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Someone is excited
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Ok so Fiji may not be some far off land awaiting for us to discover it but for us it was a week of pure relaxation with nothing to do but focus on ourselves and rest.

Day one:

Sunday morning I woke to my 10 year old daughter jumping on my bed yelling out that we were going to Fiji. It was barely 5 am and as far as she was concerned our holiday had started.

6.15 Justine (my sis) was at the house getting us sorted for our lift to the airport. We arrived at the international airport around 7am for our 9.05am departure with Pacific Blue.

Goodbye Australia
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Once checked in we looked up and noticed this filthy huge line starting to gather that seemed to be the immigration line for down stairs??? We thought it was some mistake but it wasn't long before we realised that, NO it wasnt a mistake but it was in fact the line for immigration, and we were not going to be successful in avoiding it. I have never seen anything like it, there were 2 lines that were out the front doors both heading towards the escalators for immigration and we stood in this line for 68 mins. Once we got down the escalators it was only another hour or so before we got through immigration. I kid you not!! I have seen nothing like it, passengers were being pulled out of the line and being rushed to their planes, some were not able to hear their names and evidently missed flights. It was total chaos.

Hello Fiji Islands
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When we got through security, we heard the final boarding call for our flight. It was then that we discovered our departure gate was right down one end, plus our plane was right out away from the building so not only did we have to run to make the plane, but we had to run far,,lol not such a great start to our relaxing holiday.

We ended up departing late but only by 20 minutes so not so bad. The bonus was it was a lovely clear day and we were provided with excellent views of the coast line of Qld.

Our Room. Just past that door was the balcony
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3.5 hours later and we had landed at Nadi Airport Fiji. It was the quickest international flight I have ever had.

Nadi international airport is small and we moved through immigration and customs with ease.

For anyone visiting Fiji take the time to stop at the duty free stores and buy your drinks. Alcohol is expensive at resorts so buying and bringing your own is totally acceptable and commonly done by all.

Once we got outside the heat of the tropics hit us, we quickly headed to the office of Coral Sun for our transfer to the Sheraton. They were lovely and friendly and we were greeted with our first "Bula" (Hello). Little did I know there were soooooooooooo many more Bulas to come. Fijians are just so friendly :-)

Bed??? How exciting
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It took about an hour for them to organise our transfers. There seemed to be a mix up with vans and numbers of customers but they provided us with a lovely bottle of chilled "Fiji" water. Very much appreciated :-)

Being Sunday Nadi was super quiet. There was hardly any traffic or locals around so our trip to "Denarau Island" was nice and quick. Driving through town surprised others on our bus just how many Fijians live well below the poverty line.

We arrived at the Sheraton Fiji Resort in no time at all. Check in was quick and done very professionally, and being my first holiday at a resort, I was pleasantly surprised at just how spoilt you get. We were personally delivered to our room and our blinds were opened and everything was set out for us.

The rest of the room
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It took just under 10 minutes to unpack and head down to the beach to check out things.

While Denarau Island is immaculate and beautiful, the beach is pretty average but hey I am sure a cocktail or two will help me see it in a better light. The sand is grey rather than white but its clean and the water is clear.

After walking around and checking out the activities and surrounding resorts, we headed back to the room to dress for dinner...hahahah how funny that sounds, my normal holiday meal would be throwing on thongs and heading to the streets for a cheap local restaurant.

Balcony View - it was here where I indulged in a glass of red wine and cheese nightly after Gab had gone to bed :-)
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We decided to eat at the restaurant down by the ocean. Some of the tables are placed on the sand close to the water, lucky for us we were able to get one of those tables so we had dinner by candlelight listening to the gentle waves lap at the shore.

It was kind of funny because everyone els was with their hunka spunka partners and really getting all sloppy and romantic, but not us, we were mother and daughter and sat there like Lord Mucks,,,, it was a very fun night.