Bula Fiji :)

So our day started at 3.45am with us saying good bye to our little puppies who were most upset we were leaving them again but we know they are in very good hands & will love holidaying with Caroline & family. So we were off at 4am for our drive to Sydney & before we even got to the freeway it was bucketing down which made me have to drive slow & then we swapped driving as I had actually been awake since 1am not being able to sleep so needed a little nap. By 6am we were near the end of the freeway and the traffic was bloody ridiculous. We started panicking a bit as we were meant to be at the airport at 7am and we were not even at the car park by then. The car park even rang to see where we were and then I called Virgin to let them know we were running late. Anyway luckily the car park is about a 3 minute drive from the airport so we dropped the car off & they took us there. We checked in very quickly and went through customs where they took our toothpaste as it was 110 bloody grams but let the Norsca go cause she couldn’t find the weight on it and then on the plane we see a girl with 2 1 litre water bottles....go figure...maybe we looked like dangerous toothpaste bomb making terrorists....lol. So on the plane we get with minutes to spare and no need to worry at all, we start to taxi out & then get told we have to go back as a passenger was unwell. So on came half a dozen Paramedics, there were a few fire & rescue guys, a couple of official people & a few other randoms...good lord it was a bit of overkill. But anyway they put the girl in an ambulance & whisked her off and we finally got back on the runway. We were an hour late but all was good. There was a Sydney Rugby Club on the plane which we thought would be pretty rowdy but they were not too bad at all. And low & behold Virgin now give tea & coffee for FREE....But as I was starving I had to eat something and the food on there is made by Luke Mangan (chef extraordinaire) so I got what was just a beef pie that sounded fancy & cost $10 but did ease my starvation...Tanya on the other hand seems to be able to go forever without food and had nothing. We flew into Nadi and the scenery was just lush, green & beautiful and the weather was nice & steamy. As we only had hand luggage & were first off the plane we breezed through customs, found our resort office & were in our transfer taxi within half an hour. I don’t think I will complain about the state of our roads for a while as they are perfect compared to here...and our big old yellow station wagon taxi just bumped along nicely. We were welcomed at The Anchorage Resort by several friendly Fijians and a Bula from everyone. The lady I have been dealing with told me that she had made a bit of a mistake with our booking (& I thought, Oh no here we go, we have no room) but she said that she had upgraded us from a garden view to an ocean view room but there was only a king size bed in it. She was quite worried and said she could arrange for a single bed to be put in as well, but we assured her that it would be fine & we would cope.....LOL. Our room is nice, nothing too flash but just great for what we need and it has a spa bath out on the balcony....nice. I am going to let Tanya tell you the rest of the day now as I am sick of typing...lol

Night xoxo

Alvo told me that I needed to eat something so we headed on down to check out the restaurant where we were greeted by Clive....an interesting character who’s opening line was “Bula, slap me” and held his hand up for a high five. He told us so much about the resort and assured us that if we needed anything just to yell out for him. We ordered some fries and sat at the bar for our welcome drinks, a mix of orange and pineapple juice with a dash of red cordial. They were very refreshing and the lady at the bar poured out baja mix for Alvo to munch on as I can’t eat them. When the fries arrived the bowl was so big we couldn’t eat them all and they were really crispy and delicious. We then cruised up to reception to buy toothpaste and ask a few questions. It seems as though we get a few nice perks with this package....we can catch the bus to town, as can everyone, but we can also request to be picked up and bought back here when we are finished shopping so we will go into the market and get some fresh fruit for lunches. We also get a great deal for a trip over to Beachcomber Island for a day trip so we will be taking advantage of that. There are also some great activities happening at the resort each day and seeing as though I missed the coconut husking today, the lady at reception is going to organise for fresh coconuts to be bought to me each day....heaven. We have decided to mainly eat fish, seafood and fruit while we are here as Fiji has alot to offer in that manner. A few photos of the beautiful scenery, a little rest and then back to the restaurant for a nice glass of wine and dinner. We ordered an entree each to share as we were still quite full from our fries. The entree special was garlic mussels on a bed of rice and we ordered the Kokoda fish as well which is traditionally Fijian. It is a raw fish dish with lime and coconut milk. If they are an example of whats to come I can’t wait for dinner tomorrow night. Meraia, one of the restaurant ladies told us that she would take us to the first Fijian Village as she lives there with her family. She said we could meet them and she would show us around...just beautiful. Well the mozzies were biting so we headed back to the Bure for a shower and a cuppa. The TV is very temperamental so will be a quiet night for us to recharge ready for a fun filled day tomorrow.

Tanya