Fiji

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Our flight was nice and short and we arrived in Nadi just after sundown. The first thing I noticed was the smell, it was like barbecued food, cut grass and flowers so i had my window down all the way to our hostel on the Coral Coast. We were staying in a traditional Fijian bure which was like a big wooden hut and was pretty nice. Unfortunately the weather was quite rubbish for the 3 days we were here, it was rainy and overcast the whole time so we only got one hour on the beach. We did manage a horse ride though. It was crazy cheap, only about 6 pounds for a hour. It was just me, Jason and the guide and we went along the beach then followed the road round to a little village and went on another beach. We got in a few canters but our legs got battered since we didn't have any boots or trousers with us. We got big bruises and raw bits on our calves from the rubbing against the saddle, but it was worth it for a canter along the beach! We decided to head out to one of the islands to see if the weather there would be better and chose Mana Island.

We got a lift back to Nadi to catch the little speedboat out to Mana Island in the morning. When we arrived we were greeted by all the staff who came out and sang us a little song about the island. Our room was very simple with a little fan but its not as hot as Thailand here so a fan did us just fine. We went down to the beach on our first day but the rain came over in the late afternoon and we had to wait until it cleared up the day after. The next two days we just sat on the beach trying to get a bit of a tan since our ones from Thailand had faded considerably! On our third and final day a man came up and asked if we wanted to go on a boat trip to castaway island. While we hesitated he worked his way down from $60 each to $20 each so we decided we might as well since this is again only about 6 pounds. The boat was similar to a long tail but it didn't have a roof and instead of a tiny motor is had one from a speedboat so it was really fast! We were hitting the waves head on and getting air off them when the bench in front of us broke from the weight of the people falling back onto it after each bump! Luckily ours stayed intact so it was quite good fun! We stopped off at another island along the way to visit a market. There was loads of pretty bracelets and necklaces made from local shells and some wood carvings too. After we'd had a look around we headed over to the island that Castaway was filmed on. The guides showed us around some areas from the film first, like the palm tree Tom Hanks climbed, and then we headed to the beach. The island had been hit by a hurricane recently and there was loads of branches and leaves all over the ground but the beach was still clear. We had some oreos for lunch then went to play in the waves and do some sunbathing! That night, when we were just getting ready for bed, Jason saw a HUGE cockroach running up the wall in our room! We'd seem them flying outside at night and were terrified it would go for our face if we tried to kill it. Jason was brave enough to give it a go and luckily he got it before it could fly! We had to pull the bed away from the wall and do a full room check to see if there was any others before we went to sleep. Even people who don't mind bugs wouldn't want something that size sharing the bed with them!

We got the boat back to Nadi the next day. We had originally hoped to explore more of the islands but the cost of food and drinks is much higher than it is on the mainland so we decided to take our chances with the weather and try there again. We booked in to stay at Mama's Tropic of Capricorn on Wailoaloa beach for the last 7 nights of our stay. When we arrived we were greeted with a hug from Mama and shown to our (half) sea view room! She told us that the Minister of Tourism was coming over for the grand opening of the hotel at 3 so not to go too far as the gates will shut at 3 and we won't be able to get back in until he's gone. We took a taxi tot he shop and got some munch then headed back for the opening. The minister was over a hour late but nobody was complaining because there was a free bar! When he did arrive the hotel put on a Kava ceremony for him. Kava is a Fijian drink made from hibiscus plants. Mama then made a speach about how important it is to look after your guests and be nice to everyone, which was great to hear because in the last place the staff always acted a little irritated when you spoke to them! The minister of tourism came round all the tables to speak to everyone and told us to tell more people from Scotland to go over, so, you've been told! The hotel prepared a huge buffet feast for everyone with loads of chicken and rice and other bits and bobs so we had a big dinner too, and there was free beer to keep Jason amused! The next day was a little miserable but we headed to the beach to check it out a little. The sand is dark and the water was really murky so we weren't too impressed with it. Then it started raining and we had to spend the whole rest of the day indoors again. In the night the wind was really strong and the next day Mama said she thought it was close to hurricane strength. But by the time we were down for breakfast the sky had cleared and it was a nice sunny day, so we went back to the beach to give it another chance. When the sun was out you could really appreciate how nice the dark sand was, there was millions of shells scattered everywhere and the sand was glittery so it looked much better! The water was still murky and there was a few jellyfish but it wasn't that hot that you needed to be in it a lot anyway so we didn't mind. We only walked two minutes up the beach from our Hotel and already it was like having the whole place to yourself. You could see all the way up to either end of the beach and only only every now and again would you see another person, and they rarely came past us. We also found a river which came out into the sea which provided hours of fun over the next few days! In the shallow exit to the sea we found a bit that had really muddy, soft, sand so we had a few mud baths! Further up the river, there was mangroves where you could watch little fish and mudskippers flapping about too. We also saw an eel swimming up river and followed it for a little while, but right as we went back to sit down, a local man came along and chopped it's head off! There was a few horses which we saw most days and a little foal that followed the horses that were being ridden up the beach. We also made friends with all the dogs that hung out on the beach, we had a little pack at one point who were play fighting with us in the river! The one had was most boisterous when with us got chased into the sea by some other little pack of dogs and stood there looking miserable until we came to get him, big softie! On one morning there was two men who brought a large net to the beach, and after opening it up and pulling it back a shore over five minutes they caught loads of fish including some foot long baracuda. We also had a pool in the hotel and usually spent and hour or two in the afternoon trying to play water volleyball, but we were absolutely rubbish at it! So it turned out to be our favourite place in Fiji, much more secluded than the Islands and really natural too. We were really sad to leave, but at least we'd had loads of sun and managed to get a little bit of a tan there! Our flight to La left at 10'o'clock at night and arrived at 1'o'clock in the afternoon on the same date, it was also 10 hours long so we weren't really looking forward to it, but at least we had all day to chill on the beach first!

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