Melbourne 2014 Day 10 – Nadi transit to Melbourne

We were returning to Nadi and had to wake up at 730am for breakfast in order to give ourselves some time to pack before checking out at 945am.

Settled the bill at the reception and the final bill ended up as 646Fjd, much more than we have budgeted for. In the end, paid the rest with Aud with a rate of 1.61, not too bad. Waited at the poolside till the transport arrive. One of the staff sounded the drums and called out for boarding and we proceeded to the beach. There was a group of 4 singers singing farewell songs as we boarded the transfer boat. Leaving the lovely island, we boarded the catamaran and sat at the bottom most level and used the internet like a connection starved prisoner just released from jail, since it was free.

12 noon we arrived at the Port Denarau, after a short stop at the South Sea island. Went to exchange some money at the port for 1.59Fjd per Aud, 5cts worse than airport rates. The best rates were still from the airport. Proceeded to the bus terminal near the port where people were sorting out their luggage. We didn’t have luggage as we have packed a separate haversack for this side trip and just boarded the 40seater buses after checking with the drivers.

Return to the Tokatoka didn’t take too long, arrived at 1pm where we did our check in and retrieved our luggage that was placed there for 3 days already. They took awhile since the luggage was on the most inside of the storage area, unsurprisingly. After repacking the haversack to contain a few cold wear, we went out for lunch by taking the resort taxi to Namaka town for 6Fjd. There was a recommended cafe on tripadvisor called Bulaccino and we were going there to have lunch.

Arrived at Namaka just a short 8mins away, and we requested the taxi driver to come pick us up at 3pm. The cafe was fairly crowded with quite a number of tables already taken. Ordered fish burger and chicken nuggets. The food tasted well and it was decently priced so it was definitely worth a trip out for that. There was free wifi for a short 30mins for patronage spending of more than 12.50Fjd and we utilized that to check Facebook and weather in Melbourne.

By the time we left the cafe, the taxi was already waiting for us, impressive service. The journey back was quick too and that gave us about 30mins to freshen up, pack, last minute device charging and check out. The staff arranged for the airport transfer and in no time, we arrived at the small international airport.

The line to the Virgin Australia was short and the check in was fairly quick. There was quite a number of shops at the gates and I spent quite a bit of time to decide how to spend the last 30Fjd that I have. In the end, bought a Fiji Bitter polo tee with that money and spent another 5Aud for some Fiji stamps, and it was a great thing that they returned the change in Aud too! Boarding was on time and soon we were airborne, 5.5hrs away from Melbourne. Again the flight was smooth without turbulence but basically it was a kindergarten with wings, crying kids.

Got into Melbourne at 930pm at a frigid temperature of 6deg Celsius. Got through immigrations pretty easily with the epassport machine though the queue was pretty short anyways. Waited a while for our luggage and we got through customs without issues. Ate some pastries at the only opened cafe and checked with the info counter on how to get to Ibis Budget. Walk. The staff informed that taxi wouldn’t ferry us the 700m away as it would not make sense for them to requeue. So we have to take out more cold wear to beef up the cold defense before heading out. Following the signs and walking along the pathway was easy, except that it was cold.

We got to the hotel with not much issue. Checked in done quickly and I carried our two large luggage up a single flight of stairs to the first floor luckily. The room was tiny, the extreme end of the spectrum from where we came from. Oh well, just a stopover before another flight to Hobart early next morning. Switched on the heating aircon which wasn’t powerful enough, before preparing for the night.