Fiji - The Yasawa's

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After leaving the arts village we headed back to Nadi for a night, before catching the bus to the port to pick up the catamaran that was to take us to the Yasawa and Mamucca Islands. Laura is not a fan of boats and gets very sea sick, so the 5 hours it took to get to our first island was not a happy time for her.

The first island we went to was Nanuya Lailai and the Sunrise resort. This was a really nice resort where our Bure was very basic, but right on the beach. It was a very windy place as there is no land mass from this side of the island until you get to South America. Our first morning was spent at some awesome caves that we had to reach by boat. Laura didn't enjoy the boat journey and was throwing up over the side with the waves smashing in her face - the boat driver didn't even slow down. I was a bit worried as I was downwind, but I was lucky and escaped! We had to jump into the caves and then swim under water to get into the next one and so on. This involved swimming down quite deep and then across a few metres. To avoid coming up to early we had to follow the guide's flash light, which he held under the water for us to see. The water was really deep though, so no worries about getting snagged, but when you surfaced it was pitch black. Our guide then took Laura and I climbing in some other caves and we climbed through the rocks and had to go through a 'pregnancy' hole (old Fijian legend that pregnant people cannot fit through the hole) to see if either of us were pregnant. We passed the test!!

There was some good snorkeling on this island and we saw some amazing fish and coral. We also spent some time exploring the other side of the island which involved a trek through the centre and then walking back along the beach clambering over the rocks!
Our second island was Naviti and the Korovou Eco Tour Resort. Laura thought that because it had 'Eco' in the name it would mean 'no toilet role', but it turned out to be a really nice place and the setting of our engagement. I asked Laura to marry me at sunset on a secluded part of the beach (I had managed to shake her off for long enough to buy a shell ring which was fitting for the location and we are currently looking for the real thing in NZ). On the night of our engagement we actually danced with different partners in a dancing competition (musical statues!!), where i came second and Laura got out of it by deliberately moving and getting disqualified.

I went snorkeling the next day looking for manta ray (Laura wasn't up for more sea sickness on the boat ride out to sea so didn't come) and this was incredible. We didn't see any rays, but the fishes and coral that we did were just like you'd imagine them to be - awesome!!

Our last island that we visited was in the Mamucca islands and was called Bounty Island. This too was used for the first Celebrity Love Island TV program, but unlike Laura i have no idea who won this!! This was also a really nice place, where we chilled in the sun and I took part in a Kava Ceremony! The next day we helped to feed and clean out the turtles that they breed in captivity on the island. This was good fun and helped to take my mind off my pounding head.

We then sailed back to the mainland and our last day in Fiji involved a trip into Nadi for some souvenirs and a hair cut, before flying out to New Zealand.

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Comments

[Anna]

CONGRATULATIONS
many congratulations you two! I'm thrilled for you and it brings back memories of Rhod and I getting engaged. I'm impressed with the shell ring Laura - don't know why you're looking for another one personally! I've been so rubbish at keeping up with your blog but it is so nice to read it all in one go! You look like you're having the time of your life. I loved the blackwater tubing despite looking like an idiot in that fetching all in one wetsuit! Well, continue enjoying yourselves. I hear you're meeting up with Neil and Lenka at Xmas. How jealous am I??? Anna x x