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Two weeks have absolutely flown by in Fiji but it felt like I was there for two months (in a good way of course). Got a great Hawaian style welcome with singing band minus the flowers hehe but what a warm welcome! Noticed straight away how friendly everyone is and all sporting big colgate smiles. Got to the hostel which was next to the flaming runway so the whole place rattled & hummed when a 747 took off for LA in the evening but it was a lovely little place, cheap & cheerful!
The next day I took an express bus down the Queen's Highway connecting Nadi to Suva stopping off at a resort in the middle of the Coral Coast called the Beachouse (which featured in Love Island). It was a stunning ride down and got a good look and feel for Fiji. Got to the beachouse and there was hardly anyone there, thought great this is gonna be a good bday.. however as soon as afternoon tea and free scones came out everyone suddenly appeared! Made a lot of friends quickly and needless to say my birthday was spent with some lovely people, both tourists & locals. Caught back end of Manc derby too but got bloody time difference wrong so only caught last 5 mins of match doh! THe weather was hot hot hot and chilled in hammocks before heading for a massage. Straight after the massage it was onto the beers and we caught a stunning sunset in the evening.
THere was plenty to do down there and the surf waves were pretty darn high so didn't go out as far as the reef where the waves were breaking but snorkelled & kayaked which was nice. We went on a jungle trek but the previous evening it poured down so we started off in flip flops but ended up native style barefoot as it was far too muddy (after that hardly used flip flops at all for remainder of Fiji time). We cleared up the mud when we reached the waterfalls which weren't as bloody freezing as normal ones, Fiji falls! Soon got used to Fiji time too, dinner is served whenever, whenever hehe. Went to a local village to drink Kava, what all Fijians drink at night to chillout bit like we would do back home in the pub, it tastes like s*** and its not nicknamed grog for no reason, feel groggy as next day if have enough of it! We got up and did some dancing with the locals and was doing some Karl Pilkington style moves wiggling the ass and sticking out legs etc, next morning at brekkie was still woozy and one of the local women serving went bula, smiled then shaked her arse started kicking her legs and laughing lol!!
Headed back to Nadi for a day and it was nice to visit the centre and purchase some local tops/shirts ready for a week and a bit on the western isles, saw the damage that the floods the previous month had made which was sad, especially as an entire village was wiped out. Really wanted to head to the north islands but heard boat journeys are well over a day and didn't wanna lose too much time travelling, rather spend more time on islands. THe journey up to the top end of the Yasawas was awesome, passing every resort by and having a peak at the ones had selected to stay at. The weather was perfect but spent 5 hours on top deck and got really bad sunstroke! As we got off the big yellow Yasawa flyer and into a small local boat taking us to our resort, I was completely mesmerized by the water colour. A vivid green, turquoise and blues that you see in movies and magazines etc not in real life, was gobsmacked and absolutely buzzing.
The next week was literally spent on different islands and different beaches but doing activities also. We were told whilst on the mainland to go to a church service on Sunday.. it was a fantastic, memorable experience. The locals sang with so much spirit and soul, really feeling the music and sermon. There was a big geeza infront of me proper shifting some moves as if he was raving, turns out he was the pastor and later delivered a potent & powerful Samuel Jackson type speech!! The priest apologised for the basicness of the church, on the contrary thought it was amazing as it was open on all 4 sides and surrounded by palm trees and nature.
We saw a really cool halo on the moon at night that we couldn't understand how it was occurring, even more bizarelly there was an even bigger one around the sun the next day that managed to capture faintly on camera. The other cool thing about the islands was that met so many people on the trip up or in resorts so as you were getting on/off the big boat to go to the next resort you would swap stories about places. Each resort greeted you with a bula welcome song and the same on your goodbye. What I also loved was that at every mealtime there would be people playing guitar, singing or sometimes even dancing. It was great and will be weird going back to 'normal' meals now! The entertainment in the evening varied but what was actually the s***test resort had the best entertainment and once the music stopped they lit a bonfire on the beach and the fun continued long into the night!
In the very northern Island we went to the Blue Lagoon which was made infamous by the Brooke Shields film of the same name. It was stunning for sure but not as much as the locals were raving about it. Was well gutted not to see Manta rays, it was literally the beginning of the season. A German couple were boarding the boat to fly home later in the evening but spotted one and stayed for a further week! Will have to go back to spot the manta rays!! At the same resort was woken up by my Turkish friend telling me to put some swimming trunks and get in the sea, I was like its raining, he was like its ace and it really was! Between the coldish rain and the warm calm sea water it was a great pre-breakfast experience whilst everyone else was still asleep!
On one of the Islands was fortunate to be there for Fiji night which consisted of eating Lovo which is food cooked underground, delish! It was great to eat proper food again after eating cheap shoite in Oz and also had plenty of fresh fish. Was made chief at the Fiji night and ended up drinking Kava with the locals all night which was a bit daunting sitting next to the real chief and facing everyone ensuring that stuck to customs throughout the ceremony. The next evening went to a small village which was even more daunting as it was dark and stormy weather walking over there, no lights in the village and then only a small oil lamp in the community hall which went off briefly. That was a great experience as was the only foreigner there and this time it was a genuine ceremony and it didn't feel contrived or touristy at all.
The problem with drinking too much Kava is that Kava is a root that is grinded/pounded down and mixed with water, when was drinking with the locals it was always high tide/tsunami which meant a cup full! Only thing with that is that you got up so many times during the night for a piss.. however I was in my boxers only and the toilets were outside, the weather wasn't the greatest and needless to say ended up catching a real bad flu which triggered a bad migraine on the penultimate day when I got down to the bottom island on the Mamanucas, South Sea Island. Fortunately a Turkish mate shared a bure with in one of the resorts was there also that day so he looked out for me and the staff were also brilliant, moving me into a private dorm by myself. Normally when you're really ill you just wanna be back home but they really looked after me well. Last thing I thought would be putting Fiji & long johns in the same sentence but needed them to warm up and keep warm! The last Island was brilliant and was only about 100 meters in diameter, when having lunch the next day we could see the sea on all surrounding sides!
The final day was nice being back in Nadi but was still ill and on strong painkillers so no chance of drinking the local Bounty rum, gutted! Was great though as there were about a dozen of us there that had bumped into at one point or another on the islands and good to catch up.
I was asked at the immigration counter if I had a good time in Fiji.. I said I didn't want to leave! I've absolutely loved it, the people here really are amazing and genuine too and made some good friends, both tourists nad locals. I'm really going to miss this paradiso, the people, the smiles, all the bulas which I never got bored of and all the hammocks also, prior to coming travelling never been in a hammock properly now always in one, the art of chilling! ;)
In Auckland now and on the Kiwi experience straight off tomorrow morning, landing in NZ excited me as heard so many good things about this place and it looks bootiful from the air looking forward to exploring it!!
PS - apologies its a rather long blong but this is the short version! so many good times, memories couldn't fit everything in!!
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Angelina zerbarto Sounds amazing Hun. When you back? Xxx