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Fiji
Passing over the international date line from LA to Fiji meant that we left at 11.30pm on the 3rd of November but landed at 5am on the 5th but were only in the air for about 11 hours. Time travel IS possible!
Anyway, the sun was just rising as we landed on that Monday morning and was well on its way into the sky as we left the airport at around 7am. The heat was noticable even at that time in the morning. But instead of of whipping out the Soltan I decided to go for the insect-repellent; a decision that would later prove costly for my pale British skin.
We had pre-booked a pass which allowed us use of one of the large sea-cat type boats for the duration of our time in Fiji an island-hopping experience between the Yasawa group of small islands to the north of the main island. The boat set sail from the nearest harbour to the the airport to which we caught a shuttle bus. The booking and boarding and everything else was a very relaxed affair and we were apparently now on 'Fiji time'. Of this we would continue to be reminded.
eg. "Where's our taxi boat?"
"Don't worry it's coming. You're on Fiji time!"
"When is dinner?"
"Oh, around 5, 6, 7 or 8. Fiji time!"
It was around 8 or 9am when we got moving and the Sun was now beating down with real vigour. We decided to sit on the sundeck up top so we could see where we were heading and get some tropical island photos. After about an hour we felt like some liquid refreshments so cracked onto the local tipple Fiji Gold. Five tins later and I was napping in the searing heat, forgetting about my failure to apply adequate protection. By 1pm I was red.
Our first destination was called Kim's Place on an island right near the north of the group, a good 5 hours away on the boat. We got to the closest island where the main boat stopped and then had to get a taxi boat (a small tin fisherman-type boat) to the resort. This boat was supposed to be inclusive of the price but once we got to Kim's place and were greeted by a young lad of about 17 called Ben we were told we would have to pay the taxi boat people. Apparently Kim was not there when we arrived which is why Ben was there to greet us. The place was pretty much deserted with a few more resorts further down the beach. We mucked about for a bit on the beach with our LA volleyball and I ended up going to sleep around 6pm for 12 hours, missing dinner completely. The next day we decided not to stay at Kim's place again and head back south towards a resort called White Sandy Beach. We went for a walk on the island but it became reminiscent of the TV show Lost. Our jungle tracking skills weren't up to much so we decided to head back.
On the way to the next island at least four of our group of five discovered FJ$50 had been lifted from our wallets while at Kim's Place. Not such a large amount (only around 15 GBP) but when I only had $150 in total and no cash machine until we got back to the main island, it was a bit of a ball ache. Becky put a complaint in with the boat people but they didn't seem to give too much of a s***.
White Sandy Beach was a lot more organised and had a good coral beach at the back of the island which you had to give the locals a couple of dollars to access. Hired some snorkelling gear and went for a swim for a couple of hours. Got involved in some post-dinner Bula dance (Bula is another over used phrase, generally meaning "hello" but also meaning a number of other things I have no idea about). The Bula dance was pretty much the Macarena.
We stayed in White Sandy Beach for two nights then moved further south to Sunset Waya which was another really nice island which linked up with the neighbouring island at low tide. I stayed here for my last two nights. Played a bit of volleyball, walked over to the other island, did some more snorkelling and just chilled out in a hammock and read a book.
We got back on the big boat to head back to the main island for our last night in Fiji before an early flight to New Zealand. When we got back to the harbour there were a bunch of people trying to sell nights in Nadi, Taxi drivers trying to hustle some trade, fire jugglers doing whatever they were doing for whatever reason and many other people after your money. We caught our coach to the hotel, had a decent meal and an early night ready for our flight the next day.
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