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BULA!!!!
So after a very long 27 hour journey I arrived in mainland fiji on May 1st 2008. I spent 2 nights in Nadi at a hotel called horizon beach. It was nice there and right on the beach. My jet lag was bad tho and I spent the 2 days I had there asleep all day and awake all night! On my second night there I met a nice guy called Matt and we spent the night drinking vodka and chatting. It was good getting to know him and gave me a taste of what was in store for me on this trip!
My next stop was to octopus resort on Waya island on the Yasawa group. This place was amazing and where I have spent the last week. On the boat trip there I met colette who was to be my room mate, and also Emma. The boat trip was nice although a bit choppy at times. We were greeted by the staff out on the beach, gathering to sing us a welcome song.
When we arrived we were shown to our rooms. We were in a 4 bed dorm and sharing with a very grose 50 year old fat guy with long hair called Dave.. Neither myself or Colette were very happy about this! But the room was nice and the shower had no roof so that we could look out at the sky whilst we were showering during the day. Our beds were made out nicely with flowers laid across our pillows. We spent saturday sun bathing on the beach looking out at the south pacific ocean and it was amazing!
On sunday, we woke early to have breakfast before heading to the local village called Nalawaki. This is where 90 % of the staff at the octopus live. We were invited to attend the church service there in the morning and it was a great experience. The children sat at the back of the church whilst the parents sat at the side and all the guests sat down at the front. When we arrived back at the resort we spent the day lazeing by the pool. After dinner we watched cocktail on a big tv screen, that was put up outside. It was a really nice day.
This is where all the days began to roll into one and I was on Fiji time! For 3 days that I was at octopus it was raining which was a little dissapointing as I wanted to catch up on my sun tan! On these days we just chilled out in the bar area or in our rooms. I managed to read two books in one week. Which is really good for me as i've only ever read about 5 books in my life! On the last two day we began to play pictionary when it was raining or at night.
I made lots of very nice new friends and spent some great times with them. On one night we sat out by the beach playing drinking games with a bottle of vodka I had brought as duty free from the airport. It was a very funny night! On another night we done crab racing. You have to pick your crab of the beach ( I had to get Emma to pick mine up for me) then they make a big circle in the sand and let all the crabs out. For the first round the 1st 20 crabs to make it out of the circle get into the semi final. My crab made it into the final but was then beaten by quite alot! The food at octopus was really nice. We had italian night, curry night, barbecue night, seafood barbecue, and local fiji food.
There was also alot of activities to do during the day. My favorite one and the highlight of my trip so far was a trip to the local village. it was a real eye opener to the real Fiji and how the locals live. Even though they are so poor, everyone there is very happy. 257 people live in the village that we visited. When we arrived we had a Kava ceremony. This is the local drink and looks and tastes like muddy water! When you take the drink you clap once introduce yourself. Ie my name is Sarah and i'm from London. Then everybody says nice to meet you Sarah and claps 3 times. You then drink the Kava and clap 3 times! After the ceremony a group of the locals sang and danced in traditional style for us! It was again amazing! Then we had to do the Bula dance. To do this you need a partner, mine was a local guy dressed in a straw skirt! SHAKE IT! Then we done the conga around the village whilst the locals sang for us! Meeting the children was really good, they were all so friendly and sat at the side whilst we watched the dances. I really enjoyed this part of the trip.
We also done basket weaving, which I wasn't very good at and had to have alot of help. But the end results were really good. We made our baskets out of coconut tree leaves! I tried snorkelling for the first time ever. When i got out into the sea I panicked and thought I was going to drown! The others had to help me back! I tried it again a few days later after practising in the pool and this time I made it out to where i could see some fish, but came back before I started to panic again! I will however beat that fear and do alot of snorkelling whilst i'm away!
I really have just had the best week of my life so far and met some great people, who I will stay in touch with after this is all over. I am back in Nadi now and starting my awesome adventures tour on monday. I cant wait for this as i've heard really good things about it from people who have already done it.
I will be back in touch after to let you know how it goes! Feel free to leave messages on the board on this site so that I know there is people who are reading it. Goodbye for now! Sarah xx
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