My first impression of Fiji was disappointment. I’ve always pictured Fiji as this magical place that would look exactly like a dream from a luxury travel brochure. You know, the definition of paradise with perfect white beaches, untouched nature, swaying palm trees and a turquoise sea that looks like it’s been photoshopped.

We landed in the afternoon and quickly realized that it looked nothing like those brochures. Our airport pickup was over an hour late, because he couldn’t be bothered to come in time. It seemed to be a very common problem, so I guess that it all come down to ”Fiji Time”. He then drove us to this small place outside Nadi, where the only buildings are either hostels or linked to the backpacker industry. It was a tiny backpacker village with not even a hint of the actual Fiji. It even looks a lot nicer in my photos than in reality.

The backpacker area was right next to the beach and I’m sure that I would have thought that it was amazing if I would have traveled straight from London. But instead, I arrived straight from Australia that has some truly fantastic beaches. It felt like a waste to fly for 4 hours, when we had much nicer beaches much closer to us in Brisbane. The sea was black and I couldn’t even see my own toes when I stood with my feet ankle deep into the sea. The only entertainment in the area is drinking overpriced drinks, watching the sunset and laze around on the beach. It’s OK, but a little boring if you are looking for a more eventful vacation. The only places to eat in the area are the hostels own restaurants that tried to lure backpackers in with words like ”pizza” and ”beer” with explanation marks on the menus. The entire area is just a gateway to other destinations. There’s boards after boards offering trips and tours away from the area.

I had a vegetarian quesadilla, drank a few beers, read in the hammock and went to bed in a 16 (!) people dorm around 9pm. I was not the only one going to bed at that time, since it was not much else to do.

I’m really glad that we did some research before going, because we would most likely have spent our entire holiday there if we hadn’t. It really shows how important it is doing some research before a holiday instead of only trusting your own presumption. Those fantastic beaches and crystal clear waters that can be seen in the travel brochures exist in Fiji, but not on the main island. Fiji contains of over 300 islands and many of them look like complete paradises. Thankfully, we had done some research and booked 5 days at 2 different islands. We left the backpacker village the following morning and found a much nicer part of Fiji.