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Friday 14th: caught the airport shuttle bus in the morning to the airport. Flight was at 1pm and everything went smoothly. Again they put me in the seats with the extra leg room which was lovely. As we landed we received a lovely intro from the cabin crew announcer welcoming us to fiji. The nicest welcome to your destination speech ive ever had. When we got into the arrivals terminal there was a band of guys with guitars singing a welcome song to us. They all had 'hawaiian' shirts on. The weather was warm but cloudy. Got a pickup to the skylodge hostel where im staying the night. Had a walk around the resort and noticed that it was close to empty. The resort was quite large and had many stone bures (like huts, but similar to apartment s as they had a bedroom living room and kitchen. I then went for a walk into town to the supermarket. The streets where in very poor condition, the roads were falling apart and there was quite a bit of rubbish here and there. I think I was on the outskirts of town as there really wasnt much there. And I didnt see any other tourists. When I got back I went for a swim in the pool and had it all to myself. Nothing to do in evening, except watch tv and read. It looks like there is around 16 guests at the resort. Turns out its the end of hurricane season and then it rained ver heavily for the rest of the night. Met a german guy who was staying in my room so spent the evening with him. We were both catching the boat the following morning so we had a relatively early night.
15th: up early, and had a nice big omelette for breakfast. Had to rush it tho because the staff were on fiji time but our bus to the marina wasnt. The bus, apart from the front window, was windowless. And roofless apart from the taporlin. Checked in at the marina and had about a 20min wait for the boat. Mark the german guy decided to come with me to the coral view resort. It was a 5hr boat ride and it was quite rough. A nice bit of swell. Quite a few people were collecting sick bags. I was glad to get off by the end and still felt like I was on the boat for a while later. To get to the island the 'ferry' stops off and a little boat comes and collects you and your bags. As we were apparoching the resort the staff came onto the beach and started singing and playing the guitars for their bula song. When it finished we had to shout bula to them (it means hello) we then had to shake the hand of each one and say bula. We got shown to the dorm room, which is really nice. Theres around 20 beds but only about half were taken. Met a couple of people at the little introdution. Had a walk around the resort, its not very big. They have their own beach. There is a large building that house the reception, dining room / entertainment room, kitchen etc and then everything else is bures and the dorm rooms. The grass is very lucious and is right next to the beach. There are loungers, tables and chairs and hammocks along the grass. The beach is a little stoney so this is were people chill. After the walk around the resort me, mark and gabriella a brazilian girl walked to a supposed beach. It was through the trees and along a very muddy path. When we got to the beach it wasnt ver nice and not really a beach. Me and mark got eaten alive by mozzies.. we went for a dip back at our beach and the water was beautiful. In the afternoon I chilled in the hammock. I sunburnt my face but it was mainly from the boat ride up. It then rained so most people including myself went for a siesta. In the evening we had the bongo drum thing to signal it was food. The staff then gave us another welcome song and another song. While we ate there was three guys playing guitar and singing in the corner. Got to meet some more people, like jordanna from canada and 3 aussie guys and alex, the guy who sat next to me on the flight over. In the evening we played the coin game with staff adnd then played cards. Went to bed around 12.
16th: chilled in the morning, just read and lounged about and spent a lot of the time in the sea. There is coral everywhere so its difficult to get into the water. In the afternoon I had another siesta. Bongo drum again for notification of food ready. The breakfast was toast and cereal. lunch seems to be cold rice, salad and something and also its the same for dinner, and its not enough!but it does taste nice. I then went to the rugby field behind the bures and threw the rugby ball around by myself. Then after sweating like hell I went for another dip and read for a while. Then a few of us played volleyball for a while and me and mark then kicked the footy around for a bit. Time for another diup to cool ourselves off. In night played coin game and cards. Met a nice group of people on this island. But we are all going our separate ways tomorro. But im sure it'll be just as easy to make friends as it has been here. Cos its the wrong season theres not many people so its easier and people are more outgoing to meet each other and do things.
Mon 17th: in the morning did a tour to the suimalvou (spelling completely wrong, will need to correct) caves. About 7 of us went. It was about an hr boat ride but there was a lot of tom foolery going on at the start. The caves were quite cool. There was a pool, slightly opened at the top. We then had to swim through the rocks under water to another cavern. Which I admit was quite scary. I dont know what it is but ive become extremely rubbish at holding my breath. So after the 5m swim I was gasping for breath. But I seriously didnt like doing that, kinda freaked me out. In the afternoon caught the boat to Korovou resort. Again we had to transfer to the little resort boat and had the old bula welcome song when we arrived. Theres a lot more girls here. Jordanna, gabriella, alex and mark also came to this island to which was cool. There is a group of irish girls and a small group of aussie girls and 2 english girls and us who arrived today. This island has a nicer beach, a lot more sandy but again there is coral right to the shore so you cant go running and launching yourself into the sea. This resort has an out door eating area, there is a pool but its really green. There is another green area just up off the beach, a lot smaller but has some hammocks. The dorm is a lot larger and more basic. The whole resort is more basic than the previous but it gives you a better culture and fijian experience I think. In the afternoon just lazed on the beach and in the sea and in the hammock. In the evening a few of us had a game of volleyball, but like after 10mins over half of them had dropped out. So it was like 3 against 3 but we also had some local kids playing with us which was really cool. Its alsways more rewarding when you interact and play with the locals. In the evening the bula boys put on a dance show for us and then got us all up to do the bula bula dance - like the fijian version of the makarena. In the evening played drinking games with gab, jordanna, the english, aussie and irish girls and a canadian couple. Got pretty drunk.
Tues 18th: did the plane wreck snorkel this morning. The boat ride over there was really nice, took about an hour and went around a few islands. However the wreck itself was s***. It was a ww2 fighter plane. So pretty small and it had eroded away so you could only see the main body. And there wasnt much to see of that. I think we were only there for 20mins and then came back. We had lunch which was nice. Nicer than the last place. Me and keanan an american guy went for a walk to honeymoon beach. It was through a village so got to see how they lived outside of the resort. The beach was really nice and the coral was quite good. We were the only ones there when we arrived. We had about 30mins and then had to get back and catch the boat. The next destination was octopus resort, about a 2hr journey. On the way we saw some dolphins swimming and jumping just behind the boat. They were huge! And beautiful. Didnt have my camera handy unfortunately. Octopus is a beautiful resort. Its very high quality. Id go as far to say 5*. and there are a lot more people here. Couples and a much older generation. Theres families, honeymooners, couples, people on retirement holidays, the lot. The dorm is ok. Single beds (not bunks) and theres about 20 beds. There are lot of bures / shacks. There is a big pool and the dining/bar area is really exquisite. There is a volleyball court infront of the dining room and then the beach. This beach is again nicer than the last. They also have a full time dive centre here so will check that out and get some prices etc. so chilled under the bamboo shelters for most of the afternoon and played in the sea. The had some waves. Not good enough to ride but enough to do something with. In the evening had a welcome ceromony with the other new arrivals and some fijian men. We had to clap and introduce ourselves and then drink some cava. Which looked and tasted like dirty water. Dinner was beautiful. Really high quality. After food played volleball; fijians vs rest of the world. I then went and had a really early night. Around 10pm as there didnt seem to be much going on.
19th: completely chilled out at the beach today. Stayed in shade under the shadow of one of those thatched huts and I still managed to burn. Just on my chest and up above my armpits. They had a free jewellery making workshop so I joined in and tried to make a necklace. Unfortunately once I finished it, it was too small to fit over my head. Its also too big to use as a bracelet. I then had whats turning into a daily routine siesta. In the evening for food we all eat in the dining room at the same time. The previous night I sat with some random people, mainly old people and today I sat with different old people, but after we had just started a pretty girl came and sat with us (she was the god daughter of one of the couples. So after food, which was beautiful I went and sat round the beach bonfire with nicole (the girl from dinner) and chatted with her till 12.
20th: today I booked to go diving. I decided to do two morning dives which was the cheaper option and was $185 for the two. The first dive when I got in I was quite nervous and couldnt sort my breathing out at all and was sucking in air like my life depended. But after 10 or so mins I started to calm down and was able to control my breathing a bit better but I had already used just under half a tank. The first dive we went down to 22m (im only licensed to 18m, but had been down to 20m before with no issues), the coral was nice but there wasnt many fish around. But it was a good dive as the coral was a good formation so there was a lot of over the top and down and around. The current was quite strong on times and i really had to swim. I came up after 30mins and the other 3 divers came up after 45mins. While they were under I was talking a lot to the fijian guy on the boat about rugby. We then had a 45min or so break before our next dive. I started feeling a little iffy due to the swell and was glad to get back into the water. The second dive was at only 14m but was a much nicer dive. There were a lot more fish, no special fish but a lot of the normal. We didnt see any rays or eels but the coral was beautiful and a wide range of colours. I managed to remain under for the whole dive which was around 45mins. In the afternoon I started feeling very unwell and just sat in the shaed and drank water. Not sure whether it is from the dive (diving with a slight cold) or dehydrated or sun stroke. But the water seemed to help. At around 3pm I then caught the boat to waya lailai. I said goodbye to nicole and her god parents. They were lovely and said if they were in san diego (where they live) they would have offered me a place to stay. We were greeted at waya lailai with the bula welcome song. There were me a guy and 6 girls on the boat. When we got to the island there were not too many more people there and again the majority were women. Im in a 8 bed dorm with 3 of the girls. After tea and biscuits we went and made a ring and a bracelet (I hope this one fits mam). I was still feeling pretty weird and started getting a headache so went for a siesta. I woke up feeling a lot worse and with a cracking migraine. I forgot to buy tablets before I left NZ and was lucky that one of the girls had a pack she could spare me. Started feeling immediately better.Went down to bar with room mates for food but could only eat half the plate. Starting to get really friendly with the two dutch girls. They are great fun and we instantly hit it off. Although they are both different they each suit my personality and so we 3 get along really well. Had a couple of drinks in the night and chatted with my room mates but then had a quiet night. The bar shut at 11 so saw that as a good reason to have an early night.
21st: woke up feeling much better but not near 100% and not hungry. It was torrential rain this morning but it then cleared while we were having breakfast. Around midday there wasnt a cloud in the sky and the temp in the afternoon reached 37 degrees. Think im getting a return of the bladder infection as my urine is off colour and when I get the urge to go pee I really got to go immediately and cant hold it. So with nothing to do I went and chilled out on the beach and tried to finish my latest book that ive had for about 2 months now (wilbur smith the 7th scroll). Spent a lot of the time in the ocean with ivon to keep cool and also had my afternoon siesta in the dorm. We had some new arrivals, all girls and so im in the dorm with all girls. The newcomers thought that me and the 2 dutch girls had been travelling for a while, but when we said only a day they were amazed by how well we got on. In evening after very little food me and ivon went down to the beach and chilled in the hammock. Early night as I was knackered.
22nd: Another hot day and not much breakfast to start it off with. Spent day at beach with girls again. In the afternoon I had a little snooze on the beach and then we caught the boat. Im heading to beachcomber for my last night and they are going to south sea island. There are the irish girls on the boat to beachcomber and alice the english girl who I met at korovou. When I got to beachcomber I saw a guy from octopus and the 3 aussies from coral view, so knew I would have company if I needed it. First impressions of beachcomber are not great. Doesnt seem to be any fijian charm or friendliness about the place. We didnt even get a bula welcome. The dorm room is like a concentration camp bunk house and it has apparently 100 beds. There is no family / village warmth about the place and just feels like a resort. I slept in the afternoon and then walked around the island in the evening, it 10mins to walk completely around the island. In evening met 2 girls who I was eating food near and they asked me to join them. I then stayed with them in the evening and then when things started getting lively I went and joined the irish girls. They had a live band in the entertainment building and we got up to do the bula dance. The irish girls were all pretty legless when I joined them so it was hard for me to liven up and I still wasnt feeling great. I didnt feel too good but got drunk and mostly sat and chatted with olive. After the bar shut we all went for a dip in the jacuzzi and then went to their verand and chatted for a while. Ended up going to bed at 4.
23rd: chilled at the beach on my own for the morning and then sat with the girls for a little while in the afternoon waiting for my boat. Me and alice went to see the turtle feeding which was pretty poor and I felt sorry for the little turtles. I went to have a shower beofre the boat but they had already packed my bag onto the boat. So when I got to the airport I had a shower. Me and ivon were going to see if we could sit next to each other (and anda) and pretend that we had just got engaged to try and iprove our chances and maybe see about getting upgraded. But the plane wasnt full so there wasnt any problem with sitting next to them. The planes entertainment facilities werent great and we couldnt choose the films or music and there were no tv programs to choose. But I managed to watch toy story 3 and inception. Arrived in LA at 12pm and had to que for a while to get through immagration and then once we got our bags we had to que even longer for a 'double check'. I then had to say farewell to the girls as they were flying on to heathrow.
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