Intercontinental Hotel in Fiji

After our Captain Cook Cruise, we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel for the night. InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa is located on the beautiful and picturesque Natadola Beach on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu. A very contemporary hotel, it has every amenity, five restaurants and bars, a world class spa, four swimming pools  great design and facilities but lacked some of the warmth that we had experienced so far.

Here is a little video Camera Guy made....watch the right corner of the frame...I need to find another descriptive word!

The verandah was spectacular! We had a huge bathtub outside with an abundance of candles for a very romantic touch.

It was very spacious...took the picture before we messed it up!

We had a drink at the Cannibal bar - nooooo it is not what you are thinking!  They do not practice cannibalism any longer in Fiji!  

Camera Guy likes the Vonu Lager!

There was a fabulous pool!

Horseback riding at the beach.

Beautiful Natadola Beach

This is a picture I took of Camera Guy by the 'beautiful' infinity pool. 

And an even more fabulous sunset - accompanied with a fire lighting ceremony!

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel but it is important to note that this hotel is a family hotel.  And there were a lot of children running around!  It is unfortunate that some parents just let their children run wild around restaurants.  We experienced that at this hotel - a beautiful setting, good food and kids playing tag around our tables...

Tomorrow off to Mana Island...

Coral Coast Tour

  We said our good byes to the crew and our new friends as it was time to disembark the Reef Endeavour...

The Captain (seen above) sent us off with a warm message and the crew sang us touching farewell songs. 

The Captain  and Henrique (the Cruise Director).

We disembarked in Port Denarau where we were greeted by Tom, our driver/guide.  After retrieving our bags from the cart, we headed off on our Coral Coast Tour. 

Like my new hat accessory?  These Banded Iguanas were sooo cute and soooo green!

Our first stop - the Kula Eco Park  the environmental showplace of the South Pacific and Fiji's center for the captive breeding of endangered species & the environmental education of school children.
Camera Guy and a snake!

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Those are Sexy toes!

A beautiful Golden Dove at the Eco Park.

After the Eco Park, we headed to the market.  Check out our video here or click on the video below.

Camera Guy named these guys Ted Danson and Johnny Cash.

These sculptures are chiselled from trees and decorate the grounds of many of the resorts.  They are often placed in front of the  bures to guard them.

Next stop...The Intercontinental Hotel.

Captain Cook Cruise - Drawaqa Island

That  is the Reef Endeavour in the distance.  The ship uses tenders to take the passengers ashore.  In some cases you need to be prepared to get your feet a little wet, but honestly, if you don't enjoy the water, I am not sure Fiji is the vacation for you.  I felt like a mermaid by the end of the trip!   

Guess what this is?

  It is the school bus...I mean school boat!  It takes the children to school on the other islands.

While I was shopping at the village market, Camera Guy was following the local fishing dog...but his owner called him away before he caught anything.

A village tour - notice everyone wearing the Sulus - everyone including men, need to cover their knees to show respect in the village.

Here is the sea snake. These creatures are very poisonous but people are not often bitten as they have small mouths and their fangs are set deep in their jaws. Nevertheless, we gave it a lot of room!

The islands are close together so you can always see some island.  Most of the inhabited islands have fresh water.  After lunch we set off to Drawaqa Island.  Camera Guy and I decided to pass on snorkelling this afternoon and take a walk instead.  The Barefoot Island Resort is here.  Backpackers can enjoy budget accommodations (dorm style) in a fantastic setting.  Some bures share a washroom, but the picture below is one of the deluxe units, featuring a 'floating bed'.

This beach front bure  was recently built and is really quite nice with an ensuite. Make sure to ask for one with a washroom!   The doorway and some sides zipped up like a tent and was very interesting. The resort was just bought by a South African Company and they are refurbishing many of the bures. They actually had a carpenter building the furniture at the resort!

This is the outdoor shower in the beachfront bure.  I love outdoor showers!

This is the closest island to the famous Manta Ray feeding channel.

Annette and Rosie on board the Reef Endeavour.

It was Island Night on our last night on board the Captain Cook Cruise.  Camera Guy wore his turtle sulu...we all danced together and had so much fun!

The crew enjoyed themselves as well.  They even did a Bollywood number that had everyone laughing!

What a great time we had on the Reef Endeavour....

And another stunning sunset....

Visit to The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon... I remember watching this romantic Brooke Shields movie as a kid.  The movie  was filmed in a few locations, but some of it was done right here...

Annette and Rosie from Australia.

The caves of the Blue Lagoon are actually located on Sawa-I-Lau Island. The island is imposing, rising 1000 feet above sea level and is the object of many legends. 

Every place we visited, beautiful Sulus were displayed.

We loved spending time with Gail and Hilary from New Zealand.

Paul, one of the dive instructors...

Swimming in the cave was so amazing!

Camera Guy in his South Pacific bula shirt....and a Fiji Bitter! It's five o'clock somewhere!

And of course another fabulous sunset...

Tomorrow is our last full day aboard the Reef Endeavour.

Visit to Yasawa Island & A Fiji School

We went to school today...in Fiji! We expected to visit the Ratu Namasi School on Yasawa Island and just get a tour, so I was very surprised and simply filled with joy when the children lined up in rows in front of us with big smiles and sang so incredibly! There were no shortage of smiles throughout our entire visit.

Check out our video!

One of the young girls came over to me, shook my hand  and offered to show me her school.  It was very organized and she was so proud of it. She was our tour guide for the rest of our visit. 

Modern Fiji's national dress is the sulu which resembles a skirt. It is commonly worn by both men and women. The boys at the school wore sulus and the girls wore dresses.

Some of the students  gathered to get into the picture.  They were fascinated by Camera Guy's camera, and couldn't decide if they wanted in the picture or to look through the lens at the picture he was setting up!

They don't have dependable internet service but they do go online occasionally. There was a computer & printer in the Head Teachers office.   

We had a quick swim before returning to the Reef Endeavor for a reef talk with Noah, the Marine Biologist, lunch and then off to the Blue Lagoon to swim in the cave!