Advertisement
Published: October 10th 2010
We both had a good sleep on the flight and touched down on the 28th September at around 5.40AM where we were greeted by three men singing and playing guitars! We got our bags and got a taxi to our hostel by Nadi Bay where we had to wait for the the receptionist to arrive at 7. When the receptionist arrived we were reimbursed for our taxi fare and taken to our room which was pretty basic but was a decent size. Unfortunately there was no internet available as advertised so we got ready and went into town where we found a cafe who gave us an hours internet for $1 (around 33p). We then went for lunch which was really nice before going to have a look around town.
Nadi Town is full of shopkeepers who seem very friendly but we were a little naive and fell for the classic tourist’s mistake. We were invited in for Kava, a Fijian drink which is also a mild narcotic. The Kava is free but afterwards you feel inclined to buy something so we picked up a couple of necklaces that came to $50 which isn’t much really but we were still
annoyed that we’d fell for such a simple trick but at least in the future we’ll have our wits about us and ignore all shopkeepers! Afterwards we popped into the supermarket before heading to the ferry terminal where we booked our week island hopping around the Yasawa Islands. We then went back to the hostel where we relaxed by the pool for an hour before deciding which clothes we were going to take on the island, we only took a day bag each as the hostel we were staying at offered free luggage storage for the week. We also encountered our first lizard in our room and I performed my first pest removal service of the trip! Hayley is pretty uncomfortable around lizards so it didn’t help matters when she saw a few at dinner so we came back to the room and barracaded the bottom of the door with towels before going to bed.
We were up at 6 and checked out before getting picked up and taken to the marina. We arrived and checked in before picking up some essentials. We boarded the boat around 8.15 and set off 15 minutes later. The boat picks up and
drops off at every island so we saw all the islands along the way as we were going to the furthest north island. There were some great views from the boat and the water was so blue we just wanted to jump in! We arrived at our drop off point around 12.45 and transferred to a small speedboat which took us the rest of the way to the island of Nacula (Nabua Lodge). We arrived at the island at 1.00 and we were welcomed by the staff on the beach (a tradition on most islands we visited) had lunch. All the islands provide you with three meals a day. We were then taken to our bure (room), it was basic but all that we needed with a great view of the sea, some of the islands including this one only had electricity at certain times of the day. We then went down to the beach for a bit of a sunbathe before taking a dip in the sea. After we’d collected some shells we went and laid in a hammock for an hour (although it took me a few attempts to actually get in it! I also learnt I need
to put a towel down when laying in one as when I got off my back resembled a griddle pan! We went for a walk up the beach before coming back to the bure and going for a barbeque dinner whilst being serenaded by the locals. After dinner we were welcomed with Bula songs and Bula dancing including a game of musical statues which came down to Hayley and I which Hayley won (I was robbed!) We then sat chatting to some of the other guests and played some card games including King Cup. Afterwards we went back to the bure and got ready for bed in the dark before going to sleep.
We checked out early before having breakfast. We then spent the morning at the blue lagoon (after a very choppy boat journey but it was fun!) When we got there we did some snorkelling around the coral reefs which was great fun before going to the bar and getting a drink. The blue lagoon was also the setting for the film starring Brooke Shields. We then went back to Nabua for lunch before leaving around 12.30. We switched boats and headed for Coral View Resort on
the island of Tavewa where we were given another lunch! We were then taken to our bure which was really nice before going down to the beach. After being on the beach for a while we went into the sea and said hello to a couple, Dan and Millie, who were already in there. We asked where each other were from and found out Millie lived in Bedfordshire as well! We stayed in the water chatting for quite a while before getting out and going for afternoon tea and cake before tackling a huge hill to go and watch the sunset (flip flops weren’t the best choice of footwear!) We then came back down and went for a few drinks and dinner. After dinner we were entertained with a couple of dancing games which were good. We then sat down with Dan and Millie, their trip replicates our apart from they are away for a year. We came back to the bure later on for a drink before calling it a night.
We had breakfast the next morning before going back to the blue lagoon to do a bit more snorkelling, Dan and Millie joined us and we had
a good time again before going back to the bar for a cocktail before getting the boat back to Coral View. We left at around 12.30 and boarded the boat and booked into Long Beach Resort on the Matacawalevu Island. Our bure was really spacious and after we’d settled in Hayley went and sat in a hammock. We then went down to the beach for a while and Hayley went for a wander with Millie when we got back and I sat on the the porch and had a beer. Dinner was probably the worst we’d had on the islands but we felt a bit guilty as it was a traditional Fijian meal and no-one really liked it so we ate as much as we could. There was no entertainment this evening so we headed to bed early as we were both pretty tired.
Something had obviously disagreed with me during the night as I had a dodgy stomach and Hayley didn’t feel great either. We visited the local village on the island in the morning which was good. We looked around the church and the school, the only downside was that it was a Saturday and none of
the children were at school. We walked back and it was getting so hot spontaneous fires were starting in the dry leaves. It was interesting to see how the locals lived. We had lunch and left the island around 1.30 and headed for Korovou Ecohaven Resort on the island of Naviti. We had to pay 20 dollars more for this resort, some of the bigger islands charge a little more on top of what you’ve already paid. The lights and shower in our bure weren’t great which was disappointing but the bure itself was fine. We played volleyball in the afternoon which was good fun (we lost though!) Afterwards we cooled down in the pool before having a great dinner (soup and spag bol is always a winner!) We then sat chatting with Dan, Millie, Luke and Fi for quite a while before calling it a night. When we got back to the room we found a small lizard on our bed so pest control swung back into action!
We chatted as a group again at breakfast and afterwards I attended the local village church service. Sunday’s are special to Fijians so not much goes on Sunday’s. Although I’m
not religious myself it was a good experience, the Fijians are passionate about their religion and the vicar got quite emotional during the service. After the service we sunbathed for a while before lunch which turned out to be vegetable pizza so my lunch consisted of pineapple slices! We talked to Luke and Fi about New Zealand as they have already been there before boarding the boat. We were going to head to Sunset Waya but that was closed so we headed Wayalailai Resort on the Wayalailai Island for the next two nights. Our bure was really spacious and the shower was good, some of the showers on the island are saltwater but this one was freshwater and was fairly powerful. We headed up for afternoon tea before heading for the beach where we lazed around in a hammock. By now we were well accustomed to ‘Fiji time’ which is how the Fijians spend their days, at their own pace! We went in the sea for a while before showering and going for dinner. After dinner one of the guys from the resort came and chatted to us before playing us some songs on his guitar. We had an early
night as we were both tired.
After breakfast we booked to go reef snorkelling. We had the choppiest boat ride we had experienced yet at one point the boat almost capsized! When we got to the spot we all jumped off the side of the boat, except Hayley who managed to fall backwards in to the boat! When she got in we snorkelled around the edge of the coral reef where we saw a few different types of fish, some brightly coloured coral and some reef sharks. We then moved to a different spot where there were more sharks. The guys from the resort were diving down to feed them and I dived down and touched one. It was a excellent trip. We then headed back and relaxed in a hammock before lunch. Afterwards we had a nap before going down to the beach. We had afternoon tea and Dan, Millie, Luke and Fi arrived on the island. We chatted for a while and when we discussed accommodation we realised we’d been upgraded for free! We had a lovely curry for dinner before the villagers put on a show for us. They showed us a traditional Fijian dance, a island
dance and then performed a fire show which was insane! It was a great way to finish off our time on the islands. The villagers then got everyone involved and got everyone up dancing which was good fun before we sat chatting with everyone again before going to bed.
We checked out early on and found a hammock to relax in before wandering up the beach and looking in the little rockpools as the tide was out. We then found the others and chatted before lunch. On the whole the food on the islands was ok, you do get a lot of rice and potatoes but for what you pay you get a lot and you never go hungry. After lunch we went down to the beach where we saw some jumping fish! We went for afternoon tea before saying goodbye to Luke and Fi and caught the boat back to Nadi. Dan and Millie had one more night left so we said goodbye to them when they got off at Beachcomber and arrived back at the ferry port at around 5.30PM. I’d recommend the Fijian Islands to anyone, every island offers you different experiences and we’ve met some
great people along the way. We went to an internet cafe a booked the rest of our accommodation in Fiji and checked the football scores from the past week before getting a taxi back to Traveller’s Beach where we checked in and retrieved our luggage from storage. After killing two rather large cockroaches we showered and got ready for bed. Although the islands are relaxing they also take it out of you and we were asleep early.
My sleep was interrupted during the night when pest control had to kick into action and kill another cockroach! We went for breakfast and watched TV before our pick up arrived just after 11:00 to take us to the Beachouse on Coral Coast. The driver stopped a few times to pick up locals and he also stopped in Sigatoka so we could pick up some groceries and we arrived at the Beachouse around 1.15. We were taken to our dorm and we were the only ones in it. It was very clean and tidy with good sized bunk beds. We then checked out the bar, kitchen and TV rooms. The ITV show ‘Celebrity Love Island’ was filmed here and you could make
out some of the areas from it although it’s obviously been re-vamped to make it accessible for backpackers. We had lunch and checked out the beach before afternoon tea which was good. We then did a bit of research on New Zealand before coming down for dinner. Unfortunately they’d run out of the advertised roast beef which was pretty devastating! We had a few games of killer pool with everyone where I was accused of setting Hayley up for easy shots (I was just rubbish!) We then got talking to a couple of guys and found out one guy’s grandparents live in Biggleswade (We can’t shake that bloody place!) It had been raining most of the afternoon and evening which was the first rain we’d seen in over three weeks!) The rain bought out a lot of toads in the evening so we had to be careful where we were stepping! We also found we got bitten by bugs far more here than anywhere else.
The next day we woke up and had breakfast before going on a Jungle Trek to waterfall. The weather was still a bit grim but the trek was great, the guide showed us different
plants and how they were used in everyday Fijian life and took us along the tricky terrain to waterfall where we had to climb the waterfall where we had to pose for photos before posing under the waterfall where the water was freezing! We then walked back and the rain started coming down a bit stronger. We showered when we got back and had some lunch and by now it was really raining heavily and the power cut out so we spent a few hours relaxing in the bar area. In the evening we played killer pool with everyone again and I actually managed to win a round! We were really tired from the trek so we went to bed after we’d finished although Hayley was kept awake in the night by a storm (I slept through it!)
Friday was a bit of relaxation day, although the weather was better we needed to get laundry done and sort a few bits out for our next destination so most of our day was spent doing that although we did fit a few games in along the way. The laundry took around 8 hours to do but I guess the cleaners
were on ‘Fiji time!’ In the evening we had some dinner and grabbed an early night.
We had breakfast and checked out around 9:30 and boarded the bus to Nadi, what they didn’t tell us was that we had to change buses in Sigatoka to an ‘express bus’. All I can say is if that was their express bus I’d hate to be on their slow bus! We got to Nadi just before 1 and checked into our hotel. We were sharing with six other people and it was really stuffy in the room. We went out for lunch before sorting out our plans for New Zealand. We went back to the hostel and tried to relax but it was really hot. It was pretty noisy where we were as well so we only managed a couple of hours sleep as we had to be up at 4:30AM to go to the airport. We got to the airport around 5:15 and checked in. We’ve enjoyed Fiji on the whole but found eleven days to be long enough. Most people are really friendly and welcoming. We both agreed if we were to come back we would avoid Nadi completely and
although Coral Coast was nice we’d probably only go to the islands. New Zealand here we come!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.117s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.042s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ellen
non-member comment
Hello
Looks like you had a great time on the island, there seems to be lots of sleeping and eating going on, hows the diet going hayley?? Take care Luvs ya both Mum(Ellen) xxxxxx