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| Sunset at Crusoe's!!! The photo taken from the restaurant overlooking the pool area. |
| Erinīs Fiji Journals (Coming Soon) |
| Glenn's Journal 03-01-03 Fiji We arrived into Nadi, Fiji a little ahead of schedule around 9:30 pm. It didn't take us long to make our way through customs, baggage claim, and immigration before finding our way out of the complex. Our first stop was at the ATM for Fijian dollars (Our seventh currency on this trip so far) and then to meet a travel guide who would show us the way to the transport to Crusoe's Retreat. We were on our way around 10:10 pm with another couple heading to the Naviti resort along the Coral Coast. After a pretty uneventful ride which lasted two hours we finally found our way to Crusoe's Retreat. We were quickly shown to Bure #1 and found ourselves "hitting the hay". We planned on waking up around 7:00 am as that is when we expect our family and friends to show up in the morning. We can't wait!!! We were awake around 7:00 am but did not actually get out of bed until 7:30 am. After showers we made our way to the front desk where we checked on the new arrivals. They were expected to arrive before 8:00 am as they had arrived on time this morning at 5:00 am Fiji time (or 9:00 am Friday morning back on the west coast.) While we waited we met with Noeline, the assistant manager and wedding planner, who went through the wedding package with us. We were getting excited just talking about it. We waited for breakfast until our friends and family arrived. They finally arrived around 9:00 am since they had stopped in Sigatoka for groceries. We were also happily surprised as my sister Jennifer had joined us for the week. The new arrivals included my parents, Jean and Peter, Erin's mom, Judy, my sister Jen, friends from L.A. Stefanie and Tim Hickey, and friends from Seattle Jim and Sue Doll. Stefanie was Erin's maid of honor and Jim was my best man for the wedding planned for Thursday. We were so excited to see everyone as we had not been home since September. We also have many friends and family in our thoughts that could not make it this week. There were no plans for today as some may need naps to help get over the jet lag. There is a 20 hour time difference between Fiji and the west coast so it will take a while to get acclimated. Erin and I only had a two hour time change from the east coast of Australia. Some of us spent time today kayaking off the beach, playing in the pool, and otherwise relaxing around the retreat. We all met back up for happy hour (6:30 pm every night) and dinner (7:30 pm every night). At dinner I celebrated my one year anniversary of my last day at work. Wow!!! It rained pretty hard this afternoon and we were hoping that this is not what was expected every day this week. The weather forecast calls for rain through Thursday but we will see. We also realized that the rain would not be too much of a problem as we would be in the water most days anyway. The most important day for us would be Thursday for the wedding which was planned for sunset. Let me tell you a little about Crusoe's Retreat. Crusoe's is on the Coral Coast about 2 hours drive out of Nadi and more than 1 hour out of Suva, the major cities on Fiji. The retreat is 10 minutes off the main highway along a dirt road to a very secluded beach location. The resort is self sufficient and is staffed by the village right next door. There are 11 bure's on the beach front and another 18 bure's along the hill. Our group accomodated 5 of the 6 ocean front bure's on the east side of the main building. We felt like we had our own private resort. Erin and I were in Bure #1 which was only a few meters from the beach and only a few more feet from the ocean. I woke last night to what I thought was rain but, in the light of day, determined that it was just the high tide breaking against the breaker wall just outside our room. Each bure included two double beds, shower, toilet, dual sinks, and a refrigerator. They were fan cooled so some nights were very hot and hard to cool down. The resort offered breakfast. Lunch, and dinner every night along with free activities during the day. You could stay very busy or just relax depending on your style. Daily activities included snorkeling trips along the reef, a glass bottom boat, diving, games like volleyball and water polo, nature walks, visits to the village, and cultural learning about cooking, flowers, history, and tribal rituals. You could spend more for a more upscale feel but Crusoe's offers a more personal feel at a reasonable price. Everyone knew our names before the end of the second day there. |
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| Sunset at Crusoe's!!! One of the many beautiful sunsets we were blessed with this week!! |