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The journey from Volivoli beach resort to Nadi, was my last on the Feejee Experience, we left Volivoli at 12.30pm, which was a very late start especially compared to all the early ones we had prior. It did mean however that we got to have a lie in and then get a cooked brunch and use the internet before we boarded the bus. William was the driver of the bus who I had as my driver on my very first Feejee Experience bus and Reuben was the guide, the guy looked constantly stoned as he was addicted to Kava.
From Volivoli we passed through the township of Tavua, and then made a short stop in Ba town where we brought gifts to give to the orphans we were to visit later in the day, I brought some baby powder, we also used the opportunity to grab anything that we wanted to eat or drink. After another few hours in the bus along Queens's road, we eventually arrived at the Sabeto mud pools which were located just outside of Nadi, at the base of the sleeping giant mountain range in the Sabeto valley. It was a natural mud pool so there was nothing luxurious about it, but none of us cared as we all got in and covered ourselves in mud from head to foot and then had a few locals get a few wacky poses of us covered in the gooey and icky stuff. There were a couple of toads sitting by the edge of the mud pool as we caked ourselves in it, which made me wonder what was lurking beneath the water as it was completely brown and murky so we couldn't see anything, plus our feet were constantly swamped in the sloppy mud that was at the base of the pools. Following this we headed straight for the hot thermal mineral water pool which was like a bath as it was so nice and warm, we had to be quick in here though as Rueben wanted us back on the bus pronto, so after a quick clean up to get as much of the mud off of us as possible and passing the souvenir table that the locals had set up, we were back on the bus and made our way towards an orphanage located in Nadi.
Ashley, Michael, Mel and I had already been on an orphanage visit on our previous bus but the visit turned out to be a big let down so we were delighted that we got the chance to visit another one as the new people we were travelling with hadn't been to one. Theres no doubt that the second visit in Nadi was better as we got to gives our presents to the kids and then watch them eat the sweets with delight, their faces lit up when there saw their treats. We were at the orphanage for about 45 minutes and got to watch the kids playing and we were even able to hold the kids and interact with them. The age range was from 6 months to 6 years and they were all adorable, it was very cramped in their tiny living space as there were loads of us crammed into it, it gave us a real insight what life must be like for the Fijian orphans and left me a little choked as to what life must be like for them. After our short visit, we made our way back to our various hostels in Nadi, I was the last one to be dropped off, I was staying at Bluewater lodge which was a really nice little hostel as it had free internet, just a three bed dorm and a pool as well as free breakfast plus it was located right next to all the other hostels which meant I could walk and use the facilities at Smugglers Cove for free which was the biggest backpacker resort in Nadi.
Later that night, Rueben arranged for us to have a curry at one of the local hostels which was also one of the cheaper hostels, and it was evident by the food that they fed us, the curry was really quite bad, it was chicken curry however most of the chicken was bone and no meat, although beers were also cheap to wash away the bad taste. We then sat around at this hostel and watched the entertainment that they provided which included fire dancing and various party games, following the end of the entertainment we sat around chatting before I decided that it was time for bed.
The next morning, I had my free breakfast which included a huge pot of tea for one, and then made my way to Smugglers Cove so that I could do my laundry which was long overdue as all my clothes were nasty from all the activities I had done on the Feejee Experience, I also wrote some postcards and booked onto a tour to see a few of the islands the next day, which I received some free internet time for which I used up. Whilst I was waiting for my washing to finish, I bumped into Carly who had just returned from one of the islands so I had a chat with her and played cards until my washing had finished then I carried it back to my hotel and packed it all away.By which stage it was already dinner time and after chatting to the other guests and going on the internet I decided to call it a night as I had to be up early the next morning.
It was a 7am departure from the hostels as we made our way to the port at Denarau near Nadi as this is where the ferry departed from that I was going to be taking a day cruise around the islands on. The ferry left at 9am so we were there well in advance, I waited in the baking hot sunshine as it was the hottest day I had experienced in Fiji until we were allowed to board the boat then found a seat as we made our way to South Sea Island, which is where I got off of the boat, I had three hours on the island so used the time wisely by firstly taking a semi submergible submarine around the coral beds to see the marine life in what turned out to be rather murky waters as Fiji was still recovering from the aftermath of the bad cyclones which destroyed much of the coral reef. On return from this short 15 minute trip I then went snorkelling, we were taken by boat a short distance from the island and then jumped out and got half an hour to snorkel around the coral, the fish were pretty cool but the snorkelling wasn't spectacular as it was nothing I hadn't seen before but I was becoming better at snorkelling and not panicking about it because of my asthma which is what I was like the first time I attempted snorkelling. Once our time limit was up we were taken back to South Sea Island, where drink was free for all of our time on the island so I maximised the freebies by necking a few drinks which did leave me a little full for lunch which was also free and was a BBQ, the food was good but I was stuffed afterwards, this didn't stop me getting a few more free drinks to stuff in my bag to drink later on. Beer was also free but the guy handing it out told me that I wasn't old enough to have it which he was right about as the legal drinking age was 21 but all the hotels hadn't cared so I couldn't see what his problem was, he then said to me 'where's your daddy' I told him in England and that I was travelling alone so he gave me one but told me to take it slowly and not have too many....it did make me laugh how I could travel around the world but not get given a beer.
After a little while sun bathing it was time for me to leave the island at about 12.30pm as I had to board the boat to cruise around some of the other islands, which included Beachcomber, Mana, Castaway, Bounty as well as a few others, it was cool sitting at the back of the boat and taking it all in as there were all stunning and just as you would imagine the islands to be, most were tiny and easy to walk around in a matter of minutes, they all looked like paradise, the weather seemed to be getting hotter as it was a glorious day, once we reached each island we had to wait to let people leave or board the boat at each place, we couldn't go right up to the island though, as each island had to send a small motor boat out to our ferry and pick up and drop off passengers. We even passed an island that was only 2 metres squared and consisted of just sand, it looked pretty cool. After a three hour cruise around the various islands, we made our way back to Denarau which marked the end of a brilliant days cruising around the Mamanuca islands. I then got a coach followed by a car back to my hostel, and took a dip in the pool to cool off before having dinner and meeting this Dutch couple as watched a typical Fijian dance show that the hostel provided at entertainment for the evening. Following this I went on the internet and packed my bags for my flight the next morning.
I had to leave the hostel at 9am, so got up nice and early to have my free breakfast and get showered, and then I waited in the lobby for the taxi to arrive which was about 5 minutes late but nothing too alarming. It then took me to Nadi airport which was about 15 minutes drive away, and after checking in and passing security where the officer decided he wanted to have a little joke about my inhalers which I did not find the slightest bit funny, I was boarding a flight to Auckland once again as although my next destination was Australia I had a stopover in New Zealand, so after arriving in Auckland airport at about 2.30pm I had the prospect of a 16 hour wait in the airport as my flight to Cairns was not until the early hours of the next morning, so I found a spot and set up camp for the duration of my stay in the airport. I decided to write as many blogs as I could in this time, I had McDonalds for dinner, and then laid down across about four chairs in the observation area over the runway as I got a few hours kip, there was a couple who also had an all nighter in the airport and were going to Fiji so I chatted to them for quite a while, although I had such a long time to kill in the airport it did go extremely quickly, I had stored my backpack in the luggage room for 10 bucks so I didn't have to worry about watching it and lug it about the airport with me during my stopover. Auckland airport had a shower so I used that at around 4 in the morning and then went to check in and go through the usual airport formalities as I waited for my 7am flight to Cairns.....my first time in Australia :D
Love Toby xxxxxx
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