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Published: November 10th 2006
South Sea Island
The first place i stayed.The 10 hour 45 min flight to Fiji seemed fairly quick, there were so many spare seats that most people were able to claim 3 to sleep on, the only things that woke me were some stupid cabin crew waking me up to ask if i wanted tea or coffee... im asleep, why would i want either??? Let me sleep! And the other was some sever mid flight turbulence. Anyway i landed in Fiji at 5.30am feeling fine, by the time id got through the baggage and customs it was about half 6, and i got the bus from outside the airport with some others straight to the port for free. Tne company i travelled with were called Awesome Adventures, the tour was the Tropical Awegasm.
I boarded the Yasawa Flyer (which is the fastest boat ive ever been on) and set off for my first island which also was the first in the Yasawa chain called South Sea Island, it was tiny but by god it looked nice, the day was spent swimming in the sea, and had a trip in a glass bottom boat to see some coral which was quite good, met a few nice people there
and the food was actually really good, enjoyed a cold shower under what felt like a hospital drip, that night it rained for a whole 5 minutes and we had crab racing, the limbo and the Bula dance, fantastic.
The second day saw us all awoken at 7 am for breakfast by loud music, after my scrambled eggs and beans i sat and read my book most of the morning, and the afternoon was spent chatting to others, kayaking and snorkeling all of which were free to do. At night three was another crab race and drinking, sadlydue to a slight miscalculation at the airport cash machine i was unable to afford more than 3 beers, turns out $200 Fiji is not actually as much as id thought, any way the power went off at 11.30 every night.
Day three we were up early again, wasted time waiting for the boat by reading book, and then i was sailing of to my next island called Kuata, id spent the past 2 days hearing bad things about this place and i wasn't to be dissapointed, the beach was nice to be fair but i had a very lazy day
as you had to pay to do any activities and my budget couldn't stand up to that, still i met a kiwi girl, some guys from london and some american guy and had a reasonable night playing cards (yes me) ruined only by the food which nobody seemed to like, still the best was the next morning when the Rat rumour was confirmed by a huge hole in 2 seperate bags of girls either side of me, they were even heard commiting the crime but not by me as i was sound asleep.
The fourth day i was up at 7.45am had a rubish breakfast and claimed a hammock to read bok in, not such a good day really as it was windy and cloudy and i still didnt know the weekends footy scores yet, that evening the food sank to a new low after the Kava ceromony which is some crap drink that tastes like muddy water and dosent even get you drunk, just makes the toungue ever so slightly numb for a few seconds, anyway the food was traditional Fijian and by god was it bad, the soup before it was ok and thats basically all most
Sunset
Was having that cocktail on the last night when i took this people ate that night, after that i had a few beers and was in bed nby 11pm.
The morning of my fifth day was spent eagerly awaiting the boat to my next island, i got talking to a Brazillian girl (hubba hubba) which sure made the time pass quicker. The boat ride was excellent as seas were really rough and im easily pleased, when i arrived at the next island called Sanarai i was reunited witha couple of lads who were doing the same thing as me (The Tropical Awegasm) but were a day ahead of me, this island looked the nicest of the lot but it turned out the resort was a 15 minute walk to the other side of the island where the beach and sea was covered in volcanic rock that had been blown over from some recent eruption, it was reallyy windy here too. The day was spent playing cards and some variation on volley ball we dreamt up as we were to sh*t to play the original. The staff here were great and the food although still average was better than Kuata, had a decent day all in all.
My sixth day was
View from my hammock
Also on the last island odd, after breakfast everyone else was leaving to go to some other islands, so i was left all alone fully confident there would be a boat load of new arrivals like every other island, but oh no, not a sodding person turned up and by god was i bored, things got worse when i finished the book and the MP3 player died on me, so i headed of to the nice side of the island for a few hours hoping that maybe some people would be dropped of on the Flyers return leg, nope, when i got back i was still alone, i felt a bit like Tom Hanks seing as Castaway was filmed just south of here but i couldn't even find the volley ball!! Not to worry, i was invited to join a Kava ceremony - oh joy. So the evening was spent drinking Kava til i my stomach was bursting (i was convinced it had to actually do something to you if you drank enough but it didn't) while watching Xena Warrior Princess followed by Shortland Street and some rubbish documentary about Fiji's weed culture. This island only had a generator on for maybe 5 hours a
Sunset
This was took on the Yasawa Flyer just before we arrived back at port, im quite proud of it. day and the light in the dorms was from a single oil lantern.
Day 7 i had to wait untill half 11 for the boat to pick me up as i was getting further up the islands, when that time came i left for my next island called Coral View, there were people here!!!! This place was also really windy and it was another cloudy day but at least it was fairly modern compared to the last one. I ended up playing Monopoly with a lad and a few girls who i spent most of my time with, i won by the way. The food was better again, at night we played pool and had afew beers.
Day 8 all i did was lay in a hammock and soak up some rays but it was still really windy, the dinner was a fish one and after that i got quite drunk. I woke up early in the morning with a desperate urge to dash to the toilet - that'll be the fish then.
Day 9 its fair to say id felt better, had to get up and check out by 9am so i dragged my ass to a comfy sofa in the lounge area and fell asleep there for a few hours more, skipped lunch. The boat arrived around half 12 as this was one of the outermost islands, and the ride in the little tender boat to the Flyer actually made me feel ten times better. Next stop was the Wana Taki Cruise back down the chain of islands which is basically a boat moored in a bay that sometimes sails a few miles down to another bay if your lucky, so not really a cruise if were honest. Managed to eat a decent lunch but was in bed by 8pm.
Day 10 and i didnt awake untill about 6am, the bay the boat was in is popular for swimming with Manta Rays and they are usually spotted early hence the 6am wake up call, but i didnt go and slept another hour untill breakfast, the old appetite was back and i felt normal again. The day was spent lazing around the boat and playing some cards, you could snorkell and kayak but i was getting a bit tired of the same old activities, also there was a dvd player and in the dorm area so we watched Love Actually and The Road To Perdition. Another early night as there was nothing to do after 9pm.
Day 11 i skipped the Manta Rays again thinking id do that on my last day in the islands, watched a Beautifull Mind which was better than id expected, didnt do much ecept a few more beer and some more cards. There wasnt alot to do on the boat but i had my first hot showers here in 10 days and it was relaxing.
Day 12 my last day in the islands. I was transferred to Manta Ray Bay resort which was actually only 400 yards rom where the Wana Taki was, did some more snorkelling here but it was well worth it, the coral was amazing and there were so many fish it was crazy. This was the best place id stayed, the most built up and the cleanest and the food was excelent, also i found a cocktail that was the business and i didnt have to worry about money cos you could pay for drinks with your card if you wanted. Got some good pics of the sunset.
Day 13 i managed to get up early and go swiming with Manta Rays, it was well worth it and they are biger than id expected although it was not easy to keep up with them, by the time you went where where the guide said they were they had passed but at least i saw 2 up close and one in the distance. After that we headed back for breakfast and i had another lazy morning with a new book, had another of them cocktails before lunch, both were really god and then it was on the Flyer heading back to the Mainland, there was another free bus laid on which took me directly to the place id booked and the place everyone must book into after the islands. That evening i went for a mexican meal with a woman id met a few times in the islands an American guy she had met and 2 girls she had also met from Workington! Had a decent evening but i had to be up at 6 to head to the airport so was in bed by midnight.
So that was my time in Fiji, nice as it was i doubt i'll go back as there is not enough to do to keep you entertained and some of the places you can stay go beyond primitive, did meet some decent people though all of which share my feeling on the place.
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kev w
non-member comment
The place looks great, glad your having a good time enjoy.