Stopover

It'l won't be a surprise if I say that I didn't like Fiji that much.

First, Manono was a hard act to follow. Secondly, I didn't make any efforts to like it. From the outset, my 4 nights in Fiji were planned as a long stopover (as hard as it might be to believe, I couldn't find a better connection between Samoa and Tonga). I used my time to do the laundry, a long walk on the beach, a massage, some surfing (practising my right-hand turning). 

On top of that, I stayed at a midrange resort on the outskirts of Nadi. Fiji's second city is ugly, full of people and devoted to the heaps of tourists that use it as a stepping stone to nicer parts of the main island and the rest of the country. The locals, after decades of mass tourism, seem to be bored of the tourists and have a rather aggressive commercial approach to them.

It reminded me of Magaluz or San Antonio. It doesn't look anything like that, but it felt like that kind of place. Even if the Melanesian-Indian mix is way too prude for wet T-shirts contests and foam parties.

I didn't want to stay at an exclusive, luxurious resort, I didn't have the time to go to more remote parts of the country -not if I wanted to do my laundry. So I went with no expectations, and made the most of it. 

Left for Tonga on Saturday. I'm staying in Polynesia for the reminder of my trip (little more than 3 weeks), save for 36 hours in Auckland (again, best way to connect). And Polynesia is what this trip is, at the end, about.