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Published: January 25th 2008
Yasawa Islands day1
On route to our new homes for next 7 days. In the distance 3 of many many small beautiful tropical islands we saw on route.....more to come!Tour of the yasawa islands, Fiji
Howdie everyone!!!! Yes i am still alive and yes i am still having an absolute ball and enjoying every minute of my travels. My apologies for not keeping my blog up to date and keeping you guys informed of my adventures and experiences. Currently in Brisbane, Australia & Having a quiet..ish one today and suffering from a hangover - so thought id do some catching up before i go playing tennis later this afternoon. Some guy from Chester thinks he can beat me so ive accepted to give him a lesson.
Introduction to paradise & Yasawa Islands
'Paradise' - we know the word gets used pretty loosely but if it is appropriate for anywhere, it’s Fiji. There are over 300 islands set in crystal clear waters with palm fringed white sandy beaches, lagoons, coral reefs and idyllic places to stay.
THE YASAWA ISLANDS
The remote Yasawa Islands group consists of a chain of 20 ancient volcanic islands, 4 of these islands have dramatic elevations with summits just short of 600 metres above sea level. The pristine white sandy beaches and dramatic monoliths surrounded by crystal clear lagoons provide a beautiful
Yasawa islands day 1
BEachcomber ISland - We will return to this crazy island in approx 5 days...party time!!!! environment in which to relax or enjoy the many activities on offer.
Okay, here we go........After my return from Robinson Crusoe island i just relaxed back at my hostel (Nadi bay resort) for a few days and waited for the arrival of Kat and Alex from Maui. On there arrival we decided to book the 7 day Bula pass with Awesome adventures - this was basically a hop on hop off boat that allowed us to go to any island we wanted and when we wanted. We also had an addition to our travelling party - Drew, a cool funny guy from Cheltenham who also stayed in Maui at Banana bungalow. I briefly met Drew at the airport as i was getting off the shuttle bus and he was getting on.
Our first point of call was Sunrise resort on 1 of the islands right up in far North of the Yasawa's so we had a long long journey ahead of us on the catamaran. The weather was gorgeous and really hot so we sat on the outside deck and took in everything, the crystal clear & turquoise waters, all the beautiful islands and scenery as we
stopped off and passed each island. Alex isnt the best sea traveller so he suffered a little bit and kept us amused lol.
When we arrived at Sunrise or any other destination there is always a small sea taxi boat that you have to get in to which then transports you to shore. The water was pretty rough at Sunrise so it was tricky getting in and out of the boat. Drew suffered his 1st of many accidents and mis-fortunes when getting off the boat. He fell in the boat & banged & cut his leg open.
Sunrise was a very very basic & quiet resort - no hot water, proper showers etc... and our rooms / dorms were wooden huts and situated in the island village. We were greeted by a big guy (i think!) but very feminine (100% puff) - he / she was called Queenie. But he / she was pretty cool and very funny! That day we took a 20-30 minute walk and went over to the other side of the island to the blue lagoon - the blue lagoon was beautiful, had a lovely golden beach, clear turquoise calm waters. We just relaxed
in the water and Alex went off snorkling to see what he could find. (Alex disappeared quite often during Fiji and would always come back with some mad shit!) We found a purpley blue star fish and a sea cucumber. The sea cucumber was disgusting and soft and slimey. When Alex took it out of the water it Jerted all this white crap out at him from its behind - i guess he got it a bit excited lol!
Things were very quiet at Sunrise at Night so i think we just played cards and had a few drinks before hitting the sack.
The next day we went back over to the blue lagoon - the walk was really nice with beautiful scenery (as per pics). From what i can remember the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it had been raining all morning. As it happened we were going to see a lot more rain of the next few days.
We only stayed in Sunrise for 1 night. From there we were going to Oarsmans Bay lodge (my choice!). As we were due to leave Sunrise the heavens opened (again!)and it seriously belted
it down and we got saturated on the taxi boat to the catamaran (as per pics). When we got to the Catamaran it was really funny cos we got aboard walked up one side of the catamaran checked in and then were told to walk off the other side of the boat and get on another Catamaran which will take us to Oarsmans. As it happened the new taxi boat took us straight past where we had just been so god only knows why we had to go to the catamaran and why we couldnt have been collected from Sunrise. (I guess you had to be there to see the funny side of it!?) Anyway we got to Oarsmans all soakin wet through! Even in the bad weather Oarsmans was really beautiful and idyllic and by far the most beautiful beach ive been on or seen.
We stayed here for 2 nights and in all honesty it rained and was stormy for most of those 2 days which was a bit of a shame as we didnt see the best of it, also the water was churned up a bit, so it wasnt as clear as it usually is
- so snorkling wasnt too good. However it was still mind blowingly gorgeous. A girl from America had arrived a few days before us and she said it was totally stunning! Anyway the bad weather didnt affect all of our spirits! Apparently there was a high chance the weather was going to develop into a cyclone but it didnt - shame! (would have been exciting!). From Oarsmans we went cave swimming - the cave was about 40mins away on a different island. we had to get on one of those small taxi boats again and as it was raining we got soaked again! The boat ride was pretty fast and exciting cos the waves were pretty big so there was lots of bouncing off water and getting soaked even more. I was sat at the back with the driver and the other guys were sitting on this wooden seat in front of me that was propped up on either side of the boat. Because of the constant bouncing the seat came off the sides of the boat and Alex, KAt and Drew all ended up on there arses on the floor....very funny lol!! On route to the cave a tuna
was swimming along side our boat and jumping out of the water which was really cool. The cave was really good - water really deep, cold and clear. There was a point where we had to swim to another chamber and it was pitch black and we had to swim underwater to get to it. That was pretty scarey for me due to the events in Maui when i nearly drown but after a bit of gentle persuation from Kat i thought sod it and it was well worth it. Alex did his spiderman impression by climbing up the cave and jumping off and making everyone else look silly who tried and couldnt climb up. (Alex used to be a rock climber instructor) We also went on a fishing trip in the afternoon (again it rained and it was pretty cold!). I caught F all apart from some coral. Alex and Drew caught a few fishes. Drew nearly had his eye taken out by one of the fijian fisher men when the fijian was swinging his lines out and the hook caught the bridge of his nose (cut it) and the weights smacked Drew on the fore head. Very lucky
it didnt hit his eye. The amazing thing was the fijian fisherman didnt seam to care and didnt even apologize. All in all it was a bad day in the office for me and my fishing trip - not happy!!!!
From what i can remember that night me Drew and kat got pretty drunk and was listening to tunes on the ipod in the lounge area. I think we were singing at the top of our voices until about 3am and the next day people were sharing our room with said they could hear us hehehehehehe.
On our last day at Oarsmans the weather cleared a little and me and kat went for a long walk along the beach to the Village. Along the way we got talking to many villagers who were collecting stuff and catching fish and crabs - all were lovely and very friendly. We visited the school where loads of the kids came over and was talking and asking us all sorts of questions. Again they were all very polite and very friendly and very happy. We also walked through the vilage and everyone was shouting BUla and letting on to us. ! guy
took it upon himself to show us around the village and take us to the chiefs house. He let us also go in the chiefs house even though the chief wasnt home. Its so bizarre, even the chiefs house id so so basic, no furniture, no bed, no washing facilities - its just 1 big bare room with a mat on the floor.
From Oarsmans we went to Manta Ray island - this was a few hours south. Due to the recent bad weather the sea was very rough - Not ideal for Alex! Alex did suffer a lot lol.
On arrival Had a game of volleyball with the locals and other travellers (always a good way to meet new people). That night the local villages came down and entertained by singing, fijian dancing etc. We all had to get up and join in which was really good fun. The next day i thought id try and snorkle and combat my fear as we had been told the sealife and coral here was amazing. I got in the water and i wasnt disappointed - it was magical, so many fishes and lots of variety. the coral was specacular
- all different shapes and colours all flourishing with life. The good thing for me was the coral was only in shallow water so i was very rarely out of my depth so it was a good way to regain my confidence. Like i said the sealife was amazing and saw so many beautiful things. Come across lots of clown fish (Nemo's). Like in the film they live in the sea anenomy. They are very protective and aggressive fish so if you get to close or close to there young they bite / nibble your fingers or snorkle mask - really cool!!!! Also a fish found me and alex and took a shine to us. It was one of those fishes you sea on TV that follow and swim underneath bigger fish like sharks. This fish was just swiming all around and really close to our bodies especially around out swim shorts. We tried and tried to scare it and chase it off but it just kept coming back again and again...really funny! Except for lunch, I was snorkling all day until we had to leave it was that good, i nearly even missed the Catamaran. Alex and Drew both
didnt feel too good - stomachs off and both had visited the toilet on several occasions. Me and Kat were both Fine!
Off to Beachcomber, weather really nice again! - The Party, mental island. As per pic Beachcomber is a tiny island and you can walk around it in 5 mins. That night Alex and Drew both went to bed early as really suffering with there stomachs and over active bowels.
Me and Kat went out on our own. I had my own Rum and Coke confescated by the barman (i was trying to save money!) - however i had plenty of reserves and got some more from my bag lol. Me and Kat danced the night away on the sand and got really drunk. Got in with some Ozi's who were totally mental and really loud but pretty cool and funny! Even though the island is so small i managed to get lost and wasnt able to find my way back to the dorm. Eventually stumbled across some fijioans who were watching TV and they led me back.
The next day i felt likje trash so spent most of the day topping up my tan, re-hydrating,
sleeping on beach and swimming in sea. Alex was feeling a bit better but poor old drew - He was still feeling like trash & had spend all of last night and all of the current day dashing to the toilet from his bed and sat on the toilet - i think he went about 50 times in 24 hours. We assigned to him an official song, Johny Cash's Ring of Fire! Everytime i hear the song now i think of beachcomber and Drew and it makes me laugh so much and always will. What make the whole thing funnier but in a cruel kind of a way is that beachcomber was Drews choice and he spent 90% of the time there in bed or on the toilet. I shouldnt laugh as its really a shame but i cant help it lol.
That night all 4 of us had a quiet night and was in bed before midnight. The next day (our last day) the weather was again really hot and we all simply relaxed on the beach and played volley ball. Even Drew managed a game as he was feeling slightly better. The Catamaran picked us up around
On route to Sunrise
Alex obviously very happy & taking it all in! 2pm and took us back to the main island and then back into Nadi.
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Craig
non-member comment
Queenie
Karl are you sure Queenie did not steal your camera when he was showing you his sea cucumber