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Published: March 4th 2009
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The fire twirling!Ok u pretty much just need to know one word in Fijian - BULA! Everyone says it all the time and it means a few things depending on how you say it but mainly it means hello and welcome. Everywhere you go people play instruments and sing you a bula song - i even got one at the airport before going through customs! So anyway having arrived at Nadi airport, I caught the free shuttle bus to my hostel, Smugglers Cove! Really nice hostel and when I arrived there was a show going on with a few local people eating fire and twirling sticks that were burning at both ends - very impressive and a nice welcome. It had a great bar and the staff were really friendly as well - I sat having a beer and talking to a security guard called Jerry about the islands and Rugby. Everyone in Fiji is rugby mad and looking forward so much to the sevens world cup which is in a few days time. There isn't very much to do at all on mainland Fiji and most people head straight out to the islands - unfortunately i arrived in the evening and couldn't
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View from Smugglers Cove hostel. book the boat to leave the next morning so I had to spend the next day booking the trip and having a look around Nadi. There's nothing to see there at all but met a guy called Oli at the hostel who was an electrician from Huddersfield but had just been to New Zealand so we just spent the day wandering round before heading back to the hostel for a few beers and some food. So the next morning i was up before 7am to catch the boat out to the islands - i decided to go to one of the ones furthest away and then work my way back towards the mainland. So my first stop was Coral View - a nice island with an ok beach and I also took a speedboat to a blue lagoon beach, which was much nicer and swam about and did a bit of snorkelling - i refused to pay for snorkelling anywhere in Fiji though because it's nothing compared to the great barrier reef. There was of course the customary bula song upon arrival and the staff tried to teach us a ridiculous dance after dinner so it was quite nice but
there were much better islands to come! You pay one price per day to stay on each islands and all meals and stuff are included so you really don't have to think about anything at all! Oh and the first guy i met on Coral View, who arrived at the same time as me, was a Forest fan from Dublin! The highlight of Coral View though was definitely playing sevens barefoot with a load of Fijians! The next afternoon I got back on the boat and headed about an hour back towards the mainland to Manta Ray, so called because in season Manta Rays swim just off the shore. This one was a bit more modern and expensive than most but the food was much nicer and the bar much better and i even got to watch the second half of England V Ireland, which made my day! Unfortunately there was also a load of Irish people there but you can't win em all! So again the island had a nice beach but just offered the same activities like diving and snorkelling, which i've already done plenty of so there wasn't that much to do apart from relax on the
beach or read in the beachside hammocks - it's a hard life! We did have a good game of volleyball with some of the Fijian staff though. It was also a Sunday when I was there so I went on a speedboat to a nearby island to go to church - you know how I don't like to miss church on a Sumday morning! It was really nice though to see some genuine Fijian culture and we got shown around the village and the school and stuff. My next stop was Waya Lai Lai, which has 3 villages on the island and is much more rustic and feels like Fiji rather than a torist resort. It's also dominated by a huge and spectacular rock. I got up at 5am while I was there to climb the rock and see the sun rise - extremely early i know but it was well worth it - the views were spectacular and hopefully the photos do it justice. The night before, the locals and staff had put on a show about traditional Fijian dress, culture and history which was really interesting too. I also met a couple of Australian guys there. One of
whom works for STA travel and the other spent a couple of years living in Clapham and managing the George pub which i've been to! They were really cool and along the way I also met a nice couple from Bexleyheath and another guy from London and his swedish girlfriend - there are so many English people on this side of the world that I think the population would actually be nearer 100 million if everyone was back home! And so many damn couples too! Anyway Waya Lai Lai was really cool and there were loads of activities - i'm gutted i missed the snorkelling there because people got to swim with and touch the reef sharks! Oh and Bev, i slaved away with some of the women in the village and have made you a lovely bracelet out of some plant or something - haha! I got to spend a few hours longer on that island too because we had to wait for the boat, which had apparently broken down because someone put the wrong fuel in it! So that evening I was off to Bounty island with the 2 Australian guys. We arrived late but just in time
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Sunset over one of the bures at Coral View. for dinner and the food here was absolutely amazing. The next day I met the chef - a guy named Kitty who like everyone else was into his rugby so we talked for quite a while and he gave me his e-mail address and said I had to come back soon and stay at his house in his village. Such nice people! Anyway back to the night before - had a few beers and played some pool with the Australians and the barman, Amosi - yes they even had a pool table here, it was awesome! Then we joined the Fijian staff who were sat on the floor outside drinking their traditional drink, Cava. No not that Cava! I don't think you'd be so much of a fan of this Cava Mum - it looks and tastes just like muddy water! It's made from the roots of a plant, which is dried and made into a powder and then water is added - it's just in a big plastic bowl and there is one cup, which is passed around and you have to clap, then drink the Cava and then clap again and then it's the next person's turn. It's
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Me at blue lagoon beach. pretty horrible stuuf, just muddy water really and it has no effect, not like alcohol but they drink it constantly after work so it was nice to sit and talk to them and join in with their culture. So back to Bounty Island itself - it was absolutely stunning, v.small - I kayaked around it in about 15 minutes! But it's got a pool and the double rooms are right on the beach - unfortunately the dorm isn't but it was still the nicest of all of them. It also had a swimming pool and again the people were legendary. It is also the island where Celebrity Love Island was filmed so it must be good! Literally the only downside was the fact that there were so many couples there and it was that kind of place so I just spent most of the time talking to the staff instead of fellow tourists! The weather was also absolutely stunning! I was really sad to leave Bounty Island but I had to get back to the mainland so I could catch a flight to New Zealand the next morning. So I had one more night at Smugglers Cove, chatted loads more
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Blue Lagoon! to Jerry the security guard, who remembered my name (some of the Fijians remember your name and they must meet so many people so it's really impressive and makes a big difference). He's got a Swedish girlfriend and is visiting her in Sweden in a few months and said he was going to come to London too - so we swapped details and I said I'd take him for some English ale when he's there! He also said I had to come back and that I could stay with him or if I wanted to get married or have a honeymoon in Fiji he could get me 50% off at a five star resort on an exclusive island!!! Anyway that was Fiji - absolutely blew me away - paradise and the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet - i really would like to go back one day!
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