Coral Coast, Fiji

Beautiful Robinson Crusoe Island Coral Coast Fiji
Beautiful Robinson Crusoe Island 
- Coral Coast, Fiji
Wayne Dunlap Cyclone Mick Coral Coast Fiji
Wayne Playing in Cyclone Mick 
- Coral Coast, Fiji

Fire Dancers Robinson Crusoe Island Fiji
Fire Dancers - Robinson Crusoe Island, Fiji
Who Cares Clock Fiji Laid Back Attitude
Fiji's Laid Back Attitude
Pat Dunlap Bedarra Beach Inn Coral Coast Fiji
Pat Enjoying the Bedarra Beach Inn 
- Coral Coast, Fiji

Wayne Dunlap Coral Coast Fiji
Wayne at Coral Coast, Fiji
Our Hotel Car Crushed Cyclone Mick Damage Fiji
Our Hotel Owner's Car Crushed 
- Cyclone Mick, Fiji
Lovo Dinner Robinson Crusoe Island Fiji
Lovo Dinner Robinson Crusoe Island Fiji
Kava with the Band Boys Bedarra Beach Inn Coral Coast Fiji
Sharing Kava with the Band Boys
- Bedarra Beach Inn, Fiji
Sunset Coral Coast Fiji
Sunset - Coral Coast, Fiji
Our Hotel Bedarra Beach Inn Coral Coast Fiji
Our Hotel (Bedarra Beach Inn
- Coral Coast, Fiji
Coral Coast, Fiji (12/10-16/09) 

“Bula” (Hello) from Fiji. We love Fiji.

See why we love Fiji below but first, let us tell you about a rare travel experience...

We dropped into the Fiji's Coral Coast to relax after our 3-week driving adventure through New Zealand and relax we did until CYCLONE MICK HIT FIJI! 

Rated ‘only’ a category 2 cyclone (hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere), Cyclone Mick’s eye passed near Fiji providing up to 50-60 mile-per-hour winds - an unexpected and rather rare Fijian experience. Unlike many others here, we thought this was great fun. With stinging rain whizzing sideways, fun-loving (dumb?) Wayne had to get out into the cyclone (see photo).

Trees all over Fiji were blown over. On our small property alone, 4 trees blew over and a palm tree crushed the owners’ car (see photos). The owner of our inn told us that this was the ‘worst’ (for us, best?) he had seen in 16 years. It made us wonder… if this was only a category 2, what would a category 5 be like?


Fiji with its absolute beautiful ocean and tropical settings with charmingly friendly people making it a laid-back South Pacific paradise where relaxing and enjoying nature is the primary thing to do. 

We got an amazing deal on Fiji's Coral Coast (about $70US/night with an upgrade to the best suite in the place) at the Bedarra Beach Inn - a small 3-star hotel in the middle of the Coral Coast on the largest Fijian island (Viti Levu).

We enjoyed a day visit to Robinson Crusoe Island - a rustic ‘resort’ island where overnight guests take cold showers from a bucket… but you can walk on a deserted beach and leave the only footprints until the next high tide. 

On Fiji's Robinson Crusoe Island, we took a snorkeling trip to the coral reef, drank kava, walked in the warm water along the beach at sunset, had a lovo dinner (cooked in the ground), and witnessed Fijian fire dancers and walkers (see photos).

On a previous trip to Fiji, we visited the Yasawa Islands on a Blue Lagoon Cruise - a must once in your lifetime! Along with small small Fijian villages nestled beneath palm trees, the Yasawa Islands have some of the loveliest beaches in the South Pacific. Hollywood's remake of the movie The Blue Lagoon was filmed there.



Some information about Fiji... There are 333 Fijian islands with a total population of less than a million - many living in small villages and most others living on the largest island (Vita Levu). English is spoken everywhere. An interesting thing in the Southern Hemisphere, besides toilets flowing the opposite way, is that the north is the sunny side and there are a lot more stars out on a clear night.

Throughout Fiji, even at the upscale resorts, guests and workers come together in the evening and share bowls of kava. Kava relaxes you - as if you need it in Fiji.

Fiji has a large Indian population (about 1/3) because the British brought them here to work the sugar cane plantations. The hard working Indians now own a majority of the businesses and the food here is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine (a good thing for us - yummy!). 

Some history... The first people to inhabit Fiji came in about 3000 BC in boats crossing the vast ocean. The Fijians warred with each other. After being sited by Dutch explorer Able Tasman in 1643, they warred with Europeans and got the reputation of being cannibals. When the Chief Ratu Seru Cakabau became a Christian in 1854, the Fijian nation became more peaceful. The British ruled Fiji from 1874 until 1970 when Fiji became an independent republic.
 
 
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