Blogs from Yasawa Islands, Fiji, Oceania - page 4

So, made it to Fiji and glad I made the trip. My gut response was it's like a combo of Hawaii, Tonga and the Whitsundays. No a bad start! The wqeather the last 2 days hasdnt been super duper but the sun has been pout all day today and I am makingthem ost of it. I lefty the smallest island- South Sea Island today after spending my first 2 days there. It's tiny and more like a Fijian homestay than anything else. Last night we sat around the table drinking cava which numbs your mouth and makde my limbs go all heavy. The food there was tyo die for and despite the cloudy weather I had a ball. Now i'm on Manta Ray island and tonight I'm going to see the sunset via a tube cruise. ... read more

Wednesday 13thJune - Woken by small drops of rain blewing in through the wooden slats which was quite pleasant until they got slowly bigger followed by huge downpour at which point we had to act. Realize Fiji cant be this lush without a lot of rain! The mozzie spray hasn't been working too good and as usual they have taken a real shine to me, one particularly attractive welt on my stomach is definitely the champion so far. Julian tried the $10 for a bag of washing, to find his white t-shirt has come back blue and he's gained a few xtra items. However, Nanuya resort is Fijian and extremely well run, the Bures are very clean and good standard, the food is excellent and the staff very friendly and helpful so would fully recommend this ... read more

When I left school MANY moons ago, my total achievements in foreign languages I am ashamed to say amounted to a CSE Grade 4 in French. I could blame this on the fact that my French teacher, Mr. H, was an alcoholic, had been banned from most of the pubs in Cowes and later I was told sadly died of liver Schlerosis. However, the truth was that for someone whose childhood travel highlights extended to a very unsuccessful coach trip to Scotland with their mother and school field trips to Newtown and Bembridge, I naively failed to see the point of what foreign language and travel could possibly have to do with me! Not sure what has happened lately, but bring it on!! Friday 8th June. Yesterday I was presented with a snorkel, mask and flippers, ... read more

Fiji, this is the furthest away we can go before we start getting closer to the UK, it literally is the other side of the world. After arriving on the Mainland in the capital of Nadi we were waiting to get a boat over to Waya island in the Yasawa group, a 2 hour trip through the South Pacific. Trust me, once you’re out of the bays and there are no islands for shelter, it gets rough, really rough. 30 minutes in to the trip and one of the outboard motors decided to dump its power steering fluid in to the ocean causing us to turn sharp right, sending us into a circle at 14 knots. In large swell this is an experience! We limped back to the harbour using a teenager to hold the engine ... 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