A journey where the warmth of Fiji, the adventure of New Zealand, and the vastness of Australia blend into an unforgettable tapestry of travel
This blog post spans 22D/21N across three countries and seven cities which we traveled in the month of Apr-May 2024. From Bangalore, we landed in Fiji, went to New Zealand, then to Gold Coast and flew back from Sydney. We spent almost around a week in each of these countries. This itinerary can be looked as multiple sub itineraries and depending on how much time one wishes to spend in these locations, they can customise it.
All the three countries we visited are part of Oceania and as they lie in Southern Hemisphere, this time of the year is the onset of Winter for them. The weather was hot to pleasant in Fiji, somewhat cold in New Zealand and cold to pleasant in Australia.
Reaching and understanding Fiji
Fiji is an archipelago in South Pacific Ocean, a country very much like a dot on the map of world, completely secluded with lush green vegetations, white sandy beaches, one of the best places to dive, possibly the friendliest people around and a pace of life which is slow, easy and infectious! Its main island is Viti Levu, which has Nadi (pronounced Nandi) and Suva as major cities. Nadi is the hub bursting with western tourists and Suva is the capital with more city like vibes.
Fiji is well connected to Singapore, NZ and Australia and is VoA (Visa on Arrival) for Indian citizens. From Bangalore, there are multiple flights via Singapore to reach Nadi. We rented a self drive car from Nadi airport, which is arguably one of the best (and perhaps only) ways to roam around the island country.
Day 1-Day 3: Denarau and Mamanuca
Denarau is a small connected island within a short drive from Nadi airport, which is home to several world class resorts, beaches, shops and provides easy access to ferries for island hopping. We stayed in Palms Denarau, an apartment hotel, which is within walking distance to lots of eateries, super market and tour operators.
As we all were jet lagged and had expected kids to take time to adjust their body clocks, we had planned light for first few days. We started our exploration by visiting local Cultural Village, where we got to learn the fascinating history of Fiji and some of their traditions and customs.
We made a quick stop at the Nadi produce market, where we got to see piles of local fruits and vegetables and tried some such as PawPaw (papaya but much smaller, rounder and sweeter), Bananas (small, sugary sweet and orangish in color), Grapes, Nama (sea weed or sea grapes) and Duruka (cane shoot flowers).
Island hopping is one of the most coveted and recommended way to visit some of the famed islands in the Fiji archipelago. We had booked a full day hopping cruise to take us to some of these gems in Mamanuca, most notably CastAway (Monuriki Island) island where Tom Hanks famed survival drama of the same name was shot.
We decided to check out Nuku restaurant in Hilton Hotel which boasts of mesmerising views of Fijian Sunset. Although we were late for Sunset, we had a great time there watching Meke performance and having some local delicacies.
Day 4-Day 5: Natadola Beach
We started our drive from Nadi towards Suva which is a cross country scenic drive and goes along the coast or between tree lines for most parts. In between, we stopped for a brief stay in Intercontinental Fiji at Natadola (pronounced Natandola, actually all words are pronounced with an extra ‘n’ before ‘d’ in Fijian language).
Natadola has one of the secluded and pristine beaches in Fiji, mostly exclusive to ICH. This time determined to not miss out witnessing Sunset, we hopped on a private boat ride in Pacific to watch horizon turn from blue to tangerine to violet to an explosion of colours.
We watched torch lighting ceremony, which is a tradition followed by all Fijian houses, and fire show before we had dinner and wrapped up the day.
Day 6-Day 7: Navua and Suva
We settled in Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, which boasts of hosting dignitaries and head of states from around the globe. The hotel staff was welcoming enough to let us check the suite where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had stayed!
We had a full day booking for Navua River Canoe tour, which arguably can be the highlight of our Fiji stay. It started with a fun canoe ride, followed by a short hike to a waterfall, a bamboo raft ride and all wrapped by a Fiji village tour, lovo lunch and Kava ceremony.
We were invited to be part of a gathering by the Indian community where we met lots of expats and learned about their experience in Fiji.
As it was time to bid goodbye, we could only relate to the saying this country lives by: In Fiji, you don’t have to find happiness. Here happiness will find you.
Some of the local dishes we savoured in Fiji: Palusami, Lolo (Coconut milk) buns, Cassava Cake, Taro.
Day 8-Day 13: Auckland and around
In our next leg of vacation marathon, we took a short flight from Nadi to Auckland and reached this middle earth where hobbits used to roam!
We had high hopes for New Zealand, especially the untouched beauty this land offers, and not once were we disappointed. Our next few days were packed with lots of activities and we couldn’t have chosen a better AirBnB stay, which was a page out of children’s storybook. It was a quintessential farm stay with country landscapes and a cozy house where Alpacas, Sheep and Llamas were open grazing.
We had rented a car from Enterprise at Airport and it enabled us to move freely, not only in Auckland but to take one day trips around and visit Rotorua later. In next few days, we visited Sky Tower (highlight VR slide), Auckland Zoo (highlight Tasmanian Devil, Red Pandas), Kelly Karlton Sea Underworld (highlight Penguins) and a luxury Catamaran ride in Hauraki Gulf for Whale watching. Sadly we didn’t see any and we have an open coupon to return anytime anyday and go on a tour with them again, as if you need these small perks to return back to this country!
Our highlight of Auckland stay was day trip to guided dinner tour of Hobbiton movie sets. The tour reached its pinnacle with a gala dinner befitting hobbits and culminated with a lantern ride in the dark around the green dragon inn past hobbit holes. Our tour guide took us to a secluded open spot overlooking Bag end and clear skies above with stars and constellations glittering and asked us to soak in the moment, turn off our lanterns, and left us to wonder on how insignificant are we in the bigger scheme of universe and yet try to find meaning in life! After all we travel for these moments of introspection only, don’t we!
Day 14-Day 15: Rotorua
Rotorua is a town situated at a short distance from Auckland and offers a completely different landscape and itinerary in itself. The town has bubbling mud pools, shooting geysers, natural hot springs and among all various encounters for Maori culture.
We drove to Rotorua stopping midway at Waitomo Glowworm caves. It is one of those unique experiences which is difficult to find elsewhere. A guided tour takes you through centuries old stalactite and stalagmite formations and eventually a boat ride takes you through glowworm grotto to witness the fairyland where thousands of magical glowworms can be seen. Before we reached and settled in our stay in Rotorua, we decided to do Treewalk Nightlights, which is another unique experience to cherish forever. Rotorua has huge Redwood forests whose trees are enormously tall and wide in girth. This walk is over a suspended bridge through a pathway carefully curated by connecting these large tree trunks and lanterns lighting your pathway in pitch dark. Both our kids enjoyed the walk much and Moli to this date recalls it fondly by calling it ‘wubbly wobbly bridge’.
Next day we were all geared up to experience some of the Maori culture first hand as we proceeded to Whakarewarewa Village Tour, which is a half day guided tour. It takes you through a living Maori village and showcases their way of living and their close connection with the geo thermal activity around Rotorua, which they channel in their houses and villages to cook food, bathe etc. We saw the mighty Pohutu Geyser erupting like a clock work and various sulphur pools in the midst of rotten egg like smell widespread. The tour ended with a striking cultural performance by native Maoris but the highlight for us was the corn web cooked in sulphur pool which we had!
As we were longing for more adventure and wanted to make most of our Rotorua stay, we headed straight to Hell’s Gate for some mud spa. Next day, we visited Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderlands which offers a nice paved walk around some of bubbling sulphur pools.
Our AirBnB stay in Tikitere suburb of Rotorua had an excellent view overlooking Lake Rotorua, from where we watched another beautiful Pacific Sunset sipping hot tea!
We had plans to stay in Naomi Airport Hotel at Auckland before we fly next day to Gold Coast. Enroute Rotorua to Auckland, we visited a hidden gem, Agrodome, where we watched some really serious cattle herding. Kids enjoyed interacting with Alpacas, Sheep, Llamas and Ostriches and we got to see Sheep wool searing for the first time! We halted briefly at Hamilton for dinner but gave Hamilton Gardens a skip.
Some of the local food items we experienced at NZ: Hokey Pokey & Goody Goody Gum drops Ice cream (almost daily and lots of it), Hangi (Food cooked underground), Pavlova dessert, Whittaker chocolate, CookieTime cookie, Lamingtons Cake and national treasure Pineapple lumps. Rotorua has an eat street where we had some amazing Tunisian and Arabic food as well.
Day 16-Day 19: Gold Coast
As we drifted into the last leg of our marathon, we took a flight from Auckland to Gold Coast and settled in our AirBnB on 32nd floor. Reaching instructions for AirBnBs in GC is no short of treasure hunt where in you go to a nearby grocer and procure a door key, which is locked in another safe whose code is shared to you separately by your host. However, this is only half the win as you still need to figure out how to open the parking garages and that too multiple of them.
We had a large apartment to ourselves and some serious views of one of the world’s famed Surfer’s Paradise beach and as the balcony was east facing, for a change, we watched Sun rising in the Pacifics the next morning.
Other than spending some quality time on the beach itself, we visited Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary as no visit to Australia can be complete without Kangaroos! Other highlights of the park were panda encounter, famed Australian venomous snakes, wallabies, binturang, meerkats, dingo, cassowary, tarantula and parakeets.
We also visited weekly Surfers Paradise Beachfront Market, which had all sorts of paraphernalia and trickeries but failed to impress this Indian audience who is accustomed to see a lot more and that too more frequently in local flea markets!
Day 20-Day 22: Sydney
We landed in Sydney taking a short flight from GC. Nikita visited her old school friend, who came to see us from Melbourne. We had our AirBnB in Arncliffe area which was nothing fancy but chose it due to its proximity to the airport. Later did we learn that it was a Granny Flat, a backyard converted into a small cozy place.
We had plans to spent one entire day exploring Sydney Harbour area. We started by taking a guided tour of Opera House and getting to know its history and architectural complexity and marvel. After clicking lots of photos in all permutations and combinations of us, the bridge, the Opera House and the space in between, we settled in Opera bar for some beer and food while basking in the lovely Sun which had come out. As the amateur photographer inside us was definitely craving for more shots, we walked to the adjacent Royal Botanic Gardens to get both the bridge and Opera House in single frame.
We had a booking for the dinner cruise with Captain Cook cruises as we wanted to sail in the harbour and watch it change colours as it gets dark.
To not repeat past mistakes in planning travel itineraries, this time I had kept one full day for nothing, err say shopping. We visited DFO Homebush on one of Nikita’s friend’s suggestion and bought souvenirs for folks back home.
As we were reaching the finishing line of the marathon and while the exhausted self within us was glad that it happened and happened with finesse, the mind has this saying – Travel Far, Travel Wide, Travel Deep.
We had a connecting flight from Sydney to Bangalore via Singapore.
GB Hacks
- Fiji is very close to IDT (International Date Time line) which makes it one of the farthest countries to visit from India. Its time zone is more than six hours ahead of India.
- We pulled off this itinerary with two small kids, 5yrs and 2 yrs. Yes, it takes a toll when kids schedules get changed but they adapt equally fast.
- While Fiji is VoA for Indians, NZ and Australia Visas can be applied completely online and takes around a month to come.
- NZ and Australia have some of the strictest immigration laws protecting their borders for food items etc. The penalties are mind boggling so throw out all those apples and bananas and declare whatever baby food etc you want to carry across.
- Driving in all these countries was fun, easy and allowed on Indian license. As long as you follow rules, there is nothing to worry. But remember, speed limits are followed everywhere and penalties are huge.
- Car seats and bumper seats are norms and mandatory. They can be rented from car rentals. There are options to book Uber with car seats but weirdly, in Australia, taxis are exempted from this rule.
- All activities tend to get filled fast as all of them can be booked online. To avoid disappointment, book them well in advance as most of them can be cancelled for small penalties if plans change.
Kedia's Travelogue 