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Published: March 7th 2010
Dive Buddies
My Open Water groupWe flew to Fiji with V Australia which was something I was looking forward to, being the new airline of the Virgin group. I was really impressed with the touch screen in flight entertainment, although apart from it being a brand new plane, everything else was pretty standard (not really sure what else I was expecting!)
After landing into Nadi, we were taken by a minibus to Volivoli in Rakiraki where I was going to do my PADI dive certification. The drive took a little over two hours and the bus was hot and sweaty, but it was preferable to taking two public buses which was the other way of getting there!
The resort was amazing. We couldn't believe that we were paying backpacker prices for somewhere with so many facilities looking so good. Our dorm room of 8 overlooked the ocean and was a short walk from the bar. The beach had these massive towering trees with red blooms on them, they looked spectacular, but the person who had to rake up the fallen blossoms every morning probably didn't appreciate them as much! The view was just breathtaking, especially at sunset when the sun went down behind the
mountains opposite us. Our arrival was marked with a traditional arrival ceremony, which we experienced at every resort we went to, and the same in each village we visited, where we all sit cross legged on a palm thatched mat and drink the traditional drink of Kava. It numbs your mouth and supposedly has other benefits too, but really I think is more ceremonial than anything else.
I didn't expect Fiji to be as mountainous as it was. Even on some of the smaller islands, there were rugged looking mountains everywhere, some of them covered in forest and some of them just bare rocks.
For four days I studied and learned how to scuba dive. It was tough going having to get up every morning at 7:30am, especially knowing that Andrew was going to be sleeping in until mid-day! It was an amazing experience though and I honestly didn't expect Scuba diving to be so brilliant. It's so bizarre being weightless and floating through the water, effortlessly breathing and taking in the sights. We were swimming through hard Coral tunnels, watching Anenomefish (Nemos!), Reef Sharks, Turtles, Eels and all the soft corals were fantastic. If you touched this
The Red Blossoms
on the beautiful Volivoli beach one type of coral it changed colour. I felt like I was in the movie Avatar. There was only one moment where I didn't enjoy the experience too much, when we were sat out on the boat on the second day of open-water diving, the boat was rocking high from one side to the other and I felt sick as a dog. I shouted to our instructor Pollo and he told me to get into the water, and believe it or not it worked and I thankfully felt fine. The same, however, couldn't be said for one of my fellow passengers who proceeded to spew hits guts out over the side, unluckily for me the tide bringing the whole of his breakfast in my direction. The fish didn't seem to mind though, all having a nibble!
After being certified we headed back to the main city of Nadi to have one night before heading on our island hopping adventure. We picked a terrible hostel with food that gave me the shits and a room that had once been a double, which they'd converted into a 10 bed dorm where the distance between the beds wasn't even a metre. Thankfully
Sunset
Over the mountains we arrived late and left early, but when you've only paid £8 for your bed for the night I don't suppose we can really complain!
Our transfer vessel was the Yasawa Flyer, a big yellow catamaran that services all the islands in the Yasawa Group. We were taking in three islands, one at the bottom (which was actually in the Mamamuca, or something like that, islands), one in the middle and one at the very top. Our first stop was Beachcomber, the party island! We stayed in a 100 bed dorm, that actually felt more welcoming than our 10 bed dorm the night before. The island itself was beautiful, small and idyllic, with a circumnavigation of the coastline taking less than 10 minutes. Ad for the party lifestyle, well, it didn't really live up to the hype, but we had a good time nonetheless meeting lots of nice travellers. The meals were a bit random, with whatever appeared at lunch, re-appearing in a slightly different form at dinner and every dessert including Pineapple. Pineapple is my favourite fruit, but when it's literally there on a plate all day long, I have to admit, I started craving a Sticky Toffee
Pudding or something with lots of Chocolate!
Our next island was Waya, where we stayed at the superb Octopus Resort. Like Volivoli, we were staying in another resort where we just couldn't believe we were paying backpacker prices for such luxury. Our meals were all spent sitting at tables ordering off menus, with everything on the menu included in a really reasonable meal plan. We had seafood buffets with fish they'd caught that day and lots of other really tasty dishes. We'd sat down with a group of new arrivals on the first day and they became our mates for the rest of our time on the island. It's amazing how quickly you get to enjoy the company of new people as if you've been friends for ages. I suppose it's a traveller mentality. Every day when the Yasawa Flyer pulled up we were saying goodbye to some really nice people. Our activities were all pretty relaxed, apart from the Saturday night beach party where the resort manager poured Tequila down our neck from the bottle and insisted everyone on the beach do Tequila shots until the bottle was empty. I'm not sure landlords would show such generous spirit
100 beds
in one room (excuse the pun) at home! I really enjoyed the night we did Hermit Crab racing. I didn't win but it was fun going down to the beach to pick a crab to back, then cheering it on through the semi-finals and the final.
On Sunday there was a optional trip to the local village on the opposite side of the island for us to go to Church. I'm not really a church going person but loads of people told us it was not to be missed. So we were up early and trekking over a mountain, sweating profusely in the humidity. It was worth it though. The choir sand so loud and the sermon, whilst it was in Fijian and I didn't understand a word was petrifying. We were shouted at for almost an hour with every few minutes or so him shouting 'THE PROMISE OF A CITY', presumably to include us bewildered Brits, even though that one line didn't really clarify anything.
Our final island was Nacula, right at the very top where we stayed at a brand new resort, the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort, in a 'luxury' tent. Once again, I'm not sure what we were expecting,
but it literally was a tent with a mattress inside. It was really nice at night time to have a double bed and massive half of this huge tent to ourselves, but during the day the tent was a no go area. We could have probably baked Scones in there. But once again, the resort facilities were fantastic and the food was brilliant. We had a curry night and the fish curry was literally a huge fish on the table, tail and head still attached with the curried bit done in the middle. It was impressive but the eyes and sharp teeth put me off a bit! Andrew continued his downtime with more rest and relaxation whilst I felt I had to undertake every trip going, including another village visit. The locals sang and danced for us and presented everyone with a Lei, mine had leaves all over it which itched my neck like buggery but I didn't feel it appropriate to remove it until I'd left the village. It was pretty funny, the English people we met at the resort, were all from West Yorkshire, with an older couple from East Morley and and two girls from Bingley! We
Kava Ceremony
It tastes like potato water were literally on the exact opposite side of the world and it seemed random to be talking in broad Yorkshire accents, but really nice at the same time.
On our final morning we decided to do the local cave trip. It was absolutely fantastic swimming around in the main cavern. Then our guide told us to get into the next cave we'd have to swim underwater to get into it. I quite liked the challenge but I think Andrew's life flashed before his eyes! Although to say I was thinking I was a pro swimmer or something, I surfaced too early not realising that the tunnel was still going, so the guide grabbed my hair to pull me through. Completely undignified but saved a bump on the head so I should be grateful! The rest of the caves were pitch black. It was a really good experience, but more so in hindsight, whilst I was in there I couldn't help but think it'd be a horrible place to drown, whilst making sure I was swimming as close to the rest of the group as possible! The final cave was a walk through the smallest spaces and down some very
Kava Ceremony
You clap before receiving and say 'Bula!' slippery slopes to another swim underwater. That part was all quite liberating, and the final bit swimming from the darkness into the light was fantastic!
We spent our last night in the crappy Nadi hostel (£8 a night, couldn't resist) but slept like logs, which was what we needed.
The people, the scenery, the food, drink, atmosphere, it was all just brilliant and to be honest as I was getting back on the plane, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed to be going back to Australia! It's fair to say that Fiji really was a standout experience of the trip.
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