Bula!!

We are in Fiji, and having the time of our lives.  For me, this is probably my 16th or 17th visit to Fiji.  This is the Travel Gal's 4th visit, and the Travel Boy's 2nd time in Fiji (3rd if you count the time when the Travel Gal was there while 5 months pregnant!).  Each and every time we visit Fiji, we love it more than the last, and the time we spend here reminds us why it holds such a special place in our hearts.

Our flight to Nadi was great.  We flew on Air Pacific, and shared a row upstairs in the 'bubble' of their 747.  The Travel Boy slept for probably 8+ hours!

The Travel Gal and I joked how different the Nadi airport looks compared to our first visit, over ten years ago.  Back then, we arrived into a very hot, very stuffy airport, and thought that if they had big barrels near the lines at Immigration that stated "Air Conditioning Fund", they could generate enough money from a couple of arriving flights to air-condition the entire airport.  Looks like they didn't need our help, as the airport is nice, clean, and modern.

We were met at the airport by the Crusoe's Retreat driver.  The drive to Crusoe's is quite nice, passing beautiful bays and beaches, traditional villages, with friendly local Fijians waving and yelling Bula.  I only wish we could have stayed awake for the entire drive, but we were already in relaxed mode, and slept most of the way there. It certainly made our drive there seem very fast.

Our arrival at Crusoe's was great.  Smiling faces, and friends I hadn't seen since my last visit in January.  We all received shell leis (Travel Boy wore his the entire week!).  We were ushered over to the restaurant, so we could relax and enjoy breakfast. 

Travel Gal & Boy had never been to Crusoe's before, and I was anxious to show them around.  But, that had to wait until after breakfast.  Good, hot coffee was a priority for me, and it was available in large quantities (yes!).  Crusoe's has a full tropical buffet breakfast available to guests, which includes fresh local fruit, breads, fresh baked muffins, cereals, and more.  Travel Boy loved the hot muffins every morning, and we even got him to try a tiny bit of Marmite (New Zealand's version of vegemite).  Pretty vile stuff.  After some fruit and muffins, the waitress took our order for a full cooked breakfast.  Travel Boy couldn't believe that you could order spaghetti or baked beans on toast for breakfast!  He settled for the pancakes and bacon, and ended up eating that every morning.  If breakfast was any indication, there would be no way we would ever be hungry while we were here!

While eating breakfast, Travel Boy heard two boys, similar in age, from New Zealand walk in.  We all introduced ourselves, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  The three boys became instant friends, and spent the next several days hanging out with each other.  Just after meeting them, Travel Boy leaned in to me and said, "Daddy, they have cool accents!"  From then on, he tried to copy the way that they spoke.

After breakfast, we walked around the resort, and I showed them all that was available.  We started at Crusoe's very famous Foot Pool.  Yup. Its a pool in the shape of a foot.  Good fun.  Travel Boy loved it, immediately ran to get his swimsuit, and before we knew it, the three boys were playing in the pool's 'big toe'.  That left Travel Gal and I to walk around the resort.  Thankfully, our bure was ready for us when we arrived, so we had some time to unpack our things, and relax.  This was our SeaSide Bure:



The Bure is great. It has a large outdoor, covered sitting area with furniture, an indoor sitting area, two Queen size beds, a nice full bathroom with double vanity, and even a double shower.  The dramatic high ceilings helped keep it cool, and we never felt too hot.  The weather has been brilliant - we lucked out with loads of sun and nice warm days.

Tuci, the activities director at Crusoe's, soon had all three boys active and playing.  They had an egg tossing match out on the grass tennis court.  This was soon followed by a coconut bowling game (sort of like lawn bowling, but with coconuts!).  Soon after, the boys were learning how to husk and open coconuts.  We knew right away that Travel Boy would never be bored here at Crusoe's.



For the next several days, we experience highlight after highlight.  It is almost too much too recall.

The one thing we can all agree on is that the Fijian staff at Crusoe's are magical.  Lovely, friendly, happy people. 

I have traveled the world over and have seen many different world views of what is considered to be happy, and what is considered to be successful.  How we measure success in America is dramatically different from how it is viewed elsewhere, and when you get a glimpse of that, it really is an eye-opener.  The honest dedication to family and the truly heart-warming happiness that exudes from Fijians is simply unmatched.  To most 'westerners', Fiji is a poor country.  However, to consider these people poor is missing the point.  The Fijians have a richness of spirit and appreciation for life that most of us will simply never understand or begin to appreciate.  To us, this is the essence of a visit to Fiji.

Among the amazing highlights of our all-too-brief stay at Crusoe's Retreat included:
- Lounging at lunch and enjoying excellent, quality family time talking at our table, overlooking the resort.  This was definitely a family highlight for the three of us.
- Playing in the 'foot'.  Nice refreshing pool, and big enough to have a water volleyball match.
- Visiting the neighboring village and spending time with the Fijians.  Travel Boy was able to see the local Kindergarten school, and some of the homes in the village.  They do not have much, they live very simple lives, yet enjoy a sense of happiness that eludes most of us. The children are adorable.



- Going out for a snorkel trip and seeing for ourselves the vibrant marine life that Fiji has to offer.
- Traditional hand-line fishing from the boat, using fishing line, hooks, and bait.  No fishing rods required here!
- Kayaking out into the nearby bay.
- Strolling the beach looking for shells.
- Rather heated matches of table tennis, including a full tournament one night after dinner.  I hate to brag, but guess who won?
- Getting a Fijian cooking lesson, where they made coconut toffee.  Amazing.
- Watching a local man use palm fronds to weave the most amazing, most artistic items, including a hat, a bowl, a box, a snake, and even a grasshopper!  He had 10-12 guests enthralled for almost two hours.


Every night, after the sun set, we would listen carefully for the banging of the Lali drum, and the words we were waiting to hear:  "Happy Hour".  This was one of Travel Boys favorite times.  On more than one evening, I stepped out of the shower, to find that Travel Boy had already left our Bure.  We would find him sitting at the thatched roof Pool Bar, drinking a Sprite with his friends, and talking with the bartender.  He just loved it!  Happy Hour was popular with everyone, and it was actually quite difficult to get everyone to leave for the restaurant for dinner.  I suspect that Travel Boy will want us to start instituting a daily Happy Hour once we return home.

Speaking of dinners, the food was really good.  We were lucky to be there for the Lovo night (traditional Fijian underground oven), and the BBQ night.  These buffets were great.   The other nights, we were able to order very nice meals from the a la carte menu.  During our meals, the Crusoe's string band serenaded us with lovely Fijian music.  After dinner, we enjoyed some fun entertainment, as we had a kava ceremony one night, enjoyed some dancing on another night, and our epic table tennis tournament.

Our last morning at the resort was a bit sad.  Travel Boy declared Crusoe's to be his favorite place in the world (due in no small part to having new friends from NZ).  After breakfast, we tried to fill our morning with as much as possible.  Our transfer back to Nadi was scheduled just after lunch.  We savoured our final lunch at Crusoe's, and talked of when we could schedule our return visit to this great place.

While it was sad to say goodbye to all of our new (and old) friends, it gave us some solace to realize that our time at Crusoe's was magical, and that we would be returning to this very special place soon.  Moce and Vinaka to our Fijian friends at Crusoe's Retreat.