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The next day we had a coach transfer to the Denarau Marina where we got onboard our boat for our 4 hour 30 minute trip up to our island resort in the Blue Lagoon. We had thought it might get a bit boring on the way up but it was actually a really nice trip because the boat got really close to all the islands we passed and stopped at loads to let people on and off, so we got loads of photos - we even saw some flying fish. All of the islands looked beautiful, like desert islands where people get marooned in films, and we were getting pretty excited to get to ours. We were the last stop on the journey north, and when we finally got off the boat onto the island we were greeted with a traditional welcome song and a fruity drink, which was a great indicator that we were going to have an amazing time. We unpacked and quickly went to the restaurant for lunch (all our meals are included so no cooking for us for once). After lunch we had a quick nap then went to book onto some activities - a shark dive for Thursday and a village visit for Friday - and then went to relax by the pool before dinner. The next day we were up bright and early ready for our shark dive - we were both really excited, but I started to think that we were a bit crazy for deciding to go diving with huge sharks without a cage! But once we got in the water we both calmed down and began to really love the experience. We started off descending down the mooring line to a coral bommie, and when we got down we settled ourselves on the bottom to take in our surroundings - just out infront of us were 4 or 5 huge bull sharks (which are notorious in Australia for being aggresive) - I thought I would be scared but they were so graceful swimming in the water and didn't take the slightest bit of interest in us (which I think everyone was glad of!). While we were watching them some whitetip reef sharks came up quite close to us so we got a really good look at them, but luckily they are tiny so are no problem for us. We watched the bull sharks for a while, then set off to swim around the coral, which had loads of tropical fish to look at including clown fish (Nemo!) and a huge lobster. While we were swimming around we saw a grey reef shark, which is a medium sized shark, and then out in the depths we saw a huge 4-5m bull shark swimming around. Again it took absolutely no notice of us, but it was so impressive to see it in its natural environment. When it was time to surface we both wanted to stay down longer, and I am definitely nowhere near as scared of sharks as I was before! Back at the resort we relaxed a bit before lunch, then in the afternoon we borrowed some flippers to go snorkelling on the reef infront of the resort. It is only metres from the beach, so we walked in and had a swim around - the reef was damaged in a cyclone last year, so a lot of the soft coral is gone, but there is still loads to see - the hard coral is still there, other corals are growing back and there are loads of tropical fish which are brightly coloured and really nice to look at. In the evening we decided to treat ourselves to cocktails at the beach bar, and enjoyed them while watching the beautiful sunset over the sea. After our buffet dinner we were treated to a bonfire on the beach complete with fire spinners, so we stayde out for a while to watch that before going to bed to have a well deserved sleep! The next day, after our first lie in in over a week, we managed to get some sun loungers on the beach where we stayed reading our books before going to the pool to get some shade. In the afternoon we went on a trip to the village of Nacula, which is about a 10 minute boat ride from the resort and is where all of the staff live. We started off visiting the Ratu Meli Memorial School, which is the only primary school on the island and teaches children from all 4 villages. We were treated to singing and dancing from the children which was great to watch - some of the dancing was hilarious, and it's safe to say that twerking hasn't passed this island by! We then took a walk through the village, which seems to be fairly poor because lots of people haven't been able to fix their homes yet following last years cyclone. We went to the main square to see the chiefs house and the village church, before having a look through the local market to buy souvenirs from the local women. It was really great to visit, and made us feel quite humble because we certainly have nothing to complain about living in Guernsey compared to the people here, and they all seemed happy. Back at the resort we were treated to a traditional Fijian Meke - singing and dancing to welcome us to the island. We were given flower garlands and then the villagers sang us songs, before inviting us to join in the dancing with them - it was really fun! After we'd worked up an appetite we were ready for our 3 course dinner, and in the evening we took part in the crab racing. The resort staff collected hermit crabs from the beach and we had a race to see which crab could leave the circle first - we were crab number 2, and our crab managed to get to the final before being beaten, which we were pretty happy with. Saturday was time for another lie in, and then in the morning we borrowed a kayak from the resort and went out to explore the lagoon. We ended up drifting a bit further than we'd planned, but we got to see loads of the reef and the water was so clear we could see the fish swimming beneath us - all within a few hundred metres of the beach! After we'd tired ourselves out paddling we relaxed by the pool with our books until lunch. In the afternoon I was planning on reading my book while Joel went snorkelling, but after around 10 minutes he came up to tell me he'd seen an octopus out on the reef! I rushed to get my snorkelling gear and we went back to try to find it, but it must have hidden or swum away because I didn't manage to see it - I still enjoyed seeing all the fish though. Back on dry land we went to the traditional Fijian Tea Party, where we had pancakes with a coconut sauce and local tea, which tasted really good. A bit later on we joined the resort band to take part in a traditional Kava Ceremony - this is a traditional Fijian drink which is offered to welcome you. We had to clap, say 'bula' (hello), then drink the Kava, before handing the cup back, clapping 3 times and saying 'matha' (thank you) - then we were welcomed to Fiji. The drink is made from the powdered roots of a local plant, which doesn't taste amazing but it wasn't too strong thankfully. We even had a second cup, at which point we stopped because it was making us feel a bit tired (the drink is known for its sedative effects!), then we went to enjoy another 3 course meal in the restaurant - the food here is definitely making up for the lack of food we ate in New Zealand! On our last day we decided to do some more snorkelling on the reef in front of the resort. We went in straight after breakfast and, because it was still quite early, we saw loads more fish than we had the last times we went - there were loads of fish out eating from the coral and we could get really close to them. We swam all the way along the edge of the reef and finally, right at the end, we saw the octopus! It was hiding in amongst some rocks, but we could swim down to it to get a closer look, and we even saw it changing colour, I was really happy about seeing it! When we'd had enough we got out of the sea and relaxed on sun loungers on the beach (we'd finally managed to get some good ones because we reserved them early enough), and we stayed there until it was time for lunch. After lunch we moved to sit by the pool so that we could be in the shade, then a bit later we went back in the sea for some more snorkelling. There were less fish around because it was mid-afternoon, but there were still loads of things to see - we found the octopus again, and on our way back to the beach we saw a lion fish and a puffer fish! Back on dry land we had some more drinks while watching the sunset (beautiful as it always is here), then in the evening we watched the local choir from Nacula village who had come to sing hymns - they were really good! Once they were finished it was time for our last evening meal here - BBQ, with coconut cake and trifle for dessert. We've had a really great time here and don't really want to leave, but we're excited to go to Hawaii in a couple of days so it's not like we don't have anything to look forward to!
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