Hello eveybody,

Well we made it back fro the islands and where back where we started at Nomads Skylodge in Nadi finally a good connection phone signal and 24hr electricity!!

So the Feejee Experience, well it all started on the monday morning we where told to be ready for 8 am on the dot, but didnt reall take to much notice, Fiji time an all that, anyway 8AM on the dot this large white bus appeared in the car park and this massive but increadably camp bloke came in looking for us! so off we went stopping round a few resorts along the way then after collecting about 20 people it took us down to a beach where we had introduce ourselves to the rest an had a briefing of the week, to be honest for a few moments i thought this was way to much like a school trip, but there was plenty a british people, and a strange looking 60 year old ish bloke who reminded us so much off mr bean in an instant! He has now become widely known as Mr Bean accross the traveling community of Fiji cant think who started that one!! so off we went back again to Nadi town to go to the market and funnily enough along the way Kam our guide, the really camp bloke that picked us up said to us to watch out for people who toutedfor english people to go into thier shops, sell them loads and charge them a fortune, me and Anna at this point just laugh with that kind off, you'd have to be stupid exspesion. ...he he. So we arrived at the market had quick look round pineapples and bannanas where for nothing nearly, got couple of bottles of water and headed back to the bus.From here we boarded the bus and headed to Natadola beach, voted No.7 best beach in the world, so while the others sun bathed in delight i hid under a towl still suffering from sunburn and what felt like fly strike ha ha! We spent rest of morning there then had a bbq lunch which we all chipped in $5 each for ( i made sure i got my $5 dollare worth) prepared for us by Kam and Willy thee bus driver!! So it was back on the big green bus again, and of we trotted to Malo-malo village, dont know how far away it was because by now we where on proper cart tracks think there had been whole families lost in the pot holes!! So on our arrival to the village Kam announced to us that because we where new to the village we had to dress to show respect, this entailed the women covering there shoulders and everybody had to cover there legs Oh noi had to where a sarong, then to add insult to injury it was tradition that to show your status i.e. taken or single you had to wear a flower in your ear! Well we stepped off the bus Anna looking lovely in pink and flowers in her hair then there was the stocky shaven heade3d barnsley lad behind not quite so sure i had the same cute appeal, well maybe to Kam he he, and am sure you'll all have a good laugh at the pictures as we did!! So we toured round the viilage i thought we where in the set for the film chicken run but actually these where the houses, and we made our way across to the chiefs house which wasn't quite as grand as what we where expecting! So in the house Kam explained a bit about Fijian history, about the cannibals and how the British bailed them out, that comment brought relief to my ears as it was getting towards tea time!! So after the history leasson we walked accross to the church which considering the rest of the village was very smart indeed, but instead of a bell has alarge wooden drum, the origanal jungle drum!! So it was back on to the bus off with the sarong and off to the sand dunes! so after another cart track ride we arrived to a great big heap of sand and each of us was given a boogie board each and pointed in the direction of the top! So that was the training and HSE bit and off we went, well by the time we had climbed to the top i thought i was about to have a stroke and no-one else looked much better but hey-ho in turn we all jumped on our boards and blasted off down the dune it was right laugh!! So once none of us could bare to climb the dune no more it was back on the bus and off to our first resort Mango Bay, this resort was all new and was well off the road down by the sea. So we arrived and checked in and where greeted by a very over enthusastic Fijian, who in an insant picked up on "Mr Bean" who at the same time as we where having our prep talk was using the ladies toilets, much to our amusement as they were by no means private!! So after downing aload more Kava it was time for a shower. So off i went towel in hand and off to the showers. i chucked my clothes down in the corner and started having a shower only to find that my boxer shorts where walking across the room!! Well i didnt think i had had them on that long so tried to stop them only to be greeted by my shower mate a large frog!! After that bit of excitement i wondered quite where we were! once we were all ready it was off down to the bar where it was Indian buffet night for the Diwalli Eve, amazinglly there where no entries to the discusting until the dessert which was so sweet even i left it! A few drinks, a crab race, then we finished the evening with fireworks and sat round a fire on the beach until lateish on then it was off to bed.

So day two i was up at around 6am as i had been bitten enough and went for walk round resort while everyone else was getting up. It was on with breakfast a good dosing of sun cream, factor 45 for me and another gallon of bug spray and back to the bus! Where everyone was having a good chuckle about our guides Diwalli outfit the night before a red dress and headscalf!! So once we had located Mr Bean we where off to Namosi Highlands where we where about to do a three hour jungle treck! great! So we stopped the bus outside someones house and borroweed his pick up truck and all set off the mountain! By now its was around 9am and was starting to get above the 30 degree mark! The truck got to the drop off point and we where told if you weren't up for it to stay on the truck , but that all seemed fairly boring so off we hopped! So we set off walking up the first hill hmm was this such a good idea!! We seemed to be going up and up and up, getting steeper and steeper but the views where really good. It was just a path we were walking up that was fairly wide but after about 20 mintues of walking there was three men doing there brakes on there lorry about the most random place in the whole of Fiji they could of picked!! Anyway we kept on walking up stopping along the way for water and to apply more sun cream and bug spray, then after about two hours we entered the jungle an started walking down hill then throught the streams and eventually after nearly four hours we arrived at the river side where Willy and Mr Bean, who had developed a bad ankle with all the mountian treck talk, where waiting with our lunch! Me and Anna where the quite away in front of some of the others so while the others where coming i thought i'd catch up on my sleep so i'd just got nicely to sleep on top of a life jacket for the boat, when i jumped out of my skin when something attacked my arm, i jumped up thinking it was a snake or something only to be greeted by Anna nearly wetting herself laughing!! After lunch and a bit more sleep now with one eye open!! We all got a life jacket and a tractor inner tube each a jumped in to the river except Mr Bean who didnt like water!! We floated down the river which was about as wide as the M1 for about 30 minutes then we all had to get to the shore to see the water fall unfortunately Anna to busy taking in the countryside had not quite worked out how to steer or to stop and was drifting quite merryily off downh the river, so after about ten minutes, of much amusement to me and Willy the bus driver she made back to the shore in her own none rushed or flusstered manner!! From here we handed back our inner tubes and jumped in the boat crossed the river to where the waterfalls were. So everyone was climbing up and jumping in to them but we decided to give it a miss, the local guide who was with us and Kam both scaled the waterfall to about forty feet and jumped in to what was only around 10 feet of water!!Think we'll leave that one to the experts!! After that it was back on the boat and a 45 mintue trip down the river back to where we ahd left the bus, and into what appeared to be someone totally randoms front room to get changed back on the bus we got and made our way to the next resort The Uprising this also was fairly new and had a really good restraunt but an incredably slack waiter who kept coming over to re-confirm our order!! So yet again we got roped into drinking Kava somehow we had ended up sat with the owner, who thought i was a soldier on leave and wouldn't be convinced otherwise,and spent the rest of the evening with them then it was back to the beach round the fire and off to bed

Well yet again i was up again at 6am after nearly been eaten alive over night and it was down for breakfast and back to the bus! On we went stopping to buy dinner and stationary for the on coming school visit which to be fair i was dreding!! All loaded up with snap and crayons we made our way to anothe village, where we got geared up in the old sarong again, oh how i enjoyed that he he and it was time to meet the chief of the village and guess what more Kava!! So we had the ceromany which Mr Bean caused havock at trying to take a picture of the local wildlife! After this all the girls went off to make bracelets and the lads got to stop with chief and drink more Kava great just whet i needed but i thought a good dose might get me through the school visit so i stummbled over to see how the bracelet production line was going and it was back to the bus were we headed of to the school! We arrived at the school and where greated by the headteacher who to be fair i think was fed up of been invaded by tourist, and also announced that all the children where sitting there exams so we all walked round it like a zoo looking through the windows an chucking sweets for them and then i came to the end of the tour where we all handed them our gifts which where recived like a kick in the head, i was not impressed by the whole event really, but anyway off we wen ton the bus down to the local river were we where all split up in to groups of 6 fortunately Mr Bean was on anothe team, and each team boared a very atiquated bamboo raft which seemed to be sinking and off we went up the small stream which was nice until we came up to the main river which was about 60 feet if not more accross but we ended up right in the middle of it to be gretted by the giant man called Tom who assured us the water was fine and helped us of the raft to our suprise you could stand up in it, it was really wide but only about 4 feet deep! So after a few games of water rugby we had a raft race which we lost dismaly as we ended up drifting down the wrong part of the river and had to be saved by one of the locals he he to be fair if we had got of the raft we cold of walked to the side!! So once more we where off to the bus and making our way to the next resort Voli Voli, here we where greeted by a man called Sasha who was even more camp than Kam, who gave us the low down on the resort. Me and Anna got ourselves a two seater Kayak and went out to sea in it then headed back for shower etc before tea. We went back down had tea which was really good and cheap where we were served by Sasha who seemed to be taking a liking to me and totally ignoring Anna much to the amusement of the rest of the group!! So after tea we had few games where we all won a few drinks and it was out with the Kava again!! So by now i was starting to get fairly oiled up and the Kava bowl seemed to be getting bigger and heading my way more and more, anyway Anna decided she'd had enough and was of to bed, so being the gentleman i'd walk her back to the room but i was just going to nip down for one more drink, this statement from a Gardham is never to be believed!! So i went back down to the bar joined up with the others and we spent the night mixing beer and Kava unfortunately Willy the bus driver was not looking too good and shortly after we had to carry him back to the bus which i found highly amusing

So our final day today i wasn't quite so eager to get up and will didint surface until about five minutes before leaving! We spent the morning lazing about in the sea and on the beach drinking gallons of water because of the heat and not the night before obviously! 12pm we where back on the bus and headed off to a local indian restraunt for dinner. When we arrived both mine an Anna's faces dropped it was a proper dump! We made our own Roti's then came the main cource which was a bold entry in the discousting list and we made a quick entry back to the bus after i'd claimed my money back!! Then we set off back to Nadi where we went to the volcanic hot mud pools and spas' we spent a hour or so here which was quite relaxing but really hot. Then we got back on the bus for the last time and headed back to our resort for the night Smugglers Cove. All in all the trip was really good and was well worth doing but to be fair at the end of the last day we were really burnt out!!