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02/03/2010
Mana, the last island on our trip around Fiji, is located west from Bounty and the boat ride took around 30 minutes. As we came around the headland of Mana to view the sheltered bay and resort of Rata kini's we were greeted by the staff, and the majority of the guests, with a song and dance as we disembarked the speedboat.
Once again we got lucky with our accommodation as the dorm was full and we were upgraded to a 4 bed dorm with only us two in it.We arrived just as lunch was being served to sat down and tucked into some fried rice. The afternoon was spend relaxing on the beach and playing a spot of beach volleyball.
Dinner that night was another rice dish, but it filled us up and did the job. After dinner we were treated to some Fijian dancing and a spot of Kava - a Fijian drink made from the root of the Kava plant. It is served in large wooden bowls then dished out in coconut halves and passed around the group. It isn't the nicest tasting drink in the world and itleaves your mouth a little numb but it was all part of the Fiji experience. All Kava'd out we retreated to our room for an early night.
The next morning and up early for breakfast we put our names down for the boat trip to the Island used in the Tom Hanks film 'Castaway'. We set off, Steph and I and 4 others, in a speedboat to the Island of Monuriki, some 30 minutes away. Having stopped on the way to pay the villagers our landing fee we pulled up on the beach of the island and went for a walk. Our guide showed us how to skin a coconut and extract the milk and I had a go at doing myself - they make it look a lot easier than it is. After that we had a snorkel off the beach before boarding the boat again to take us around the island. Unfortunately the waves on the far side of the island where the majority of the filming took place were too rough for our small boat to go so we missed out on a lot of the cool stuff but it was still interesting to see the high rock where Hanks contemplated suicide and set foot on the island where it was filmed - with all of us trying to make our own 'Wilsons'. On our way back to Mana we stopped off at a natural sandbank in the middle of the ocean. It was amazing and the water of it was turquoise and crystal clear so we had a snorkel there too.
Back in time for lunch we settled down to homemade Fijian pizza and chips before going for a walk along the beach and across the island to sunset beach. It was really cool as we were the only people there so we relaxed in the warm shallow water for a while enjoying the peace and quiet. As we were walking back to our hostel a private jet landed on the airstrip as we walked passed which was cool to see before dropping off its rich guests and heading back to the mainland.
That evening the hostel held a Crab racing event. This was good fun and involved everyone bidding on 12 different hermit crabs and if that crab won any of the races then you win a prize. I managed to get a crab at a steal price of only F$4 but it was about the size of a pea and didnt stand much chance. I was hoping that it would finish last in the 3rd race and win the booby prize of two free beers. Unfortunately my crab didnt finish last or first in any of the races but it was good fun.
The next morning before our boat came to pick us up and take us back to the mainland to catch our flight to the LA Steph and I walked across the island to another TV set, this time the set of Survivor. The beach on the other side of the headland still had the some of the set remaining that was used for the TV program that was pretty cool to see.
Making it back in time to catch our boat we made the 45 minute trip back to the mainland and back to Drift Inn. We were kindly allowed to leave our bags there while we (me, Steph, Matt and Paul - two friends from the islands that turned out to be on our flight to LA) got a taxi into Nadi centre for some lunch and some souvenir shopping.
With our bags full and wallets empty of Fijian Dollars we made our way back to the hostel where they gave us dinner before getting a taxi to the airport for the next phase of our trip... The US of A.
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