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Lauren and Nathan's Adventures
Bula! Thats hello in Fijian.
We arrived in fiji ready to relax and enjoy the sun. So, typically it was raining; I didn't know it even rained here! At the airport we were greeted by a rep who told us to take a seat for our free bus to our hostel. I asked how long it would be and was told it would be on "Fiji time", which we would soon realise ment anytime they felt like! About an hour or so later we were on our way to our hostel, the part of Nadi island we saw was so tropical: green, palm trees and mountains eveywhere, it was amazing. Arriving at our hostel we went to the atm to pay for our stay, however, our cards appeared to be blocked, uh oh!!! We needed to get on the internet or phone but had no cash whatsoever, having spent our last pennies in duty free. Kindly they let us on the internet if we payed them later and got our cards unblocked by the bank:system error apparently. We got tucked into the free breakfast straight away and then booked our trip to the Yasawa islands, a group of islands in the north-west. As we were booking we overheard a girl talking about a trip to the mudbaths, turned out she and her mate were bunking next to us and so we tagged along for the trip. As the sun finally got his hat on, a group of 11 of us set of on as rickety bus ride into the mountains. Im not sure what we were expecting, but were definetly taken aback by the bog of mud we were told to get into. Being the macho man I am, I braved it first and began lathering myself in the mud, soon the others followed and we were all loving the hot mud that was heated by the natural hot springs. Once the mud had dried we jumped into the hot springs and bathed for a while attempting to remove the mud from some rather interesting places. We then had a relaxing massage from the local fiji women, I made sure mine packed a bit of weight so she could really dig into my knots from carrying my backpack :) We then got back to have a dip in the pool and I played some volleyball while Lauren had some G&T's! That night we took part in a Kava Ceremony, which is a fijian tradition of welcoming you. The ceremony invloves plenty of singing, bula's and you drinking kava; a drink made from the crushed roots of a plant of the pepper family that is suppoed to have a sedative effect. It reminded us of the muddy water we had swum in earlier, and the effects only seemed to be a slight numbing of the tongue. All kava'd up we headed to bed ready for our tour of the Yasawa islands.
First up was Bounty Island, the island that some of you may have saw a couple of years ago in celebrity love island! Its a very small island (48 acres) which we walked around in under half an hour. On the front of the island was a bar, a pool and eating area. Behind these was the sleeping huts and a garden, with the rest of the island let be.Once again it was raining and we were a bit concerend we were literally bringing the weather with us everywhere! Once we got checkced into our dorm the rain seemd to stop and so we chilled in the hammocks and read for a while. Feeling a bit restless we then went for a snorkel and kayaked around the whole island. During the kayaking we spotted these 2 spanish girls up ahead, unbeknown to them we had began a race. Sadly they had to much of a lead on us and pipped us at the post! The food on the island was a buffet of chicken, potatoes, pumpkin and fruit, the perfect antdote to our time in the states. That night we chilled by the bar, when suddenly I was roped into a pose down contest. Not having had enough drinks I went for the safety option of the usain bolt stance, while the eventual winner sussed nudity was the key! With my confidence knocked, we hit the hay.
Our third day in fiji we set off on the boat to the island of Waya Lailai, staying at the Ecohaven resort. The island is Fijian owned and operated by the local villagers with all profits being shared for the school, church and village essentials such as the fresh water showers, fresh was not came to my mind, more like freezing! Once we arrived onto the island we walked along side the village first were there was a mismatch of shanty sheds and buildings with dogs wandering round. We then got to our dorm which was a huge wooden hut with straw and bamboo roofing. It was actually quite nice, minus the ants and geckos! That afternoon we payed to go for a sunrise summit walk. Sadly the clouds were closing in so there would be little chance of seeing the sunset. The walk itself was defintely more of a climb with 2 people dropping out after the first 20 or so minutes. The rest of us kept going with special mention to the asian couple that did the climb in there flip flops/wedges, i've no idea what they were thinking. During the stops in our climb we got chatting to a lovely couple Liam and Josie and some twins Jason and Michelle, all from Canada. An hour later, almost at the peak of our climb, I take a lunge upwards onto a bolder, when suddely my shorts tore! Luckily, they had netting! With my additiona breeze keeping me cool, we then had to shimmy acorss a cliff top shaped like a roof (sloping on either side). It was mega scary and theres not a chance you'd be aloud to do it back home, but I don't think health and safety is a big agenda in Fiji. The views down were amazing, looking onto the village, the bay and other islands in the distance, but no sun! With the rain coming in we had to begin our descent, also very hard due to the incline of the summit. All showered off, we spent the night playing cards and watching the rugby... unfortunately!
The next day being Sunday there was no activities on for the day so we spent the morning playing cards with the twins while Liam and Josie set off to another island, though we'd seem them on another island in a couple of days. We were then offered an invitation to the local church, and so waited in reception to be taken down. Fiji time was the theme again with us waiting half and hour before we finally set off to church. It was very old fashioned with men and women sitting on opposite sides of the church and the children sat at the front, where they were wrestling each other on the pews! While english is the offical language spoken in Fiji, the ceremony was in Fijian and so time there seemed to drag. I did try to keep myself busy by reading up on bible: apparently Noah was 950 when he died! After church we spent the rest of the day just relaxing and playing more cards!
Our last part of the islands was spent on the Nacula islands, these were the most northen and we were told the weather would be better up there. We stayed in a place called Nabua lodge as we had heard good reviews about the staff and food. Getting the fishing boat to the island, it began to persist down again and I felt my spirits sapping! As beautiful as Fiji is, I just needed some sun. We had decided that if we were going to be limited to our room then we would upgrade to a private room with our own cold shower. Sods law, it only went and got sunny as soon as we got settled. With the sun out Lauren and I went for a wander around the nearby local village. It was exactly like the 'others' area in lost, for those who dont know what thats like it was a strangely quiet area with wooden shacks for houses, oh and a few cockerels running around. We then went to meet the village chief who governs the village solely; after our $10 donation he chatted to us about the rugby and where we were travelling to next, also posing for photos. Early evening before tea we went for a group run around the bay, another uphill ascent through hoards of bushes. But the climb was worth it as we had an amazing sunset view of the bay and village. The sky being red, we expected more sun to follow. The sun made another rare appearance and so we were in a much more upbeat mood, putting ourselves down for a morning trip to a nearby beach. Unfortuantely, they only took a head count and not names, so when 2 extra people tagged along they decided to leave earlier, leaving us alone on the island! Remaining upbeat, we went for a wander around the island to the next beach: it was breathtaking, white sand, blue sparliking sea, green palm trees and nobody else around. Then after lunch we went on the beach trip and had a snorkel sesh chasing after nemos. Once back, Lauren demonstrated her unusual volleyball technique and gave sharipova a run for her money with her grunting :) The rest of our time at Nabua lodge was spent sunbathing, reading and taking the occasional dip in the sea, although a few sitings of sea snakes kept that to a minimum. With the sun shining, our last few hours on the island were perfectly topped off when the staff messed up our bar tab and charges us $34 rather than $134. Lauren did try to correct them but they werent having it, lovely jubbly. Fiji is a beautiful country with such friendly people, perfect for some R&R. Off to NZ now! Lots of Love Nathan and Lauren xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We arrived in fiji ready to relax and enjoy the sun. So, typically it was raining; I didn't know it even rained here! At the airport we were greeted by a rep who told us to take a seat for our free bus to our hostel. I asked how long it would be and was told it would be on "Fiji time", which we would soon realise ment anytime they felt like! About an hour or so later we were on our way to our hostel, the part of Nadi island we saw was so tropical: green, palm trees and mountains eveywhere, it was amazing. Arriving at our hostel we went to the atm to pay for our stay, however, our cards appeared to be blocked, uh oh!!! We needed to get on the internet or phone but had no cash whatsoever, having spent our last pennies in duty free. Kindly they let us on the internet if we payed them later and got our cards unblocked by the bank:system error apparently. We got tucked into the free breakfast straight away and then booked our trip to the Yasawa islands, a group of islands in the north-west. As we were booking we overheard a girl talking about a trip to the mudbaths, turned out she and her mate were bunking next to us and so we tagged along for the trip. As the sun finally got his hat on, a group of 11 of us set of on as rickety bus ride into the mountains. Im not sure what we were expecting, but were definetly taken aback by the bog of mud we were told to get into. Being the macho man I am, I braved it first and began lathering myself in the mud, soon the others followed and we were all loving the hot mud that was heated by the natural hot springs. Once the mud had dried we jumped into the hot springs and bathed for a while attempting to remove the mud from some rather interesting places. We then had a relaxing massage from the local fiji women, I made sure mine packed a bit of weight so she could really dig into my knots from carrying my backpack :) We then got back to have a dip in the pool and I played some volleyball while Lauren had some G&T's! That night we took part in a Kava Ceremony, which is a fijian tradition of welcoming you. The ceremony invloves plenty of singing, bula's and you drinking kava; a drink made from the crushed roots of a plant of the pepper family that is suppoed to have a sedative effect. It reminded us of the muddy water we had swum in earlier, and the effects only seemed to be a slight numbing of the tongue. All kava'd up we headed to bed ready for our tour of the Yasawa islands.
First up was Bounty Island, the island that some of you may have saw a couple of years ago in celebrity love island! Its a very small island (48 acres) which we walked around in under half an hour. On the front of the island was a bar, a pool and eating area. Behind these was the sleeping huts and a garden, with the rest of the island let be.Once again it was raining and we were a bit concerend we were literally bringing the weather with us everywhere! Once we got checkced into our dorm the rain seemd to stop and so we chilled in the hammocks and read for a while. Feeling a bit restless we then went for a snorkel and kayaked around the whole island. During the kayaking we spotted these 2 spanish girls up ahead, unbeknown to them we had began a race. Sadly they had to much of a lead on us and pipped us at the post! The food on the island was a buffet of chicken, potatoes, pumpkin and fruit, the perfect antdote to our time in the states. That night we chilled by the bar, when suddenly I was roped into a pose down contest. Not having had enough drinks I went for the safety option of the usain bolt stance, while the eventual winner sussed nudity was the key! With my confidence knocked, we hit the hay.
Our third day in fiji we set off on the boat to the island of Waya Lailai, staying at the Ecohaven resort. The island is Fijian owned and operated by the local villagers with all profits being shared for the school, church and village essentials such as the fresh water showers, fresh was not came to my mind, more like freezing! Once we arrived onto the island we walked along side the village first were there was a mismatch of shanty sheds and buildings with dogs wandering round. We then got to our dorm which was a huge wooden hut with straw and bamboo roofing. It was actually quite nice, minus the ants and geckos! That afternoon we payed to go for a sunrise summit walk. Sadly the clouds were closing in so there would be little chance of seeing the sunset. The walk itself was defintely more of a climb with 2 people dropping out after the first 20 or so minutes. The rest of us kept going with special mention to the asian couple that did the climb in there flip flops/wedges, i've no idea what they were thinking. During the stops in our climb we got chatting to a lovely couple Liam and Josie and some twins Jason and Michelle, all from Canada. An hour later, almost at the peak of our climb, I take a lunge upwards onto a bolder, when suddely my shorts tore! Luckily, they had netting! With my additiona breeze keeping me cool, we then had to shimmy acorss a cliff top shaped like a roof (sloping on either side). It was mega scary and theres not a chance you'd be aloud to do it back home, but I don't think health and safety is a big agenda in Fiji. The views down were amazing, looking onto the village, the bay and other islands in the distance, but no sun! With the rain coming in we had to begin our descent, also very hard due to the incline of the summit. All showered off, we spent the night playing cards and watching the rugby... unfortunately!
The next day being Sunday there was no activities on for the day so we spent the morning playing cards with the twins while Liam and Josie set off to another island, though we'd seem them on another island in a couple of days. We were then offered an invitation to the local church, and so waited in reception to be taken down. Fiji time was the theme again with us waiting half and hour before we finally set off to church. It was very old fashioned with men and women sitting on opposite sides of the church and the children sat at the front, where they were wrestling each other on the pews! While english is the offical language spoken in Fiji, the ceremony was in Fijian and so time there seemed to drag. I did try to keep myself busy by reading up on bible: apparently Noah was 950 when he died! After church we spent the rest of the day just relaxing and playing more cards!
Our last part of the islands was spent on the Nacula islands, these were the most northen and we were told the weather would be better up there. We stayed in a place called Nabua lodge as we had heard good reviews about the staff and food. Getting the fishing boat to the island, it began to persist down again and I felt my spirits sapping! As beautiful as Fiji is, I just needed some sun. We had decided that if we were going to be limited to our room then we would upgrade to a private room with our own cold shower. Sods law, it only went and got sunny as soon as we got settled. With the sun out Lauren and I went for a wander around the nearby local village. It was exactly like the 'others' area in lost, for those who dont know what thats like it was a strangely quiet area with wooden shacks for houses, oh and a few cockerels running around. We then went to meet the village chief who governs the village solely; after our $10 donation he chatted to us about the rugby and where we were travelling to next, also posing for photos. Early evening before tea we went for a group run around the bay, another uphill ascent through hoards of bushes. But the climb was worth it as we had an amazing sunset view of the bay and village. The sky being red, we expected more sun to follow. The sun made another rare appearance and so we were in a much more upbeat mood, putting ourselves down for a morning trip to a nearby beach. Unfortuantely, they only took a head count and not names, so when 2 extra people tagged along they decided to leave earlier, leaving us alone on the island! Remaining upbeat, we went for a wander around the island to the next beach: it was breathtaking, white sand, blue sparliking sea, green palm trees and nobody else around. Then after lunch we went on the beach trip and had a snorkel sesh chasing after nemos. Once back, Lauren demonstrated her unusual volleyball technique and gave sharipova a run for her money with her grunting :) The rest of our time at Nabua lodge was spent sunbathing, reading and taking the occasional dip in the sea, although a few sitings of sea snakes kept that to a minimum. With the sun shining, our last few hours on the island were perfectly topped off when the staff messed up our bar tab and charges us $34 rather than $134. Lauren did try to correct them but they werent having it, lovely jubbly. Fiji is a beautiful country with such friendly people, perfect for some R&R. Off to NZ now! Lots of Love Nathan and Lauren xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- comments
Ken So who is this Noah bloke?