Accommodation Wailoaloa / Newtown near Nadi on Viti Levu Island is a beach accommodation area within 10 minutes of the airport by car and 15 minutes from Nadi town. The cheapest accommodation I saw was very rough room share with a bunch of strangers in dorm style beds with share toilet and shower, for 15 Fijian dollars. The Aquarius Pacific Backpacker Hotel in Wailoaloa offers a range of accommodation. My room was a private 2 bed dorm 'cupboard' with own shower and toilet for 28 Fijian dollars. In the same backpacker hotel you can also pay 115 Fiji for a room with a view and private shower and toilet. Denarau Island nearer Nadi town is where my travel agent wanted to book me, but nothing was in my price bracket i.e. under 200 Fijian dollars a night. These resorts are 5 star hotels with rooms that generally start at 300 Fijian dollars. Package deals are available but this normally applies to two people sharing which I did not qualify for. It is probably fortunate that I did not book into one of these hotels as I would have been upset that the beach on this expensive bit of real estate is mangrove and not much different to the beach at Wailoaloa! The sand is a dirty brown to black colour and the water is brown as well. I pictured Fiji to be white sands and clear blue water with tropical forests, volcanic mountains and blue sky. What a surprise to me it was to find that this is not the case on the biggest island Viti Levu. They tell me that the outer islands are what we see in the movies Castaway and Blue Lagoon, but I did not know that at the time of booking and my travel agent at Flight Centre did not explain the options. I prepaid 6 nights at the Aquarius Pacific (Backpacker) Hotel This was a mistake. I would not want to book more than 2 days in one place in future. If it was one of the luxury resorts on Denerau and the idea of the holiday is the resort itself and not seeing much of the island life then I guess staying in one spot would be ok, but if travelling on a budget and 'seeing' Fiji is the goal, then two days in one backpacker hotel should be enough. Transport Wailoaloa is well situated for travellers without private transport. There are beach pickups by boat to take you to the Mamanuca islands. A public bus stops outside each 'hotel' and costs 70 cents to Nadi town bus station. From there you can go take buses to other parts of Viti Levu. The Turtle Island sea plane takes off from Wailoaloa beach and is enjoyable to watch. There are also the taxis. A taxi to town costs around 15 FJD but I never needed to take it as I found the bus or hitching fairly easy day and night. Be warned that the taxi and bus drivers are not always honest. A taxi with the number plate LT is required to turn its meter on. They seldom do with tourists. Should the driver refuse to turn the meter on, the Fijians tell me that I should allow him to take me to my destination and not pay. That is the law, they say. Apparently the driver will often charge a tourist double. A Taxi with a number plate LH is different. This is Land Hire and the fare is negotiated between driver and passenger.. Hitch Hiking in Fiji .... A mixed bag of feelings on this one. Half the time it was perfectly fine and the Fijians were wonderful about stopping and giving me a lift and refusing money. Other times... sigh, it is hard being a girl travelling on my own sometmes. On half my lifts I was...propositioned. Most times in the form of an invite to have dinner (sounds harmless enough but htis would be after answering a long list of usual questions about whether I was travelling alone, married or single, my age etc, etc), but on one occasion an Indian Fijian suggested he take me around the island and when I asked how much it would cost, he said I could pay in kind, jerkung his head towards my lap when I asked him to clarify what he meant. These experiences were repetitive even when I covered up with a sarong over my shorts or wearing long pants. My clothing made little difference. Fortunately the Fijians would back off when I objected or declined and not become violent or abusive. A topic for Girl Talk perhaps for I learned something about myself in these encounters. Returning to Fiji If I came again to Fiji, which I think I will, I would spend several weeks travelling on the ferries from one island to the next, perhaps using the Bula Pass, and booking into accommodation as I go, living like the locals from time to time, beneath the protection of the trees. For me, being a girl, it would be better to do this with a friend as there were times on those seemingly isolated beaches that I felt exposed and vulnerable. I never really felt alone although sometimes I very much wanted to be alone, to swim naked in the clear blue water and doze free of concern in the sun and the sand. But someone was always popping out from beneath the trees or fishing on the coral reefs.... Coral Coast Yes there is a section of the main island that does have blue water and creamy coral sand. I caught a bus that goes to Sigatoka from Nadi Bus station at got off at Natandola turn off. At the turn off is a nice old Indian taxi driver who shuttles people from his road side store the the local beach for 7 Fijian dollars. It is quite a long way because the road is so bad in sections and the car must drive slowly, but hitching would also be possible. The road is quiet however. Mr Gosai, the taxi driver and store owner is reasonable with his prices. You can buy water, cold drinks, alcohol and a few little bits of things to eat. At the beach itself, there are three resorts, the new soon to be 7 star Intercontinental, the Natandola Bay Beach Resort and Yanuka....? which is Fijian bungalow style and. Not sure what the Intercontinental charges but the other two are in the region of 185 F dollars a night for one person or room. The beach is available at low tide, with only a narrow fringe at high tide, disappearing in some places entirely for a few hours. At low tide it is possible to walk on the reefs if you were suitable shoes. I watched the women pulling octopus from the crevices and net fisherman further out in the shallows of the reef. You can walk along the edge where volcanic overhangs with brave trees somehow collecting enough nutrients to grow out of rock. Sitar Restaurant - Indian and Asian Cuisine on the main road between Nadi and Namaka Towns at the intersection to the road that goes to Wailoaloa Beach. After straight forward Australian food where spices are conspicuous by there absence, I was thrilled to be able to enjoy a good beef curry with delicious Naam garlic bread and excellent cup of coffee. A second visit had be enjoying succulent tandoori lamb cutlets that melted my my mouth it was so tender. The meals work out quite expensive as they charge separately for everything. I ordered curry the first night and that is what I got. Curry with no rice or tomato's and onion sambles or anything. so I had to order these 'side dishes' and that made the meal price go from 20 dollars to 30 Fijian dollars including the coffee and naam bread. The ambiance is nice though, the service is wonderfully Fijian and relaxed whist being efficient, the decor superb and the food reliable good. So for me it was worth paying the 10 dollars extra. The people. I am not sure of the exact percentage make up of the resident population, but you are looking at the local Fijians close to being out numbered. Very roughly 55 % Fijian and 45 % other, mostly Indian. This has caused some tension in recent years where I guess the Fijians feel that their country is being bought out from under them. Fijians are not business minded, they are an island people who enjoy drinking Kawa Kawa regularly (it has a 'medicinal' calming tranquiliser type effect which made my tongue and lips numb when I drank a cup of it my first day in town.) Still writing.... | 
