OZ Extension Tips

Australia is a big country! It's the middle of summer, so stay away from the central deserts where it'll be really hot. The state of Victoria and Melbourne City or Tasmania are good destinations if you want to see more of Australia. The biggest logistical problem you'll have travelling in Australia is getting around. The most effective option is to rent a car or camper with some others. This gives you flexibility and means you can get off the beaten track. Note: You usually need to be 21yrs or older to rent a car in Australia.
Buses from Greyhound and McCffertys are cheap and frequent.
http://www.mccaffertys.com.au
http://www.greyhound.com.au

Free ride to sydney
After the trip finishes at Brisbane airport your trip leaders drive the bus back to Sydney over 2 days. If you ask nicely they may let you travel with them. Any accommodation or food costs are covered by you.

Surfing
Surfaris offer week long surfing trips along the coast between Sydney and Byron Bay. Participants who've done a Surfari rave about it. $500AUD includes: 5 Days Surfing - All surfboards, wetsuits, rash vests and surfing apparel. All surfing lessons provided by expert surfers. All camping gear - just bring your own sleeping bag. All meals till Byron Bay.
Departs Sydney every Monday
http://www.surfaris.com
Alternativley hanging in Byron can be fun.

Diving
Stay on Keppel and get scuba certified with Crockett.
Diving is cheaper in Australia than Fiji
Cairns dive operators have great package deals for certified divers. These are usually 3 or 4 days on a live aboard boat with meals and as much diving as you can handle.

Fiji Extension Tips

All costs below are in $US. Currently US$1 = $1.76 Fijian dollars.
Calling Fiji from New Zealand and Australia: Dial 00679 then the telephone number.

Note: Fiji is not a place to learn to surf. If you want to surf, stay on in Australia. If you're a good surfer and have your own board, Nomotu and Tavarua islands in the Mamanuca's offer accommodation, meals, transfers and world class reef breaks.

Information on everything mentioned below can be researched by visiting www.bulafiji.com or by reading the Fiji Lonely Planet guide.

All "quotations" are from previous year's participants. Do your own research on prices etc. Most of the places below can arrange connecting transport and accommodation in Nadi if need be (often at a package rate and probably cheaper than you could do yourself). You will be there in low season, so may be able to negotiate better rates.

Fiji is a wonderful, beautiful, special place. It encompasses a multitude of islands from the large Viti Levu which takes 2 days to drive around to tiny islands like Beachcomber Island with a sand beach and a few palm trees, that you can walk around in 30mins. Nadi, where your flight lands, is on the West coast of the main island and is one of the biggest settlements in Fiji. Most PC'ers spend no time there and head straight out to an island off the coast of Nadi.

In this information we will focus on island resorts in the Mamanuca and Yasawa chains of islands close to Nadi. These are easily accessed from Nadi airport and are low stress to arrange. All island resorts offer snorkeling and scuba diving. If you want a more adventurous time in Fiji there is plenty of scope to plan a trip to less popular areas.

"Most of all, if you have the time, go to Fiji…when's the next time that you will be able to stop over in the middle of absolute paradise in the South Pacific?"

Nadi
Try to avoid spending any time in Nadi. The town is very spread out and not very well set up for tourists. Bear in mind that most of you will probably have to stay a night in a Nadi hotel arrival. This works well as you can then store your luggage at the hotel and pick it up before you catch your flight home.
"Stay out of the city (Nadi). It isn't all that great"; "I don't recommend spending much time in Nadi."

If you need to stay in Nadi the following hotels have been recommended:
West's Motor Inn (pictured) - Close to the airport and outside of Nadi itself. They have some rooms that can take 3-4 people that are inexpensive.
westsmotorin@mail.connect.com.fj
Tel. 672 0044 Fax. 672 0071
Dave Hunt - General Manager
$50 per night/double/twin.
Raffles Gateway Hotel - Across the road and within easy walking distance of Nadi airport. Rooms cost $60 for a twin/double per night or half that for day use only. Even if you only have a few hours to kill before a flight it is worth walking over to the hotel and using the extensive swimming pool/café/bar area which is open to anyone.
rafflesresv@connect.com.fj
Tel. 672 2444

Some Yasawa island resorts like Octopus might book you into accommodation in Lautoka, a small town 20mins from the airport.
The Waterfront Hotel in Lautoka - Fine place to spend a night. Roughly $50 a night incl. breakfast.
waterfront@connect.com.fj
Tel. 666 4777

If you only have a day or two. You might choose to stay in a hotel in Nadi and take a day trip on a boat around either the Mamanuca or Yasawa Islands, but we'd still recommend going to Beachcomber rather than staying in Nadi.
Manamuca Islands:
South Sea Cruises
http://www.fijiresorts.com/south-sea-cruises/
southsea@connect.com.fj
Tel. 675 0500

Yasawa Islands:
Awesome Adventures
http://www.awesomefiji.com/
awesomeadventure@connect.com.fj
Tel. 675 0499

Mamanuca Islands
Group of islands close to Nadi and the airport. There are a handfull of budget resorts in the Mamanuca's listed below, but most islands have upmarket resorts. Interestingly the Tom Hanks movie Castaway was filmed on an uninhabited Mamanuca Island.
South Sea Cruises fast catamarans drop off and pick up from most Mamanuca resorts 3 times daily.

Beachcomber Island
Very much a young people's island. The best party atmosphere in Fiji and a well run, fun place to stay. Great buffet food!
"No doubt a party island but if traveling alone and looking to meet some people or going with others and looking for a fun time this is the place."
Dorm bed + meals: $45USD/night. Beachcomber must have the largest dorm room in the world with over 100 beds in a traditional thatch burre. Each bed has it's own locker so your belongings will be safe. Includes buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Burres and lodges: Burres are thatch roofed and usually have an ocean view and privacy. Lodge rooms are more like cheap hotel rooms. Prices vary. It may work out around the same price to get a Burre or Lodge room for 3-4 people as staying in the dorm.
Activities: "Snorkeling (free), powered water-sports are available although costly, live entertainment including a Fire show, fish feeding, dive shop on the island, volleyball and rugby, hot tub, mini-golf course. Scuba diving on Beachcomber cost about $45 US per dive and we got to see a plane from WWII at the bottom."
Some participants booked a package tour to Beachcomber from a travel agency in Australia. You can also do this directly through Beachcomber, just email them.
"All of our transportation was included in the package deal through a travel agency. Our trip in total cost about $400 US."
"A beautiful place with some fun people and beautiful beaches."
http://www.beachcomberfiji.com
beachcomer@connect.com.fj
Tel. 666 1500

Mana Island
A more up-market resort island. More beaches and space.
"From Nadi, you take the south seas cruises boat. You can buy tickets at the airport for the ferry, or you can fly there for pretty cheap too, but they only fly certain times of the day.
To get there it was approx US$50. We stayed in a Garden Bure at the resort and we got a pretty good deal of about $75 US dollars per night. It was absolutely worth it. The resort is well kept, comfortable, some of the friendliest people I've ever met."
Included in the cost: "Pretty much everything EXCEPT dinner and lunch, which turned out to be pretty spendy ($35 Fiji per person for dinner). But included was snorkel gear, you could windsurf, check out a hobie-cat, a bunch of activities during the day. We snorkeled in the clearest and warmest water I've ever seen. Tried windsurfing, layed on the beach a lot, played tennis, ping-pong, volleyball."
http://www.manafiji.com
Tel. 665 0423

South Sea Island
Smaller than Beachcomber island and managed by Awesome Adventures, the same company as the Yasawa Flyer. The closest resort island to Nadi with a similar atmosphere to Beachcomber but beaches and snorkeling are not as nice as Beachcomber. Most guests staying on South Sea Island are on a Awesome Adventures travel pass with one nights free accommodation on South Sea Island.
We've not had anyone stay here so can't offer any advice.
http://www.awesomefiji.com/
awesomeadventure@connect.com.fj
Tel. 675 0499

Bounty Island
Another sand island like Beachcomber but with a quieter atmosphere. We don't know anyone who's stayed but we imagine that it would suit people wanting a quiet, inexpensive, relaxing island time. The island is big enough that you could easily find a private section of beach to yourself.
Dorm bed and meals: $46
Family tent for 4 people and meals: $140
http://www.fiji-bounty.com
fiji-bounty@treasure.com.fj
Tel. 651 1271

Yasawa Islands
Further from Nadi than the Mamanuca Islands but better catering to budget travellers (with the exception of Beachcomber Island) than the more upmarket Mamanuca Islands. 11 islands in the Yasawa chain with 25 different resorts. Transport to the Yasawas is easy via the Yasawa Flyer catamaran, which calls in at Yasawa resorts daily. Feedback from past participants, our own experience, and conversations we've had with other travelers, is that Oarsmans Bay lodge and Octopus Resort are the best budget places in the Yasawas but please update us if you find somewhere better :)

Bula Pass
If you want to stay at more than one Yasawa resort, the Bula Pass is a good option. Offered by Awesome adventures it offers unlimited transport around the Yasawas for up to either 7 or 21 days. For more information check out this link.
http://www.awesomefiji.com/bula.html
Note: It is probably cheaper to use resort boats for transfers between places like Oarsmans and Safe Landing but the Bula Pass would be a good option if you wanted to stay at both Oarsmans and Octopus resorts.

Nacula Island - Oarsmans Bay Lodge
Rachel and Scott's favourite place to stay in Fiji. Relatively new resort on one of the most beautiful beaches in Fiji and only a short distance to the Blue Lagoon, where the movie starring Brooke shields was filmed. Great Beach, great snorkeling, lots of activities and lots of hiking around the island. Try hiking to the high peaks of the island for sunrise.
Dorm bed + meals: $42pp; Burre for 2 people + Meals: $55pp; Family Burre for 4 people + Meals: Approx the same as dorm; Bring your own tent + meals: $35pp
If you can't get in to Oarsmans, Safe Landing resort on the other side of the island is under the same managment.
http://www.fijibudget.com/oarsmans-bay-lodge.htm
nacula@hotmail.com
Tel. 722 921

Waya Island - Octopus Resort
Octopus Resort sits on the Likuliku Bay on the Island of Waya.
"This is the most remote island I have ever visited. While it is about two hours northwest of Nadi by boat, the trip is very worthwhile. Only about 35 visitors can stay at Octopus, thus giving it an intimate feel."
Dorm bed + Breakfast and dinner $35pp
Tent, yours or theirs + breakfast and dinner: $30pp
Burre for 2 people + breakfast and dinner: $40pp
"In the hut there is a double bed with your own lantern, as there is no electricity in the guests' huts. The hut has its own toilet, sink, and shower. Camping, with access to public showers and two free meals per day, is considerably less expensive. There is a restaurant and bar for the guests. Lunches typically cost around $5-7."
What was included in the cost: "A welcoming ceremony, live traditional music each night, breakfast and dinner every day. There is also a volleyball court, free use of hammocks, and a variety of games and books for the guests."
http://www.octopusresort.com
reservations@octopusresort.com
Tel. 666 6337