Bula Honeymoon!

Bula!  That is Fijian for hello and welcome!  Two weeks ago, over the Thanksgiving holiday, Rob and I took our long awaited honeymoon.  A dear friend of mine, Ruthie, gave us (as a wedding gift) a free week at her Fijian timeshare.  She completely arranged it so all we had to do was show up.  We stayed at the Wyndahm Resort in Denarau Island; a short taxi ride from the Nadi airport.  Several weeks prior to our holiday, I looked into activities and events for us to explore but held off on making any concrete plans.  This ended up being a wise decision.  As soon as we arrived, Rob and I morphed into Fiji island time and spent our days relaxing, enjoying the ocean, pool, sun and free time.  Although it's officially summer time in Hobart, the days are rather mild.  There have been a few warm days, but no consistent warm/hot summer days as of yet.  Just mild and a bit cool... however less rainy which makes a big difference!  While in Fiji, we basked in the warmth and when too hot, took a dip to cool off.

We did move off our seaside chairs to explore another island for two nights.  We had a recommendation from friends, David & Annette, to check out Octopus resort on Waya Island while in Fiji.  Midweek, Rob and I boarded a speed boat that took us on a hour and a half ride to Waya island and Octopus resort.  Once our boat arrived, the resort staff lined the beach, sang a traditional welcoming song that ended in a big BULA!  As we walked up to the resort, we were handed a cool, tropical drink.  I liked this place!  The Octopus resort was small, simple, tropical and friendly. Our bure (small seaside hut) was rustic and cozy but was missing one key element to total comfort - air conditioning.  As advertised there was a ceiling fan running on high but was no match to the tropical heat.  During the day, we would get in the water to cool off but at night, we both took cold showers a few times during the wee hours, after waking up in a light sweat, to be comfortable enough to sleep once more.  Two nights were enough for this time of the year, perhaps in a cooler season, air conditioning is less needed.  As we departed the island, the staff once more lined up and sang us goodbye.  Parting is such sweet sorrow!  Enjoy the pictures as I recap our week in Fiji!

Our Honeymoon.  This is it in one picture!

This is a more accurate representation of our honeymoon, hehe.

Rob and I realized while driving to the Hobart airport on the morning of our early departure to Melbourne that we'd forgotten our camera!  At first, we decided to use our iPhones to capture honeymoon memories.  However we changed our minds and while running through Duty Free in Sydney, we purchased our honeymoon/Christmas gift... a new Nikon camera.  This camera is very fancy and has many more buttons and options then I can manage.  You may notice a difference in the quality of the pictures in this post.  I promised Rob I'd take a photography class to learn my new sidekick- camera.

The newlywed, wife!
We flew from Hobart to Melbourne, Melbourne to Sydney and finally Sydney to Nadi.  Here I am enjoying a glass of red as we were delayed in Sydney

The newlywed, husband
Profile shot
Are they calling us to board the plane yet?

BULA FIJI!

Once we checked in to the Wyndahm Resort, the reception staff were kind enough to deliver a bottle of champagne to our room.  Cheers!

The first day of our honeymoon, Rob made me breakfast of coffee, cheesy eggs and toast.  I love him so!
The night prior, our taxi driver was so nice to take us to the market on our way from the airport.  He waited, not charging us extra, to grab a few staple items.  Fijians are very nice people.

The pool to our backs and the ocean before us...  There should have been a plaque, "The Doyles" right here.

The stairs lead down into the cool water

Hi Honey, can you put the camera down and get me a drink, wink.

Yes Dear, but it's your turn to go to the bar, wink.

We had this great patio with table and chairs.
Almost every night we sat outside, talking, reading and people watching. It was sooo relaxing.  Our first night, we were sitting out here, minding our own business when fireworks erupted into the sky above us.  After I peeled myself off the floor (I had been unexpectedly frightened), we enjoyed the display.

View from our patio.  We had a rainstorm every afternoon and on a few early mornings.  The storms did not last for long and brought the humidity index down about 2% ;)

From the patio, looking out to the ocean

A pic from the first night we were in Fiji.
We took a walk down the sand to other resorts along the coast line.
Our ONE picture together for the whole honeymoon!

Sunset

This is the Wyndahm Resort - a boardwalk leading out to the pool and beach area.  Timeshares line the walkway and a small river runs along side it.  We used the gym facility twice, had a massage at the spa and rented a movie from the front desk.

We were very pleased with the Wyndahm and would love to stay there again.  The Fijians are very open and kind; very helpful, relaxed and always smiling!  I think Fiji is the happiest place on earth next to Disneyland.  Of course, we stayed on the resorts for most of the trip...  However in the Nadi airport, singers with guitars greeted travelers as they came in and went with Fijian music.  It's pretty special.

Along the beach there lies Octopus Resort... you can kinda see the bures.

This little dinghy met us at our speed boat and brought us to shore

Rob outside our Bure 10

From the porch of the bure, the ocean awaits!

Honeymoon suite #10
or
Dont' Touch me, I'm too hot #10 

Once more, we sat out here at night and watched the stars

At night, the resort staff turned down our bed and secured the mosquito net.  Thank goodness!

Outdoor shower

We came well prepared

We spent some time here

Our first night at Octopus, Rob arranged a cocktail hour at our bure with fresh fruit and champagne.  Delightful!

BULA!

Mad skills with my new camera

One our second night, Rob arranged for massages on the beach and a lobster dinner for two on the beach. Complete with champagne!
This was one for our favorite memories.  The staff brought out our food then left us to enjoy the sunset.  The meal was delicious!!

Lobster, shrimp, calamari, white fillets, mussels and scallops

I love him

After dinner, before dessert, we took a little skinny dip

The next day we headed back to the Wyndahm resort and were grateful to leave the more tropical experience of Octopus resort.  At one point during the last night, I awoke to the sound of something crinkling on the side table next the bed.  Not recognizing the source of the sound, I quickly awoke Rob to get out of bed and hit the lights.  Sure enough, as soon as the light went on, a mouse squired away.  Needless to say, I couldn't fall asleep until dawn after that happened.  We had a package of salted peanuts on our side table.  That got discarded as well.

One last afternoon at the Wyndahm

Thank you, Ruthie

The final night, we dressed up for one last nice dinner
The sunset was the BEST this last day

Bula good looking!

We were sad to leave Fiji.  A week was not quite long enough and we are fairly certain we will be back to Fiji sometime soon.  One more huge thanks to Ruthie for making this happen.  Even though we didn't snorkel, windsurf, fish, sail, shop or participate in other touristy activities - we really just enjoyed the beauty of the islands, the company of each other and the week of endless amounts of time.  We read, napped, listened to live music, ate and unplugged.  Now, that's a good vacation!