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June 24, 2004

Tavewa- Yasawas

seaplane.jpg
The sea plane was fantastic, the views over the islands and reef were awsome.
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It cost us 160 fiji bucks per person each way and took 40mins, instead of 90 bucks and nearly 5 hrs on the boat!...I mean theres no option really specially if a fantastic gadget like a sea plane is concerned!...
After much internet searching os the smaller islands we chose Otto and Fannys resort on Tavewa as we wanted somewhere very escapist, but not too exoensive and with at least edible food.

The budget resorts in the yasawas are infamous for having really awful food, however we read that otto and fannys was meant to be pretty good.
As there isnt even a shop on the island never mind and restaurants, if the food sucks you are really stuck!. All the budget resorts offer inclusive meal packages which you kind of have to take as theres not exactly much option!..
Anyway...what did we think of Tavewa...
The island itself is only 3klms square so its really small, its pretty hilly in parts as well.
The beach was really nice, and the water was very clear with good fringe reef snorkelling right off the beach. The best thing was that there was very few people on the island so you often got the beach all to yourself!.
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Kris did a few dives which he described as ordinary, he didnt think you saw much different from snorkelling off the beach.
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The local dive company do not allow you to book a certain day to go to certain dive sites, its always abig secret till the morning of the dive, so he found that a bit frustrating.
Meanwhile I was rushing out the sea in terror after getting far to close to some sort of pied serpent!....lol..actually it was a banded sea snake which are quite common in the area, they are venemous however, and it was pretty big about 6 ftish I reckon....I wasnt taking any chances, I was off like a shot...put me right aff the snorkling!...lol..
Food on the island wasnt too bad, a tad fish orientated for kris's liking but generally passable. We heard a lot of horror stories from other travellers about the other resorts. David's place next door on tavewa we were told serves awful food and we often had people from there come to ottos for dinner.
Otto and fannys is very quiet, if thats not your bag then it would be better to chose another resort. Its very dinner/quick chat and off to bed by 9!...
They never try and rope you into anything, they will howver organise stuff for you if you desire.
Our traditional thatched bure was huge!..with ensuite.
Heres a pic of me looking suitably comatose and that was without alcohol!
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It was pretty clean but the sink/shower and toilet could have done with a good scrub.
It also had its own little eco system, we had beetles, sea crabs, spiders, geckos, mosquitos, a right wee family!
The generator goes off at 11pm ish till about 6 in the morning. Theres virtually no lighting and the bures are well spread out so torches are essential. Its a wee biut creepy at times actually. The wind was high at times and we often went on coconut watch to prevent severe sudden brain damage, cause when one of those puppies crashes onto your heed, you know all aboot it!...
We met some really nice people while on the island, specially Robert and clive and Lance and Jill and allison and chris, and also the really nice couple from california who shared the sea plane with us on the way out !.
Staff on the island were a wee bit odd, they were a bit miserable at times and sometimes getting information was like pulling teeth. Lets say they will not be famed for there Fijjian welcome!
We took a short boat journey out to the famous blue lagoon where the movie of the same name was filmed. Not a sniff of brooke shields or christopher atkins !!.snorkelling was average to be honest, but the trip was nice. I got scraped by sharp coral and kris stood on a sea urchin!...great day out!
One of the draw backs of the island was the mosquitos!...we got bitten really bad, and resorted to showering at about 4ish in the cold water!...and getting fully dressed to avoid gettig bitten, somehow they always seem to get thru the nets as well..
All in all we did enjoy our week on tavewa but a week was enough. After a struggle we did manage to book the sea plane back, they have this mystery you can only book it one day in advance thing going, and when we went to pay they tried to pull a credit card only policy on us. I point blank refused ,as wanted to pay cash, I think I scared the women into allowing us to pay cash, what a load of nonsense!...turtle air are a bit bizarre right enough.

another 4 days on the mainland before we fly to the states.

Posted by David on June 24, 2004 05:17 AM
Category: Fiji
Comments

HEY!! When are you guys coming to NYC?? I've just gotten back from the States. After we parts ways in Singapore, I've hit OZ, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal, and Mongolia.

Drop me an email. Be good.

Posted by: Claudia on July 6, 2004 09:50 AM

Yeah when ARE you guys coming to NYC?
Don't listen to Claudia. Be bad!!... just don't get caught. :)

-Helga

Posted by: Helga on July 7, 2004 05:13 PM

Let me rephrase:

Be WELL. ;) I hope to meet up with you guys again.

Posted by: Claudia on July 7, 2004 05:31 PM


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