"Big Bula, You Have To Give It The Good One"

We arrived in Fiji after dark and were immediately hit by that old familiar feeling of stifling heat and humidity. Lovely. After a couple of short bus journeys we were welcomed into our guesthouse with cries of "Bula" and "Welcome home!" We certainly felt very welcome. We were shown to our very large room with ensuite bathroom accompanied by several cute little geckos and settled in to our relaxing holiday by the beach. Nadi beach is actually not very special and the sea is not the tropical blue we were hoping for but it was hot and that was enough. We discovered mama's guesthouse where we were often to be found enjoying some of their yummy dishes including fijian style coconut fish and satay chicken. We spent several days enjoying long walks along the beach and doing some much needed catching up on our sunbathing before venturing in to town on a big purple bus.

Town is actually quite a distance from the beach giving us a very isolated feeling, so arriving in town is very exciting. I loved being back in the hustle and bustle of it all, random people shaking our hands in the street and offering us drinks at their shop. We found a cheap little cafe down the end of town and crammed ourselves in with the locals for a delicious and very authentic Thali. There is a large Indian population here (many settled over a hundred years ago to farm sugar cane) and with the food, heat and atmosphere the place feels almost familiar. At Christmas the town becomes absolutely packed and it's time consuming to do anything from shopping to taking cash out - just like a pre-christmas commercial road! We spent a week relaxing in Nadi before we decided to head off to one of the islands to see some more of Fiji.

From Nadi we boarded the big yellow catamaran on route to Kuata, one of the Yasawa islands and sailed past some of the other smaller islands on route. South Sea island, Bounty island and Beachcomber all look like perfect sandy retreats. We arrived in Kuata to a nice singing welcome and a big "Bula" to take up residence in our Bure and settle in for one of the most laid back weeks of our lives.

The island is definitely a piece of tropical paradise with clear blue waters, white sandy beaches and jungle brimming with insects. We encountered a few obscenely large mosquitoes which were more like mobile oil rigs than insects and were also dive bombed by caterpillers whilst relaxing in hammocks. The people here have been some of the friendliest we've met and they have given us a good insight into Fijian lifestyle and culture. We attended the island church service, took part in a traditional Kava ceromony (local drink) and threw some good shapes on the dance floor to the Bula dance and some other catchy tunes.

Our days were filled with sunbathing, snorkelling amongst the jellyfish and one particluarly energetic walk to the summit of the island. Here we passed through some forest/jungle and saw all manner of brightly coloured spiders and one tarantula like spider who shot past Sam's foot and hot footed it up a nearby tree. The views were great from up top and our little tribe of guides(local children) set about hacking up some fruit with machetes and discussing the possibility of hunting some wild goats we spotted on the other side of the hill. Then it was time to descend as a storm started to blow in.

The evenings were spent eating good food and getting to know the other guests on the island. A wide range of people of all ages from all over the world made for some interesting conversations. Perfecting our Bula dance also became a nightly occurance!

After making ourselves very at home in Kuata we were sad to have to drag ourselves away from all the beautiful friendly faces. We headed out on the boat with the promise of free accomodation on our next visit (I think we will have to hold them to that!) and were back on the mainland before we knew it. Returning to our Nadi guest house we felt as if we were in the height of luxury with hot water, air conditioning and 24 hour electricity. We spent our last day in Fiji going in to the town to have a last Thali and joining the crowds for a look around the shops. It has been a very relaxing couple of weeks and we are looking forward to going to the Cook islands tomorrow where we will spend our Christmas this year! I'm sure it will be a bit different from what we are used to!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Jed and Sam

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Part of trip: Oceania

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