Fiji

---

We left Rarotonga around 7pm on the Friday and didn't arrive in Fiji until 9pm Saturday which was weird (crossed the time barrier).
After having bad weather in the Cook islands I was really looking forward to having some good weather in Fiji. The 2 people I met in the Cook islands (Justin from Colorado & Michelle from UK) were also leaving the same day as me so we decided to do some island hopping just off the North West of the mainland. At Rarotonga airport we also met a guy called Wiggert from Amsterdam who came along with us.
Stayed in a hostel in Nadi for the night and then brought a Bula pass which allows travel between the Yasawa and Mamanuka island groups. Sorting the tickets out was a mission in itself and I now understand the meaning of 'Fiji time'.....basically time/schedules have no meaning here! We got the tickets sorted anyway and headed for the port to catch the ferry but the only atm machine wasn't working and you cant get any cash on the islands! With this in mind the only logical thing to do was get drunk at the port and assess the situation! Luckily we heard someone saying they were catching the next ferry and realised that what we were told about there being only one a day was rubbish.
Finally we made it onto the ferry and headed to Bounty island which is a small island in the Mamanuka group. You can walk around the whole island in 15 minutes but the scenery is absolutley amazing! Crystal clear sea, white sandy beaches and clear blue skys! We done some snorkelling that day and I can see why everyone raves about it in this group of islands! We spent the day chilling by the pool overlooking the sea, drinking beer :o)
The next island we went to was Beachcomber, which is renowned for it's partying.......we must of been there on a bad night! As nice as the island was, the accomodation was shit (100 bed dorm with no walls) and the bar was dead in the evening. The only entertainment was watching a load of blokes dancing like morons.....we are convinced the islands bring out the gayside in blokes!
After a dissapointing stay on Beachcomber we moved onto Mantaray island in the Yasawa group. We were only supposed to stay there for one night but the food, accomodation and people were so good we extended the stay and ended up staying for 4 nights. There wasn't loads to do on the island and spent most of the time chilling by the sea, fishing and generally lazing about :o) Had my first taste of 'Cava' which is a local narcotic drink made from crushed cava leaves. It tastes of shite but the locals absolutly love it.....I had the best nights sleep that night! (boys - I would bring some back for you but I dont fancy passing through bangkok immigration with bags of brown powder)! Met some wicked people on the island and most nights were spent up in the bar.
My last stop in the Yasawas was at Long beach. The weather was starting to turn bad so didn't really do too much here. In the evening the locals built a fire on the beach where we had some tunes and more cava. Apart from that I spent most of the day here lying in a hammock which I am now an expert in ;o)

I finally decided to return to the mainland because the weather was shite and apart from chillin on the beaches there isn't a great deal to do. I spent the night again in Nadi before catching the local bus to Singatoka to spend the night there. Singatoka is very local and there wasn't really much to do there so I decided to head further down the coral coast to Mango bay. The original plan was to travel down the coral coast but this resort was such a laugh and I met loads of good people so I decided to stay here. During my stay I completed my PADI open water course which was 1-on-1 tuition with an English guy who was really good.

Sorry for the 1 big update! I'm now in New Zealand for the next 6 weeks so will update more frequently :o) Hope everyone is having fun at work.....mwahahahaha

---

Photos

Pathetic
If you look really closly you can see something on the end of my line....yes it is a fish which we then used for more bait

Bounty Island Beach
This was taken on the first islands in the Mamanuka group

Face
They have these all over Fiji. Kind of like a charred bit of wood which they then carve faces into. This was taken on Bounty Island

Bounty island beach
Another beach shot of bounty island

Fishing
On the boat

Mantaray Island
This was my favourite island and is in the Yasawas

Mantaray island beach
My favourite place :o)

Fishing trip
From left to right. Becky,Wiggert, Mahony, Justin

Preparing the Cava
To make the drink they put the grounded cava into a sarong and then mix it in the water

Cava!
This was my first taste of Cava which is a local 'Narcotic' drink made by drying out the leaves of cava plants, pounding them into a powder and then adding to water......the result is a bowl of what can only be described as dirty rain water!

Me and my homies
Lulu is on the far right and 'Smokey joe' is the guy in the middle making the cava.....apparently he is excellent at making cava??

Kayak
Looking very pink in my kayak

Leaving Mantaray
Whenever people left the island they sung a song

Me and my beard
Last night on Long Beach (Yasawa). Because of my busy schedule I struggle to fit in shaving...

Long Beach
In the evening the staff built a beach fire which we sat around drinking

Street stool
Took this out of the window of a local bus I caught down the coral coast. You pass loads of villages along the road and they basically have these little stools setup to sell fruit etc

Singatoka
This was my first stop on the coral coast and definatly the most local place I visited.

Mango Bay
I met a group of people who had met previously in New Zealand. The blonde is Sarah and other is Jasmine.

Sunset
Another sunset pic...

Pimp Daddy
Me and some Swedes :o)

Sunset
Back on the mainland I stayed at an excellent hostel called Mango Bay. I got to watch this every evening...

Comments

[Dazza]

Lucky B*stard
Seriously jealous mate - You need some factor 200 I think lobster boy!!