Bula!!!
For those of you that dont know, this is how everyone greets each other in Fiji! Wherever you go everyone always says Bula to you and its only polite to say it back!! So I have said that quite alot over the past 2 weeks :) The locals are all such friendly people and are so welcoming wherever you go.
Have only just managed to get to internet that is free so that I can sit down and write about our time in Fiji. We have had an absolutely wicked time in Fiji and really didnt want to leave today :(
We arrived from LA early morning and then spent the day in a hostel on the mainland in a place called Nadi. It was next to the beach and also had a pool so we were chuffed with that. We pretty much spent most of the day sunbathing- luckily I had a bit of a base tan from St.Kitts otherwise I think I would have been very burnt!! Still managed to burn a little bit as the sun was just so strong. It's also very humid in Fiji so you just end up getting used to being constantly sweaty!! Nice eh! Didnt do much that evening as we were both pretty tired and not feeling great. Not sure if it was bad food or just too long in the sun! Anyway, we had an early morning heading off to the islands the next day so we just went to bed early that night.
The next morning a bus came to pick us up to take us to Port Denarau where we were to catch our boat to the islands. We had booked a 12 day trip which took us to 5 different islands in the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups of islands. All our accomodation and food was included which was nice as we didnt have to worry about anything really. Loads of people do the trips through the islands so there were lots of people getting on the boat. They take your bags off you and that all gets taken care off- made a nice change not having to lug it around ourselves!
So after about half an hour on the big yellow boat we get to our first stop- South Sea Isalnd. I think we decided this was our favourite place out of all the islands we went to. It is literally a little desert island in the middle of the ocean! It's about 200m long and 150m wide! We walked around it in about 5 mins and kayaked round it in about 10 mins!! As you get off the big yellow boat (which after a while became nicknamed 'Big Yella') you are tansferred to the island on a little tin boat thing! They just chuck all ur bags off the big boat onto this little boat. I was a bit worried the first time I saw them do this as I thought my bag was going to plop into the ocean!! But it never did! They obviously do it every day and are very practised at it! There were only 3 of us going onto the island- Katy and I, and another girl Sarah who was also doing the same 12 day trip as us. At first we thought it was just going to be us 3 on the whole isalnd but it turned out there were a few others there and more turned up later in the day. Didnt do alot on the first day on South Sea, just enjoyed the white sands and blue sea and did some snorkelling off the shore. It was pretty good too, the fish were right there just off the shore and there were so many different types too.
At meal times they banged a drum to signal to you that the food was ready. It was all delicious too and we were fed very well on all the different islands. Our accommodation was always in dorms throughout the trip, it was usually pretty basic but not in a bad way. On our 2nd day on south sea we did a snorkelling trip to the reef (I saw Nemo which I was extremely excited about!!) and they also had this submarine thing that we went on. It was kind of like a glass bottomed boat but the glass was all around you so it was like you were under the sea! Pretty cool. I saw a ray too which was nice.
That evening we sat on the beach and watched the sunset with a drink as it looked like it was going to be a good one- which it was! Fiji Gold is the local beer which we became quite accustomed to! There were a good group of people on the island that evening and we ended up playing a few drinking games. They also put on crab racing for us which was quite funny! They get a load of hermit crabs and number them, you then buy one which is urs and if it wins you get a prize. Pretty funny when ur all standing there screaming at ur hermit crab to go faster!
Our next stop was Kuata which was about an hour or so transfer on Big Yella! Unfortunately Sarah got put on a different island to us for those 2 days so we got split up for a while. She was travelling by herself so we tried to get them to change it but they were having none of it. Even Sarah singing, 'all by myself' to the travel agent lady didnt work!! Kuata was a nice island, much bigger than south sea and more scenic as well. There were a few sort of monolithic rock formations too which I really loved. We pretty much had chilled out time on Kuata and just sunbathed most of the time!! We did do a snorkelling trip tho where we swam with sharks. They were white tip sharks but were quite small so wasnt as scary as i thought it would be. Still amazing to swim with them tho.
After Kuata we headed on up to Korovou Eco Resort which was on Naviti island. Much of the same again here just chilling out! In Fiji everyone is so laid back which is nice. If you ask what time a trip starts or something they will usually just say, 'Oh, Fiji time!' Which pretty much means, whenever they feel like it!! You get used to it after a while! Korovou had a pool too which was nice as the sea was fairly hard to swim in due to rocks. We did take a short walk through the bush to a different beach one day tho. On our 2nd day there the rain set in a bit so just ended up reading and playing cards etc etc. In the evenings they did good entertainment like traditional dancing and fire dancing etc. They also put on competitions too. I came 2nd in the limbo contest! Was gutted to just miss out on 1st place lol!! They also taught us the Bula dance which everyone joins in with. We pretty much did it every night so by the end of the trip we were pros!
Next stop was Coral view resort on Tavewa island. This is quite far up north so took us a fair while to get there. Was a bit rainy/cloudy most of the time we were there unfortunately but still had fun. You just have to make the most of everything really even if it is rainy. By this time we had also got to know some other people doing the same 12 day trip as us. You end up going to all the same islands at the same time so there was a big group of us that all ended up getting on pretty well. We were like a big family by the end of the trip which was fun but sad when we had to say bye!!
From here it was onto the Wana Taki cruise. You go on a liveaboard boat for the day and they take you around to different spots and take you snorkelling etc. You could also jump off the boat into the sea whenever you wanted which gave us hours of fun! Snorkelling off the boat was absolutely amazing- probably the best I've ever seen. Saw Nemo again, he doesnt half get around that fish!! Was planning on going diving but after doing that snorkelling I felt I didnt really need to as it was as good as diving! Me and Sarah decided to do some skin diving down to the bottom which was probably about 8-9m away. We even had to equalize on the way down. I thought I was going to die at one point as was seriously running out of breath!! As weird as it sounds it was actually quite fun tho! The day on the boat was also valentines day! They kept playing soppy music too lol which was amusing/depressing!
After the cruise we headed back down south to Beachcomber Island, which is also known as party island! We had a good time there and it lived up to its repuatation of party island! This island was another small island like a dot in the sea, but bigger than south sea. Lovely white sands and clear blue seas again!! The food there was yum too! After 2 days there we were just about ready to leave I think!! After waving goodbye to our new family who had booked to stay on beachcomber for a few more days Katy, Sarah and I headed back to the mainland. We left at about 11am and spent the rest of the day in the same hostel we were in on our first day in Nadi. Had loads of washing to do as all our clothes were really damp and smelly from the humidity!
After being on the isalnds for so long we were all craving a trip to the golden arches!! Yes, I know, its terrible but it had to be done! So we went there for some dinner and then had a few quiet beers back at the hostel. Our flight was at 2pm the next day so just spent a few hours in the sun in the morning and then headed off to the airport. We waved goodbye to Sarah as she was off to Hawaii next, and then we headed off to New Zealand. The flight was only about 4 hours and we were in Aukland by just gone 5pm (after enjoying a few free in-flight bloody marys and extra food!! You have to make the most of the free stuff as a traveller!). And thats where we currently are now! Havent seen much yet as we got in at about 7pm and decided to make the most of the free internet as we havent had it for a while. Tomorrow we will go for a wander I should think. We are here tomorrow night and then we pick up our hire car and are planning on heading off up to the Bay of Islands at the moment. Will be weird to drive again but quite looking forward to a good old road trip!!!
So thats about it for now. Sorry to those of you who are completely bored! I know its quite in detail but I think some of you like to be able to picture what we've been up to!! Both of us are having an amazing time so far and just generally loving/making the most of every minute of it! Its really fun to meet new people along the way and everyone you meet is just generally up for a good laugh. You'll be glad to hear that Katy and I are still friends and have had no major fall outs as yet lol!!
Hope all of you are well wherever you may be. Will put pics up asap. Keep in touch, lots of love Jo xxxxxxxxxx (and Katy) xxxxxxxx