Fiji! Fiji! Fiji!

Because my husband jacked our sister trip the previous year (see earlier post re Pismo), my sister insisted that we take a fabulous vacation together the following year, and Fiji fit the bill in more ways than one. First, there had just been a small coup affecting only the governmental city of Suva the previous year(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_coup_of_2000), in which no tourists were involved. However, since Fijian tourism had suffered as a result, there were some extraordinary deals to be had the following year. Perfect timing.

We stayed at the lovely, five-star Shangri-La Fijian Resort (http://www.shangri-la.com/fiji/fijian/en/index.aspx), a true sight for sore eyes. The picture above shows Alpaca climbing one of the many palm trees on the hotel's private island. The sand was soft, the water was warm and the trees were easy to climb, all to Alpaca's delight. This particular strip of beach was located approximately 50 feet from our room. Great access. The rooms were large, the views astounding and the service was terrific. The hotel offered a variety of activities (http://www.shangri-la.com/fiji/fijian/recreation/en/index.aspx), including our favorite, kayaking.

We kayaked on the hotel's private island and we even took a day trip to an uninhabited island to snorkel and kayak there. Well, *I* kayaked. The Alpaca has people (i.e. me) to do its kayaking, and Pookie took an oar but used it to splash my back. Periodically, she would "help steer" by flinging her head violently from one side of the kayak to the other while following the fish. The water was clear enough that you could see clearly straight down from the surface for about 30 feet. Finally, I took her oar away and left her to just move violently about the kayak while I rowed and steered. Worked out better for my soaked back and my water-logged Alpaca.

The pirate ship we took out to the island was great fun, the traditional Fijian BBQ they arranged for us was delicious and the snorkeling, swimming and kayaking were not to be missed. We saw a huge cobalt blue starfish only a few feet from shore, hoardes of beautiful, colorful fish swam through the coral and ... most fun, we were able to walk out 100 feet from shore and only be thigh-high in water. What a treat! Pookie blamed me for almost losing her leg (really, she had a little scratch on her foot but swore that it was to result in amputation, oh fan of hyperbole that she is). She kept reminding me that our mom was going to be *really* mad at me for maiming her child.

We also enjoyed taking the Sugar Train into Suva for a few hours (http://travelchannel.igougo.com/planning/journalEntryActivity.asp?JournalID=9058&EntryID=16198). The train ride itself was great fun. We went through the rain forest, and stopped in a sugar field so everyone could try pure sugar cane. We saw cows tied to palm trees only a few feet from the beach, roosters followed the train for fun and several locals got on and off, entertaining us along the way. Suva itself wasn't much of a sight, but it was worth seeing once. We learned about Fiji's bygone years of cannibalism (http://www.heretical.com/cannibal/fiji.html), then did some shopping before boarding the Sugar Train back to the resort.

The hotel's restaurants were more than fantastic and featured fresh fish (we joked that the service was slow because they would go out and catch the fish only after you placed your order). It was that fresh. The calamari was the best we've ever had - and we've traveled the world in search of fresh calamari. The nightly BBQs were also amazing. We took advantage of some terrific Mongolian BBQ and enjoyed a variety of other meals during our 9-day stay. Each was delicious. Our only complaint about the hotel's restaurants was that one required closed-toed shoes. We wondered if they realized they were on an island. Seriously, why closed toed shoes? But we didn't feel like we missed out on anything. Pookie would also probably complain that their Indian buffet was really spicy. She walked around breathing fire like a dragon for days after merely a bite.

Other than our excursions to the private island and into Suva, we didn't bother trying food outside the hotel. We couldn't imagine it being any better or any cheaper and it sure as heck couldn't be any more convenient. Besides, any trek away from the hotel to a restaurant would have taken us away from our beloved kayak, and we couldn't have that.