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Published: January 10th 2008
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This morning definatley did not start on a positive note!
Because of the constant rain the beds were damp when we got into them and as the hut doors are always open, there are loads of Gheco's (small lizards) that live on the celling. I don't really mind them as they eat the mosquito's, however they constantly make a funny little 'kissing' sound every time they have caught one which took a bit of getting used to.
Plus when I was on my way to the bathroom before bed, Lucy was trying to point something out to me behind a door. As she did not tell me what it was I moved the door, only to have a massive hermit crab (i thought it was a rat at first as it was that huge) come running towards me! Not only did I nearly poo my pants but I almost jumped over Diane who was behind me and on the top bunk of the next bed!
Anyway after finally falling asleep after lying there for about 2 hours looking out for the crabs and so called huge spiders we were told about (apparently they are friendly Fijian spiders though
Just a little bit wet!
At the top of our Summit Walk and don't bite) I was rudley awaken at 4am by some New Zealand lads coming back to the dorm drunk and singing very loudly. After snapping at one of the lads for wanting to turn off the oil lamp (I need to see what was going to run at me in the night!) they finally quiten down after about 15 minutes of talking about Gordon bloody Ramsey.
I'm then woken at 6am by a bird tweeting away in our room (i never agreed with cruelty to animals until that point) and when I eventually give up trying to sleep and crawl out of my bed to have a cold shower in the rain I find that the daft bird has pooed all over my bag!
At this point I am NOT an happy person, but Diane is trying to lighten the mood and as always some how pulls me through it and even makes me laugh (bless her cotton socks).
We have breakfast and then go to the activities shed ready for our reef snorkelling with the sharks, only for the guy to tell us he cannot accept our pre-paid voucher! As he sees my face darken by
The Kava Ceremony
The big bowl in the middle is holding the Kava my bolling blood (and Diane is trying to keep the peace) he takes us to the office where they explain it is a mis-understanding and the company we booked it with should not have included this activity, however as it is not our fault (and I am ready to explode) they will accept it and let us go.
We get on the little speed boat to the reef and it is amazing. Three pretty large reef sharks come to meet us and one of the tour guides called George actually spears a fish under water, rips it up and then feeds it to the sharks! When one tries to swim away, he got it by its tail and pulled it tothe surface so we could have a closer look and some people who were closed even managed to stroke it!
It certainly made me feel alot happier when we returned to the island (am back against cruelty to animals now) and again as it was raining, there was nothing to do but go back to our dorm to read and sleep.
After dinner we were told that they were conducting a summit walk to the top of
the mountain on the Island. It looked like the rain had supseeded and as we were bored out of our faces me and Di went along.
About 5 minutes in the rain started to hammer down,but we continue our walk to the top - although we couldn't see anything but the clouds! At this point though as I had reached my bottom in the morning, i just found it extremly funny, good job or else I would have been on the next boat back!
After sliping and sliding on my bottom half way back down the mountain, we returned to the camp in time for a nice cold shower and tea time.
After a meal of questionable meat (i learned not to ask) with rice, the locals tell us that as they have visitors from the neighbouring island they are holding a Kava Ceremony, which basically involves drinking Kava which is their local brew. It is made with ground root and water and the effects are to make you feel relaxed and help you sleep. They drink this instead of alcohol and as there were only a few guests they invited us all to join in with
them.
The Kava looked like muddy water and tastes like spice water, it actually makes your lips tingle when yu drink it! But after about 6/7 bowls we could stomach no more so retreated to the bar instead.
It was funny watching the locals as at the end of the night they all looked smashed!
But it was really interesting to watch the ceremony and am definatley glad I tried the local brew - even if it is for an aquired taste!
But it must have done something right as after only lying in my damp bed for 30 minutes I managed to fall asleep through the night.
Yeah - result!
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