Part One
Ok, I'm going to do this in sections. I'm still fighting jet lag and am just now getting used to driving on the right side of the road, again.
We flew business class (I love travelling with my travel agent!) out of LAX, late March 13th, arriving at Nadi Airport, Fiji at about 5:30 am on the 15th (crossing the International Date Line in the process).
Picking up the rental car was easy, much easier than actually driving the car itself. Originally, I had booked a stick shift, but I realized the steering wheel, etc. would be on the opposite side of the car, with the shifter on my left, so I opted for the automatic instead (I'm ambidextrous, but...).
After loading our bags into the car (a "compact" afforded ample room for two large dive bags, two mid-sized suitcases, two backpacks and two laptop bags), I confidentally got into the vehicle in anticipation of a new driving adventure. I quickly realized I had gotten into the passenger seat, muttered something about checking for documents in the glove box and slid behind the wheel. After adjusting the mirrors and seat, we were off! Or so I thought, anyway. I'm glad it was still early morning and traffic was light. We made it to the airport exit gate before I got confused and ended up going in circles. The gate attendant at the exit finally approached (wiping a big smirk off his face) and asked if he could help. I didn't even have to explain that I was from the US, he already knew. After giving us directions, we had a bit of friendly conversation about our travels, scuba diving, etc. Very nice guy.
Finally, I got on Queen's Highway, bound for Hideaway Resport, about an hour and-a-half away.
Driving in Fiji wasn't difficult, once I figured out how to drive on the left side, signal with my blinker in lieu of the windshield wipers, drive around potholes the size of small lakes and avoid horses, cattle, pigs, goats and people in the road. The scenery was spectacular and very green, since this is the rainy season. We reached the resort without any major incident, much to my relief.
We found Hideaway staff to be very friendly and accomodating. They unloaded the car for us, then took the keys (maybe they were afraid I would get behind the wheel, again) and parked the car for me in a lot across the highway. Although it was only about 8:30 in the morning, they quickly arranged for us to check into our room, which was a beachfront bure with an outdoor shower, telephone, coffeemaker and hotwater maker. (note that I did not list a t.v.--we didn't have one our entire stay in Fiji, which was wonderful) We bothed napped for a couple hours, then just basically explored the area.
The next morning, we dived with the resort op, Diveaway, owned by an Australian gent named Alex. Due to recent storms and heavy rains in the area, the visibility was very bad--Alex estimated between five to fifteen feet. We also had a good deal of surge. It was so bad that Alex tried to refuse payment for hte second dive. He took such good care of us, however, that we insisted on paying full fare. Despite the bad conditions, we saw a good deal of marine life and colorful corals.
On our third day, we drove south to Pacific Harbour to dive with Dive Trek for a two tank shark dive. What an exhilerating experience! We had several different types of sharks show up to be fed, including nurse, white tip, silver tip, lemon and, best of all, bull sharks! The wranglers had us line up on the outside of a rope to watch the action.
After the first dive, one of the shark wranglers led me to a nearby area where I foud a couple teeth to take back with me.
On the second dive, which was a different location on the reef, I was placed to the far left to get the best view. A very large (I would estimate 7 to 8') nurse shark took a chunk of fish from the feeder, then swam between me and my buddy, brushing my fin with its tail as it turned. Too cool! At about half time on this dive, we moved to a shallower part of the reef to watch even more action. The feeder would grab large hunks of fish, move off the reef to hover above a steep drop-off and hold the fish out for the sharks to take from his hands. Suddenly, just like a scene straight out of Jaws, a monster bull (about 12' long), appeared from the deep, coming straight up under the feeder. I started backpeddling away from him, not wanting to be a part of the carnage. The feeder even appeared surprised when the shark appeared under him and moved away a bit. But, the shark simply took the fish and as quickly as he appeared, was gone.
It was hard to get a decent photo with all the backscatter and other fish coming for dinner, so instead, I'll post a couple shots from different dives here.
Part Two to follow
Ok, I'm going to do this in sections. I'm still fighting jet lag and am just now getting used to driving on the right side of the road, again.
We flew business class (I love travelling with my travel agent!) out of LAX, late March 13th, arriving at Nadi Airport, Fiji at about 5:30 am on the 15th (crossing the International Date Line in the process).
Picking up the rental car was easy, much easier than actually driving the car itself. Originally, I had booked a stick shift, but I realized the steering wheel, etc. would be on the opposite side of the car, with the shifter on my left, so I opted for the automatic instead (I'm ambidextrous, but...).
After loading our bags into the car (a "compact" afforded ample room for two large dive bags, two mid-sized suitcases, two backpacks and two laptop bags), I confidentally got into the vehicle in anticipation of a new driving adventure. I quickly realized I had gotten into the passenger seat, muttered something about checking for documents in the glove box and slid behind the wheel. After adjusting the mirrors and seat, we were off! Or so I thought, anyway. I'm glad it was still early morning and traffic was light. We made it to the airport exit gate before I got confused and ended up going in circles. The gate attendant at the exit finally approached (wiping a big smirk off his face) and asked if he could help. I didn't even have to explain that I was from the US, he already knew. After giving us directions, we had a bit of friendly conversation about our travels, scuba diving, etc. Very nice guy.
Finally, I got on Queen's Highway, bound for Hideaway Resport, about an hour and-a-half away.
Driving in Fiji wasn't difficult, once I figured out how to drive on the left side, signal with my blinker in lieu of the windshield wipers, drive around potholes the size of small lakes and avoid horses, cattle, pigs, goats and people in the road. The scenery was spectacular and very green, since this is the rainy season. We reached the resort without any major incident, much to my relief.
We found Hideaway staff to be very friendly and accomodating. They unloaded the car for us, then took the keys (maybe they were afraid I would get behind the wheel, again) and parked the car for me in a lot across the highway. Although it was only about 8:30 in the morning, they quickly arranged for us to check into our room, which was a beachfront bure with an outdoor shower, telephone, coffeemaker and hotwater maker. (note that I did not list a t.v.--we didn't have one our entire stay in Fiji, which was wonderful) We bothed napped for a couple hours, then just basically explored the area.
The next morning, we dived with the resort op, Diveaway, owned by an Australian gent named Alex. Due to recent storms and heavy rains in the area, the visibility was very bad--Alex estimated between five to fifteen feet. We also had a good deal of surge. It was so bad that Alex tried to refuse payment for hte second dive. He took such good care of us, however, that we insisted on paying full fare. Despite the bad conditions, we saw a good deal of marine life and colorful corals.
On our third day, we drove south to Pacific Harbour to dive with Dive Trek for a two tank shark dive. What an exhilerating experience! We had several different types of sharks show up to be fed, including nurse, white tip, silver tip, lemon and, best of all, bull sharks! The wranglers had us line up on the outside of a rope to watch the action.
After the first dive, one of the shark wranglers led me to a nearby area where I foud a couple teeth to take back with me.
On the second dive, which was a different location on the reef, I was placed to the far left to get the best view. A very large (I would estimate 7 to 8') nurse shark took a chunk of fish from the feeder, then swam between me and my buddy, brushing my fin with its tail as it turned. Too cool! At about half time on this dive, we moved to a shallower part of the reef to watch even more action. The feeder would grab large hunks of fish, move off the reef to hover above a steep drop-off and hold the fish out for the sharks to take from his hands. Suddenly, just like a scene straight out of Jaws, a monster bull (about 12' long), appeared from the deep, coming straight up under the feeder. I started backpeddling away from him, not wanting to be a part of the carnage. The feeder even appeared surprised when the shark appeared under him and moved away a bit. But, the shark simply took the fish and as quickly as he appeared, was gone.
It was hard to get a decent photo with all the backscatter and other fish coming for dinner, so instead, I'll post a couple shots from different dives here.
Part Two to follow
