Advertisement
Published: November 24th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Fiji - The Yasawas
We left Honolulu at 12:00 on the 21st October and after six and a half hours flying we arrived at Nadi airport in Fiji where it was 16:30 on the 22nd October. We had crossed the equator and the dateline and completely missed out on Tuesday night! We took a taxi to the hostel we had booked for the first two nights and after sampling a couple of the local beers, headed to bed for an early night. In the morning, we took the local bus into town. The bus had what they refer to as 'Fiji air conditioning' i.e. no windows. In Nadi, we did some shopping and visited the local market which had lots of fruit and vegetables we had never seen before as well as mountains of a root known as kava which is ground down and made into a drink used for traditional ceremonies. On the way out of the market we were invited to visit a craft shop "just to take a look" where we were shown how the wood is stained and carved into the various trinkets on offer. We were then invited to take part in a "traditional"
Beachcomber island
This is where all the young folks went to party. kava welcoming ceremony. We sat crosslegged on the floor in front of the kava bowl which was filled with the muddy looking drink. Richard got to be chief and Steph was Mrs chief. After a few Fijian words of welcome, we took it in turns to drink the kava from a coconut shell cup. The drink tasted a lot like mud and although our lips did feel a bit tingly, we didn't really get much of the supposed narcotic effect. After all that was over we were asked to leave a donation for the villagers in exchange for a small carved necklace. There are a lot of Indians in Fiji after they were brought over by the British to work in the sugar plantations and the culture is evident all over the country. Having already sampled the native Fijian culture, we took in some Indo-Fijian culture and visited a colourful Hindu temple before heading to a popular curry house for our dinner.
One of the Main reasons to visit Fiji is to go Island hopping in the Yasawa chain to the North West of the main Island. There were many package tours available but we decided just to head
Making Bracelets
Handicraft workshop with Joe out on our own and bought a seven day pass for the Yasawa flyer which sails up and down the island chain each day picking up and dropping off at all the island resorts on the way. The boat was busy with day trippers heading to some of the nearer islands but was a lot less crowded once we dropped them off and cruised on through the clear blue water towards our first stop at Coconut Bay on the island of Naviti. We transfered onto a smaller boat that took us to the white sand beach where we were welcomed with a song from the staff. As there is nowhere else to go and eat on these islands, all meals are included in the price and we were given lunch straight away. We then settled into the relaxed pace and chilled out on a hammock underneath coconut palms until it was time for afternoon tea by which time another couple from Edinburgh had arrived bringing the total number of guests to six. After a dinner of fresh caught fish cooked in coconut milk, we were entertained with some traditional dances by the staff members and encouraged to join in with
Husking a coconut
Hot work in the sun the snake dance which was very similar to the conga. Back in our dorm room, we had to chase a few beasties outside before diving under the mosquito nets that covered each bed.
We were taught some traditional Fijian crafts the next morning by Joe. He showed us how to make bracelets from palm leaves and then how to husk and open a coconut to get the juice out. He then showed us how they scrape out the flesh and make coconut milk from it. The milk we made was probably going to end up in our dinner. In the afternoon we walked over to the other side of the island to Honeymoon bay where we went snorkelling. We had to swim quite far out to find the coral but once we did, it was well worth it as we saw hundreds of brightly coloured fish swimming among the many different types of coral. On the way back to shore we saw some bright blue starfish that looked like bean bags lying on the bottom of the sea. Back at the resort we attempted a shower but due to the rickerty water system not working properly had to settle for
washing under a tiny trickle of water, which was better than nothing. After dinner it was entertainment time again, it was looking to be the same entertainment as the night before. Luckily some people from another resort further along the beach came to watch as well so we didn't feel too guilty when we ran away back to our room.
The next morning after breakfast we were back on the hammocks waiting for the flyer to turn up. When it was near we travelled in the small boat, transfered onto the flyer for an hour and then got back into a small boat which was destined for Safe Landing resort on Nacula island. Safe Landing is a much newer resort than Coconut Bay, we also managed to negociate a double room for the price of two dorm beds so we were quite pleased. After lunch we found a hammock and rested until it was time for afternoon tea. A short walk away from the resort, up a small hill, is a couple of benches and it was timed well with the happy hour begining that folk could buy a beer and head up the hill with it to watch
Lovely pair of coconuts
The results of our hard work the sun set. We quite liked this and did this every night we stayed. That night for dinner we had the best meal of the Yasawas which consisted of a massive mackeral steak, the size of a large salmon steak, cooked with a really nice sauce. The following day we were booked to go on a cave trip. Us and two families squeezed into the small motor boat which bounced across the waves to a small island called Yasawa. Here we walked up some steps and then jumped into a water filled cave with a small opening in the roof. In this cave two guys who had brought us and another group scaled the walls of the cave impressively quick and jumped a great height back into the water after a countdown from the groups. We then had to duck dive under water and through a small tunnel into another cave which was totally pitch black. In here the echoes were pretty crazy and we spent a while in here swimming to the back of the cave whooping and singing. In the afternoon a woman from the nearby village showed us some more weaving and we saw some fruit bats
Getting the flesh out
I don't even like coconut that much. flying whilst in our sunset seats. The following day a picnic lunch had been organised by the resort. Early in the morning staff had been fishing and caught a bundle of fish, mostly red snapper. These as well as everyone staying at the resort were bundled in the boat and taken to the South-West of the Island. Whilst we were snorkelling the staff barbequed the fish, they tasted great. That evening we were treated to some more 'traditional' dancing and all had to join in with a dance which was very much like the Hokey Cokey.
The next day we left Safe Landing and transfered to a resort called Gold Coast, which sounded a lot nicer than it actually was. We did however like being brought a lantern at sunset to have in our bure as there was no electricity. We arrived in the afternoon and set off over to the otherside of the island to the Blue Lagoon - where the original film was shot. Here the snorkelling was suposed to be good. We hired some snorkelling gear from the Blue Lagoon resort and set off. The reviews were correct, the snorkelling was really good. While it didn't
Filtering the milk
Using a piece of the husk. Nothing goes to waste. have quite so much interesting coral it made up for it in the amount of different fish we saw. Back at the Gold Coast it was fish again for dinner and then, after chatting to some French guys and evicting two large cockroaches from underneath our mosquito nets it was off to sleep for the last night on the Yasawas..
Advertisement
Tot: 0.15s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 59; dbt: 0.053s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb