After breakfast we checked out of the Radisson, and checked into the Sofitel Hotel just down the road, closer to Port Denarau. The grounds are fantastic – lagoon style pool, coconut trees, green lawns leading down to the beach.We asked for and received a quiet room on the edge of the resort. This is the basic room (pictured below).
This is the view from our ground foor patio (pictured below). It’s so quiet.
The beach is broader on this side of the island, although most people prefer to lounge by the pool, the biggest on the island.
We chose the beach, whittling away the morning on either the lounges or the hammocks.
In the afternoon I power walked around the Island for an hour to try and work off the toll of all this excessive living. I passed some Fijians lying under a tree that looked up at me, thinking, ‘crazy white man’ – for nobody moves fast in Fiji, except when they are playing Rugby. Ironically, some of the fastest wingers in Rugby hail from Fiji.
I walked past some of the residential estates. I couldn’t go in them, because they are protected by a fence, and a security gate guarded by a security guard. Most of the homes are the type you see on the canals on the Gold Coast; luxury two storey mansions, with the private jetty, and a motor yacht moored out the front. I started wondering the price of these homes and when I arrived back at my room, sweaty, and perhaps suffering heat stroke, I surfed the web. I found a four bedroom two storey home on Denarau Island with pool, a two car garage, and a deep water front jetty for 1.4 million Fijian Dollars. Compared to Australian prices this is a relative bargain for this type of real estate, and I can understand why there is so much interest at the moment, with many new developments planned both at Denarau and on the outlying islands.
Sure there is the unstable political situation, the associated currency risk devaluation, but look at the lifestyle. Firstly the perfect weather all year round. Then there is the great fishing, and the diving off the Mamanuca Islands only a thirty minute boat ride away. The international airport is twenty minutes away, and it’s only four hours to Sydney. A good wage is about four dollars Fiji Dollars an hour, so help around the house won’t be a problem. I’ve seen a number of kids with a Fijian nanny. If you have the money then it Fiji is great value for a holiday house or retirement home (you could hire a full time nurse). Oh by the way, I also saw that you can buy your own private Island in the Manamucas for 12.8 million Fijian dollars.
Dinner at the Feast Buffet Restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel was like returning home to a welcoming family. The friendly staff fussed over us, and gave us the best table in the place. They all want to know what night we are leaving, no doubt so they can sing the Fijian Farewell Song, which Louise is hesitant to experience, because she will burst into tears.
"It's too emotional" She says.
