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BULA everyone!!!!
Wow I've done so much since my last journal entry but had no access to internet as been castaway on a desert island (ok well not a desert island but an island anyway just like the one above actually!)
Got my flight from Brisbane to Nadi and arrived to the rain and the heat. Apparently Fiji was in the middle of its hot and wet season at the moment which was lovely as you can imagine. The humidty just hit you straight away and within 1 minute i was back to being a sweaty betty. After loads of people trying to help me at the airport (at first I thought they were after money or something but it turns out the Fijins are just so friendly, honestly they just want to help you) I was driven to the pier to catch my boat to Bounty Island. The driver was lovely but if you'd have been there Kat we'd have been wetting ourselves he was hilarious. Acted amazed at everything I said I when I asked him where he was from he took a detour to show me his village and tell me about his chief and his ancestors canoes and stuff. Everyone we passed in the van waved and smiled at us was so nice, was like been back in Asia everyone laughing at the tall, pale, blonde girl again. Saw a bit of a military presence on the roads after the coup but not too much.
So anyway he dropped me at the pier and told me my boat was to come for me at 7:30. There was a small bar next to the pier which must have had 5 or 6 people in so I waited in there with a beer. Anyway the weather got worse and worse until it was pouring it down and by the time it was 7:30 it was pitch black. Well the boat never showed, but everyone was saying its Fiji time its always late but by 8:30 I was getting so scared. There was a storm outside, it was pitch black and I didn't have a clue where I was! Everyone in the bar was offering me a place to stay, this Fijin woman was lovely and told me to come back to her village but wasn't really feeling that for some reason. Luckily one of the guys in the bar owned a scuba diving company and had the number for Bounty, he called them and they were like "oh its too rough can't send the boat" so they were just going to leave me. So this guy had a word with them and they ended up putting me up in a hotel for the night. Was luxery, en suite bathroom, tea and coffee, double bed, sky TV!!!!!! wow was fab! Then in morning was picked up and taken to Bounty.
The boat ride was horrendous. They had sent a small boat just for me, so was just me and 3 Fijin locals on board. There had been a cyclone off the coast so the weather was appalling and the sea was so rough. Well we were tossed about like a rag doll, it was good job I hadn't eaten since my flight the day before or I would have spewed. God it makes me feel sick just thinking about it. The waves were like metres high and we'd go up and crash back down and every time my stomach would flip like you were on a rollercoaster, but I had to pretend I was cool as sat with locals. But honestly I actually feared for my life on that boat!
But as you can probably guess I did finally make it to Bounty Island. Bounty is where they shot the original series of Love Island! They've moved the pool and the dorm bit where the celebs slept round to the front of the island so thats now the pool and bar of the resort but they just left the Love Shack. We walked round the island one day to find it and it is absolutely disgusting! I'll post the photos when get chance but basically its just derelict. People have come in and stole fixtures and fittings, there's graffetti all over the walls, its full of rubbish. Honestly can't believe the mess they left it in it really spoils the island, I will of course be writing to ITV to complain, it will be addressed Linda Wiggins, Yorkshire Television, Leeds.
Apart from that though the island is beautiful and I had a great time. The first day the weather wasn't great so just sat in the bar (not drinking don't worry) with some girls from my dorm. Met this girl in the bed next to mine who I hung out with all the time I was there, she was on her own too and done practically the same trip as us (we even worked out some places we were at the same time!) she was even on my flight to LA so we sat together and she was called CATHERINE. How strange can't get away from them ha ha. That night we spent in the bar and everyone was playing games and stuff was really good fun. Oh and even drunk some Kava. Don't get it confused with bubbles, Kava is a traditional Fijin drink which is made from the root of a plant or something. You all sit round on straw mats and chant Bula and offer thanks to some gods, and clap and stuff then down your drink. Kava basically looks and tastes like dirty washing up water, its so gross and I really had to force it down so as to not offend anyone. We only drank 2 bowls as tastes like poo and couldn't stand it but apparently its supposed to affect you if you drink enough. Its gross trust me.
The next day the sun actually came out and i was so excited I was going to be able to get a last minute tan (believe me I'm so pale) I rushed out to sunbathe. Within 30 minutes I was burnt to a crisp. Not even kidding, I still look ridicolous and I'm still in agony even now! Silly silly girl could kick myself, I've been so careful the whole trip too, ask Kat I'm always putting my factor 30 on. So that night had an early night as think I had a bit of sunstroke, but found it hard to sleep because there was a mouse in our dorm. I'm not even kidding and it lived under my bed. Wanted to swap beds but knew everyone would laugh at me as noone else seemed the tiniest bit bothered (or they didn't let on anyway) and anyway the bloody Japanese people in our dorm kept coming in and making a racket and turning air con off! We were so annoyed it was like 35 degrees outside and they kept turning the air con off weirdos! Oh and I've been bitten to death by mozzies, the worst I've ever had in my whole trip. I'm covered in them and they are itched all night (I've even got another puss filled boil again from an infected bite so going to look beautiful when I get home), so all in all not a good nights sleep.
Sunday was a scorcher but because I'm a silly girl couldn't go in sun so had to sit in the shade all day. I did manage to go out snorkelling and kayaking for a bit (was free so would be rude not to) but put loads of clothes on to cover up and my factor 30 again. The snorkelling was fab, the coral was just 30m if that from shore and the fish and marine life were amazing, so bright and weird! But we got a bit scared when someone told us they just spotted a reef shark so we legged it back to shore asap!
Got picked up by the boat (luckily not a tiny little boat this time) in the afternoon, sent away by with staff singing and playing guitars (they do this for everyone I'm not THAT special) and we made it to the airport. There were 5 of us all on the same flight to LA so sat together. The flight went really quick and had some good movies but I've never experienced any turbelance like that before, Gaz would have been crying. None of us said anything because we were so scared but it would come and go for hours, waking me up. It was like been on a rollercoaster and it actually made you feel sick, I still feel unsteady now it was horrendous.
So here I am in LA baby yeah!!! I'm sure you can tell by the long post that I'm jet lagged and woozy from the flight still. We set off 22:00 on Sunday 11th from Fiji, the flight took 10 hours, but as we crossed the international dateline we arrived at 13:00 on Sunday 11th March. It's 19:00 on Sunday now so I haven't even set off from Fiji yet by all rights, confusing eh? I'm trying not to think about it. My hostel is in Hollywood only metres from the Hollywood Boulevard, Walk of Fame, Manns Chinese Theatre etc. I felt so silly getting the bus from the airport and the guy said "where you wanna go?" and I was like "I'm going to Hollywood" ha ha felt like a celebrity, well maybe not. I just had a quick nosey round and it looks awesome but want to save it all for tomorrow.
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