Day 13: Nadi, Fiji

Since we got in after dark the night before, it wasn't until the morning until we could really appreciate the beauty of Fiji. Our hotel, the Raffles Gateway, is a 5 star, incredible resort that is located directly across the street from the airport. We flew into Nadi (pronounced nan-dee), where the gates are actually all open-air. Nadi is the largest city in Fiji, even though Suva is actually the capital city, about a 3 hour drive to the other side of the main island, Viti Levu. I never really realized just how third-world Fiji is until now.

After breakfast, 4 vans arrived at our hotel to take us on another Amazing Race all over the main island of Fiji. Our first clue led us to a hidden Hindu temple, where we had to put dots on our heads and collect information about the Hindu faith.


Our second stop as a village in Nadi, where we had to wear Sarongs and learned to make a drink called "kava." Kava is made from a type of root that you crush into powder, put into a handkerchief, and work into water. Once our kava was made, we tried it out on a village elder.
Our next stop was the Saint Mary's School grounds, where students had to each kick a rugby ball through the uneven uprights, score a netball goal through a netball hoop that was crooked, and score a soccer goal on a dirt field with no nets. It was really eye-opening to see what amazing facilities we have in high schools for sports in American compared to what they have in Fiji.The final stop on our Amazing Race was a beach, where we learned how to husk, crack, and milk a coconut. It's definitely much more difficult than it looks on TV. It took us almost an hour to get just 1 shotglass full of coconut milk!


And, of course, Jackson decided to try to get his own coconuts...On our way back to the resort, we stopped in an open-air market and took a public transportation bus.

Our day ended back at the resort, where we had a little time to swim and enjoy the awesome waterslide!