Saturday, January 31 – transit from Nadi to Suva, Fiji

This morning I’m traveling across the island, via bus, from Nadi to Suva.

There are two companies that work the route, Pacific Transport and Sunbeam. And it’s been a challenge trying to figure out their schedules and where they stop. I’ve spoken to locals, visited their websites, and reviewed online message boards. A lot of conflicting information. One thing I’m fairly certain of though, is that the bus picks up at the Nadi airport (I’ve spoken to folks at the airport help desks – both arrivals and departures – who confirmed this).

Now, I’ve read online that the Saturday buses can be crowded; weekend travelers. So, I thought I should try for an early bus. One schedule I have for Pacific Transport indicates they have a 7am pickup at the airport. I’m going to go for that.

I wanted to get to the airport early, in case there was a queue forming. I arrived at 6:15am and confirmed the location of the bus stop with a security guard.

(The airport was actually pretty busy this morning – a lot of international departures. I have an 8am flight when I head to Brisbane in a couple weeks.)

When I got to the stop there were only a couple others waiting. Not bad! I spoke with a woman who was also waiting on the Suva bus and she confirmed I was at the right place. Great! And she thought the bus would be arriving around 6:30am. Glad I got here early!

(She arrived on a flight from Sydney last night and was heading back home to Suva this morning)

And sure enough, at 6:30 the Pacific Transport bus to Suva arrived. For payment, the buses require the same prepaid transport cards used by the local buses here in Nadi. I topped mine up at the Vodafone booth when I arrived at the airport yesterday. And like the other range of bus (mis)information I obtained, the actual fare cost was not clear. The Vodafone salesperson thought it was 20 FJD each way, so I made sure I had at least 40 on my card. Turns out she was spot on! The cost was 20 FJD (9 USD).

Six of us got onboard at the airport, joining the other 6 who were already seated from the previous stop, the route’s origin in Lautoka. No waiting around either! We were on our way at 6:35am.

Here’s a map of the route. The bus was nice. A fairly modern coach with air conditioning and 2×2 seating. I was told by one of the locals to sit on the right side of the bus for the better views. And the woman I spoke with at the airport made sure I got onboard okay and was settled in. Very nice!

Our next stop was the Nadi Central Bus Terminal, and that’s where it was busy! (I was tipped off that it’s better to board at the airport if you want to have a good selection of seats) The bus completely filled up here.

And I was the only westerner/tourist on board. Pretty cool, I think. Kind of meshes with my comment in the previous Entry about trying to become familiar with a community and its inhabitants. Plus, this is a fun way to experience some of the island and its villages, with nice views along the way.

About an hour into the trip, we made a 10 minute stop in Sigatoka (see map) where passengers could exit to buy snacks and drinks. I stayed on board, but the man sitting next to me did get off, and asked me to save his seat. Will do! I read on a message board that poaching of seats can take place at this stop, and sure enough, a guy did try to sit next to me. Sorry, it’s taken!

Soon after this stop we started getting some pretty views of the coast. It’s hard getting good pictures from a moving bus, but here are few that turned out okay…

Slowing down for speed bumps provided good photo opportunities!

We arrived in Suva at 10:30am. A fun 4 hour journey! I’d say 90% of the passengers boarded in Nadi and exited here in Suva. Just a few stops in between. Sitting across the aisle from me the whole time was a woman with a little boy sitting on her lap; maybe 3 years old. He was so well behaved in an uncomfortable seating position on this crowded bus. It was amazing!

A picture of our Pacific Transport bus upon arrival at the Suva Bus Stand.

My hotel was a 20 minute walk from the bus stand, so I just decided to hoof it.

Another view of the bus stand (local routes).

And I’m glad I decided to walk to the hotel, because right next to the bus terminal was…

…this amazing Saturday Market!

A view of Suva Harbour as I make my way to the hotel.

A nice waterfront path.

I’m staying at the Grand Pacific Hotel, and it’s the main reason I came to Suva.

The hotel dates to 1914, and has had many notable guests over the last century, including Queen Elizabeth on multiple occasions; the first being in 1953.

There was a brief downpour shortly after I arrived. Happy it didn’t occur during my walk!

I arrived too early for check-in, so I dropped my bag and did a brief walk around the neighborhood.

There is a complex of government buildings just across the street from the hotel.

This is the Post Office.

In the background is the Parliament Building. The statue honors Ratu Epenisa Seru Cakobau, the Vunivalu (King) of Fiji who signed the Deed of Cession to Great Britain in 1874.

I still had some time to kill before my room was ready, so I decided to…

…join these 3 boys for a swim in the pool!

Travel Note: Fortunately I already had my swim trunks on. I’ve been wearing them a lot; easy to wash, and quick to dry!

My room was ready around 2pm. I splurged a little for a Habour View room, and I’m glad I did! (172 USD/night)

It’s been kind of a long day. I think I’m just going to hang out in my room, and…

…enjoy the sunset.

Ordered a Mahi Mahi Poke Bowl from room service.

Sunday, February 1 – Suva

I see a lazy Sunday in my future! Most of the city is shut down anyway…

(I never left the hotel!)

Pretty morning

Heading into port is what appears to be the cruise ship that was in Tonga. Another reason to avoid town today!

Sidenote: Back on Black Friday, I signed up for HBO Max @ $3/month for a year (with commercials). So, I’ve been using their app on my iPad (via a VPN that provides a U.S. ip address) to watch stuff while I’m traveling. My current binge is season one of The Pitt. Wow! Amazing show! Highly recommended! (thanks for the suggestion Kait!)

Not sure what kind of sunset it will be tonight.

Tonight’s meal is chicken curry.

Cruise ship departing…

Not too bad!

Monday, February 2 – transit from Suva to Nadi

Sadly, I’ll be checking out of the Grand Pacific today. It’s been a nice stay!

Enjoying a spot of tea on this beautiful morning.

Travel Note: If I had to do it over again, I probably would have tried to spend more time in Suva rather than Nadi. Being the capital of Fiji, I think Suva has some interesting cultural attractions worth checking out. The issue is that the ferry terminal and airport are both located in Nadi, which was convenient for the island hopping I wanted to accomplish. Maybe I’ll get back to Suva, and the Grand Pacific Hotel!

Okay, I’m back on the bus to Nadi today. And I’m still pretty much clueless on the schedule.

I checked out of the hotel at 10:45am, and arranged for a taxi to take me back to the bus stand where I was dropped off on Saturday. The women who’s in charge of the taxis at the hotel told me the fare would be 5 FJD (2 USD) for the 10 minute ride. When I got in the cab and asked the driver the cost of the ride, he said 10 FJD. What! Gotta love taxi drivers! I told him what I was quoted at the hotel and he immediately dropped it down to 5 FJD.

It turns out my taxi driver used to work for a bus company that runs the Suva-Nadi route, and he told me that a bus was scheduled to depart at 11am, and that I should be able to get on that one. Perfect!

(I have to say, it was nice of the taxi driver to help me out, considering I had just cut his fare in half!)

We arrived at the stand just before 11, and it looked like the bus was just getting ready to leave. I was the last one to board, probably because there was only one seat left on the bus! All the way in the back row, the second seat over from the window.

For this trip I was on a Sunbeam bus. Compared the the Pacific Transport bus I used on Saturday, this one has some differences:

• Older and in rougher condition
• 2×3 seating, versus 2×2
• 19 FJD fare versus 20 FJD (50 cents less)

Once again, I was the only westerner/tourist on the bus. Just the way I like it!

(being in the back of the bus, I felt comfortable taking this picture without offending anyone)

Even though I wasn’t on the window, I tried to get some more pictures of the coastline views…

At the first stop from Suva (about an hour in), the man seated to my right exited the bus. Nice! Now there are only 5 of us in the row of 6 seats (and I can stretch my legs a little into the aisle). And then about 20 minutes later, another man to my right exited. We’re down to 4!

I ended up dozing a little bit on the ride, which was good and bad. I wanted to take in the views!

At the Sigatoka stop (about an hour from Nadi), a lot of passengers de-bused (including the man on my left in the window seat). I would say the bus was only about 1/3 full now, with only 2 of us were left in the back row.

Not that many people exited at the Nadi Central Terminal. That kind of surprised me. There were about 20 passengers left on board as we headed to my stop, the airport; where we arrived at 3:30pm. It ended up taking 30 minutes longer than the 4 hour trip on Saturday. I think that’s probably due to there being more traffic on a Monday afternoon versus a Saturday morning.

Only a couple of us got off at the airport. The rest would have been headed to the final destination, Lautoka (another 30 minute ride).

I wanted to get a picture of the bus after it dropped me off, but it took off too fast!

Here’s a picture of a similar bus that I downloaded from an internet search.

This was a fun weekend. I enjoyed the Grand Pacific Hotel, and the bus rides!

Tomorrow I’m flying to Vanuatu. That means I’m back at the Fiji Gateway Hotel for the night.