Bula from Fiji

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First off we had our longest flight so far to get here. Nearly 11 hours but we slept most of the way so it was fine. We've crossed the international date line now so we're 12 hours ahead of you lot in the UK and we've lost a day!

We had one long lazy day on the mainland Viti Levu staying at the Nadi Bay Hotel. Very much a hotel rather than a hostel but still cheap to eat here. Air conditioning is a must have here as it's over 30 degrees C outside easily.

We were up early the next day to get a courtesy bus down to Denerau Marina to get a catamaran upto our next stop Kuata one of the Yasawa islands. It took about an hourr and a half by boat, probably the most remote place we'll be in all our travels. No phone signal! A small boat comes out from the island to pick you and your bags up from the catamaran. The island itself looks really impressive with high rocky outcrops. We stayed in a bure (a small hut). It's pretty basic but we did get our own toilet and shower. The bed has a mosquito net which is a must as anything can crawl or fly in. Most of the first day on the island was spent lounging around in a hammock by the beach (about 10 metres away from our hut). Meals were at set times sounded by someone blowing a conical shell. It was good food and as all guests ate at the same time it was nice and sociable. Most people staying on the island were under 25 and were island hopping. There's about 10 different places where you can stop on the awesome adventure catamaran route in the Yasawa or Mananuca islands. THe first night without AC was very hot especially as we closed all the windows trying to keep things out (which didn't work anyway).

We had to be up early the next day (5 am, still dark) to do a summit walk. It was hard work especially in the heat but the views from the top are impressive and we got to see sunrise. After getting back for breakfast we had an hour to spare before going kayaking. Me and Debbie were in one kayak with our guide Denis and some other girls. We kayaked across to a nearby island Waya Lailai. We kept veering left but we got there without too much shouting and neither of us fell into the sea. We then walked to a village where the locals lived and got to drink coconut juice fresh out of a coconut. After a bit of a rest we set off back to our island. It takes about 20 minutes to kayak across. After lunch Debbie decided to do some weaving with banana leaves. She made a bracelet with a little help from the locals. I just fell asleep in our hut (I had got up at 5!). The rest of the day we lazed around again. That evening we were shown the bula dance which I had a go at and Debbie got some embarassing photos. It's a bit like the macarena... aye. That night we kept the windows open which helped keep the temperature down a lot.

On our final day after breakfast we decided to go reef snorkelling. It was a 20 minute boat ride (in a diddy fishing boat), there were seven of us, four guests, our snorkelling guide Nathaniel and two locals who were going spear fishing. There were some really impressive fish in the reef. The highlight was seeing four white tipped reef sharks swimming only a couple of metres below us. They're about 1-1.5 metres long so not that scary. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera with us to take photos of them, so you're just have to believe us! The only downside of the trip was swallowing a lot of seawater as for all my swimming, I've not really snorkelled before. We were snorkelling for about 45 minutes before going back to the boat. Neither me or Debbie could get back in without help. The fishermen got a good catch spear fishing and they also fed the sharks! It was well worth the trip, only $20 fiji (about 6.50 GBP). Once back at the island we lazed around on the hammock some more, had our last meal on the island and got back on the small boat to take us out to the catamaran. It was a shame to leave as everyone (both staff and guests) were really friendly. Anyone greets anyone with bula (hello).

We got back to the mainland at 6pm and then got the courtesy bus back to the Nadi Bay Hotel (air conditioning, yeah). Had another nice meal and got an early night. It's our last full day on Fiji today and other than this blog update we won't be doing much other than lounging around the pools. We have to be up early tomorrow, probably 5am, to get to the airport for our flight to Auckland, NZ. Well goodbye for now or moce (pronounced mow-they).

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