Robinson Crusoe IslandThe next day Rob and I were both leaving early afternoon and I was a bit sad to leave as it was such a beautiful island and resort and everyone I'd met there had been really lovely. Rob had even offered his apartment to us over Christmas in Sydney as he was in South America (turned out someone else got in there before us when we finally asked but the thought was there!). He was telling me how he had decided to go travelling after his best friend had died suddenly, he had been running a marathon, was fit and well and his heart just stopped. All very sad and made Rob realise you have to seize the day, which is extremely true. So we got the boat transfer back to Nadi, where I had arranged with Robinson Crusoe island to pick me up and drive me to the jetty to get the boat to their island. Turns out they'd sent the taxi to the wrong port and I was waiting there for two hours. In fact I only managed to sort it out because the guy who owned one of the other islands (Treasure island) saw me waiting there, asked where I was going and then called up to find out what was going on. Anyway it was a bit annoying because I had to pay for another taxi to take me to the meeting point for the taxi the island had sent for me and wait at the jetty for the boat. It was around 6pm when I finally arrived at the island and I was the only one to be picked up so was a bit embarrassed by the fuss made by the workers -again they were singing and playing instruments for my arrival and I had to shout back bula! Some of the other guests were sitting on the beach by a fire and I said a quick hello to them before going to reception to check in. I must admit my first impressions of Robinson Crusoe weren't great as I was shown around. I had become accustomed to the luxury of Octopus with the electricity 24 hours a day and the hot clean showers with the free shampoo and shower gel. The resort beach wasn't great, there was tons of seaweed all around the island (apparently it has become a real problem in recent years and the owners have even commissioned Auckland university to do a study into it but as of yet they have no answers), the electricity was turned off at midnight and the showers were bucket ones where you were limited to filling up one bucket as the water was brought in from the mainland. It really was pretty basic but on the bright side I did have my own bule, which was a cute little hut with just enough room for a queen size bed. I was so excited to have my own room as even though Kate and I had had a few private rooms along the way, this was the first time in three months I'd had a room and a double bed all to myself! Anyway after dumping my bags, I went off to meet some of the other guests on the island but when I got to the beach and chatted to the six people there, I was surprised to hear that they were in fact the only guests apart from a young family. I knew it was the quiet season what with it being not quite Christmas but as Octopus had been so busy I just assumed the other resorts would be too. We had dinner and then two of the workers did the cava ceremony for me and two other girls who had arrived earlier that day. Cava is basically the local Fijian drink that is made from a tree root and if you drink enough of it is supposed to relax you. It tastes of muddy water though and I really didn't find it pleasant. Someone is chosen as the visiting chief and the ceremony involves all those present to accept a bowl of cava from the chief of the island by clapping their hands saying bula and then downing it in one go. I didn't mind doing this once but was relieved when it was over as I really didn't like the taste of the cava. Unfortunately to my dismay I discovered that everyone on the island was expected to take part in the ceremony every time there was a new arrival and so I did a total of five ceremonies as just my luck new arrivals were coming every day of my stay. After this, we played a few games and I had an early night, I was a little disappointed at the lack of people and just didn't feel like staying up and making conversation that night. Next morning I was up early as I could hear all the workers and then the drum for breakfast sounded. I had breakfast with some of the others and then got ready and settled down with my book. I was getting to a really good part near the end and wanted to finish it that morning. Just as I got comfy though, Bola one of the workers came and took it off me and told me that they were going to pick some coconuts and make a dessert. At first I was a bit annoyed as I didn't really want to feel like I was on a school trip and told what to do but I reluctantly agreed and it was actually really interesting. He showed us how to husk the coconut and then how to split it open properly. It's actually tougher than it looked and then I was even more impressed when Bola placed the coconut on a bit of rolled up plant and a brick and split it open with his hand. We scraped the pulp from the coconut then squeezed it for the milk and added sugar to the stuff left over, which was delicious. Next activity after lunch was fishing. Only two of us ended up doing it though (not sure how the others wriggled out of it) but along with Bola and another guy we took a giant net out and whilst they held the net across the sea, we had to walk towards it flailing our arms around and splashing to herd the fish into the net. We looked utterly ridiculous and managed to catch a grand total of one fish on our first attempt, none on the next three but things looked up with five whole fishes in the last go. I wasn't so keen on seeing the fish flapping around on the sand or Bola biting their heads to kill them or just spiking them onto a stick whilst they were still alive, but I suppose I should be able to kill what I eat. Anyway we made a fire, cooked them over it and then ate them with chilli and lime. It was ok, the eyes and really small bones put me off and I protested to eating the whole thing saying that I didn't want to ruin my appetite for tea that night! We had a few beers that evening and I had a super competitive egg and spoon race with a girl called Natalie who had just arrived that day! I ended up spending the rest of my time with her and her friend Paul as they were both lovely. They had only been travelling for a couple of weeks but already Natalie was sick of assuming her and Paul were a couple just because they were travelling together. Paul had a girlfriend back at home and she kept having to make a point of telling people her and Paul were definitely not together. Thankfully we both had a lot of eye candy on the island as the majority of the male Fijian workers were absolutely beautiful with amazing bodies and if they did insist on walking around in just shorts what's a girl to do. We were like giggling school girls and had to stop ourselves from drooling over them as Paul was getting really annoyed with us! Think he was just fed up as the women weren't half as nice to look at! We spent the rest of the evening helping the workers to prepare for the first of the day cruises coming from the hotels on the mainland. It was really fun actually helping make costumes and decorate the seating area. I spent the morning entertaining Sofie, the little girl from the only family on the island. As those who know me are aware, I'm not a big fan of children but these two little girls were adorable. Vanessa the mother was from Brazil near to one of the places we'd visited, her husband was from Sweden but they now lived near Noosa Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Oz. They'd met when Vanessa was a ballet dancer and they were both working on a cruise ship, it was all really interesting. They told me I was welcome to go and stay with them in Oz, so I may just take them up on that! At around 11am, the boat with the day trippers arrived and disturbed the peace! It felt weird to see so many other guests there, there must have been around 50 of them. It was really good though and meant we saw a show put on by all the workers with traditional Fijian costumes and dance. We also had a traditional hangi meal, which is fish, meat and potatoes cooked underground for several hours. Some of the workers then provided entertainment by walking on the hot coals, crazy fools! The lunch was delicious though and the fish was beautifully cooked. We had taken tips from Bola and stood near to the lunch table just as they were about to announce it so we got the best stuff and didn't end up with the leftovers. Once the day trippers left in the evening, we felt exhausted so god knows what the workers felt like! To make matters worse for them, they had to do it all over again the next day but this time in the evening for what would be the first of their night cruises of the season. Later that evening we built a fire on the beach and Bola brought his guitar down and played a few tunes. I'd been given some really nice vodka from Shannon and Andrea at Octopus as they'd bought it from duty free and were leaving Fiji when I left so didn't want to carry it around with them. I had to hide it though as it's prohibited to take your own alcohol onto the island and if you do you have to leave it at reception or sell it to them. I'm on a budget though and the prices for drinks there were so expensive so they left me with no choice but to fill up my coke bottle with vodka. To be fair I didn't meet anyone who wasn't doing the same Natalie and Paul were except they'd bought 60% proof rum that was like rocket fuel. Anyway we had some drinks on the beach, got a bit giddy, Natalie pushed me off my chair onto the sand and we just had a fun evening. Unfortunately when it came to going to bed I couldn't find my key and to make matters worse the electricity had gone off hours before so I had to get my wind up torch on to it! I had the whole group looking for it for about half an hour and I began to think I was sleeping on the beach that evening. I eventually found it buried in the sand where Natalie had pushed me -good job I'd not given up and decided to look in the morning when it probably would have ended up floating away with the sea! Next day even though the workers must have been exhausted, there was an air of anticipation for the show that evening. Everyone was doing last minute practises and preparations and we helped where we could. When there was nothing left for us to do and the guys had to practice their fire dance routine, Lex took us to look for coconuts to make jewellery out of. I felt a bit like I was on Blue Peter to start with but it was actually really good fun and kept us entertained for the afternoon. I am now an expert at husking a coconut but still have a way to go with the splitting of the coconut. In fact this time to make bracelets we sawed off the top and bottom part and sanded the remaining bit, which took quite a while but I was actually really pleased with the result and have worn it quite a few times. It's always quite satisfying when someone admires and I can say, 'what this old thing, oh I made this from a coconut in Fiji." The guys made more manly pedants but were done in a quarter of the time since they only had the tiniest bit of coconut to sand! The rest of the day was taken up with scrabble tournaments, this time with Natalie and the other Paul who also took to making up words and sulking when he wasn't winning. We kept joking that any minute he was going to get up and announce that he was tired and going to bed and didn't want to play anyway. Must be something to do with Pauls and scrabble.We then welcomed the night cruise by singing on the beach with the workers who were all dressed up and once they'd done the cava ceremony we had dinner. Once dinner was over and done with (another delicious meal) the show got underway and it was even more spectacular than the previous day's. The girls did some spectacular dancing, Nat and I tried to wiggle our hips in the same manner but failed miserably. The guys then did some warrior dances and dances with knives and then finished with the most amazing fire dancing. We felt so proud of them all as we'd helped with the preps and felt a part of it! Once the night cruise had left we had a party with the workers, which again ended on the beach with a campfire. It was definitely the best way I could have spent my last night there and I learnt that I shouldn't be so quick to make decisions about places since I had the time of my life here. I left the next morning and said my goodbyes to both the staff and the remaining guests and promised to catch up with most of them in Sydney (it seems every backpacker and his rucksack is going to be in Sydney for new year -will make a great party on Bondi Beach!). We got the boat back to Nadi past the mangroves and the replanted area (Robinson Crusoe paid for this to conserve it after local farmers chopped them down to make more farmland and only then realised the devastating effects it had on the river banks). We had to go slowly past a certain part of the river since there is a resort there and the owner says the boats disrupt the river and flood the shores of his resort but Robinson Crusoe reckon he's just bitter since they're always full and he's not as he has no beach! We got to the jetty and a bus picked us up and took me to the airport. I had a bit of time to spare so spent my last Fijian dollars on the best fish and chips I've had in a long time and then went to wait for my flight to Auckland.