around the world in 180 days

            We left Mana Island today, getting a full refund for the three nights we’d already paid for. We’re staying in at the Tropic of Capricorn, a backpacker in New Town Beach, just outside of Nadi. This place isn’t much and in the states, I’d call it a shithole, but we ain’t in the states and it’s better than the place we just left. The bathroom has hot and cold water, the power stays on all night, and we pick the music. At the place on Mana Island, they had 2 CDs they played again and again. It drove us both nuts.

            I think tomorrow we’re going to try to go up to a National Park not too far away that has a couple of hikes. We need to call in the morning and find out some of the details, but as long as we can work things out, that’s where we’ll go. Otherwise, we’ll head south to the Coral Coast for a couple of days.

            Fiji would be a wonderful place if we needed a relaxing vacation. As we haven’t done anything more stressful than flying since we moved at the end of January, we don’t really need much of a rest. We both just want to get to New Zealand and get on trail for a few days. We’ve had enough relaxing, we want to see something amazing, something that you can’t see unless you work for it. It spoils Fiji for us, because we have nothing to relax from, We can’t begin our trip until we get off these beautiful island beaches. Another time, maybe, and we’d enjoy this more.

            The other major problem with Fiji is that it isn’t in any sense of the word a budget destination. We paid $115 (FJ) for a room with a bed, shared bathrooms, a shower that was a hold in a PVC pipe, and three meals a day. Without the food, I would’ve been pissed. The food was delicious. The rest was crap. All of the activities, be it scuba diving, island hopping, or just sitting in a bar, cost a fortune. Fiji is a fine country, it just isn’t what we’re looking for right now.

            Most of the backpackers we’ve come across here have been on their way home, at their last stop before going back to the US, or, much more commonly, their last stop before going back to the UK. Almost everyone we’ve met on Fiji was from the UK. They all talk in their UK accents and I want to mimic them. I’ve resisted so far, but we’re in for a long stretch of accents. It’s really only a matter of time.

            So. Yeah. Sorry to complain so much about what a bummer Fiji is, but we’re just not really feeling it here. I’m hopeful that we’ll enjoy the Nat’l park and getting out and stretching our legs a bit. With a little luck, it won’t even be intolerably hot like it is everywhere else on Fiji.

Tags: Fiji, Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.