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Bulaaa! Sorry it's taken a while for the next Fiji blog to arrive, we've been fairly busy and the internet isn't quite as easy to come by on these islands! So, from where we left off...
On Monday 12th July, we entered the restaurant bright and early (I seem have developed the habit of getting up between 6:30 and 7am, shock horror!) to find three tables laden with some seriously amazing food: from fruit to plain and chocolate croissants, banana cake, fruit cake, cereal, toast, porridge, homemade muffins ... ! We also just caught the pretty intense last half of the Spain vs. Germany footie World Cup Final, sitting with Lisi, our resort host, cheering on Espana, Steph happy that she got to see Torres play in the last few minutes!! (I don't understand it...)
Our accommodation was a huge 32-bed Treehouse dorm that was pretty awesome, in the style of a typical thatched Fijian bure, (pronounced 'B-your-ay' meaning hut) but for one night were upgraded into one of the more luxury smaller huts bure's with 4 other people whilst they refurbished the dorm, which we weren't complaining about! We had a beautiful outdoor shower so that we could see the stars whilst scrubbing!
The people at the Uprising resort were so kind and funny, as seems to be the norm on this Pacific island, and we developed some great friendships with several of the staff hosts there. They all say 'Bula, bula!' to us and call us 'Ma'am' (which I can never get used to) - they're such great sparky characters! The only thing is, I absolutely suck at volleyball (would you believe) and we played many games against the Uprinsing staff members who've obvioulsy had a lot more practise than us, playing almost every day! Steph, of course, got the hang of it pretty quickly and it was a lot of fun as more and more people joined in. We spent the day chilling and swimming in the pool (something that we've had to get used to as it is very different from the mad escapades of New Zealand!) and had dinner with some fellow Feejee Experience travellers. We also met a few of the lads, Sam, Matty and Ash, that had been at the last resort which was good.
The next morning we were due to get up at a pretty outrageous hour to go on a rainforest trek to visit a freshwater waterfall, as we'd missed out with the Feejee Exp bus a few days before due to the tropical storm. So at 8:30am we hopped on a bus that took us to the beginning of the rainforest trail. On either side of the roads, we saw many cows and horses tethered to a the ground by a long rope. The Fijians don't use fences (they have only fairly recently started to use money as currency, rather than goods) so this is their preferred method of keeping their animals secure, even though they are nowhere near any water or shade ... hmm!
Whilst Stephanie and I were decked out in our walking boots, our Guide Joe was merely barefoot! He also had a rather intimidating-looking machete to help cut the path so I made sure that I kept a fair distance between us as we walked! Our group of around 15 trekked for about 45 mins, through the tropical vegetation and streams up to outr knees, with a couple of breaks as Joe pointed out various different medicinal plants they use to ease things like diabetes and asthma which is pretty amazing. Were thankful for the trees to protect us from the heat of the sun. We then reached some pretty impressive waterfalls, 3 in total, and spent the next hour or so swimming around and leaping off the nearby rock to dive into the plunge pool below, grateful for the chance to cool off! I did happen to realise, a little too late, that I had unwittingly left my phone in the 'safest' place (my bikini top) while I had been swimming ... RIP my new New Zealand phone, whoops!
We back-tracked a short way and then pushed our way through shoulder-high grasses for 30 mins to the river where we were going to raft down: however the handmade raft didn't turn up! So instead we hoped into a small fishing boat (which was slowly filling with water the whole way in one side of the boat so that by the end of the trip, the right side was only a couple of inches above the water!) which was pulled along by another of our guides as he waded through the shallow muddy water. We arrived back by to the resort, thoroughly mosquito-ed to death but otherwise very satisfied! Stephanie seems to be particularly affected by the bites: she'll turn into a fly if she gets any more! In the evenings the resort always had a live band playing popular traditional Fijian songs, which earned frequent applause.
Stephanie ended the day with a small funeral to pay repect to her faithful walking boots, which by this point were in a sorry state: the entire sole of one of them was hanging off and flapping like a tongue! After taking her over glaciers and over snowy peaks, their time had come. RIP.
That evening we played cards with Lisi over dinner and ate Lisi's food (no joke: she always insisted that I ate at least some of her food. She even had most of her pizza wrapped up and stored for us for lunch the next day, and often bought us ice cream and drinks - aaahhh, the good old Fijian spirit!). After the meal, we all gathered on the beach to bathe in the warmth of the amazing nightly beach bonfire under the stars, of which there are so many this side of the equator! Stephanie spent the majority of that night lying on the sand beside the dying bonfire with a friend, Tom, even spotting several shooting stars whizzing by overhead. This was the Fijian lifestyle!
The next morning me, Stephanie, Sam and Matty all went for a small stroll down the road to the local village to browse round the cultural shops in the Arts Village. After doing a spot of bartering we managed to get some nice souvenirs for cheapo prices :) I have also developed the habit of not wearing shoes anywhere, and so now have permanently dirty feet - nice! Steph then went skim boarding with the lads in the waves which was fun, though she mostly ended up head first in the sand! That evening we went out for dinner with them and Tom to a local restaurant which was a little cheaper than the resort's and just as delicious!
The next day was once again hot and sunny, so Stephanie and Tom spent the day exploring Suva, the nearby capital of Fiji. Tom's dad lives in Fiji for 6 months of the year as he owns a few of the hotels (and even an island!) here, so he was able to give her a good guided tour! Meanwhile, Em met the new Feejee Exp bus, and was surprised to see 2 of the Kiwi Exp bus drivers on it, Flea and Ringo, whom we'd met whilst travelling on their buses in New Zealand a few weeks ago! They're here on holiday and to take photos, as Flea is the photographer for the company, so she had brought along her huge camera and multiple lenses to take shots for the new Feejee Exp brochure! I then treated myself to a GGOORGEOUS full body Swedish massage in the resort spa, which was amazing!
After going out for a Korean meal with some of Tom's friends, Steph came back to meet the group and we had another bonfire on the beach, getting to know a large group of Americans here about to start their university courses at the Universtity of the South Pacific here in Fiji.
The next day we were back on the bus heading to our last stop on the FE bus: Volivoli Beach resort in Rakiraki, in the North of the island. Our first stop for the day was at a small primary school where we donned our sarongs and shoulder-covering t-shirts to meet with the students, aged between 5-13 to respect their culture. We were greeted by a group of them singing a welcome song, then selected by a couple each to be shown around. Stephanie and I had 2 13 year old girls who were simply gorgeous with almost perfect English that they learn at a young age. The school, like the majority on this isl;and, is pretty poor and basic, so we'd made a stop at a supermarket to buy them stationary for them to use as our donation to them. They were so happy with the gifts, it was a great feeling!
They showed us into their classrooms, simply equipped with small wooden desks and blackboards, and we met the younger kids too, all desperate to have their photo taken in various poses and "peace" signs made with their fingers! They were just so cute and smily, it was so rewarding! We told them all about our lives back home, what we did, where we lived, our family details, etc., which they were all intrigued about, whilst we found out about theirs. In the younger classroom, Steph sat down and played a game of "Simon Says" with them as they all screamed and jumped around, mimicking everything she told them to do. They also loved to give Highe-5's all the time, giggling and screaming when they got one!
Before we left, they sang us some Fijian farewell songs to the beat of a drum, with actions to complement them, before we had to say goodbye. They all stood and waved us off, some giving several of us thank you gifts like letters and handmade crafts. Steph was given a beautiful weaved fan made out of palm fronds by Willi, one of our lovely little guides! Such a special visit :)
We then travelled on to a small traditional village whereby we were to have a kava ceremony with their speacial drink, however the chief was out for the day so we spent a few hours down by the river for lunch, paddling in the water and messing around drawging 6-packs onto our stomachs using the black mud on the river bed! We had planned to go bilibili rafting, flaoting down the river on little wooden boats, however needed the permission of the chief to do so, which we sadly couldn't get.
Onwards we drove, over the incredibly bumpy dirt tracks that this region used as roads, reaching our last resort, Volivoli Beach in a place called Rakiraki (it seems that they like to repeat each word twice for certainty!). It's a gorgeous place right on the sea front in a pretty remote part of the country. That evening we spent on the beach, with Flea having a small photo shoot with a few of us "models" in the clear blue water to get a few possibilities for the brochure front cover. It was hilarious, fake laughing and splashing each other with flippers on and flowers in our hair, as she clicked away. We got some pretty good shots which she's let us nab onto our hard drive :) You never know, you may see us on the next issue of the brochure and website!
We watched the sunset over the horizon, then all ate together as a group, having a small kava ceremony for ourselves with the bus drivers. Kava isn't really all that great, consisting of ground up root and muddy water, though it has a pretty weid effect on you, creating a numb feeling in your mouth and down your throat like you've eaten 10 strepsils at once!
The next day this bus group travelled onwards whilst Em, me and a few other members that we'd befriended, stayed behind for a few more days to enjoy this place. We were given a lift into the town to get a few supplies from the large produce market and stalls, as there is a kitchen to cook in at this resort, saving us a bit of cash, and took a pretty scary taxi ride back in a battered ol' mini van which some of our friends feared for our lives in: the boot was literally hanging off as we careered over the dirt track roads! Car MOT's aren't as frequent in Fiji...!
I'm now running out of time on my internet card here, so will have to leave the rest of our tale until tomorrow. We're coming home in 4 days time which we can't believe: our trip's finally coming to an end! It's been such an unbelivable experience, but we're looking forward to catching up with everyone at home soon :)
Until tomorrow then, enjoy our update!!! Coconut kisses xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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