Fiji - The Beach House!

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The flight from LA was around 10 hours but as we crossed the international date line we lost a day so 19th September 2007 didn't happen for us! We arrived at 5.30am and had to hang around the airport until the local bus started running at 7. The local bus was an interesting experience and took around 3 hours to get to our hostel on the Coral Coast. We were staying in the Beach House (recommended by Matt) which was the setting for Celebrity Love Island (when Calum Best and Bianca Gascoigne won it) - I know I was the only person in the UK to actually watch this so it won't mean anything to most of you! It was a lovely resort, in the middle of nowhere, set right on the beach - picture postcard! Unfortunately it rained every day for the whole week we were there! As well as just chilling, playing cards and reading lots, there was plenty to do - coconut jewellry making, coconut leave weaving (see photos!) and excursions.

On my birthday we went on a jungle trek. We weren't expecting it to be quite as muddy as it was - we were having to walk along paths that were submerging us up to our knees in mud and wade through streams waist high! To begin with I was trying to save the walking shoes as much as possible, but by the end it was easier to walk without caring rather than try and avoid things as I kept slipping over! I fell over a couple of times whilst climbing the rocks across rivers and going downhill in the mud (yes I was the only one who seemed to have a balance problem)!

The walk culminated in a climb up a waterfall - looking very elegant in a bikini and walking shoes!!! Chris was up the top being pounded by the water - luckily I was at the bottom as I'm sure I would never have managed to stay on my feet! When climbing back down I was advised to slide down the rock front rather than try and climb - the guide said 'just go slowly and you'll be fine'. Slowly wasn't an option - I slid down doing a 90 degree turn, legs and arms flailing - again very elegantly!!

Other adventures included a trip to the local market town of Sigatoka where we were harassed on all sides but managed to escape with just buying a couple of mangoes! We also had to make a trip to the village health clinic as Chris had been bitten so much that his ankle swelled up to twice it's size!

We went to a local arts village - which is purpose built to teach you about Fijian culture and sells locally made crafts. It was a bit staged but interesting all the same! We stayed in a hostel here for 2 nights and unfortunately so did a touring Oz rugby team!! We then got the local bus back to Nadi (airport) as this is where we were departing for our island hopping (part 2 of the Fiji experience). It was a 4 hour journey where they showed the film 'snakes on a plane' twice!!

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