worth it. It was strange and kind of sad to not take advantage of all the free food and drink, but we knew it would affect our sleep so we abstained. It was particularly hard in the Air France lounge before our flight! We could have had a gourmet dinner with wine pairings but it was already late at night. The seats did recline to almost flat but it wasn't the separate cubicles that they sometimes have. No complaints though and we really enjoyed the breakfast the next morning!

Entry into Fiji was quick and our hotel, Crowne Plaza Nadi wasn't far away. We were checked in and shown to our beautiful room at 5 AM! We crossed the international date line on the flight so it was a full day later. It was great to catch a few more hours of sleep. And the huge buffet breakfast that morning welcomed us. Actually before we went down I heard this beautiful singing outside. The wait staff at the restaurant sing for any special occasion and they are very good. It sounds like a trained chorus. They sounded like hymns to me, all in Fijian, But more on our time in Fiji in my next post.

The view from our balcony.

Our first breakfast - it was hot and humid with clear skies for our stay until the last morning
when it rained. 

We enjoyed our first cocktails on the beach at sunset.

At 6:30 each evening there is a torch lighting along the beach.

The sunsets were beautiful.