Sadly, we left Vorovoro on 22nd July - the place that so quickly began to feel like home. Despite advice from others to extand our stay we decided that there was more to see on the mainland and stuck to our original leaving date. Lisa (tribal chief) told us that when in Vorovoro, ' the first week you settle in, the second week you enjoy, the third week you fall in love and the fourth week you extend your stay!' We think that if we hadn't of left when we did then she would have been right! Despite this we felt a little lost for the first few days after leaving....

So after tearful goodbyes made to the familiar sound of the Isa lei (farewell song) we boarded the boat for the last time. Our departure was some what exciting as it was a particularly windy day - Jone (boat captain) looked more that a bit nervous which wasn't a good sign! When we got round to the east side of the island we discovered why - it was rough and the waves were breaking over the bow. As we literally smashed through the waves we took to the air on a couple of occassions and then Jone decided to make an ealy exit into the mangroves where it was calm - phew!

After reaching the mainland safe and sound we took Jone & Namani for breakfast to thank them for all they'd done before doing some shopping. We then made our way to the bus station to catch the bus to Savusavu - to find it had no windows! Thank fully it was sunny, though if it had rained we could pull down the tarpaulin used to cover the windows - safe as houses!! After setting off it soon became apparant that it also had no suspension and no oil in the gear box. Our two and a half hour journey took us through some beautiful rural areas of Fiji and as Vorovoro faded into the distance we hoped we'd made the right decision.......

The hotel we stayed in at Savuavu had a lovely view over the marina and coastline and whilst it was a beautiful place there was very little to do there. The main attraction was a pearl farm but unfortunately they weren't due to start harvesting until a couple of weeks later which meant it wasn't worth doing the boat trip. They did have some natural hot springs there though - so hot that the local actually cooked in them! And washed their clothes in them - nothing it not resourceful the Fijains! So we spent much of our time in Savusavu catching up on some much needed sleep in a proper bed without a mosquito net - it was bliss.

After a few days we flew back to Nadi as we couldn't get a flight to Suva. It was the smallest plane ever (see photo) and I was terrified about getting on it - well maybe not terrified but a little anxious to say the least. Checking in was fun - like checking into a garden shed and the departure gate was even funnier - take a look at the photo. It sums Fiji up to a tee! Fortunately it turned out to be the most amazing flight as we saw so much of the beautiful coral reefs and the island on the way - in fact I think it was during this flight that I fell in love with Fiji - Lisa was right, the third week!!

Once in Nadi we organised a place to stay for a couple of nights whilst we planned the next two weeks. After a couple of days relaxing on the beach (and planning) we headed off to Sigatoka and stayed in a little village nearby called Korotonga. We took a walk through the NP in Sigatoka - the main attraction was the sand dunes which were pretty amazing.

The following day we got back on the bus and off to the Coral Coast - one of the most beautiful parts of Fiji. We stayed in a resort called Mango Bay (highly recommend) in a safari tent thanks to a free upgrade (see photos). It's called a 'flashpacker' resort as it's better that a backpacker resort but not a fully blown holiday resort. Back home we'd call it glamping! We spent the first day snorkelling and playing volleyball before relaxing at the bar. Whilst snorkelling we saw some pretty big fish. about 2ft long - I nearly choked on my snorkel! The second day we took a double kayak out and went round to the next resort 'Beachouse' aka 'Celebrity Love Island'. We had a lazy lunch before pottering back to our beach to top up the tan. We saw a sea snake on the way - apparantly they can kill you if they bite but it's pretty rare. Incidentally Fiji means 'land of the sea snake' - o so Phil the dive guy told us??

After Mango Bay we headed to Coro-I-Suva which is just outside the "city" of Suva (more like a large town). We stayed in Raintree Lodge - so called as it's on the edge of the rain forest. We took a walk through the forest where we passed some waterfalls and deep water pools, the water was crystal clear water but too deep to see the bottom. It was a nice contrast to the beaches. We also tried our hand at line fishing in the lake but to no avail.

We spent alot of our time in Suva itself either shopping (window of course) or in the cinema. We were so excited to see a cinema that we watched two films - the new Harry Potter film which was amazing and then a 50p budget 3D horror called Scar. Thankfully it was so cheap it didn't matter - approx two quid a ticket!

After Suva we took a three and a half hour bus journey, five min taxi ride and fifteen minute boat ride to Nananu-I-Ra Island. A beautiful island off the NE coast of Vitu Levu with only a handful of small resorts. We stayed in a little beach hut at the end of the pontoon and almost on the beach, where we fell asleep at night to the sound of the waves lapping the shore - paradise. The view from the island was like a Microsoft screen saver - white beach, blue sky, crystal clear sea and green mountains. We spent our days there feeding fish off the pontoon, reading, relaxing in the hammocks, snorkelling and kayaking. Same thing, different place, but hard to get bored of.

One day we fed the fish for over an hour and were able to get in with a mask and snorkel and witness the feeding frenzy up close - the most fantastic experience. We also managed to attract a much bigger fish (about 1m long) which stalked the smaller fish before attacking and disappearing - we think we were pretty lucky to witness that as we never saw anything like it again. We also saw garfish that leaped out of the water and skitted along the surface on their tails - we're not sure why but think it might have been a warning or something similar. Later that day we took out a kayak and tried our hand at line fishing (again) - we caught a few small fish but returned them thinking they were too small. The ladies from the kitchen later told us that we shoudl have brought them in

The following day we hired a man and a boat to go fising on the outer reefs - we had a great day and caught a fair few fish but nothing much bigger than we caught the day before. Just being out on the boat and catching anything was pretty exhilarating though1 Mark was pleased as he took the biggest fish home and gutted it before cooking it for tea. We'd definitely recommend a trip out to the island for anyone who visits Fiji and if we are ever lucky enough to return we'll be heading back for sure.

So now we're back in Nadi and just days away from flying to New Zealand for the next leg of the tour. The last five weeks have flown by and despite the windowless buses, sharks and seak snakes we have well and truly fallen in love with Fiji and it's people. It is a very special place that we are desperate to return to in the future, before having even left. It truly is paradise..................................