Garden of the sleeping giant, Nadi and a return to Suva
We left the last day of the weekend free to check out the nearby 'Garden of the Sleeping Giant', and to have a wander around Nadi, as we hadn't yet see any of the centre of town. Unfortunately, we all now agree that this was a poor decision.
To be fair, the gardens weren't a mistake- they were lovely. There's a fairly short trail you can walk around, a walkway full of orchids, and a decently sized hill you can climb, which gives you a brilliant view of the area. It was a hot day, so by the time we reached the top, we were surprisingly tired and sweaty!
Luckily as part of your admission you get a nice cool glass of fruit juice at the end, and we spent some time relaxing there, trying to arrange a new taxi back after our previous driver abandoned us and refused to come back (the staff said we'd probably agreed on too cheap a rate for the journey out-oops?!).
When we finally got back to the hotel, Ellie went for a quick swim and we collected our bags before heading into the centre of town in search of lunch. We had forgotten that things might be closed on a Sunday (Suva had spoilt us)- so that's on us, but even so, the atmosphere in Nadi was nowhere near what we were used to in Suva. Here, although people still greeted us as they went by, many more also tried to offer us unsolicited advice or to drag us into their shop. Taxi drivers would continue to cruise down the street next to us even after we'd told them we didn't need a lift, and then continue to insist we tell them where we were going and that we couldn't possibly walk that far (this got farcical when we got to around ten metres from the bus station and one taxi driver still tried to insist he should drive us there). In Suva, while people do seem a bit surprised to see us, they're always very genuinely welcoming- here in Nadi we felt more like targets.
Luckily, despite it being Sunday, we managed to find a chinese restaurant that was open all day, and that served amazingly generous portions (I think our order could have fed ten!) where we could while away the time until our bus. We'd already realised that there was nothing to see in town, so we headed straight back to the bus station once we were done, and hopped on the first coach back to Suva.
We'd planned to get another Pacific Transport coach, but there was another company leaving as we arrived, so we got on that instead, figuring it wasn't worth waiting longer than we needed. Unfortunately, we hadn't realised this is was Christian coach, so classic bangers such as 'Hosanna', 'You lift me up' and 'I need a miracle' blared out for most of the journey. I do now have favourites from the playlist. Halfway through, they tried to play a movie, but the entertainment system wasn't working so it would play a little while then suddenly stop and restart. This happened four or five times and I think the furthest we managed to get through was twenty minutes, so I was very glad when they finally shut it off.
Stepping off the bus in Suva felt like coming home. We found a friendly taxi driver easily, who didn't yell at us or try to rip us off, and I had never felt more glad that my elective ended up being at CWMH. Although it hadn't been my first choice when I originally applied, I'm now so glad I ended up here- I honestly don't think I would have enjoyed being somewhere else in Fiji anywhere near as much!
 |
| Garden of the Sleeping Giant |
To be fair, the gardens weren't a mistake- they were lovely. There's a fairly short trail you can walk around, a walkway full of orchids, and a decently sized hill you can climb, which gives you a brilliant view of the area. It was a hot day, so by the time we reached the top, we were surprisingly tired and sweaty!
 |
| At the top! |
Luckily as part of your admission you get a nice cool glass of fruit juice at the end, and we spent some time relaxing there, trying to arrange a new taxi back after our previous driver abandoned us and refused to come back (the staff said we'd probably agreed on too cheap a rate for the journey out-oops?!).
 |
| Views from the top |
When we finally got back to the hotel, Ellie went for a quick swim and we collected our bags before heading into the centre of town in search of lunch. We had forgotten that things might be closed on a Sunday (Suva had spoilt us)- so that's on us, but even so, the atmosphere in Nadi was nowhere near what we were used to in Suva. Here, although people still greeted us as they went by, many more also tried to offer us unsolicited advice or to drag us into their shop. Taxi drivers would continue to cruise down the street next to us even after we'd told them we didn't need a lift, and then continue to insist we tell them where we were going and that we couldn't possibly walk that far (this got farcical when we got to around ten metres from the bus station and one taxi driver still tried to insist he should drive us there). In Suva, while people do seem a bit surprised to see us, they're always very genuinely welcoming- here in Nadi we felt more like targets.
Luckily, despite it being Sunday, we managed to find a chinese restaurant that was open all day, and that served amazingly generous portions (I think our order could have fed ten!) where we could while away the time until our bus. We'd already realised that there was nothing to see in town, so we headed straight back to the bus station once we were done, and hopped on the first coach back to Suva.
We'd planned to get another Pacific Transport coach, but there was another company leaving as we arrived, so we got on that instead, figuring it wasn't worth waiting longer than we needed. Unfortunately, we hadn't realised this is was Christian coach, so classic bangers such as 'Hosanna', 'You lift me up' and 'I need a miracle' blared out for most of the journey. I do now have favourites from the playlist. Halfway through, they tried to play a movie, but the entertainment system wasn't working so it would play a little while then suddenly stop and restart. This happened four or five times and I think the furthest we managed to get through was twenty minutes, so I was very glad when they finally shut it off.
Stepping off the bus in Suva felt like coming home. We found a friendly taxi driver easily, who didn't yell at us or try to rip us off, and I had never felt more glad that my elective ended up being at CWMH. Although it hadn't been my first choice when I originally applied, I'm now so glad I ended up here- I honestly don't think I would have enjoyed being somewhere else in Fiji anywhere near as much!
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