Fiji is the playground for folks in Australia and New Zealand. They go often and all menus are in Fiji and Australia prices. The Outrigger Resort is on the Coral Coast, about 1.5 hours away by van from the airport. The island is very mountainous and the towns (villages, really) are small and very third world, while Nadi is well-developed and ready for tourists.
The plane was half-filled with “schoolies,” recent high school graduates who go to Fiji for their senior trip. They all were fit and very attractive, wearing as little as possible to begin the fun. They were shuttled to Plantation Island, one of more than 300 islands that comprise this country. I can’t imagine what they will be up to there! Okay, yes, I can!
The resort is one of a group that has locations in Hawaii and other resort destinations. This one looked a little tired but they are in the process of renovating and upgrading the public areas, such as reception, main dining room, and the wedding chapel . The rooms have already been remodeled and they did a good job.
It is a quite large facility, with many buildings and thatched roof villas. All rooms face the ocean, providing a lovely view. The foliage, flowers, and streams are quite beautiful. The frangipani trees are incredibly fragrant and the staff always has one of the flowers (sometimes real and sometimes not) tucked behind their ear. I tried to bring a flower or two back but they wouldn’t have survived. They even have galeana trees, like those in Mexico, with beautiful red blossoms.
The guests were predominately families with young children. We guessed that the majority of the kids were under 10 years old, with many infants, as well. Fortunately, they had an adults-only pool which was quiet and enjoyable. The swim-up bar didn’t hurt either. The buffet dining room for breakfast and dinner was well-populated with families, as were the other restaurants with ala carte menus. The food was okay. The drinks, however, were very good and unique. Not being much of a drinker, it was a special treat to try some different drinks that I would never have tried before.
The weather was warmer than Sydney’s and offered some time to just relax, especially after the days of seeing lots of sights. Since we were with five others from our previous part of the tour, we got a good opportunity to really get to know them. One couple from Detroit was a big college football fan (Uiversity of Michigan, of course). The Denver couple was a big University of Colorado fan and the single man with us was a Minnesota Vikings fan. We were not big fans of any of those teams, although Jim does like to see what the Denver Broncos are doing.. Other than that, we enjoyed our time with them.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a day of fun but we will decide how the ocean looks before we commit to going out. It was a lovely day.