Fiji

Landing in Nadi we headed to the skylodge for a night before embarking on our Bula pass island hopping adventure.

Mana Island was our first stop. A resort, well a hostel with a small dorm room, 3 private rooms and a bathroom with a hose and a trickle of water for a shower, in the middle of a local fijian village - the real Fiji.

As we arrived the locals sang us a Bula song with slightly altered words, putting in some english words to show their fun, creative side.

Spent the day making jewellery from coconuts and went to a nearby island where Castaway starring Tom Hanks was filmed. 'Castaway' Island was unhabited and beautiful. We had snorkels with us and saw the most amazingly colourful reefs and fish. On our last day we went into to a nearby island on a village tour. We met the Chief and had to ask permission to walk around the village and take photos which we were granted. After a photo with the chief we were led to the ladies of the village who make jewellery for visitors to buy. There is a real hierarchy in the villages.

In the evening the locals put a special Fijian night on for us doing local dances including dances with knives and fire.

Bounty Island was our next stop, where Celebrity Love Island was filmed a few years ago. It was beautiful. You could walk around it in about 10 mins which suprised us all. We hired kayaks, Lou and Sarah in a 2-person and me on my own. Paddling off i realised i had to slow down as the girls had a few 'issues' to begin with, but once they got their rhythm sorted we were flying round (Mum, Dad, those holidays on the Isle of Wight really payed off!).

After Bounty Island we hopped back onto the boat and headed for the Northern Islands. We first visted an island called Coral View. It took around 5 hours to reach the Island via boat, lets just say the motion sickeness tablets worked a treat!

We also went to Manta Ray (had very cool tree houses!) and Beach Comber (the party island). Lots of snorkeling, kayaking and beach volleyball was to be had on each. SO much to say about each one though may have to fill in the gaps another time!

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