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Published: April 5th 2007
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Arrived in Fiji late afternoon and Rich met me at the airport along with a guy from our hostel holding my own little sign. Drove to our hostel, Mama's Tropic of Capricorn and settled in. Mama, the lady who ran the hostel was very lovely and treated us all like her own children. The next day we sat down with Mama and planned our whole trip. We decided to spend 10 nights on the islands and she recommended various resorts where we should stay. It was great as she booked everything for us!! In the afternoon we headed into Nadi by bus costing us about 20p. The city only seemed to be comprised of one grubby street with a very pretty Buddhist temple at the end. We wandered round the temple, avoided and then rudely ignored all the men who tried to get us to look around their tacky souvenir shop and then attempted to use the internet. We caught the bus back along with most of the school children in Fiji. There were flip down seats in the middle of the isles, so the bus was completely packed with children, no way of getting out (well, so I thought).
The extremely patient bus driver stops the bus whenever the bell in rung, and it rang every 5 seconds. Although very annoying, it was also really funny, as each child would insist on the bus stopping right outside their own house, and would not even consider the prospect of getting off with their neighbour and walking a further 5 steps to their door. I could just imagine an English bus driver having to put up with that, it just wouldn't happen!!
Next day we boarded the Yasawa Flyer and sailed the 4 hours up to the top of the Yasawa Islands. What I have not mentioned already is that since arriving, the weather had been crap, cloudy and rainy. After a few hours on the boat, the rain hit and so did the waves. By the time we reached our first island, Nacula and the resort of Oarsmans, we were ready to be on dry land. Checked into our own Bure (individual double room with ensuite) and fell asleep. That evening we were entertained by the staff with traditional Fijian dancing followed by a Fijian feast. The food was really good and quite varied. Although it was a lovely resort,
we never got to see it at its best as the rain continued to poor, almost continuously for the two nights we were there.
After two nights on Nacula, we headed to a resort called Barefoot on a little island right below the main island of Naviti. We kew there was no electricity on the island and had prepared ourselves our a basic two nights. As soon as we arrived the mossies started to eat us and the rain continued to fall. That evening, us and another couple took part in our first Kava ceremony (a traditional way for Fijians to welcome guests into their home). This involved the men on the island dressing up in grass skirts and chanting, we then had to each down a bowl of Kava (a drink made from the root of a Fiji grown plant, the juice of the root squeezed out into water, producing a large bowl of muddy water). It has a mild narcotic effect, and after 10 bowls or so you feel very mellow. The Fijians drink it daily and consume great quantities, on this island they had nothing to do of an evening apart from sing and drink Kava, I
am certain they must run out of conversation.
The next day J, the owner took us snorkeling (they were very keen to accompany us everywhere, to the point we began to wonder what they were hiding on the island). J took two rusty metal poles with him and told us he was going to go octopus hunting whilst we snorkeled. After a while he dived down and started jamming the pole into a hole and sure enough an occy crawled out. He then ripped its head off and made us touch the sucky sucky bits which were really weird. About 5 minutes later, he dived down again and caught one twice the size of the first, it was huge. Once he'd ripped the head of this one, he gave them both to Rich who gingerly took them to shore whilst J dived down for another. The snorkeling was amazing, so many beautiful fish and coral. This was the best part of this island. The next day finally the sun arrived and I was able to relax on the beach. In the afternoon we caught the boat to our next island.
Octopus Resort on Waya Island was our three days of
luxury. With the sun out, the beach and blue water looked amazing. Although it was a 20 bed dorm, it was still very comfortable and we each had our own fan - very fancy!!! We spent the next 3 days relaxing by the pool, reading, sun bathing and eating. We meet quite a few people and had fun chilling out with them. One evening we took part in crab racing, mine refused to move!! and another they constructed an open air cinema and we sat by the pool watching The Last King of Scotland. It was a lovely place and we had a really good time, did not want to leave!!
Our next stop was Beachcomber island, known as the party island. We checked in and were shown to the 150 bed dorm - it was mad, rows and rows of bunk beds all in one room. We went for dinner and met more people. That evening we had a few drinks and watched some more traditional dancing and a guy throwing a fire stick around - it was cool!! The next day we were taken a short distance from the island to do some snorkeling. This was the best
snorkeling sesh yet, so many amazing fish, esp a huge one with a purple face and multi-coloured body, I followed it around for a while - we had fun!
Our next island was a short stop at Bounty Island, again beautiful blue water and while sand. The last two nights were spent a Malu Beach Resort on Monolu Island. This again was a very nice resort and we were extremely lucky to get a fancy Bure for a cheep price as Mama knew the owner. We lazed by the pool, did a bit more snorkeling and topped up the tan. The mosquitoes were bad again, which was a shame as without those nasty little f**kers, it would have been amazing.
We then caught the boat back to Nadi, met up with Bekka and Stefan at Mamas. The next day I said goodbye to Rich and flew to Singapore. It was a bit of a shame that we weren't in Fiji the following month as we arrived at the end of a rain season and when the sun isn't shining, there is very little to do. But I still had a good time and Fiji really is a beautiful country and
the people so friendly.
Am now in Malaysia, so will update you on the beginning of my Asia experience soon.
Love to all xxx
(ps sorry about the spelling and grammar, this has been written at lightening speed)
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