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Octopus Resort, Yasawa Islands, FijiFinally, after dwindling away nine hours of my life in one building, the plane to Fiji was ready for boarding. I did worry slightly when I made my way to the departure lounge and found it was full of fat, old, American tourists and I thought it wouldn't be too great to be stuck on an island with them all. Luckily they seemed to be heading to another part of the Fijian islands than me. I was still in the same clothes from South America and as well as being disgustingly filthy I was sweating profusely when I arrived in Fiji as I was wearing jeans and the heat hit me as soon as I got off the plane. I was expecting to have to wander around looking for a taxi that wouldn't rip me off to take me to the hostel I'd booked in Nadi but there was a free shuttle bus and a smiley woman handing out free necklaces, so I was pleasantly surprised. I was staying one night at this hostel before being picked up early the next morning to go to the Yasawa islands to a resort called Octopus. I chose this resort for half the week for a bit of luxury and because I just wanted to chill out and relax and do nothing. Here was the perfect place to do it even though it was slightly more expensive than some of the other resorts I'd looked at. The transfer bus came early that morning and took us to the port for the hour and a halfspeed boat journey to the islands. Nadi is really nice but I couldn't wait to get out to these islands as I'd heard they were absolutely stunning. There were some girls from LA on the boat, an Irish couple, a British guy called Rob who now lived in Sydney and a really lovely Oz couple who were taking their parents away (both in their 80's). The woman was telling me how her and her husband worked in the fishing industry in Oz and I when I pressed further it turns out they deep sea dive for a type of shellfish that lives on the ocean floor and is a delicacy in Japan and China. It comes at a price though, not only for the people who buy it but also those who catch itas they have to dive past sharks and the woman told me that some of the divers have lost their lives. Another reason why I don't want to dive!We got to the islands and were transferred into a little boat to reach the shores. We were welcomed by workers from the island who sang a welcome song for us and then we had to shout, 'bula!' (hello!) to them, which is customary on all of the islands in Fiji. Once we were on dry land we were given a welcome drink and then shown to our rooms. Even though I was enjoying a bit of luxury by being in a fairly expensive resort, I still had a dorm room as I couldn't afford a single here. It's good that they still cater for people on a budget and the dorm was lovely. There were only about 12 single beds (no bunks), each with a side table, fan and big mosquito net as well as complimentary towels and a beautiful flower placed on the pillow (I soon realized flowers were given with everything!). I was very pleased with my room and as soon as I'd dumped my stuff I got changed into my bikini and went to lounge around! No sooner had I stepped out of the room, who should I bump into but Rowan and Abby a lovely couple we had met in Rio on our first week and who we had arranged to meet up with in Sydney. Of all the resorts in all of Fiji, I can't believe they were there and at the same time as me. They immediately thought Kate and I had split up for good but were relieved to here it was only a trial separation from my wife! They were leaving that afternoon but we had a couple of hours to catch up and went for lunch together (all food was included and it was all delicious). We sat down at the table and then another couple came to sit with us who Abby was about to introduce me to. But Lucy the girl and I had already recognized each other and realized that we had been out on some nights out together with our mutual friend Becky from my sixth form college eight years ago! Lucy is from Chadderton and she'd actually seen me at Manchester airport when we were flying to Rio and she was going to Thailand. It's a small and weird world! So Abby and Rowan left that afternoon and I spent the afternoon chatting to Lucy. That evening after dinner (everyone eats together at 7pm every night) there was the opportunity to pick a crab from a pile for crab racing. It all seemed a bit mean to me, the crabs were all numbered with tipex and then put in a circle in the sand and the first one to reach the edge is the winner. When they lost, the crabs were tossed back into the sand to live out the rest of their days with a big white number on their back. For all we know they could be the outcasts and laughing stock of the crab world. So I just watched. The prize was a bar tab and I'm sure the resort staff rigged it as a 15 year old girl won it! Most of my time on Octopus was spent reading (I'd treated myself to buying two books in the airport as I'm sick of picking up rubbish books in hostels, getting half way through, realizing they're a bit rubbish but having to finish them just in case something interesting happens!), swimming, lying by the pool and eating. Shameful I know. It was bliss though and all the people in the resort were lovely. There were only around fifty guests at any one time most of whom were families but there were plenty of backpackers to chat to. In fact I spent most of my time with the younger people I'd met on the boat and a few others. Lucy and Danny were leaving that day and luckily had managed to get a helicopter back to the mainland for about fifty pounds each! Basically they were meant to be getting the boat transfer but a couple had requested a helicopter from Nadi to Octopus and the helicopter had to go back anyway but apparently this doesn't happen very often. Even so I thought I'd check that there wasn't one that happened to be going back on the day I was, no such luck though. So we all went up to wave them off from the helipad apart from one couple who went to write them a goodbye message in the sand. We waved them off and then I walked back to the beach to find the couple still waiting to wave at them. I had to break the news to them that they'd actually flown off from the other side of the island. Good job I said something as they'd probably be there all day!As well as reading, a lot of the others shared my love of board games and were more than happy to partake in some afternoon Scrabble! We dragged Rob in to play with us and after we had all laughed at him for starting the game off with the word 'no' (2 points well done Rob!) he decided that he had better things to do and didn't want to play anymore. On the other hand Paul got right into it and even started to make words up whilst trying to convince us they really were real words and trying to explain their meaning. Scrabble championships were followed by Pictionary championships that evening. There were four of us who seemed to make up a really good team and we'd decided since we didn't have all the bits and pieces we needed to play properly we'd just keep playing until we lost and then pass onto the other team. We just kept winning though and it was even more hilarious as Rob was on the losing team and he was getting more and more fed up and bored and eventually gave up and went to bed. In fact each of the nights we were in bed pretty early as none of us could really afford the ridiculous prices of alcohol (due to everything being imported). We kept joking that we were so shattered since we'd had such tiring days filled with exhausting activities! Actually one night we did have a few drinks and Shannon (one of the LA girls) bought us some shots but we had three each and it just tasted like toothpaste and had absolutely no effect so we gave up. On my last night there was a lovely Fijian bbq, firedancers and then games on the beaches including passing a rope up and down people's clothes and the 'poo potato game' which involved people having to race to a bucket with a potato clenched between their butt cheeks and squatting over a bucket to drop the potato in. It was really funny to watch. They also did the limbo and a game where you had to dance with another person with a balloon between you without it falling to the ground. All good clean family fun!
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