Day 1 & 2 - 8th & 9th July

We set off for our 2 week island hopping on Tuesday 8th July. We got picked up at our hostel and got taken to Port Denarau where we boarded the Yasawa flyer which took us to the islands. The islands themselves are absolutely stunning, the 1st stop was South Sea island and it was so small you could have easily walked around it in 5 minutes. Our stop was the last stop the island of Tavewa and the resort of Coral View. It took around 5 hours to get there and we arrived around 1pm. We were welcomed off the boat by Fijian people singing and playing the guitar. The 4 of us spent the afternoon on the beach and later on Carol and I went for a walk to the other beach on the island. Later on we played a couple of games of pool and had a few drinks.

Wednesday we got up early and went to the beach. We hired snorkelling equipment and went into the sea. We saw quite a lot of fish and what we thought was a snake!! We spent the afternoon on the beach even though it was really windy and we got covered in sand! After tea we danced the Bula dance which is the equivalent of a Fijian Macarena! If you are all lucky we can teach you it when we come home!!

Day 3 & 4 - 10th & 11th July

We checked out of Coral View and had a chilled out morning waiting for the yellow boat to take us to our next island; Nanuya Lailai and the resort of Sunrise Lagoon. The island is famous due to it's Blue Lagoon, which is stunning and where the film was shot. We met some nice people in our room on the 1st night and we spent the night having a few drinks with them. The evening's entertainment was singing our national anthem which for the Brits was great as the majority were from the UK. There was a poor Danish guy who had to sing his on his own!

The next day we walked across to the Blue Lagoon which was the opposite side of the island to our resort so around 30 mins walk. We hired snorkelling equipment in the afternoon and saw hundreds of fish around the coral in the Blue Lagoon. It was really good for snorkelling. In the evening we had entertainment from the staff; Queen & Britney Spears!!

Day 5 & 6 - 12th & 13th July

Carol, myself and Sarah one of the girls in our room went on a trip to the caves. The water was really choppy because of the high winds and it was an adventure on the boat getting there! The caves themselves were beautiful. We had to climb down some realy steep steps and then jump into the water inside the cave. We then swam through a small crevis in the wall into another cave which was dark. Our guide had a torch and showed us the inside, it was really spectacular.

After lunch we got on the yellow boat to our next resort of Long Beach on the island on Metacawalevu. There were 4 other people that were travelling to the same resort; 2 German girls called Marina & Verina and 2 English girls called Jenny & Kate. We spent the evening playing cards.

Sunday, Carol wasn't feeling very well so spent the day in the hammock reading. Matt, Mark and myself tried to find some shelter from the wind but failed so we wrote messages with shells in the sand which you can see when we upload our pictures.

Day 7 & 8 - 14th & 15th July

We checked out of Long Beach and whilst we were waiting for the Yellow boat we went on a trip to the local village to see how they live and their way of life. We visited the local school and one of the teachers came out and told us about the education system in Fiji. It was really interesting and the children were lovely.

In the afternoon all 8 were going to the same island and resort; Naviti & White Sandy Beach. Again we got greeted off the boat by singing. We met another girl called Sophie and 2 guys from Holland called Dennis and John. We played games of musical statues and musical numbers and of course danced the Bula dance! The staff lit a bonfire on the beach later on and we were invited to it.

Tuesday we didn't really do a great deal. We played Vollyball in the sea with Jenny and Kate and waved off Dennis & John who were going to our next island. In the evening the 9 of us played a few drinking games which were really funny.

Day 9 & 10 - 16th & 17th July

We sunbathed in the morning and waited until the boat came to take us to our next island. Sophie was coming with us to the Island of Waya and the resort of Sunset Waya. The 2 German girls were going to a different island so we said bye to them. Kate and Jenny were staying another night on White Sandy and following us to Sunset Waya the next day. We got to Sunset and met up with John and Dennis again and spent the whole evening with them playing drinking games. It was very funny and a really enjoyable night.

Thursday we were feeling a bit rough and spent the day lazing around. After lunch Carol made up a quiz and Dennis and Sophie joined us for it. Afterwards Carol, Sophie and I did a weaving class and made bracelets. We waved Dennis & John off and greeted Jenny & Kate.

Day 11 - 18th July

Carol and Mark had signed up for the mountain walk and went on that, while Matt and I were supposed to go swimming with sharks. I say supposed to as our boat broke down on the way and we had to stop at the next island of Waya Lai Lai and sit on the beach for 2 hours! It topped off the island really! We got the boat to our next island of Kuata. We said bye to the 3 girls. We changed our booking on the boat to only stay 1 night instead of 2 in Kuata so we have 1 full day on the main land to get things sorted for New Zealand. The evening we spent in Kuata was fun, a real change from Sunset which was the least liekd of all the resorts although the people there were really nice. We had a few drinks and then tea and then Liz, Matt and Mark took part in (more!) Bula Dancing and this dance called the Snake Dance which was a bit like follow my leader. We had an early night, or at least went in bed early to read but the generator packed in at 8.50 so as we were in complete darkness it was a lot earlier night than planned!

Day 12- 19th July

The next day Liz, Matt and Mark all went to do the shark swimming while I stayed at the resort. They all said it was really good because the sharks came up really close to them and touched and some even had baby sharks on their backs. The sharks were 1-2 metres in length but completely harmless to humans so don't worry about Liz mum and dad! The rest of the day was spent doing nothing. We were going to our last resort that day, Beachcomber, and it is meant to be 'party island'! We were expecting a pleasant change from the other resorts and we got it because Beachcomber has electricty 24/7 instead of between 6pm-11pm like the other islands so there was always something to do.

We got to Beachcomber at 5ish and were taken to the dorm. We had heard negative things about the dorm because it is rumoured to have 130 beds! Luckily we weren't placed in the big dorm but had a 10 man dorm. Beachcomber was also a lot different to the other resorts because it had indoor showers and toilets and hot water! The night was a lot more upbeat than the other islands. It had a live band and a dance floor and a DJ. Dad, you would have loved it, they kept playing Neil Diamond!! They also had Traditional Fijian dancing which was good to see.

Day 13th - 20th July

Today was our last day on the islands. Beachcomber had a lot of water sports for people to do. Carol and Matt wanted to go on the banana boat but you had to have 3 people so they went on the 'sea biscuit'. It was like a big rubber ring with a solid middle which they lay across, held on and got pulled by a speed boat. I went with them in the boat to take photos and it was really funny to see as they kept falling off!! We got the boat back at 5pm ish back to the port. We checked into a hostel and then went to Smugglers Cove to meet Jenny and Kate for tea. They had arrived back the day before us. We had a nice evening and said bye to them as they are heading to New Zealand the next day and the day before us.

Monday 21st July and it's our last day in Fiji. We have had a wonderful time but are looking forward to our next stop of New Zealand. We are bracing ourselves for the freezing cold winter in our campervan!! You wouldn't think that it is winter in Fiji at the moment as it is so hot. Well we will update from New Zealand, thanks for the messages and keep them coming.

Liz and Carol

xxxc