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Published: April 28th 2006
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Beach hut at first Island..
We stayed here for two nights on Coral View Island.. Lucky Lucky Man
We were glad to see the back of Los Angeles. Not just because i lost my passport, vaccination records, international drivers licence, airline tickets, camera, mp3 player, travel towel, etc.........
(which was returned by a Bolivian bloke called Hose - who found my bag on a bus...read the tickets..saw i was leaving for Fiji the next day..phoned the British Embassy...drove an hour from his house to meet us...returned the bag with ALL its contents..gave us a lift back to Hollywood!!! What a nice man he was too! Completely restored my faith in people!!)
.....but also because we didn't particulariy like LA!! Lots and lots of nutters, horrible bus rides (again full on nutters), didn't feel safe anywhere, Hollywood is scabby, lots of pollution, etc, etc...We had driven 1900 miles since San fran, we were tired, we needed to relax, Fiji yer we come!!
Paradise on Earth
Wow!!! Fiji is proper lush mind! Fiji is a collection of around 333 tropical Islands. Most have absolutely stunning coral reefs just a short swim from the beaches...which is not particualiry common! These reefs are amongst the best in the world!
We took a week
..a desert Island
We Kayaked out to this Island, it was further away than we first thougt!! tour of the Yasawa Islands, this a basically a high speed water taxi that allows you to Island hop to your particular destination.....
It has been the most amazing two weeks, here's a short low down:
Fijian people are absolutely brilliant, always happy and joking, welcome and goodbye songs, excellent food, snorkleing was breathtaking, crystal clear waters, met loads of cool travellers - we now have a place to stay in Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland. Did an adventure cave trip which was dangerous to say the least!!! (health n safety? what health and safety?) Big spiders, mossys, bugs, etc... Played rugby 7's at a small village on a remote Island called Sanawai..never again...Fijians are double hard bas&%!$(MISSING)ds!!!!! Lots of Volleyball with locals and backpackers!! Fiji Gold beer, it's cheap, it's tasty, it's dehydrating, and it's lush!! Stayed in beach huts which are a 4second walk to the lush empty beaches, snorkled more, lay in hammocks, played games, drunk from Coconuts, and relaxed!
Our first Scuba Dive
We left the Yasawa Islands and took a trip
The Blue Lagoon
Took a speed boat from Coral View to the Blue Lagoon!! There was no-one there! Amazing coral reef 20m from beach! to Nananu Island resort. This was a four hour drive through Fiji - this gave us a chance to see mainland Fiji, not just tourist Island resorts! Fiji is fairly poor, lots of small dirty towns, pollution, run down markets.. there is a massive Indian/Pakistan population here, sometimes you have to pinch yourself to remind that you are in the South Pacific! The people seem really happy, it's a 'lazy' place, people ralax during the real HOT hours, the expression 'Fiji Time' is used everywhere..It means: sit down, and do nothing! ....great!
At Nananu Ally and I did our 'Introductory' dive, and we were certainly spoiled good n proper!! With a ten minute breifing on what and how the gear was used...we were in a speed boat and taken to one of the best reefs in the world!! (..claimed by our British dive instructor who had worked all over the world - inc. Barrier Reef!!) Scuba Diving is probably the best thing i've ever done (i know i said that about driving to Vegas - but this takes the biscuit!) On our first ever dive we went down 10 - 12 metres, swimming through massive canyons within the coral!!
Most people who do there 'Intro' dive spend it either in a swimming pool or just out from a beach.....so we were really thrown in the deep end!
We were down for a good fifty minutes, Ally had some problems with her ears under the pressure (couldn't equalize), t'was a somewhat painful experience for her! Saw: Moray eel, Baracuda, MASSIVE Angel fish, Parrot fish, billions of vibrant tropical fish, coral that changes colour when you toach it!! Sea cucumbers, giant blue star fish, Nemos, didnt see a shark or ray but others in the group did!! We then got back to a beach party and bbq!! What a day that was!!
Scuba Diving is addictive!! We couldn't manage to book more dives as we are off to New Zealand (in 8hrs), and it is a shame we could not do our 'padi' course here as it is very cheap! ('Padi' means that you are a certified standard diver) But, i'm sure we'll do lots in Oz!!
We've had a great time here, the batteries have been recharged, New Zealand yer we come!!!!
Love to you all
Nick & Ally
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Katie
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Ally almost looks brown !!
Well guys- you're doing it proper mind aren't you. It all looks fab and I'm beyond jealous. keep the news coming, cheers me up! I've got a new job and a new car so that's my exciting news. Can totally believe that you lost your bag with passport etc in it - you absolute bell-end. Am actually surprised it took you so long to lose it, almost ONE MONTH!! Fair play to Jose - next time you might not be so lucky so get it pierced to your body or something. Have a cracker mucker, can't say anything half as interesting as you've told us - so keep up the good blogs and I look forward to hooking up in Thailand. Loves you both mind Katie xxxxx