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Bula.
After hearing so much about flooding in Fiji caused by a recent cyclone we boarded our flight from Auckland with grave expectations.
The flight took less than three hours and was remarkable empty considering we were on a jumbo, the flight was pleasant, the food good and the extra leg space made it fly by. Pun intended!
After our 'Jurassic park island' experience in the Whitsundays we were not too sure what to expect when we arrived in Fiji, as we had booked an island hopping pass with the same company. Fortunately, as soon as we cleared security there were signs, staff members and even a stand dedicated to awesome adventures Fiji and island hopping. With a feeling that this time there may be more than three of us on an island we boarded our mini bus and headed to our hostel for the night.
Our hostel, just on the outskirts of the capital Nadi, looked more like a resort than a nomads hostel. It had everything: swimming pool, large bar, tennis courts, restaurants...however, the only thing that was missing seemed to be the people. Once again it felt like there were more staff than guests.
The next morning to our surprise, a large air conditioned coach arrived to take us to the port along with another couple who had materialised while we waited. The coach journey was short and eerily empty once again giving us the impression STA had once again hoodwinked us.
The terminal was thronging with people and nearly all of them had a Bula pass, a pass that allows you to island hop the yasawas - we had one of these too.
It wasn't the best of days weather wise but we we wide awake and knew we wouldn't be missing out on sunbathing time so we decided to stick out the 5hr boat journey and head straight to the northenmost island and work our way down through the islands over the next two weeks.
An hour or so into our journey the captain announced there were large swells ahead due to a low pressure front. The large swells made the bost feel more like some out of control roller coaster, where it's raining so hard you can't see two feet in front of you, the person next to you (not pip this time) is loudly, so loudly honking his guts up and you occasionally fear for your life.
Anyway, we survived that and managed to thankfully transfer to our resort and get our bags inside during a brief respite of rain. We knew it was wet season but this was ridiculous.
Our first few days at Coral View resort were spent dodging the rain. This did mean though, that we had time to explore the resort and get to know staff and guests and the more we spoke to other guests we realised we had made the right choice coming here as according to many it was the best island resort on the Bula pass. The island offers great diving, staff that sing to you after every meal, trips, playing field, hammocks, gorgeous views and 24hr electricity. We had not even considered that some islands may not have that.
Our initial plan was to stay two nights at each island but, given what other guests were saying about the other resorts and the fact that we were enjoying it so much we chose to stay a bit longer. Matt finally decided to become a certified scuba diver after doing about a million diving introductions. The course took three days, and required Matt to read a lot, do a test and to do 4 dives. We therefore extended our stay!
Matt passed on Tuesday and was diving with sharks the following day.
At coral view they offer the rare but popular 'shark feed dive', this consisted of Matt and a few other fools heading down 18m to watch bull, lemon and reef sharks (they sometimes get hammerheads) munch on some large tuna heads, which are brought down in a large wheelie bin by an equally mad instructor. Apparently, during the dive, one of the divers was stroking a moray eel on the top of its head ("and the winner for biggest fool goes to...").
Since then Matt has had the dive bug and has been out on what he describes each time as amazing dives. Luckily for me I made a friend who also doesn't dive so while matt is breathing underwater I relax on the beach with a book in the Fijian sun occasionally swimming and seeking out the fish life through a snorkel at the top of the water!
On our fifth day in paradise, we took a boat trip 5 minutes around the corner of the island to the Blue Lagoon, which was the film location for 'Blue Lagoon', which neither of us have heard of. Regardless, we could see why it had been chosen. A combination of shallow sand and coral reefs gave the sea its amazing turquoise colour and beautiful palm-clad beaches were the cherry on the top. We snorkelled here for about an hour with the resort divemaster, Seta, interjecting interesting information about the fish and coral.
The night before we left coral view, we all decided to completely embarrass a couple who were in the midst of a holiday romance by staging a fake wedding on the beach under the stars. It was a good laugh and they took it well. That evening's meal was accompanied by many an embarrassing speech. It was a nice way to round off our stay with a great group of people. Part of us wanted to stay (a big part), but with so many people leaving it would've ruined our experience if we'd stayed, it was time to move on and actually make use of this island hopping ticket we had.
The next stop, just 15 minutes south, was Long Beach Resort. Our arrival increased the tourist count at the resort to seven, so it's safe to say this was a much quieter affair. The views from our beachside bungalow were out of this world. A knee-deep turquoise lagoon was all that separated us from the green island opposite. You couldn't walk 10 metres without coming across an empty hammock inviting you to come and lie down with your book. The only downside to the island was the room itself. The interior was a bit dated and the mattress might as well have been a plywood board for all the comfort it provided. We only stayed the night and used their internet facilities the following morning for the very laborious process of applying for a US transit visa (something we had no idea we even needed until someone fortunately told us). Had we not abandoned the resort for more comfortable beds we would have gone on the cheap fishing trip they offered.
We'd heard such good things about Mantaray Island resort that we knew the extra cost would be justifiable. We could use our Bula pass but needed to pay extra for the meals. However, they were a la carte. The resort is under western management, and, no offence to the Fijians, but it shows. The facilities surpassed coral view, which was still pretty good, and the standards of the service were noticeably better.
Pretty much as soon as we arrived, we rented snorkelling gear (just a one time payment for the whole length of stay) and jumped into the underwater wonderland just metres off the beach. They say this is the best snorkel spot in Fiji and we agree so far. The different species of fish and coral is more spectacular than any we have ever seen before.
Unfortunately for us, the best resorts are not included as part of the bula combo pass that we have so we paid extra for the luxury of Mantaray. We would've quite happily spent our remaining time in Fiji there but may have exhausted our dwindling budget. With this in mind we thought we better head on to another all inclusive (for us) resort, Waya LaiLai ecohaven. But before we left we took up the offer of one of the resort's activities, a morning beach trek.
We were the only two taking part but we had been told it was good by some other guests the night before. Our Fijian guide took us along the beach and through the bush to the other side of the island, picking up some fishing spears on the way. He tried to teach Matt to fend for himself Tom Hanks style but I'm sorry to say that he sucked at it and wouldn't last 10 minutes on Castaway island.
Another island, another book each demolished (it's such a hard life in Fiji). Thank god for book exchanges too after our ill-fated Kindle catastrophe. Waya LaiLai is the smaller brother of Waya island. Its resort is one of the larger ones on the pass and offers all the facilities we've come to expect, namely - some hammocks, a bed and a place to eat. On our first night, I was a little upset to learn that the man opposite in the dining area was eating a parrotfish, my favourite fish on snorkelling expeditions.
It was interesting to hear that Waya LaiLai is the only resort in the Yasawas run by the locals. All the money received from tourists at the resort goes towards paying for the school and other amenities which made us feel good about choosing to come here. We're sure if they advertised this a bit more, they would have a lot more guests come to stay. The only reason we found out was that our second evening there happened to 'Fijian evening' (every Wednesday the tribe from the local village come to the resort and perform songs and dances for the guests). There is also a free cava tasting ceremony and for one night the canteen serves up a selection of Fijian foods. For anyone who has never heard of cava (I hadn't!), it is a drink made just like tea in a giant bowl flavoured by the roots of a certain tree. It tastes like dishwater but is supposed to have a big effect on you if you drink too much. Fortunately for our taste buds, we just had the one little bowl.
The last week of our stay in the Yasawas was definitely spent on 'Fiji Time'. Fiji time is the phrase locals use to explain the very slow and relaxed pace of life here in what is basically tropical paradise. If dinner is late, Fiji time is to blame for it but nobody really cares anyway because we're all on Fiji time too.
Word travels very fast amongst backpackers and a lot had reached our ears about Smuggler's Cove being a good place to stay back on the mainland in Nadi so we thought we'd give it a try. We booked into a four bed dorm room for three nights until our flight back home via LA. (Less chance of getting a loud snorer in a four bed dorm right?). On our first night in the room, Pip attempted to make conversation with the roommates which led to a really awkward conversation with a Swedish man who told us he was dying of meningitis (aweful to hear but what the hell do you say?!). He was slurring his speech a lot but we assumed this was a symptom of his condition. During the night, we were woken by a loud thud and the tinkling of bottles across the floor. We jumped out of bed to find that the guy had fallen out of bed and reeked of alcohol, not surprising given the empty 1L bottle of vodka and empty bottle of white wine. After making sure he was still alive, Matt got him back up into bed and tried to get some sense out of him. No luck there, although clearly wanting to be sat up, he had to be propped up regularly to stop him collapsing on the floor again. Eventually, enough was enough and Pip went to reception to get some help. The porter and security guard turned up and tried unsuccessfully to get him into another room. In the end, we moved rooms as we didn't want to be in a confined room with someone who'd had that much alcohol. not exactly the best night's sleep of our lives...
We knew we couldn't possibly be that unlucky the next night... WRONG! We found out that an English brother and sister were in our room the following night and even ended up having dinner together (along with a lot of others we had just met). From what we saw of them, they seemed nice. However, when we got to the room, the brother headed off to have a smoke before bed and didn't end up returning for about an hour. His sister reliably informed us he was totally smashed and she had no idea why he had been drinking when nobody else was. During the night we were woken by her shouting at him from her top bunk. He was half asleep and urinating all over his bed and the floor. Great. She managed to get him to the bathroom and made him clear up after himself but to our astonishment, it happened twice again that night! By the third time, she had given up and made him just sleep in it.
It's not a nice experience to stand in somebody else's urine first thing in the morning, in fact, it's not nice to stand in anyone's urine, but it is a nice feeling to then wipe that urine all over the responsible person's rucksack. If you're thinking of going backpacking and staying in dorm rooms, let that be a lesson to you. Unsurprisingly, we ended up moving rooms again.
Thankfully, before our monster of a journey the next day, our third night's sleep was a little less interrupted. Perhaps the reception staff took pity on us because they didn't put any others in our room this time. We passed the day devouring our books, swimming and sunbathing and then headed to the airport not looking forward to an impending 24 hours of globetrotting. The Air Pacific jumbo we took the first leg on didn't even have cryogenic sleep chambers, so we had to pass the journey watching in-flight movies. Homeland security staff at LA airport were incredulous to find out that we had not passed through America on our way to the other countries we had visited, somebody should really tell those guys about that other direction you can travel around the world. 14 hours later, we touched down in the green and pleasant land, which after being in Fiji, did not seem so green and pleasant to us. It was also bloody freezing! Matt's brother Jono kindly offered to drive us back to Pip's where we were debriefed by her shocked grandparents.
Fiji was a fantastic end to a great four months for us and we will definitely go back one day. The people of Fiji are super friendly, love welcoming visitors and always have a smile on their faces. We would recommend it to anyone!
For us now, it was time to sleep!
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