I decided to have a quiet day on Monday 14 January in Rangiora before my flight to do my washing, update my blog and help Darren babysit Drew, as she had caught kennel cough from being in a glass box at the pet shop for 4 weeks before Darren took pity on her and brought her home. Updating my blog took longer than expected, so that it ended up being a mad rush to the airport. I keep forgetting that not every airport in the world is like Heathrow or Gatwick - i.e. when they say check in at least 30 minutes beforehand they really mean it. In Christchurch you can check in up to 10 minutes beforehand, as the airport is so small. It takes about 5 minutes to go through customs and security before you are at the gate (shopping is non-existent!).
I arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) at 9pm only to be told by the taxi transfer guy that we had a two hour drive to get to the Lagoon Resort. The resort is in Pacific Harbour on the Coral Coast, namely the southern part of Viti Levu and which is about 150km from Nadi and 50km from Suva (the capital). Pacific Harbour is also known as the Adventure Capital of Fiji, as it offers a range of activities from diving to fishing, golf, whitewater rafting as well as various tours which give you an insight into Fiji village life and culture. Fijians seem to have a death wish - the roads are pitch black at night with no street lights, so that you often swerve to avoid people walking along the side of the road and stray dogs and cows. People also ride horses on the grass verges in the opposite direction. The Fijians are very friendly and laid back too (hence the phrase often used "Fijian time"). I quite liked the band playing Fijian music which welcomed us into the airport customs hall.
Lagoon Resort is on the banks of the Qari-ni-Qio River, which is a man-made inlet, and has 21 rooms. It is owned by Jim Sherlock and his wife Heather (both Kiwis). The Hollywood production of "Anacondas - The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" was filmed in Fiji and whole cast and crew took over the resort between June and November 2003 (see photo of the Bloody Mary boat used in the film). The film premiered in Suva in August 2004 and was only released in Fiji and the USA. Probably just as well, as the film sounded a bit like it would be crap (although it apparently grossed over US$50 million by November 2004!).
The diving was organised by Beqa (pronounced Benga) Lagoon Divers, an independently managed business on the resort which was set up by a Swiss investment banker. On Tuesday 15 January I had my first experience of diving in Fijian waters. We headed out to Beqa Lagoon (about 20 minutes away in the boat), which is an official Marine Protected Area and was named by Jacques Cousteau as "The Soft Coral Capital of The World." The Big Fish Encounter (i.e. shark feeding) takes place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at two different locations in the Shark Marine Reserve, with soft coral dives on the remaining days. Marine biologists and scientists often come on the shark feed dives and observe the effect the feeding has on the fish. One counted 260 different species of fish on one dive alone a few years ago.
On Tuesday morning we had two dives - one on Fantasy Reef and the other on Side Streets Reef, which were nice and pleasant, with lots of soft coral, gorgonian fans and tropical fish. There were some things which I had never seen before, such as soft coral which is pink but turns white when you touch it and a clown triggerfish, which has large white spots on its lower body. I don't think the soft coral is as vibrant as in the Red Sea - the coral suffered quite severe bleaching in 2000 due to La Nina and it is only just starting to recover. It is also summer here, so that whilst it is hot and humid, it is the rainy season. We had some drizzle whilst diving, which is probably why the visibility has not been particularly great - about 10 metres. There has been quite a lot of rain recently, which churns up the water. It also rained for most of the afternoon after lunch but when it finally stopped, I walked a couple of miles to the Arts Centre, which has a bank, post office, supermarket, cafes and various arts and crafts shops. I don't think Fijians are used to the concept of walking anywhere. A couple of times people stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift somewhere, despite the fact that they weren't even going in my direction!
There isn't much going on in Pacific Harbour in the evenings, so for most of them I read and watched DVDs and managed to stay awake until 10pm - the diving really tires you out.
All my meals were included in the Lagoon Resort, which means that after a week of eating a breakfast buffet, two course lunches and three course dinners, I feel like a beached whale and will probably have trouble fitting into my wetsuit when I next dive in the Maldives.
I arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) at 9pm only to be told by the taxi transfer guy that we had a two hour drive to get to the Lagoon Resort. The resort is in Pacific Harbour on the Coral Coast, namely the southern part of Viti Levu and which is about 150km from Nadi and 50km from Suva (the capital). Pacific Harbour is also known as the Adventure Capital of Fiji, as it offers a range of activities from diving to fishing, golf, whitewater rafting as well as various tours which give you an insight into Fiji village life and culture. Fijians seem to have a death wish - the roads are pitch black at night with no street lights, so that you often swerve to avoid people walking along the side of the road and stray dogs and cows. People also ride horses on the grass verges in the opposite direction. The Fijians are very friendly and laid back too (hence the phrase often used "Fijian time"). I quite liked the band playing Fijian music which welcomed us into the airport customs hall.
Lagoon Resort is on the banks of the Qari-ni-Qio River, which is a man-made inlet, and has 21 rooms. It is owned by Jim Sherlock and his wife Heather (both Kiwis). The Hollywood production of "Anacondas - The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" was filmed in Fiji and whole cast and crew took over the resort between June and November 2003 (see photo of the Bloody Mary boat used in the film). The film premiered in Suva in August 2004 and was only released in Fiji and the USA. Probably just as well, as the film sounded a bit like it would be crap (although it apparently grossed over US$50 million by November 2004!).
The diving was organised by Beqa (pronounced Benga) Lagoon Divers, an independently managed business on the resort which was set up by a Swiss investment banker. On Tuesday 15 January I had my first experience of diving in Fijian waters. We headed out to Beqa Lagoon (about 20 minutes away in the boat), which is an official Marine Protected Area and was named by Jacques Cousteau as "The Soft Coral Capital of The World." The Big Fish Encounter (i.e. shark feeding) takes place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at two different locations in the Shark Marine Reserve, with soft coral dives on the remaining days. Marine biologists and scientists often come on the shark feed dives and observe the effect the feeding has on the fish. One counted 260 different species of fish on one dive alone a few years ago.
On Tuesday morning we had two dives - one on Fantasy Reef and the other on Side Streets Reef, which were nice and pleasant, with lots of soft coral, gorgonian fans and tropical fish. There were some things which I had never seen before, such as soft coral which is pink but turns white when you touch it and a clown triggerfish, which has large white spots on its lower body. I don't think the soft coral is as vibrant as in the Red Sea - the coral suffered quite severe bleaching in 2000 due to La Nina and it is only just starting to recover. It is also summer here, so that whilst it is hot and humid, it is the rainy season. We had some drizzle whilst diving, which is probably why the visibility has not been particularly great - about 10 metres. There has been quite a lot of rain recently, which churns up the water. It also rained for most of the afternoon after lunch but when it finally stopped, I walked a couple of miles to the Arts Centre, which has a bank, post office, supermarket, cafes and various arts and crafts shops. I don't think Fijians are used to the concept of walking anywhere. A couple of times people stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift somewhere, despite the fact that they weren't even going in my direction!
There isn't much going on in Pacific Harbour in the evenings, so for most of them I read and watched DVDs and managed to stay awake until 10pm - the diving really tires you out.
All my meals were included in the Lagoon Resort, which means that after a week of eating a breakfast buffet, two course lunches and three course dinners, I feel like a beached whale and will probably have trouble fitting into my wetsuit when I next dive in the Maldives.
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