Fiji Part 1 - Denarau Island

bula bula!!! finally found some time to start going through the 2000+ photos i took in fiji! definitely too many photos for a single post. the first 7 days of our trip was spent at the radisson blu hotel on denarau island. after a grueling 11hr flight with a 2.5yr old and a 3mo old (more on that subject in a later post), we finally made it to fiji! we booked through journey pacific / pacific destinations, i highly recommend them for any travel to the south pacific!



ava happy to finally be in fiji



aiden pointing to a mural of a beach on the wall, "i want to go there!" dont worry kid we got 2 weeks of that ahead.





although denarau is an island, the hotels there are still classed as mainland hotels, and as part of the mainland do not have the white sand beaches and clear water that fiji is known for. still the radisson blu was a great, very modern hotel with great staff and awesome pools. it came highly recommended on tripadvisor and did not disappoint





our room... nice, simple, and spacious



finally in fiji!



views from our patio







at our first breakfast, we were starving after that flight!



first purchase in fiji, appropriate.



had plenty of time to explore the hotel, a few shots from our many walks













us with the kids









not a bad place to get married



didnt use this playground much



me hanging out with ava flava



ready to hit the pool, what we did the majority of our days at the radisson







the first day in fiji, the flight combined with all the pool fun was too much for the poor kid. after he ate lunch he couldnt keep his eyes open and just passed out on the pool chair



he wasnt the only one who couldnt hang the first day



baby girl was usually pretty tired



but still happy to be in fiji!



her model look



mommy and daddy



went out to the beach a few days to lay out, kayak, and paddle board







had to make sure ava had somewhere clean and shaded to hang out at the beach (yes we brought this ourselves, even a freakin breast pump! killin me...)



only way to get this kid to take naps was trick him into walks in the stroller. didnt mind cruising around too much though, nice scenery!



one of the first things we did after arriving on the mainland... was get off the mainland and see the real beauty of fiji! this is the first vacation i planned without a day by day itinerary, we kinda just winged it... but the one activity i planned because i definitely wanted to visit was castaway island. probably the most beautiful place we visited on the whole trip, were totally staying here if we ever come back to fiji! had to take a catamaran out to the island, which would have been relaxing if not for all of the STUFF we had to bring for the kids...





keeping themselves occupied with mommys iphone



castaway doesnt have a port, so we had to transfer to a small putt putt boat to get to the shore



almost there...



pulling up...



BULA! what a nice welcome crew!



pool was awesome



but why go to the pool when the beach is so beautiful!





claimed this spot to set up camp







loving the clear water, there were fish all around your feet



the beach did get too hot for ava after a while, so we went into the resort to cool off by the pool





aiden once again passed out on the catamaran home, more fun than he can handle man... although a daytrip to castaway takes most of the day, you only actually get 5hrs on the island. sounds like a lot, but with 2 small kids it felt like once we got settled in, we hardly got to do anything and it was already time to pack up. definitely need a return visit here! (when these kids are older!)



while on castaway, we actually talked to a couple who gave us the idea of a taxi tour of the mainland when we got back. this is something we really wanted to do because we wanted to see the real fiji outside of the resort. plus... it was very cost efficient! ava excited the morning of our taxi tour, she didnt realize how HOT it was gonna be yet!



stopped by the market in nadi town to grab some cheap groceries. interesting...



first stop was a guided tour of viseisei village, the oldest settlement in fiji. it was very interesting to see what life is like in a traditional fijian village.







we dont usually buy souvenirs, but we each got a little something from the fijian ladies selling goods at the entrance



a monument built for the village chief that passed away



sacred worship drum



church, most fijians are Christian





where prominent visitors stay













with our tour guide on the way out, he did a great job describing everything



next stop was the garden of the sleeping giant. its called this because it rests on a mountain that resembles... well... a sleeping giant. can you see it?



maggie our tour guide



tons of flowers







mmm smells good









huge tree, aiden included in the photo for scaling purposes













last part of the tour was the really colorful sri siva subramaniya temple, the largest hindu temple in the southern hemisphere. indians make up the largest portion of the population of fiji after native fijians













back home safe, here we are with our driver wango



the souvenirs we picked up in the village, aiden and nanci got necklaces and i got a sweet bracelet







some other activities around the hotel. fire dancing





traditional fijian meke dance





basket weaving, very cool!





painful photo session but we got some decent pictures out of it











Fijian food is not like the comfort food you get in hawaii (i.e. loco moco, spam musubi, etc). At the resorts it was actually mostly american food



a little bit of asian food (this dish was actualy really good, seafood fried rice in an egg purse with king prawn on top mmmm)



we did get some traditional fijian food at the port, and it was delicious! steamed fish with coconut cream sauce (awesome sauce), veggies, and some other potato like roots n stuff that i dont quite recall. to top it off, the ladies working there were really nice and watched ava while we ate







fijian beer was just ok. these two beers were everywhere we went, the fiji gold i didnt really like but the vonu was actually pretty good.



last night of drinks before leaving denarau







the fijian are among the nicest and most hospitable people i have every come across... and they looooove KIDS! wherever we went someone usually just scooped them up and took them off to show their friends. these nice ladies were kind enough to keep aiden and ava occupied so mommy and daddy can concentrate on drinking





ava got the most attention since she was both so small and so CHUBBY. she got passed around everywhere we went



last shots of a beautiful fijian sunset





denarau... done! that was long, maybe this post should have also been split into multiple posts. oh well its 3am im finishing this thing! we definitely had a great stay at the radisson blu. ive read it many places, but what really makes fiji a nice place to visit is the people... they are SO NICE and they LOVE KIDS! we did seem to get a little extra attention from everyone, and we think it was a combination of us having such a young (and chubby) baby, and the fact that we were practically the only asian people there! the majority of tourists in fiji are from australia and new zealand, its only a few hours flight for them. there were a few chinese people there, but they were like chinese people FROM china. but everyone was so nice to us, it really helped make the stay more enjoyable. will try to post pics soon of the second half of our trip, we spend 7 more days in fiji on a remote island called plantation island. ill also eventualy put together a video of the trip, thanks for reading!