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28/10/10
After arriving in Fiji and resetting our watches we quickly realised we had lost a full day. This is because whilst flying from LA to Fiji we passed over the international date line, which means instead of being 8 hours behind like in LA we were now 12 hours in front. I'm not going to lie I was very confused for days after this. Since we had just arrived early in the morning we decided to spend the day chilling by the beach at the hostel.
29/10/10 - 30/10/10
Since Fiji is such a beautiful place we just spent the next few days relaxing on the beach and catching up on some well needed rest after all the partying in San Diego. The Highlights included seeing a Fijian band called The Kavaholics, they play some funny music and drink a local drink called Kava. Kava does not have alcohol in it and it is made from ground up pepper plants and water, but it has a wierd affect on the Fijian's making them very relaxed and sleepy. Kirsty and I tried a bowl but it just tasted like muddy water. We also took a trip into Nadi town for some supplies before we went Island Hopping. The town was very small and a bit smelly but we got what we needed and left. However that night we decided to treat ourselves and got Lobster for dinner it was huge and we struggled to eat the full thing between us, but it was absolutely amazing.
31/10/10
Today we set off on our Island Hopping tour and the first stop was Coral View resort which was a 5 hour boat ride away. The boat ride passed relitively quickly since we got talking to other people who were making the same trip. Once we arrived at the resort we were met by the local friendly fijian staff singing to us as we got off the boat onto the island. This was very nice and something we had never seen before. After lunch we went snorkling around the reef and we saw some amazinbg sights like brightly coloured fish and a huge bright blue star fish which was very cool. We then spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know the other people on the island and after dinner the locals sang songs and danced for us, before we played some party games and had lots of fun with everyone. The following day we went on a cave swimming trip on one of the other islands. It was amazing but scary at the same time, since we were swimming in this cave that was pitch black and the only light we could see was coming from the tour guides torch. Everybody enjoyed it and there were 2 young kids aged about 5 and 7 just diving about not caring about anything, whislt some of the adults were panicing a little at points it was really funny to see.
2/11/10
Today we left Coral View and went to White Sandy Beach, this resort was different because it was a small family run resort but the people made us feel really welcome. Since we were now travelling in a group with different people we had met at Coral view, it was nice to be on a small resort where we could get to know them a little better. After dinner each country was to get into groups and make up a wee performance to entertain the others. This was fun as each country did something different and it also got everybody loosened up before the local Fijian men did some dancing for us all. To say the ladies were impressed would be an understatement. The fact that their jaws were hitting the floor as these guys danced in nothing but grass skirts was proof enough that they were enjoying themselves. After this we played some more party games and I got to unliesh some of my now legendary dance moves to the local fijians and the other travelers. After this we then sat on the beach with a bonfire relaxing and chatting some more. However whilst getting ready for bed I opeded the bathroom door, turned on the light only to be confronted by a massive cockroach. So after the initial shock it was time to put on my hunting cap and try and catch the little bliter. However since we were on a little island once the last person leaves the barthey turn off the generator for the electricity. So just as I was about to catch the monster, bang the lights go out. So after some searching Kirsty got her torch out and myself and Danny one of the other boys in the dorm began hunting the roach again. However he was very quick which made it very hard for us to catch him. Finally after some chasing he ran down the plug hole of the shower, so we just put the plug over the hole and went to bed.
The next day we did some more snorkling and played some volleyball with the locals. It was a pretty chilled out relaxed day. Kirsty and a few of the other girls headed to the local village. Here, they were greeted by the chief of the village where a traditional Kava welcoming ceromony was performed. There were also some local women selling jewllery in what was called a 'shell market'. One of the locals took them on a tour of the village and there was even a visit to the primary school where the children sang songs and performed traditional dances for us. Kirsty's fav. was 'the wheels on the bus'! They were all so cute! It was so interesting to see how the villege people live - they live off the land and are very welcoming and friendly all the time! Everyone always seems to be laughing or having a good time no matter what kind of work they have to do!
At night there was some entertainment from the Fijian men, which the ladies didn't complain about since they were all very toned with their six packs etc...etc... However after my dance moves from the previous night the lady who ran the resort was desperate to see if I had anymore moves to show her so again during the party games I had to pull out some more moves to impress her, but we all had a great night and again we sat round the bonfire chatting untill late in the night.
4/11/10
Today we left White Sandy Beach resort to go to Wayalailai Island but before we left the ladies were trying to convince us to stay for another night since they had had so much fun with us all. We spent only one night here as we were due to be on another island to celebrate one of the girls we had met 21st birthday's. We did have lots of fun on Wayalialia playing volleyball, swimming in the sea and I even managed to sneak in a game of rugby with the Fijian's which was brilliant. The next day before we left for Beachcomer island we went on a snorkling trip out to a reef in the middle of the ocean. This is were we got to snorkle with sharks aagghhh!!!! It was so much fun though and the sharks swam so close to us and the local guides were feeding them and grabbing onto them it was crazy !!! Along with the sharks there were many other types of fish and marine life that were so colourful.
5/11/10
After the snorkling it was time to get on the boat and head to Beachcomber known as the party island, and party we did. As it was the last night for some of the group we had met everybody was in a good mood and well up for having a great time. So lots of drinks were drunk and lots of dancing was done over the course of the night making it a fantastic way to end the trip for some of the people who were leaving the next day. The following day there were a few sore heads and one of the girls who had to get the early boat had lost her camera and nearly missed the boat since she over slept lol. So a nice we relaxing day on the beach in the sun was had before more of our friends joined us to celebrate Georgie's 21st Birthday. Once they guys who were leaving had gone and our other friends had arrived we spent the afternoon into evening having great fun just doing silly things. After dinner Gerogie's cake arrived and after some nice pictures of her and the cake, one of the girls put her face right in the cake, it was so funny. This started an all out food fight and nobody was safe. Everybody ended up covered in cream and sponge from the cake before being covered in sand just to make it that bit extra disgusting :). After the fight had calmed down it was time to get showered and ready for the party at night, again more dancing and drinking was done to celebrate the passing of a very important birthday. We also got to see some Fijian fire dancing which was very cool but looked very dangerous.
7/11/10
After the last 2 days being all about the partying it was time to relax in a nice resort and that resort was Octopus Island. It was by far the nicest island we were on in terms of facilities and food. It was like a 5 star resort at a budget price. It had air conditioned rooms, a swimming pool, a massive sun bed, and the food was amazing. The first night we arrived the choir from the local church came and sang to us all, which was really really nice and their singing was beautiful. Then after dinner it was movie night so we just relaxed and watched a movie with some popcorn. The next day Georgie and the rest of the gang were joining us as they weren't ready for the boat the previous day. Today it was one of the guys 27th birthday that we had met, so it would be nice to spend his birthday with him aswell. Before they arrived Kirsty and I did some more snorkling on the reef. Although we have been snorkling before it still amazes us all the different fish and marine life that is swimming about down there. Kirsty did get freaked out when one tiny little fish kept following her. Wwe saw a whole school of fish just swimming around us and big fish feeding off the coral it was awesome. That night after dinner and some cake for Ben's birthday we had International Crab Racing. This is where everybody picks a crab and races them off against each other. My crab was called Colin and he made it past the 1st round into the semi-finals. As the race started wee Colin took off to a flying start heading for the outer ring which was the finish line, but disaster struck as Colin was almost over the line he decided to turn around and head back to the middle of the circle much to my annoyance. I later found out the one of the guys in our group had spilt an alcoholic drink into Colin's glass making him drunk. Ben's birthday was a lot quieter than Georgie's but he still had a good time and we all enjoyed ourselves.
9/11/10
After leaving Octopus we went to Kuata resort which was much more basic that Octopus but still had its own charms. We went fishing when we arrived and after an hour and a half in very rough sea's we had caught nothing but the guide had caught 4 fish. At one point he was realing in a huge fish and we were all getting very excited to see what it was and as he got it close to the surface the fish snapped his whole line off. After the disappointment of the fishing trip the girls soon cheered up at the mention of more traditional dancing and they weren't disappointed. These guys were very toned and had perfect six packs and danced well, making us average Joe's feel very self conscious. The dancing was excellent and the entertainment was good but once it was over everybody else seemed to head off to bed leaving just us chatting and laughing about all the things that had happened so far on the trip.
10/11/10
Today we left Kuata and headed back Wayalialia and since it was only across the bay the staff of Kuata offered to take us across in their small boat which was very kind of them. However the sea was pretty rough and when we landed at the other side 2 of the girls got up to get off the boat and nearly fell in the sea which was hilarious. When the men of the island seen this they came running to the females rescue and just lifted all the girls off the boat, whislt Ben and I were left to fend for oursleves. The group just relaxed in Hamocks and in the sun for the rest of the day but I did managed to get another game of rugby with the locals before dinner which again was fantastic. At night we all got involved in a traditional Kava ceramony and chatted since this was our last night together as a group.
11/11/10
Sadly today we had to say our good byes to the rest of the group as they were heading back to the mainland before catching their flight to Austrailia and we were heading off to Mantaray island. The island is very relaxed and chilled out so that is all Kirsty and I did for the first day. The second day Kirsty made a lovely braclet out of a coconut and weaved a nice basket from palm tree leaves. We then went snorkling again since Mantaray was supposed to have the best snorkling out of all the islands and it didn't disappoint at all.
13/11/10 - 16/11/10
After arriving back from the islands we had a lot of smelly clothes, so the first thing we did we get all of our clothes washed, even the ones we didn't wear because they smelt just as bad as they were in the same bag. The weather wasn't great over these days so we mainly just chilled out, watching movies and T.V. However one day we went into Nadi to visit the indian temple it was very colourful and cool. We never got inside because we weren't wearing the right clothes but it was nice just to see it.
17/11/10
Today we set out for a week long trip to Robinson Crusoe Island. This is where the local islanders perform shows like fire dancing, knife throwing/dancing, walking across hot coals, and the ladies perform some of the local dances as well. With the package we got a free massage thrown in so Kirsty and I took full advantage of this before we had dinner. As this is the first proper massage i've ever had it was a bit wierd to begin with but very relaxing once I got into it. Kirsty loved hers. Then it was time for dinner and the show. The show was fantastic with the performers putting in so much effort to their costumes and performance, everybody loved it and it was really exciting.
18/11/10
Today was a day for topping up the tan, so we just lay on the beach and basked in the glorious sunshine for the day. At lunch since there was a day cruise in we got to watch the islanders perform again, but this time the show was completely different but still very entertaining. As it was only a day cruise all the invaders left at 4 o'clock leaving just the few people who were staying and the islanders. This gave us a chance to really get to know them over a few bowls of Kava. They made us feel really welcome and we had a great night.
19/11/10
This was a day off for the islanders from doing shows and entertaining guests as there were no visitors coming to the island. However the islanders were still more than happy to keep all of us who were staying on the island entertained. So we went snorkling in the morning to a really nice reef out in the ocean and after lunch they took us on a boat trip to the seventh best beach in the world. It was an amazing beach with white sand and clear blue sea, we could see why it was ranked so high. We chilled on the beach for a while and did some more snorkling' which again was brilliant we got to see so many different types of fish and marine life. Again that night we chilled with the locals and some how they managed to get us to agree to dress up like them for the visitors that would be coming in the following day.
20/11/10
We spent the day with the other islanders making Kava bowls (the guys did) whilst the girls made jewlery out of coconut's and shells from the beach. It was a lot of fun but sanding the coconuts was hard work by the end. Later in the day just before the night cruise people arrive we all got dressed up in traditional Fijian dress to meet the people coming to the island. It was really funny to see the peoples reactions when they got off the boat and catching a look at the whitest fijian's they have ever seen. We then did the welcoming Kava ceremony with them and I was the Chief, whilst one of the other guys was the spokesman (my second in command). Once all the formalities were over we had dinner and sat down to enjoy the show. Again it was fantastic. After all the guests had left we got a chance to try the fire dancing but the poles were so hot when we were holding them that no dancing could have been done. Much respect has to be given to the guys that do the fire dancing it is amazingly hard.
21/11/10 - 22/11/10
These days were pretty much chilled out on the beach or Kayaking or playing some volleyball. We did get to get a laugh at some of the visitors that came in when we went to see the giant turtle on the island. The giant turtle was a guy hiding in a hole dug in the sand with a huge turtle shell place over the top. The fijian guy really built up the story telling them all about how the turtle came to be on the island, and how there used to be lots more of them. Then he got then in really close even letting them touch it and when everybody was really close the guy inside jumped up and gave everybody a fright. One chinese girl got such a fright that she jumped backwards and fell over almost going into the sea. It was hilarious !!!!
23/11/10
Today we left the island to head back to Nadi. We were very sad as we had met some really nice people on the island and everybody had made us feel really welcome. Once we arrived back in Nadi the weather wasn't that great so we did the domestic duties in preparation for our tip ound the mainland the following day.
24/11/10
Today we set out on our adventure round the main island, we decided just to do it on our own as this would be much cheaper than the Fiji experience tour company. However this did mean getting on local transport and we had been on the local bus before, it had no windows and basically garden furniture for seats but we were looking forward to it. In reality the buses that travel round the island were better than the local bus but not that much better. Our first stop was a place called Mango Bay but since we arrived later in the day we didn't really get a chance to do much. Although we did participate in the quiz which we came 3rd in, and considering there were only 3 of us in our team I think we did well. We also met some nice people and chatted to them for a while.
25/11/10
Today we were moving on further round the island but before we left we got to see Rangers play Mancherster United in the champions league. I actually thought Rangers with their tactics of 11 men behind the ball were going to earn a draw but sadly they gave away a penalty in the final minutes of the game. We then travelled round to Pacific Harbour and we stayed at a very nice resort called Uprising and it advertises as being a "flashpacker" resort meaning for the back packers with a bit of style. It was very nice but as we were moving round the island towards the rain forrest the weather was getting wetter and wetter. So inbetween the rain we managed a dip in the pool and some sun bathing. Although the food was very nice and the dorm room was amazing it was designed like a tree house, it took us back to being kids.
26/11/10 - 27/11/10
These days were spent in Fiji's capital city Suva, which is build in a tropical rain forrest and rain it did for the entire 2 days we were there. I'm not talking a little rain it absolutely chucked it down so we didn't get to do much. We explored the shops on the first day before heading up to our hostel. The second day we went to the museum to learn all about fijian history from the people who first settled in Fiji, to the tribes within the islands, to the well know 'cannobilistic tendencies' of these tribes, the trade that occurred within Fiji and even things like whale killing (which was common place here about 100years ago!) to the present day. Some of the stuff was really interesting and informative about how the fijian's used to live and provide for their families. Some of it was just plain crazy like eating other humans just cause they didn't like them or the chief told them to. We got to see old style canoes and boats they used to transport food and good to the market. We also got to look at fijian art and the different drawings that had been done over the years. After this we picked up some souviers before heading to the pictures to watch Due Date it was really funny and it killed the rest of the afternoon for us, which was good. We chilled out at night with a couple we met at Mango Bay who happened to be staying at the same place.
28/11/10 - 1/12/10
As a tropical storm warming had been placed over Fiji and the weather was so bad in Suva we decided to travel back to Nadi, since that is where our flight was leaving from and we didn't want to get stuck on the other side of the island. Once we got back to Nadi the weather got pretty bad, lots of rain, thunder and lightening, and high winds. Kirsty and I spent the last few days in the hostel since the local authority people were advising against going out and people were getting evacuated from the smaller islands to the mainland. We made the best of it by watching movies, playing cards and getting prepared for the next part of our adventure - AUSTRALIA!
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