BULA FIJI!

BULA BULA BULA! (Pronounced Boo-lah)


! FIJI TIME!

MONDAY 13TH JULY (leave LA)

10hour flight and 2 days later we arrive in FIJI! YAY!
Wednesday 15TH JULY
found awesome adventures in the airport and we booked our 14days “bula pass” which is a boat pass for 2 weeks of Island hopping through the yasawa and mamanuca island group of about 30 islands.... Emma had already booked 3 nights for us on Waya island, Octopus resort and I had booked 2 nights on beachcomber island resort. So we got a free shuttle bus to port denarau to catch the “yasawa flyer” which is the huge catamaran boat to the islands.How it works is you have 14days to hop between any of the islands and you choose what resorts you want, only one hop per day. The boat leaves the port at 8.30am every morning and then arrives at the different islands & resorts at certain times so first island is south sea island and it takes 30mins to get there, so if u were stayed there one night you would have to be ready to hop on the boat at 9am the next morning to go further down the islands and so on. You pay for your accommodation and its compulsory to buy a food plan also because when your on the islands there is nowhere else to get food only your resort so you have to eat there. Even if they serve shite on a plate u have no choice!!! So most island are between $65 and $120 a night for a dorm bed which is 22euro-41euro per night incuding breakfast, lunch and dinner.

WAYA ISLAND (octopus resort)

Day 1 (15th july)
It took 2 and ½ hours to get to Waya island. But along the way we passed about 12 mamanuca islands. We finaly arrived at our resort and we had to watch as our luggage was hanging off the side of this big boat, waiting to be transferred to the smaller boat that takes u to the resort. Our hearts were in our mouths thinking our backpacks would drop in to the sea, and thinking my fucking laptop is in that bag so WATCH IT man! HA! ;-(
As we got off the boat we were told to just go on ahead and not worry about our luggage that they would look after bringin it up for us. So nice! We were greeted by about 6 fijian people singing and playing the guitars welcoming us to their island. And at the end they shouted “BULA” which means hello! They brought us up to the swimming pool and we sat around as they went through what the day is like on octopus, the menu, activities, and all that kinda thing. Then showed us to our rooms, LUXURY!!! We had a dorm room but not like anything in America. All single beds, unbelievably clean and every bed had a mosquito net that u pull down over u at night, a bedside lamp, and fan. The bathrooms/shower rooms were huge with full length mirrors, and really clean new looking toilets and sinks! We had our showers and went for lunch where we had a menu off about 14 things to choose, beef burger, thai chicken curry, chicken ceasar salad, pumpkin salad, fish and chips, garlic & chilli pasta, vegetable wrap with salad, stirfry & noodles, coconut chicken, and some more that i cant remember. I chose the thai curry and it was gorgeous...unbelivable we were told the food will be shite in Fiji. But clearly it wasn’t! We sunbathed for few hours, relaxed and mingled with others! Then we had our kava ceremony, which is traditional in Fiji a drink they make from the root plant and water and almost like a drug makes u feel a bit funny, makes ur mouth go all numb and stuff but its only a plant and its all legal. Ha! And also if u say u wont try it its kinda frowned upon as this is their way of welcoming you to their culture! So there was a german guy, French guy, Russian girl, a couple ,emma and I were called to sit down for it (on the floor) no shoes. They have this bowl of kava and a half a empty coconut shell. They say some Fijian things and then we clap and say bula. Then they pass the coconut around with kava in it and u have to clap your hands and say bula. Then after u knock it back u clap three times. Goes around the circle and they sing songs with their guitars and drums and then another round. Did I mention it tastes like muddy water.... haha but was grand. Emma was gaging drinking it and the guys were laughin. Just look at my pictures shes discusted lol. After that we had dinner which was breaded calamari for starter, roast chicken potatoes and veg for dinner and bread and butter pudding for desert. And i ate it all yumyum...was deeish! Haha and hello...since when do i eat fish??? Never mind fuckin SQUID, Heidi will be proud haha... At dinner we sat with some girls and got taking to them they were on their way home from Australia and they were from Ireland too...so nice. To meet people from home and people who are actually nice! Had some vodka and then sat on the beach for bonfire night.

DAY 2 (16th july)

Today we got up at 7.30am for brekkie. Which again was lovely cereal, toast, fresh fruit, tea, coffee, fruit juice, pancakes... we then got ready and went on a village visit which was free. Lye one of the guys who works at octopus brought us. We climbed up what seemed like a million steps and came down the other side...through like their farm which had pigs just wanderinhg around everywhere and smelled like ass!!!!! 
Arrived at their village and it was so cute. Small little huts that they built for their homes. We visited their kindergarden/playschool and i fell in love with the children. They were so gorgeous, and friendly. They sang alot of the songs i thought my class at home and it was so adorable to hear them singing and counting in English. And i just wanted to take some of them with me. They were fascinated by cameras and photos. Some children came up to me and asked me to take pictures of them so i did and showed them and they were so happy. The children couldn’t be any happier. Walking out from the school made me think, and as I really wanna visit south America after this trip I’ve decided that when i go home im going to learn Spanish for a year and go to south America for 3-4months and work with children volunteering teaching them English. We also went to their church. All the women were sitting on the ground with mats displaying all their handmade jewellery which was amazing. I bought a necklace and bracelet that are made from shells. Only $20 for both which is about 7euro! Dinner tonight was again amazing and met some really nice people who said that we spoiled ourselves coming to octopus resort first because its the most luxurious.
Day 3 (17th july)
Today we went for a 4 hour hike just emma me and the tour guide aemo. It was $30 each and we hiked up to the tallest peek on waya island. Aemo did it all bare foot!!! We passed a waterfall and river on the way which he told us they use in the village for drinking water. Aemo told us alot about life in Fiji. He gets paid $2.50 an hour to work at the resort which he has worked in for 2 years, Can u believe that so less than $100 a week??which is 86c per hour if were talking euros! He has 5 children 3 of which are in bording school e very week and only come home on Friday nights. He has a 1year old baby boy, &3 year old girl at home with his wife. He told us that every family in the village have something to do with the resort work wise so they all get something from the resort, he told us that they love us coming to visit the island because we bring the money which helps them live. (and bearing in mind when u do visit this resort they treat you like king and queen) im not joking! They are the nicest people ive ever met. I asked him if he was happy with his life and he said he couldn’t be happier is life is simple, its perfect, its in paradise.(his exact words) And he is so right! They do not beg or expect any tips off you, infact if u try tip them they get offended. So we hiked up to the peek and it was beautiful, well worth 4 hours of trekking and rock climbing with our bare hands and feet! Tonight we had traditional Fijian night. So all the staff put on a show for us and it was soo cool. They were dancing singing and playing instruments. Loved it! After we had buffet style dinner, with potatoes, rice, fish, chicken, beef curry, bread fruit, vegetables..It was very nice  We met a felicity, Joe, Tim tim, and Adrian all other random travellers, felicity and Joe had come from Australia so were giving us some tips. They also met out there and fell in love...AWHHHHH....Tim was from germany and I thought he was quiet good-looking and we got on with him really well, he had good sence of humor and could understand us very well..stayed up till about 11 then started getting ready to pack for tomorrow!

BEACHCOMBER ISLAND (party island)
Day 4 (18th july)
Got on awesome adventures catarmaran on its way back to port denarau, and arrived at beachcomber at 5pm. This island is tiny you can run around it in about 7 minutes its all sand no hills, mountains, cliffs, grass, trees....We were put in the 8 bed dorm...very unimpressed! We had booked beachcomber to stay in the 120 bed dorm, for the experience. So off we went back to reception to ask to be swapped. Haha the lady was very surprised we wanted to swap into the huge dorm! I got bed 101 and emma got bed 74 so we were half way across the room from each other. Boys were on the right and girls on the left. We got changed and stuff and went to the bar for happy hour!!! The bar at beachcomber is a complete sand bar, so no floors and the bar had alot of different drinks. We got sex on the beach each and a pit

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