November 2-4

The ride from the airport in Nadi, Fiji (10 hours from LAX, in case you're wondering, and over the International Date Line) was around an hour or so. The weather was pretty gray and plain; we passed by many villages of tin-roofed homes and small personal farms, and a few schoolchildren in uniform heading off to classes. I was a little out of it, but got this quick photo of the Sri Siva Subramaniya Hindu temple. 
The Outrigger on the Lagoon 5-star resort located on the Coral Coast, surrounded by 40 acres of tropical gardens. It's not so isolated, exactly; if you walk down the beach to your right and off the reservation there are homes and shops. 

Again, unimpressive weather, which would continue unabated for the whole time I was in Fiji.
A quick video pan of the Outrigger Resort from the lobby balcony.
Inside the Outrigger. It's a hugely impressive lobby (check in is to your right, some shops and stores below). That's all wood in the ceilings and everything is lashed together beautifully with dyed-in and woven-in designs. It's an open-air lobby, so I'd wager those fans get a real workout when it's hot.
My room. 
The view out my room. Along the left is a water channel surrounded by sand; in theory when the tide comes in it should fill, but I never saw that. A nice little place to rest, but not appealing without good weather.
The pool. It's not usually this empty; this is before breakfast. If you get up early enough the only people you'll meet are the working Fijians at the resort, all of whom greet you with "bula!" 

I love saying that word.

Bula!
The Outrigger has a spa situated at the top of a nearby hill; you need a shuttle to get there. The lobby entrance is off to your right, past the white parked bus. But this gives a sense of the passing by road and some landscape. And just off to the left of this photo are....
Cows, just taking it easy. No fences, either.
Beach. I can see where this would be delightful. For what it's worth, and not to harp, the weather was crummy but here's how: Chilly yet humid, always about to rain or in the middle of a drizzle. Total yuck.
They don't call it the Coral Coast for nothing. These looked like bones to me.
There was a small group of us doing the Fiji leg of the tour, and the Outrigger set up a special kava ceremony to welcome us to the island. Workers in grass outfits ground the kava and mixed it with water, and then you're supposed to swallow it. It's just a root and a bit of H2O, but I definitely had a very fast buzz. 
Me and the kava-making Fijians, post-ceremony.

The guy behind me had some very nice guns.

I'm clearly high.
 
They also did an amazing fire-walking ceremony the next night, but my camera couldn't capture it in the rain. So here's me, a firewalker, and the drizzling rain. Oh, and my frizzy hair. Nice!

Where's the kava?