Bula from Fiji

Fiji is amazing I love it here and its so relaxing. I had a night flight over from LA which was fine because I just slept the whole way over. The first hostel I stayed in was very quiet. I had the whole dorm room to myself. I was quite happy with that though as I was only there for a day so it didnt really matter if I met people or not.

The next day I left to go to the Marina to get a boat out to the islands. I visited five islands in total and spent one night on board a boat. The islands I visited were South Sea island, Kuata, Korovou, Coral View and beach comber and the boat I stayed on was called the Wanna Taki.

South Sea island was the smallest of the islands I stayed at, you could walk around it in 5 minutes. it was like staying on somethiing out of the movies. I mainly just sat on the beach did a bit of snorkelling and went out on a boat which let you see the coral and fish underneath. The island was full of day trippers during the day but at night time there was only about ten to twenty people there. The first night I stayed there was apparently bed bugs in the dorm. I had gone to bed and fallen asleep when somebody found them in their bed. Luckily I had decided to sleep inside my own sleeping sheet as I slept through all of the noise of people freaking out and complaining. I couldnt figure out why when I woke up the next morning everyone was sleeping outside. They had forgotten about me asleep in the corner and couldnt believe I had slept through it all. I was glad I did though as I got a much better nights sleep then everyone one else and didnt have one bite on me.

The next island I went to was Kuata. This was my favourite island out of all the ones I stayed at. I think it was the people who worked there that made it for me. They were so nice and friendly and often came to chat to you whilst you were laid in a hammock. My first night there was Fijian night and we had a Fijian meal which we had to eat with our hands. They then showed us some Fijian dances and explained the meaning of them and taught us to do some of them. They also danced with fire which was brilliant but a bit scary as they did it inside and I was convinced they were going to set the table cloth on fire as they were getting so close to it. The next morning we went out on a snorkelling trip to swim with sharks. This has to be one of the highlights of my trip so far. The sharks were called black tip and white tip reef sharks and were about a metre long. The guys who had took us out speared fish and then ripped them open to attract the the sharks. I think we had five swimming around us most of the time and I got to touch one of them. I also did a summit walk whilst I was on Kuata which was exhausting in the heat but the view was worth it. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me and didnt really feel like doing the walk again so I have no photos of it.

My next stop was Korovou. On the boat ride over I met a Canadian guy who told me that the next day a chief was getting appointed in the village on the island which is a big deal over here. he had met the new cheifs son on the mainland who had invited him to go to watch the ceremony. We arranged with the resort for five of us to go over to the village. It took a lot of negotiating but one guy agreed to take us and we were to get a boat over the cove and then walk over the hill in the middle of the island to get to the village. The walk wasnt the easiest and a lot of places were very slipppy. So much so that on the way back Lucy sliped down most of it and I decided to do it Fijan style in barefeet which seemed so much easier. Unforetunately when we got to the village the ceremony had already taken place and the chief was locked in his house. it was still well worth it though the village was amazing to see and the children there were brilliant we were taken to see the school and we had lunch with the locals. That night after the walk back we had a bonfire on the beach and again there was more dancing to entertain us.

next stop was Coral View. I have to say this wasnt my favorite island. it was very windy the whole time I was there and as I was trying to stay out of the sun so as not to burn I found it quite cold. I met some good people there though and some of them ended up coming on the Wanna Taki cruise the next night so it was good to be with the same people. its wierd on the islands youll be with people for a couple of days and then youll move on somewhere else only to bump into them a few days later on another island.

The Wanna Taki cruise was fun. When we got there we went out snorkelling and got to see loads of fish then we took a boat across to one of the islands and played volleyball. I have decided since coming to Fiji that volleyball really isnt my sport but the locals dont seem to mind that Im rubbish at it and instead try to cover for me if the ball comes towards me. it was a group of girls staying on the boat and that evening we played games and had a crab race. Crab races are really popular here. basicly they write numbers on the shells of hermit crabs and then place them all in the middle of a circle the first one to get to the edge wins.

next stop was bechcomber. The "party island" of Fiji. I was quite intrigued to see what it was like as most of the other islands are pretty small and quiet. It was definately a lot busier than the rest with a big bar and even a dance floor area. In the evening they had dancers on to entertain us again who did fire dancing as well and we all ahd to get up to do the Bula dance. After that we danced a lot and some people went for a swim as it was so hot.

it was then time to end my trip on the islands. I took a boat back to the marina and some of us went for dinner at the hard rock cafe and did some shopping before I got a bus back to my hotel. The hotel Im in now is very nice and has a good pool, however it does have the biggest cockroaches I have seen in my life. Id still rather have cockroaches than spiders though. it was very nice to get back here and be able to have warm ahowers again after all the cold ones on the islands. Im not sure what Im going to do today as at the moment it is raining. Hopefully it will brighten up but I suppose I had better get used to it as Im off to new Zealand tomorrow.