Blogs from Yasawa Island, Yasawa Islands, Fiji, Oceania

So we arrived in Nadi on the 20th May, we were greeted at the airport with Fijians singing and playing guitars giving us a big Bula welcome, (for those of you that haven't visited Fiji Bula means hello/welcome). When we arrived in Nadi city it wasn't the Fiji we were expecting because there was no crystal clear water or white sandy beach. Instead Nadi was very much the stopover city used when visiting the Yaswai Islands. Before we visited the Islands we decided to venture into Nadi and Lotoka city to experience the Fijian way of life, we travelled on a traditional Fijian bus with no windows. It was very bumpy but great to get involved in the culture. Lotoka was great, there were fresh fruit and fish markets and traditional shops to explore without any ... read more

Unfortunately we awoke to rain (it hadn't stopped all night!) and the forecast for the day wasn't great. We had booked onto the caves trip but a minimum of 5 guests from the local resorts are needed to run the trip and the rain had put everyone off so it was cancelled - hopefully more people will want to go tomorrow. So instead we decided to do the Nacula hike up into the hills. There were some great views from up there and the land really is untouched. After lunch 10 more guests arrived, along with 8 travel agents (resort inspection). The rain really started pouring down and so it was back to chess and basket weaving! Guess what - I beat James at chess for the first time ever! Dinner was fab, Nabua lodge serves ... read more

BULA!!! Saturday 22nd September - Tavewa Island (Coral View Resort) and the Blue Lagoon …continued… We were due to go snorkelling in the Blue Lagoon this afternoon but in the end decided to go to ‘Suntan Beach’ because we could only go at low tide. So Sarah, Brian, Sophie, Leonie (had met her on Bounty, she’d newly arrived on Coral View at lunchtime), Dominique, Marc (from our room) and I headed out in the boat across the lagoon. We were not sure where we were going and then we saw a little bar of sand in the distance about 100metres off the nearest beach. The boat dropped us off and we spent a lovely couple of hours relaxing and posing about for photos. It was such a nice spot, the bar got a little bigger but ... read more

Villages: Bula! (Hello!) We went to several villages on the cruise. To attend church, visit a school and have a feast We were asked to respect the culture by dressing modestly, covering shoulders and legs (to below the knee). Every visit included lots of singing and dancing and usually a handicraft market- at which we bought some lovely shell and coconut gifts (Neiria bought a rather fetching ankle bracelet) then we worried about bringing then back through biological security in New Zealand (you simply declare it). Everywhere you go, even on the ship there was the traditional "Sevusevu" ceremony, where like the Maori culture you are welcomed to the village declaring you come in peace. The appointed Western chief presents the kava which is a root of the pepper tree or yaqona to the village chief ... read more

Fiji Er zijn een aantal dingen die je moet weten als je naar Fiji gaat: Bula=Hallo, Vinaka=Bedankt en Fiji-time= alles gaat volgens de planning van de mensen, daar dus vaak niet op tijd! Aangekomen op het vliegveld kwamen we al direct in aanraking met de Fiji-Time. Onze pick-up naar het hostel bleek er niet te zijn. De vriendelijke mensen van het vliegveld wisten ons te vertellen dat ze vast wat later waren, maar nog wel zou komen! Wij dus wachten, maar na een uur wachten hadden we genoeg van de Fiji-time en hebben we toch maar een taxi gepakt (die het hostel betaald heeft). Het hostel zelf was prima, we kregen een upgrade vanwege de vergeten pick-up en we hadden heerlijk geslapen. De volgende ochtend viel eigenlijk maar 1 ding tegen… het weer! Het was namelijk ... read more