April 7, 2015-April 9 2015
Travel
Thursday rolled around and we were finally heading to Fiji
after a much anticipated countdown! Joe and I both had a full day of work since
we originally thought our flight was at 7:30.
We still aren’t quite sure how we got to the time, but luckily, Joe
double checked in the morning and saw that we actually depart at 6:30. Not a huge deal at all! At around 2, I am at a late lunch with a
friend and Joe is in a meeting. He receives
an alert on his phone that the first leg of our flight was canceled! I was too busy talking away to answer his
texts trying to figure out what to do, but luckily our travel agent had time
for him. He immediately packed up at
work and headed home while our travel agent started working on how we would get
to LA. Joe finally gets in touch with me
as I am walking back from lunch saying we need to leave as soon as he gets home
and head to the airport. Right as he
pulls in we get a call from our travel agent, Christie, stating she put us on
the 5:00 Delta flight (we were originally booked on American Airlines). We are so lucky I was at lunch that day
because Kayla stuck around and drove us to the airport so that we could make
our flight on time! We didn’t hit too
much traffic and made it with a few minutes to spare! With our bags checked to our final
destination, we boarded the plane to LAX.
We didn’t get to sit together since we got the last two seats on the
plane but we were just happy to be making our way to LA!
We got to LA and had about 4 hours to kill. We started with a late dinner inside the
Delta terminal. We had learned from our
last trip not to leave the terminal because there is no food beyond the
terminal and you cannot check into international flights until 2 hours
beforehand! I enjoyed a sandwich and Joe
enjoyed a burger. We then relaxed a bit
in the terminal but before we knew it we were check in for our next flight to
Fiji. We were traveling with Tahiti Air
and departed from LA around 11:30. With
the help of some Nyquil, we were both fast asleep for our 11 hour flight. We both had a good long 6 ½ hours of sleep
and then dozed off for another two hours or so.
Once we were up from our night sleep we had less than 3 hours to go so
we knew we were going to be OK!
We landed in Fiji just as the sun was rising and got to see
a beautiful sunrise while landing on the beautiful island. Our happiness was short lived. I had brought a grapefruit and forgotten to
eat it. Needless to say, I won’t be
making that mistake again. After a VERY
hefty fine and almost missing our connecting flight, we were finally on our
last leg of the trip. We had a 1 hour 20
minute flight from Nadi to Taveuni.
Taveuni is the third largest island in Fiji. This was hands down the smallest plane I have
ever sat in. It had no overhead storage
and about 18 seats. It was the coolest
experience! We got to sit in the front
row so we saw the pilot take off and land, and the scenery was breathtaking. The color of the water and the islands was
something that words cannot even describe!
The “airport” was literally a landing strip with a little open gazebo. There we met up with our driver from Matangi
Island Resort. He grabbed our luggage and
loaded it up into a truck! It will be
interesting to see how security (or lack thereof) will go on the way back because
there definitely aren’t any metal detectors, TSA, etc.! Our driver took us on a 25 minute ride to a
doc where we were picked up by a boat.
We enjoyed a 20 minute boat ride to Matangi Island. Upon our arrival, we were greeted with music
and beautiful necklaces, and fresh coconut water. We had made it! The craziest part of the trip is crossing the
dateline. Although our travel wasn’t
that long, we left on a Thursday evening and arrived on a Saturday morning,
completely skipping Friday! Who needs
Friday anyways?
April 9, 2015
The arrival was a sight to see. We were welcomed by all of the staff and a
band that sang a welcome song while we pulled in. We then received fresh coconut and shell
necklaces while we met the owner of the resort.
Once we arrived they had a beautiful table set up for Joe and me to
enjoy some breakfast. We wanted to eat light since it was 10 AM and we knew
lunch would be somewhat soon. At
breakfast we put in our lunch and dinner requests and saw the schedule of
events for the day. We decided since we
had a pretty long trip we would lay low today and enjoy the pool and beach and not
participate in the activities. We enjoyed
our breakfast then were escorted to our room.
The room was stunning! We got
upgraded to the Beach Front Villa which was bigger than the initial room we
booked. It is a traditional beachfront burro
that had an outdoor lounge on the front porch.
The view is onto the beautiful water.
Inside, we had a living room, bedroom, mini kitchen area and a beautiful
bathroom. The best part is our huge
outdoor shower! You can get a tan while
showering J we got unpacked and then quickly headed to
the pool to catch some sun until lunch time.
There is one pool at the place we are at with chairs,
lounges, and swinging daybeds. It is a
wonderful relaxing environment. Although
there are a lot of workers here, the best part is that they tend to leave you
alone. If you need anything you can
always flag someone down, but they leave you be. While at the pool we met the remaining 5
couples that are here right now. It is
nice because 3/5 other couples are young, one is a mother/daughter pair, and one
is an older couple. Everyone is very
nice and welcomed us to the island.
After relaxing by the pool for a couple hours we headed to lunch. I was blown away by our first meal! We started
with a shot of what I believe was a cleansing smoothie. The started was a water chestnut, watermelon,
feta salad and then our main course we both had sweet citrus scallop salad with
scallops of different varieties, lettuce, lemon and herb dressing, and some
toppings with a couple homemade crispy potato chips. We finished with a banana with peanut caramel
sauce for desert. It was such a perfect
and refreshing lunch for me.
After lunch we enjoyed a fresh cookie that they have out all
the time. Then we headed back to the
pool to catch some more sun and read our magazines. At 4:30 we attended a cooking class put on by
the chief. He made coconut crepes with a
chocolate sauce. I have never been a fan
of coconuts but the coconuts here are orange and have a much milder taste (even
the coconut milk is milder) and I have been enjoying the flavor! After cooking class we walked down to the
beach with some friends and watched the sun set. Since it is winter time the sun sets around
5:30. After sunset we showered and got
ready for the evening. At 6:30 we
enjoyed traditional dancing and even partook in some of the dance! Joe was definitely a good sport. Then it was dinner time at 7!
 |
| Cooking Class |
Dinner started with seafood vol-au-vent which
is seafood in a creamy white wine sauce and a puff pastry shell. After the starter Joe enjoyed a filet mignon
with blue butter sauce with potatoes, steamed beans, steamed cabbage, and
roasted pumpkin while I enjoyed grilled snapper, coconut curry sauce, French beans,
and steamed cauliflower. For desert I
enjoyed a mango mousse and caramelized pineapple while Joe enjoyed orange cream
caramel. Since we had a couple drinks
before dinner, once we were fed the lack of sleep finally hit us. Joe and I headed to bed right after
completing dinner! In the rooms, there
is no air conditioning, which is very common on islands like Fiji. For the most
part it is not an issue, but when sleeping most people like it pretty
cold. Also, since your windows and
shades are open almost all day and night, there are a lot of bugs that can get into
the room. This resort found the perfect
solution! They have an AC unit above the
bed that they turn on during turn down service then netting around the bed to
keep the air in and the bugs out! We
slept wonderfully!!!!! We need one of
these units just above our beds.
April 10, 2015
We were woken up bright and early at 6:30 to a rooster
outside our door! Nothing like a
wonderful good morning call! We relaxed for a bit and then Joe got some work
emails taken care of while I wrote about the day before. Around 7:30 it was time to get moving. It was beautiful and sunny outside in the
morning so it was already pretty warm.
We walked to the dining hall to enjoy our first full breakfast. They still had the muffin and fruit juice out
but we also could order from a menu. I
ordered an omelet with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and crushed tomatoes and Joe
ordered two over easy eggs, bacon, beans, and a chipolita. I also enjoyed some fresh guava juice and Joe
had some fresh orange juice, some fresh fruit, and a chocolate chip
muffin. The food was amazing!
After breakfast we decided to do the short hike that they
have. It is about 30 minutes one way to
the top of Beverly Hill. From Beverly
Hill you look down on Horseshoe Bay. We
got our walking sticks that were used to help hike and to get rid of spider
webs, and were on our way. The hike is
VERY steep from the start! It is pretty
much straight up, so we definitely got a good workout. Along the way we saw one huge unknown animal,
goats, cows, and chickens. Once we got
to the top we saw the most breathtaking view I have seen in my life. Looking down on Horseshoe Bay is the most
spectacular thing. The blues and greens
of the water cannot be described and pictures simply do not do it justice. We sat at the top and soaked in the amazing
view for a bit, then knew we didn’t have a huge amount of time before our next
adventure so we headed back.
On our way back we got up close to a cute little goat and
watched 5 puppies (from before we only thought there was one puppy that walked
around the resort but that one had 4 other siblings) play in the water. Then we headed back and sat in the daybed for
a bit before getting ready for our snorkeling trip. At 11 we got picked up by
the boat and headed out to the shipwreck that is right off the island. Although there was a strong current, the snorkeling
trip was magnificent! There wasn’t the
large amount of fish around like in Tahiti (there were still a lot but they
seemed smaller) but the coral was everywhere and beautiful! It was so cool seeing sections of the ship
wreck from WW2 still intact and the coral and fish making a home all around
it! We snorkeled there for about an hour
before heading back to the resort. Once
we got back we relaxed by the pool a bit then dried off and headed to lunch!
For lunch we both started with a green salad with homemade papaya seed
dressing. For the main course I ate chili
lamb kebabs with tomato basil rice while Joe enjoyed the snapper, chili and
lime dressing, shaved cucumbers and carrot salad, and tapioca chips. Everything was amazing!
After lunch it was time to relax because we had such a busy
morning. We sat by the pool and read
books and soaked up the beautiful weather.
A little before 3 I was getting antsy so we picked up some kayaks and
headed out to explore the island. We
found another beach a ways away so we parked the Kayak and walked up and down
the beach. We found the largest shell
that Joe and I have ever seen in our lives and cracked some coconuts that had
fallen on the beach. After a bit it was
time to head back to the resort.
We got back around 4:15 so I relaxed a bit while Joe took a
nap. I showered and got ready for the
evening since I wanted to get some pictures before the sun set. Around 5 we took some pictures than watched
the sun set with friends. At 5 it was
Kava ceremony time. Serili is the concierge
at the resort and he was leading the ceremony.
Kava is a traditional ceremony drink that was initially done for the
chief as visitors wanted to enter their village. Now it is done to welcome guests, for
weddings, birthdays, and special occasions.
Kava is made from the root and stem of a Kava plant. It is grown for 4-6 years and gets better as
it ages. You put the shaved kava in a
brown bag and steep it just like a tea bag.
The liquid turns into a dark dirt color.
We then learned that traditionally this was drank in silence but we didn’t
follow those rules. You must cup (clap
with your hands cuffed) once before receiving the Kava, then everyone cups 3
times once you finish drinking the cup in one fluid drink. You then clap three cups once you no longer
have the cup in your hands. We enjoyed
hearing stories from other ceremonies, and drinking the Kava. As expected, it taste very earthy, and leaves
your mouth and tongue feeling tingly.
This ceremony took quite some time so once we finished up it
was time for the cocktail challenge. Joe
joined in on the cocktail challenge and there were 3 other guests that did the
same. They paired off and had a list of
ingredients they had to use to make a cocktail.
The remainder of the guests were the judges. They used ingredients like pineapples, orange
juice, ice cream, rum, etc. There ended
up being one girly frozen drink, and another much stronger tropical drink. Of course I voted for the girly one which
won, but Joe made the other one! Either
way, it was a wonderful experience.
After the cocktail challenge it was dinner time. For dinner I had a bacon & mushroom port
timbale with creamy white wine sauce (a mushroom pate) vodka mussels with lemon
dill risotto, and a poached pear with red wine sauce for desert. Joe had French onion soup to start, the same
mussels for his main course with an extra side of Thai style vegetable curry,
and an ice coconut parfait with pineapple sorbet, pineapple lime salsa, and
sweet sesame biscuit for desert. . After dinner finished up we headed down to
the beach with some friends and watched the stars for about an hour. The stars were so beautiful and you could see
the Milky Way because it was so dark out.
We was several shooting stars as well, and enjoyed the waves crashing
next to us and good company! After the
tide came right up to us, we decided it was just past 9 so we could head to
bed!
We were in for a good night sleep to get ready for the next
day!
April 11, 2015
Like clockwork, the rooster crowed at 6:30 and we were up
again. The morning was spent writing and
relaxing a bit before breakfast. I
enjoyed an omelet again while Joe enjoyed poached eggs, smoked salmon, and
bacon. We also had some fruit, fresh
juice, and muffins. After breakfast we
headed back to the room and packed for our day trip. Once packed, we headed to the pool to relax
on the day bed there until we were ready to depart. At 10 we headed out on the boat to Taveuni,
the island we had landed on to take the boat to this resort. From there we went with a car to Tavoro
Falls. This is the home of the largest
water fall in the Fiji. We started the
hike with a guide who told us all about the environment surrounding us. She pointed out all different fruit trees
along the walk. We saw pineapples,
papaya trees, banana trees, lemons, and many other fruits and herbs, some of
which we recognized and others we had only heard of. The initial walk was about 10 minutes to the
first water fall. The first one was the
largest and was 24M high. The view was
spectacular. The water under the falls
was crystal clear and the surroundings were so green! After seeing the falls we continued another
35 minutes to the second fall which was 15M.
Along the walk we stopped at the most beautiful lookout point where we
looked down on a couple pineapple and coconut farms and over the ocean. The second fall was just as beautiful so we
sat at that fall for quite some time taking it all on. We then started the walk back to the first
fall where we jumped in for a refreshing swim.
Although it wasn’t overly hot out, we were all sweating pretty back because
of the high humidity. The water was so
refreshing and it was great cooling off.
We loved trying to get as close to the fall as we could before the
current would push us back! After some
time in the water we dried off and headed back to the entrance of the park
where we had lunch packed for us. We
enjoyed chicken, fruit, potato salad, rolls, and salad. After lunch it was time to head to the pearl
farm. That was about a 20 minute drive
then a 10 minute3 boat ride to the pearl farm.
The pearl farm was a little hut above the water and it was
run by a Canadian man. The pearl farm
was called Civa Pearl Farm. This was one of 2 pearl farms in Fiji and their
pearl tend to run 3 times higher in price than Tahiti since they are rarer and
come in different colors. We learned how
pears are farmed and grown. The process
is quite labor intensive and leaves a lot of things up to chance! We now have a much better understanding of
how pearls get the color that they do (it’s all based on the water mineral make
up), how they get different sizes of pearls, why they come in different shapes
(it all depends on the strength of the membrane the pearl sits in), how they
are graded, and how they are collected and grown from small shells to larger
ones. After that, I bought the most
breathtaking and unique pearl before we hit the water for some snorkeling. The snorkeling right off the pearl farm was
beautiful. The fish were much more plentiful
than the day before! There were all different
varieties that we hadn’t seen in Tahiti.
We also saw a group of bright blue starfish which were so
beautiful! We finished up the snorkeling
tour by seeing an octopus but he wouldn’t come out to play with us! After snorkeling we headed back to the
resort.
We got back to the resort around 3 and hung out by the pool
for a bit before heading in to get showered and ready for the evening. After getting dressed we headed to the beach
to watch the sun set in the water and enjoy a couple drinks. Like every other sunset we have had, the view
was breathtaking. After the sun set, we
headed to the dining area and Joe enjoyed some Fiji beer and we had some tara
root chips and avocado dip for a snack. Before we knew it it was dinner
time. For dinner we both started off
with garlic lobster served with turmeric rice.
For my entrée I had turmeric scallops which were seared scallops, pea
puree, tapioca chips, and steamed cauliflower.
Joe had a half portion of the scallops and a half portion of a Fiji
curry platter which is chicken curry, lamb curry, and vegetable curry served
with rice, roti, papdum, tamarind, tomato chutney, and fresh condiments. For desert Joe had tropical cheese cake with
kiwi sorbet and I enjoyed sticky date pudding with caramel sauce and salted caramel
ice cream. Everything was amazing as always.
We were both pretty worn out from our trip during the day so we headed
back to the room for a good night sleep.
April 12, 2014
We woke up to another beautiful sunny day. We are always up at 6:30 so we start the morning
with me writing and Joe getting some work done.
We headed out to breakfast around 8 or so. For breakfast we mixed it up a bit. We still enjoyed the fruit, muffins, and
smoothies at the buffet but we both ordered something new. I ordered eggs benedict one whole wheat with
smoked salmon while Joe ordered a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, mushrooms,
peppers, onions, and tomatoes. We were
both very happy with our orders! After breakfast
we changed into our bathing suits then headed to the pool for the morning. We stayed at the pool since we hadn’t spent
too much time just relaxing. Joe got
some work done while I enjoyed reading for the morning. We ate lunch around 12:30. For lunch we both had the same thing. We started with a salad with green beans and
feta. The main course was a seafood
salad that had shrimp, octopus, and other seafood.
We finished with some fruit with kiwi sorbet on top.
After lunch we headed to the room and got all packed for our
afternoon excursion. This was the one we
had been looking forward to the most. We
had a private afternoon at horseshoe bay planned. There they have kayaks, paddle boards, etc.
and you get to spend some hours with the whole entire bay to yourself. We packed our snorkeling gear and headed out at
1:30. A short boat ride later we
arrived. We started off the afternoon with
relaxing and soaking up the beautiful view.
It was quite cloudy out but we were lucky to have the sun peak through
from time to time. Then we got our snorkeling
gear on and went exploring. The area is
filled with coral which is what makes the colors of the water so
spectacular. We snorkeled all over the
bay area. After a while we headed back
in and got a kayak and paddle board out and explored the bat that way. After a sufficient workout we headed back to
enjoy the cheese platter that had been prepared for us. There were three different cheeses, figs,
olives, and nuts along with crackers for us to enjoy. We had such a fun picnic. We enjoyed some time on the day bed after a
quick afternoon shower and then headed back out on the kayak and paddle
board. Once we got back to shore we didn’t
have much time so we took a walk along the beach of the bay. Before we knew it the afternoon had passed
and we had to say goodbye to Horseshoe Bay.
It was such a romantic and memorable trip and really a once in a life
time experience for the two of us.
Once we got back we got showered and dressed for the evening
then sat on the front porch soaking in the view and hearing the waves
crashed. It started raining again right
as we got back so we enjoyed hearing the rain fall and sip on some wine and
gin. After a couple drinks we headed to
dinner. Dinner this evening was amazing
as always. We both started with grilled
scallops with orange salsa. For the main
course I ordered pan seared snapper fillet on parsley & lemon risotto while
Joe enjoyed sizzling honey, garlic beer with vegetables and steamed rice. For desert Joe got the chocolate nut mouse
cake with sweet summer berry sauce while I enjoyed the Fiji vanilla crème brulee
with caramelized coconut. Since it was quite cloudy out after the rain
we weren’t able to go star gazing so we called it an early night again. We wanted to be well rested for our big plans
the following day!
April 13, 2015
Joe had to wake up at 4:45 this morning to get on a
conference call. It wasn’t that big of a
deal since we had been waking up around 6:30 anyways. He wrapped up his call a little after 6 and
we were ready to start the day. We
started with breakfast at 6:30. We enjoyed the usual muffins, fruit, and fresh
juice. For our main course I ordered
toast with crushed banana, fig honey, and ricotta on it while Joe ordered fried
eggs and salmon. Once we wrapped up
breakfast we got dressed and headed to the dock at 7 AM. We were off to go diving for the day! Somosomo strait separated Taveuni and Vanua
Levu and is the prime diving spot in Fiji.
It was about an hour boat ride from our resort so we hit the road
early. We had planned on 3 dives that
day so we knew it would be a long day.
The boat ride out was beautiful but cold. It was over cast at the resort so we weren’t
too sad about losing a day of sunshine.
Of course once we got to the dive spot, it was sunny! The first dive we did was called the White
Wall. This is a huge wall of white coral
that is accented with other soft coral and sea creatures. It is hard to describe the vastness of the
wall. You can only access this dive
point through a tunnel which was really cool!
You descend through the tunnel and then explore the wall through varying
depths of 70-90 feet. This dive was an
hour and we loved exploring the wall as well as entering and exiting through
the tunnels. We saw fish that resembled
coral, all different shades of coral, and so much more. We also got to feel some coral and see the
different textures as well as see our first Wahoo. The dive took about 62 minutes.
After the first dive we drove to a nearby beach for a break.
They served us tea, fruit, and cookies, and let us relax for a bit. I was very grateful for some motion sickness
pills to help settle my stomach as well.
Although the boat rides were easy, the water was pretty choppy so when
we were sitting on the boat waiting to dive or in the water waiting to get picked
up by the boat I would feel uneasy. After
our break we headed out for our second dive.
This was called Rainbow Reef and is home to the most beautiful soft
coral. Because the coral is so healthy
you could literally hear the crackling of the fish eating the coral. This dive took about 54 minutes and we stayed
about 63 feet deep. The hard part about
this dive was that you were fighting the current for the most part. We got friendly with some sharks which was
amazing! We also saw coral that was blue
but when you tapped it it would turn white in an instant. This is the dive site that had the most
fish. There were millions of fish
everywhere. Although they were mostly
smaller than in Tahiti but there were so many of them! Swimming through the schools of fish while
surrounded by the rainbow coral was a sight to soak in. After the dive we got back on the boat and it
was time for lunch.
Lunch was similar to what we had at the waterfalls. We enjoyed chicken, potato salad, and
salad. We relaxed on the beach and
soaked up the sun and got warmed up from the dives. The water was 80 degrees give or take
depending on the depth, but I was still cold!
After about 45 minutes for lunch it was time for our last dive! The last dive was hands down my
favorite. It was called Cabbage Patch! This was the most breathtaking dive. It was called cabbage patch because of the
most brilliant coral that rose up from the white sand. The cabbage coral literally looks like a head
of cabbage and is simply breathtaking.
On this dive we also saw the grace of a stingray from up close and were
inches away from the most beautiful blue jelly fish. There were a bit larger fish surrounding us
during this dive which was breathtaking.
We loved every minute of the dives and were so glad we got to do the
dive. That dive lasted 54 minutes and
was at 45 feet. After that dive we were sufficiently worn out and headed back
to the resort on the hour long boat ride.
We got back a little after 3 and headed to the showers. We cannot wait to see the videos of our dives!
After getting showered we watched the sun set into the
clouds before heading to the dining hall with the other two couples our age to
enjoy their last evening at Matangi. On
our way to the dining hall we found a bottle of Riesling on our front porch
with a wonderful note from our travel agent!
We are so lucky to get to work with Christi and her agency. They always treat us so well! We will definitely be sad to see them go! Joe enjoyed some Fiji beer and we ate the
chips and tuna dip that they bring out every night. The chips are amazing and made from a
different root every day! After a couple
hours it was time for dinner. For diner
we split the starts. We had chicken and
corn soup as well as vegetable samosa with tamarind sauce. For the main course I got the roasted lamb
cutlet, chili mint salsa, sweet potato mash, and wilted watercress. Joe got half of the lamb and a half serving
of the Matangi prawns, curry sauce, hand pressed coconut cream, rice, roti, and
fresh condiments. For desert I enjoyed
sorbet that was papaya, fig, and pineapple flavored while Joe ate the ginger
panna cotta. As always, everything was amazing. After all the diving we were sufficiently
tired so we headed straight to bed!
April 14, 2015
We had been quite busy the past couple days so this was our
relaxing day. We woke up at 6:30 as
always and I read a bit while Joe got some work done. At 8 we headed to the dining hall for
breakfast. Along with the muffins and
fruit Joe enjoyed a breakfast burrito while I enjoyed my omelet which was
chalked full of bacon this time around!
After breakfast we relaxed on the day bed by the pool before heading to
our room around 10 to get our swimsuits on.
We decided to relax outside of our bungalow for the morning so that we
could catch some sun and enjoy the beautiful view of the beach and all the
greenery surrounding us.
At lunch time we headed to the dining hall to enjoy
lunch. We both started lunch with a goat
cheese salad with celery, parsley, apple & lettuce. For the main course Joe enjoyed the Mexican beef
& beans in tortilla basket with sour cream and salsa while I enjoyed the
warm salad of tiger prawn with chickpeas, capsicum, mixed lettuce leaves, and
feta cheese. For desert we had Joe’s favorite desert which was peach galette
with homemade vanilla ice cream! It was
so good! The food was so good! After lunch we hung out with Summer and Josh
and Joanna and Jessie before they left the island. After their departure we thought about going
on a hike but since the activity crew was away we decided we would just finish
up the day relaxing.
After a shower we got dressed and then laid on the hammock
while watching the sunset. We had booked
a private dinner that overlooked the beach for the evening so we were quite
excited about it.
At 7 we headed to the dinner table. We started with a bottle of Moscato that was
super yummy! After enjoying some bread
we both started with a prawn tart that was one of the most amazing appetizers
that we had while we were here. For the main course Joe enjoyed a filet mignon topped
with mozzarella and tomato served with eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, and
scalloped potatoes. I enjoyed a scallop
and pork belly entre served with mashed potatoes. After the main course we enjoyed desert where
I got a poached pear in white wine sauce while Joe had gooey chocolate bread
pudding with homemade chocolate ice-cream.
After desert we were surprised with a beautiful chocolate cake to
celebrate our anniversary and the band serenaded us with a beautiful song. It
was such a special moment to share with Joe.
After dinner it was a bit before 9 but we still decided it was time for
bed! The time at Matangi was coming to
an end so we wanted to make the most of our last full day!
April 15, 2015
We woke up to our last full day in Fiji. Where did the time go! When we woke up there were beautiful blue
skies at 6:30, but around 7 the clouds rolled in and it started raining. We sat on our front porch watching the rain
fall and catching up on the world. We
headed to breakfast around 8 while it was still raining a bit. For breakfast we enjoyed our standard
muffins, fruit, fresh juice, and then Joe ordered a breakfast platter of chipolatas,
eggs, bacon, and toast while I went for the egg omelet again. Right as we finished up breakfast the rain
stopped and the sun came out! Although
still a bit cloudy, it was perfect for a morning of relaxing by the pool. We headed to the pool around 9 and enjoyed
the sun. At 10:30 it was time for us to
go on the island tour. The tour took us
on a boat around Matangi and the surrounding islands. We got to see Horseshoe Bay, Turtle Beach,
the Coconut Farm, the Animal Farm and so much more on this island. We also drove around Red Bull Island which is
a super luxurious resort right next to Matangi.
The island was beautiful and the huts were huge! After exploring, we headed back to Matangi.
We enjoyed the sun the remainder of the morning and before
we knew it it was time for lunch. For
lunch we started with watercress & pear salad, followed by Greek pepper
lamb salad which was tender pieces of lamb, cracked black pepper, tomatoes,
cucumbers, Kalamata olives, feta, oregano, and lemon and olive oil for
dressing. This was one of my favorite
meals! For desert we had a brownie
ice-cream Sunday stack with hot fudge sauce which Joe loved! We also had another piece of our cake from
the night before. After lunch we laid by
the pool until about 2:45 and then got dressed for a hike. We wanted to hike to Beverly Hill one more
time since it was such a beautiful view!
Along the way we saw pigs, goats, cows, and many more animals. We got to the top in no time and soaked up
the beautiful view. 
We got back right around 4 so it was time to get showered
and ready for the evening. We had a
bottle of wine to drink from our travel agent so after getting ready we sat on
the porch and enjoyed the wine and watched the waves crash. We headed down to
the beach to enjoy the sun set one last time.
Once the sun had set we headed to the dining hall to enjoy some chips,
beer, and wonderful conversation with some of the other guests. It was such wonderful company and before we
knew it it was time to eat dinner.
Dinner started with prawn & lemongrass soup for me and Thai
fish cake, chili and lime sauce served with shaved cucumber salad and roasted
peanuts. For the main course we both got
the same thing for once! We enjoyed
creamy garlic seafood prawns, fish, mussels, cooked in a white wine sauce and served
with steamed rice, steamed cabbage, and honey glazed carrots. We finished the meal with chocolate mousse
and pineapple sorbet. Sufficiently
stuffed, we headed back to our room for a good night rest! We could not believe our time at Matangi was
coming to an end!
April 16, 2015
We woke up knowing our time in Fiji was coming to an
end. We had a 2:30 departure time from
Matangi so we wanted to soak up as much sun as we possibly could! The morning started with breakfast where we
started with the usual and Joe got a breakfast burrito while I got the omelet. After
wrapping up packing we headed to the pool to soak up the beautiful day. Joe got some work done while I read. We spent some time talking to the staff and
saying our goodbyes throughout the morning as well as spending some time with
the other guests that we had gotten to know.
Around 1 we decided it was time to head back to our house to
shower and get ready for the return trip.
1:30 we headed to lunch. Lunch
was amazing as always. We started with a
Caesar salad with lettuce, anchovies, croutons, and shaved parmesan. For the main course we had mussels with beer
which was black mussels, olive oil, garlic, red chili, beer, parsley, and
toasted garlic bread. We finished the
meal with fresh tropical fruit, coconut jelly, and ginger & lemon grass
syrup. We wrapped up lunch with just a
bit of time to spare. We relaxed a bit
as they loaded up our baggage onto the boat.
The band came out and played music for about 15 minutes while we said
all of our goodbyes and gave us beautiful necklaces. Sadly, it was time to say goodbye and head
home. After a 20 minute boat ride and 25
minute drive we arrived at the airport.
After getting our bags “checked in”, there is no security or
anything but they simply took our bags, they told us the flight was delayed by
an hour. There was a group of residents
that were on a medical mission and heading home so we talked to them for a bit. After about an hour they told us the flight
was canceled to Nadi. Luckily, we had a
day to spare coming home, and they were providing the accommodations. They picked up the 8 people from the flight
in taxis and took us to a resort nearby, Garden Island. It was about a 25 minute ride. Although the resort wasn’t quite Matangi
Island, the concierge was amazing and very friendly, and above all else, we had
a bed to sleep in! We got to our room
just in time to head out and lay on the hammock and watch the beautiful
sunset. It really was breathtaking and
it lit up the sky in reds and oranges. After
the sun set we headed to the lobby and got caught up on the world since they
had Wi-Fi.
Joe enjoyed some kava that they had made and we relaxed on
the daybed. I think the most annoying
part of the resort was the bats that they have outside. They come out at night and are quite
noisy. For sound sleepers it isn’t a
problem but man they were loud! After some
time we tried to call Fiji Airlines to make sure that we were booked on the
flights the following morning. The
initial call told us that they had no record of our flight being canceled yet
so they will reach out to us later. After
a couple hours and all the other members of our flight were around we tried to
call again. This time they had us
rebooked for the flight the following day.
They had put in a supplementary flight at 6:45 AM to get us to Nadi, the
main island, but then rebooked us for the 5:30 PM flight so that we wouldn’t
have a long layover. Not trusting the
system and the flights, we decided after much debate to go ahead and take the
6:45 flight to Nadi so that we were definitely going to make the LAX flight. We would just have some time to explore
Nadi. At 7:30 it was dinner time. I enjoyed some chicken stir-fry while Joe had
chicken curry with tortillas and rice.
We also had a vegetable soup for an appetizer. Since they had not prepared enough desert for
us in the morning when they took orders we got to enjoy some ice cream which
was fine by me! I had passion fruit and
mango while Joe had chocolate and vanilla.
There is nothing like a yummy homemade fruit ice cream. Since we had a
very early morning ahead of us and a 5:45 AM departure from the resort we
headed to bed. We were quite ready to
start making it home the following day.
April 17, 2015
We woke up bright and early and hopped out of bed to head to
the airport. The taxi’s arrived at 6:45
and we were on our way. We had about 30
minutes at the airport which was cool because we got to see the plane landing
and a beautiful sunrise. After getting
the other passengers off and the luggage unloaded we boarded and were off. Upon boarding we heard that the LAX flight
was canceled the previous night because while they were trying to load luggage
they broke a part of the plane. They
were not quite sure what would happen once we arrived in Nadi but if so, they
would provide accommodations. As I write
this we are on the plane heading to Nadi to see what will happen. We believe since we received a confirmation for
the LAX flight today before the other flight was canceled that we have
confirmed seats, but you never know! Now
we just enjoy the scenery (whenever there aren’t clouds covering) and see what
happens once we get to Nadi!
We got to Nadi only to hear that not only had our flight to
Nadi been canceled the previous day, but so had the flight to LA. Apparently everyone had already boarded the
flight to LA when the driver that was driving the truck to load the luggage ran
into the plane. This dented the side panel
enough to where the plane could not fly.
They had to find accommodations for 250 people at 10 PM, which meant
that the majority of them were not in their hotels until 2AM! We realized that as annoyed as we were for
our flight to be canceled, we were lucky to get to our hotel at 5 PM and enjoy
a nice dinner and a good night sleep.
After we got to the airport we got work that there was a
flight at 10:05 AM that would be the canceled flight, but after waiting around
for a bit (and some of the other passengers arriving) it was discovered that
someone go the times mixed up and it was actually 5:10 PM. We had confirmed seats for the regular 9:30
PM flight so the group that we had met on our flight to Nadi (David, Vivian, Ming,
and Ken) negotiated a day room at the Raffles which was a hotel that was right
across the street from the hotel (5 minute walk or by shuttle). We were super excited by that and decided to
not even try to get on the earlier flight but enjoy our additional day in
Nadi. We got to the hotel around 10 and
sat down for breakfast. The food was not
as wonderful as Matangi but it worked! We
all got omelets, hash browns, and toast which was all great. After breakfast I got my bathing suit on
while the others got workout clothes on and played a couple hours of tennis! I enjoyed watching them by the pool.
All 5 of them were wonderful tennis players so they had a
couple great matches. At 2 we decided it
was time for lunch. We enjoyed our lunch
(I got seafood crepes while Joe got Mahi Mahi) and ice cream for dessert. After desert David, Joe, and I took a 15 Fiji
Dollar taxi ride into Nadi Town to do some shopping! Jack’s is the most known shop and the only
one open on a Sunday. You have to be
careful where you buy your wood products from since they have to be fumigated
properly to go through customs, and Jack’s is approved for this. They also have the best pricing. We had fun walking around and looking at
things. Once we finished up shopping we
headed back to the hotel to get showered. At 6:15 we all headed back to the
airport with our luggage and checked in our luggage.
After checking in our luggage we walked back to the hotel
and sat down for dinner. I had a chicken
sandwich while Joe had beef tenderloin and prawns and then some ice cream to
top things off. We were sufficiently
stuffed and finished dinner just in time to head back to the airport and get
through security. When we got to the
airport we boarded the plane and were off to the USA (finally!).
We made it into LAX around 2 and walked through the security
and customs with all of our new found friends that we had spent the past 24
hours with. It really was sad to say
goodbye to them after spending so much time with them due to the flight cancellation! We hope that we get to see
them again sometime soon! Customs was
quick and easy (thank goodness after the Fiji experience) and before we knew it
we were back at the gate.
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, ready for the work
week and looking forward to Memorial Day Weekend!
Summary
·
Fiji has the nicest people on the planet. No matter what we requested, how annoying we
were being with orders, how frustrated we were with flights, every person
always had a smile on their face and really did try to do whatever they could
to make us happy. This included taxi
drivers, resort staff, dive instructors, etc.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that they live in paradise.
- We had read that the Matangi staff start feeling like family for your week there and that it makes it hard to leave, but you really don’t get the feeling until you experience it. We cannot say enough wonderful things about Matangi and their staff and I definitely teared up a bit leaving. They are the most kind and open hearted people we have met and made our experience beyond our wildest dreams. Serili, the concierge is was really the catalyst of this experience and we cannot thank him enough for everything he did.
- Matangi is the perfect mix of culture and luxury. The food is a perfect blend, we got wonderful accommodations but also experienced stuff like an outdoor shower, kava ceremonies, traditional dance, and so much more. We felt like we truly saw what Fiji was about.
- Matangi is the perfect size. The resort was not full but with some younger couples our age, and some older couples, we got to know every couple that checked in during our stay there. It was nice to have company around when you wanted, but the privacy of a small island when you want to be alone. Maybe we got lucky but the guests also made our experience fantastic.
- Even with all the craziness of travel, we were lucky to get to spend an extra day in Fiji and see something besides Matangi. We made wonderful friends along the way that kept our spirits up when we would get frustrated, and made the experience that much more special.
- Even with 9 days in Fiji, we didn’t get to do all we wanted to do. Time seemed to fly by with activities but there is so much more to see! We cannot wait to come back sometime soon. The views and beauty cannot be captured in pictures, and there really aren’t words to fully describe the wonderful trip. We are grateful to Christi (our travel agent) for all the help with the planning and rebooking of flights, Serili and Matangi for making the trip magical, and all the friends we made along the way for making the trip that much more special!
