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FIJI TIME!!
Fiji is awesome. We arrived at 6.00am and sat down with a tourist guide and
decided where to go. we eventually decided on Mana Island...a backpacker island which is cheaper and more chilled than the really popular ones (we basically wanted the cheapest place to go - always embarrassing). We then got a taxi to the beach
where we sat and had breakfast and waited for our boat. The boat (a tiny little 6
seater thing) arrived at 10 and we set off past the other islands for Mana (when asked when it would leave we were told 9 o'clock Fiji time which was later explained could mean any time during the day). We pulled up onto the beach of a paradise island and the Fijians sang us a welcome song. Our room (a little private hut with a balcony) was lovely and the people at the hostel were all so great. We spent
seven days on mana and loved every minute of it. Every evening there was some
kind of show by the Fijians...either Fijian dancing, Polynesian dancing, hermit crab
races and fire dancing and then after the shows we drank at the bar...the only one on the island so everyone was always there. In the day we sunbathed, snorkelled (the snorkelling was amazing, you could literally swim off the beach to reefs that were as good as any dive site. We must have snorkelled at least 3 hours every day trying to touch the bottom and stir up the sting rays, finding moray eels hidden in the coral and trying, very unsuccessfully to snorkel around the island! We also did a few dives. One, named the supermarket, was a shark encounter where we saw three different types of shark- grey reef and black and white tips. It was an old shark feeding site and once we had descended to the bottom the sharks started circling us expecting food which was awesome because it was so scary. They were only small but looked very menacing when the circle you. Later in the dive I got the fright of my life when we carried on diving past this coral formation which a couple of the smaller sharks still following us, one came out of the coral about 1/2m from my face and made me reel backwards bumping into Danni! We alsodived round a coral pinnacle which had the most amazing variety of corals and fish including lots of nemo's. On our last dive Aidan got a leak in his BCD and had loads of air one minute and then none the next. luckily we weren't deep and it was nearly the end of the dive anyway but when we were at 10m he was actually on 0!! It was all ok though because I had loads of air left to give him if he needed it before we surfaced. Also on that dive a remora (a sucker fish that usually sticks to the underside of sharks) took a fancy to me and ended up sticking to my thigh while I was diving! It was near impossible to get of the pesky thing. On the way back from the dives we saw some dolphins jumping out the water in the distance which was also amazing. The sunsets were also beautiful most evenings so after a hard day of sunbathing, snorkelling, playing vollyball and making coconut jewellery we sat and chilled on Sunset beach and watched the sun go down.
There was a litter of puppies and two kittens at our hostel that I fell in love with...obviously!! Even if they were a bit flea ridden! We loved Mana island so much that we stayed 3 days longer and would have stayed more if we had had more time.
After Mana Island we set off for Walu Beach on Mololo Island for my birthday. Walu Beach is a lot more posh than Mana and more of a proper resort but we managed to get it really cheap due to our brilliant power of bargaining and a little help from our Fijian friends on Mana!! The beach front upgrade when we arrived just topped it all off. We had our own little beach front bure (hut) with a sitting room, bedroom and en-suite with a hot shower....it was three months since we had had a hot shower so that was awesome! Three meals were included in the price and the food was lovely. It was very chilled there and we spent our time reading by the pool or in hammocks on the beach and sunbathing and on my birthday we went kayaking around the shore and out to a little deserted island. In the evening we drank cocktails whilst watching the sunset, then chilled at the bar and joined in the welcoming ceremony and dranks lots of kava which is a traditional Fijian drink that tastes like muddy water!! Its pretty gross and it makes your tongue go numb! After mololo we headed to the mainland, I really didn't want to leave the islands, it really is like living in paradise. We headed for Pacific Harbour which is on the coral coast of Vitu Levu (mainland Fiji) where it rains a lot more. Not loving the rain! We stayed in the Arts Village, which is a tourist attraction really, with lots of little craft shops and cafes and a hostel with an awesome pool and bar. The problem was, that due to the military coup which is happening in Fiji at the moment, tourism, on the mainland at least, is 70% down so the whole place was dead. We had a good time though. We met some Aussie builders one night and had a great time at the pool bar and messing around on the flume etc.. going down backwards whilst trying to keep your drink upright. All good fun! We spent three nights there, and one of the days we did the shark feeding dive, which was crazy! …………
Basically you dive down 30m and lye on the floor and watch some crazy Fijian feeding huge 4m bull sharks by hand! It was one of the most amazing experiences ever, it is very humbling being so close (just a metre or so) to such huge and powerful animals. It is also terrifying and I was shaking the entire time!! They also fed reef sharks and nurse sharks and there were hundreds of huge fish as well. At one point one the bull sharks went for the feeder and he had to give it a couple of uppercuts to send it on its way - I couldn't believe it. The feeder didn't bother to where chain mail because there was no point as the sharks if they wanted to would just go straight through it! The feeders were very big on the sharks having the own personalities and they felt perfectly safe knowing all of the them, naming them and knowing the traits. They also thought they were protected by a shark god! The sharks are apparently quite clever and will only accept food from certain people. There were 2 feeders and one always wore a black hood and one a yellow. Certain sharks would only take food off one or the other of the feeders. When the feeders swapped hoods the sharks would recognise this and would only take food off the same feeder and be deterred by the change in hood (I don't know whether they are colour blind?). It was definitely one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done in my life.
Our next stop was at a very quiet hostel half way back to Nadi (the main city). We just spent two nights there and did more sunbathing, went for walks on the beach and played monopoly. Then it was back to Nadi for one night before our flight to New Zealand.
Sorry this has taken so long coming, but we are just having too much fun. We will try and keep you posted about our future travels a bit better.
Aidan is italics
Danni is normal
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