Nadi, Fiji

We got up to watch the sunrise again (around 5am) and then nodded off for a bit, before getting up to finish packing. 

Went down for breakfast at 7:30am so we could catch the other folks we’d met and exchange contact info. Usually we just say bye to people we meet traveling but we met a few folks here that we’d like to stay in contact with. 

Heather and I were the only departing guests so we had the boat to ourselves. The staff gathered round to sing the traditional goodbye, and then we waded from shore to the boat, and we were off at 9:30am. 

The sea was choppy today my friends, maybe not as angry as an old man trying to send back soup in a deli *, but still pretty bumpy. However our boat driver was very good so it didn’t feel too bad. 

* Seinfeld reference 

We arrived at the airport in Vunisea just after 11am. Waded to shore then switched to our land footwear. Chatted with another passenger while waiting for our plane. He’s filming a documentary of the volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this year. It’s picked up by PBS in the US but he wasn’t sure of the Canadian distribution rights. Maybe it’ll appear at Hot Docs.

The flight wasn’t too bad considering the warning from the copilot about turbulence. I think I slept for most of it. 

We got our bags (the domestic terminal at Nadi is large enough to have a conveyor belt) and then tried to figure out which group of parked taxis was actually the taxi stand. The drivers recognized our confusion and the next in line drove up to pick us up. It’s a flat rate of 40 FJD to Doubletree, cheaper than the hotel taxi rate of 65 FJD.

It was nice to return to the Doubletree and have the staff remember our names! It’s quite amazing given the number of guests they meet. 

Luckily we were able to get early check-in cause I was beat. Not sure if it was all the activities the past few days or the bumpy boat ride, but for whatever reason I was exhausted. Eventually we made it down for dinner. We’ve been sticking to the à la carte dining option, which here is on the beach. It started raining after we ordered so moved to the main dining area. I had the braised beef rib which was ginormous, enough for a family of four. Crashed early around 9pm.