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Published: April 20th 2013
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It's over two months since we arrived in Fiji so this is a rather rose tinted view of our time there; Torrential rain; compulsory meals of corned beef and cold smelly showers are all but forgotten.
We arrived in Fiji on the 15th of February into Nadi airport where we were greeted by tradition Fiji music played by men wearing Hawaiian shirts and Leis with big smiles and I remembered why I wanted to go come back to Fiji.
By the time we had got off the plane to leaving the airport we had probably heard the phrase 'BULA' about 20 times; Andy decided he hated it which wasn't a good omen for the coming weeks as it seems to be used for hello/welcome/thankyou and all through Kava ceremonies at random time - more of this later.
After spending the first night on the mainland we woke to blue skies and headed off to the port to get the boat to our chosen Yasawa island - Barefoot Island. Despite being a relatively rough crossing I managed to not puke up, thanks to Canadian Fern for the amazing travel sickness pills, on the downside they had a tranquiliser effect
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Our 'Shack' on Barefoot Island so I missed the journey and seeing all the islands on the way.
We arrived and after more 'BULA'ing' all round we were directed to our room/shack, it was very basic but had a certain charm, after some of the hostelling experiences in dorms we were pleased to sleep anywhere without having to share.
Our time on barefoot for the first few was mainly spent sunbathing on the 3 beautiful beaches, swimming in the clear water and generally relaxing. In the afternoon there was daily volleyball - Andy was very keen to take part given his competitive nature, I also joined in the first day - until I realised the game was mainly played by the local Fijians smashing the ball at the guests!
Another key feature of the volleyball was the casual sexism towards the women; the phrase 'One more of the lady' was as irritating to me as 'BULA' was to Andy! Though I became more accepting of it as the days went on, I even endorsed the stereotype by taking part in the basket weaving glass on 2 of the days, Feffa was very pleased with this.
After a few days of perfect
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View from our room weather the rain descended and it didn't stop until we left; being confined to one hut on the island was a different experience, I have nothing against David Attenborough but his documentaries on all day was enough to drive anyone mad. Luckily we met some great people on Barefoot; Rachel&Staff, Mats and Phil and the rain combined with lack of wifi meant we had to look for other forms of entertainment. Luckily Rach and Staff came prepared with a Monopoly card game that became our main pastime for the rest of the time on the island.
Despite the rain we still managed to get out snorkelling on the reef; though this time I wasn't so lucky with the sickness, a lack of travel sickness medication resulting in projectile vomiting whilst snorkelling - great for the fish, not so great for me!!
Rain or no rain we were sad to leave barefoot but more relaxing lay ahead at the beachouse on the mainland - with funds running low we were geared up for 5 days economy living; our luck was in when we arrived and found out we had been upgraded from a dorm to a private en suite
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Now this is a dining room! room for free! We immediately loved the beachhouse! Also our Norwegian friend Mats from barefoot was there, we made another friend there Rachel who lives in Southwell just down the road from Nottingham.
The days are the Beachhouse were much like those on Barefoot swimming/reading/afternoon volleyball complete overuse of the word 'BULA' and 'one more for the lady' comments - sexism clearly not refined to the Yasawa islands!!
To liven up the days we held the Fiji 'Bulaympics' - Needless to say Andy was very keen to win this!! Activities such as breathholding in the swimming pool,table tennis & coconut throwing. Andy eventually prevailed despite me beating him at pool for the first time since we met - and we've played a lot of games!! This was also my birthday so extra sweet.
One thing that we did do on at the beachhouse was the infamous Kava ceremony - in short this basically involved drinking something resembling liquid mud out of a coconut shell that eventually numbed your mouth and made you feel sick the next day! The ceremony itself is a bit vague but if even if doubt just clap and say Bula and you can't
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Getting ready for a day of tanning go far wrong!
We left Fiji in the evening LA bound but by virtue of crossing the international date line I was gearing up for my birthday part II!
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