AKA Fiji on the Cheap
(I like Fiji even before I get there. Fiji Air is fantastic. They give you a bottle of cold water and a damp face cloth as you board the plane then ply you with endless food and drinks while in the air. My favourite kind of service.)
Fiji is expensive, everyone tells me, you won't like it.
But that depends on how you approach it.
There are resorts that cost $600/day, heck there are resorts, only accessible by private helicopter, that cost $6000/day. My hostel, on the other hand, is $12.97 CAD/night. Seriously. Tropic of Capricorn Resort, it's right there online, you can check it out. It's beachfront, has AC, two pools, great matresses, crisp clean sheets, free wifi, lots of comfy chairs and hammocks in the lobby, by the pools, and on the beach, it has two backpacker friendly restaurants and it even offers complimentary airport pick up! Who could ask for more? (Of course, for $12.97 a night you have to share a bathroom, but I've been sharing a bathroom with 11 other people for 3 months now - Infinity had exactly one working toilet, and a 4 year old who couldn't wipe her own bum yet - so not having a private bathroom seems fine to me.)
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| Hostel! |
The first day is Sunday and everything is closed so I walk into Nadi to check out the Hindu temple and, stopping at a small roadside grocery for a cold drink, see that there's a cafe tucked inside. I get a huge plate of excellent lamb curry with rice and Indian salad for 5 fiji dollars ($3.24 CAD). Yum.
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| Temple. |
The next day, I do chores; get my glasses fixed, my hair cut, try in vain to mail the heavy things I never use home (my wetsuit, broken camera, collected rocks, souvenir coins), and search fruitlessly for a copy of a Lonely Planet or similar guidebook. I end up down at the chic Port Denarau, where, instead of eating at one of the expensive tourist restaurants, I spy a lady at the corner of the parking lot selling meals to locals. For 2 fiji dollars I get a roti (a crepe filled with delicious curried peas and potato). I also - not with the same lady - sign up for a time share presentation. It costs $5. I will have to listen to a 50 minute presentation at a brand new 5 star resort the next morning following which I will get an all-inclusive pass for the rest of the day and, then, the following day, get a free $200-value island-hopping day-cruise. Both days come with open bar and all meals and watersports included. Even a submarine ride at one island as part of the cruise. Wow! I'm OK to spend a day at a 5 star resort, OK to do a free island-hopping day-cruise. Of course I know the cruise will be a bit cheesy and I know I'd win the 'cheapest tourist ever' award if there was one, but I'm OK with that too!
Fiji, expensive? Really? No way. Not if you're me.
