Bula!
I am not exaggerating when I say Fiji is Paridise...and I even got a tan!
We stayed on the mainland for our first night in Fiji and when exploring Nadi we stuck out like a sour thumb being so pale and well.. lost! The locals kept coming up to us to try and help us find our way and sell us there genuine Fiji products. So in the end we caved and ended up trusting a Fijian man as he took us down a back alley, past some dodgy looking police men and up to a shop. We had to take our shoes off before entering and we were the only tourists there. We were taught about the traditions in Fiji and drank Kava at a welcoming ceremony, it tastes a lot like soil but it is rude to refuse! When we thought the ceremony was over, the Fijians started telling us about the history of cannibalism... they even showed us the tools that were used and how they were used.. Me and Nick exchanges glances wondering who would be eaten first, but luckily we were also taught that Fiji stopped eating humans in C17th..*phew*
We booked to do the island hopping tour around the Yasawa Islands, first stop was Safe Landing resort. It was very very nice, had a little hut right on the beach! There wasn't Electric during the night time, so when I needed my midnight wee I had to find the toilet in the dark.. and I mean PITCH BLACK darkness... there were a few stubbed toes!
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Back in the UK Nickk brought a 'super high tech really cool' camera so we had a lot of fun trying to capture photos of fish while snorkelling and taking photos of us both underwater! We only stayed on this Island for one night and then took a ferry to the next little slice of paradise.
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White Sandy Beach was our next resort, we stayed here for two nights, the family were so welcoming and sang us a little welcoming song before we got off the boat, we had to shout ‘Bula’ back to them (which means hello, and it is quite fun to say, Bula Bula!). We stayed on this island for two nights as we loved it. Nick played a lot of volley ball… I tried.. he needs to teach me before I play in front of people again I think! We met quite a few people here, and the atmosphere was just fantastic, relaxing and fun! The island was so small, we walked right across it to 'Honeymoon Beach' which was very serene and beautiful.. but also deadly due to the venomous snakes in the water.. not ideal!
The evening entertainment was amazing! the families danced and sang and taught us the Bula dance (a bit like the macarena but a lot more hip shaking!) We also played a lot of games, we paired up with the staff and I won by doing some crazy moves with a lovely Fijian dude. Nick on the other hand had to pick up a very tall Fijian lady.. I think he came last!
The next day we went snorkeling, but beware of low tide!! There are no health and safety warnings in Fiji so we just went out into the sea whenever we felt like it, but on this particular morning it was quite a mistake, I got stuck in the Coral and had a bit of a panic, Nick saved me but it was really quite scary!
The next day we went snorkeling, but beware of low tide!! There are no health and safety warnings in Fiji so we just went out into the sea whenever we felt like it, but on this particular morning it was quite a mistake, I got stuck in the Coral and had a bit of a panic, Nick saved me but it was really quite scary!
Our hut in this resort was on the beach, it was probably our favorite room there, so rustic! Our shower was outside!! The water was freezing, but that's nothing to complain about in the heat of Fiji. These huts had a lot of bugs in though, but we had a mosquito net above our bed. We also had a mouse, the noisiest little mouse in the world! Chewing away at the wood above the wardrobe, we named him Trevor.
Our next stop was on the Island Wailailai (probably is not spelt like that, but that is how you say it!) in a resort called Naquila Lodge, this was our favorite location, again our hut was on the beach, it was so big, We did have a mouse again and lots of Ghekos but we had our protective mosquito net! The first night on this Island was so much fun, we played a game where we were put in to groups of our nationality and had to sing our national anthem, me and Nick did not know the worlds.. lucky we had our amazing singing voices to rely on eh!
In the morning Nick went shark snorkelling while I got my tan on, apparently the sharks where amazing! And the Fijian man just killed a fish with a harpoon to attract the sharks, they were really big apparently, but they couldn't bite you. We also climbed a mountain, in our flip flops which wasn't ideal, but we had left most of our stuff on the mainland.. we were majorly running out of pants! The mountain was amazing though, a Fijian man took us up there, it was so steep and slippery! Was definitely worth it, the view from the top was spectacular! And we saw the three sisters rocks, they were so cool! On the way down I went to see the ‘wobbly rock’ which is literally a massive boulder on the edge of a cliff that wobbles!! Apparently they used it back in the day to squish enemies! I also saw some bats, they were massive, more like Crows!
Our last evening in the Naquila Lodge resort was spent at a traditional Fiji ceremony that the staff had put on, you had to be quiet and serious during the Kava ceremony and our dinner was cooked in an underground oven (apparently what they used to cook humans back in the day! EW!). It was a lovely ceremony, but I couldn't eat any of the food, as it was all on bones and looked dirty. But I enjoyed the activities, we made a bracelet out of coconut leaves, and taught how to get into a coconut, using just a stick and leaves! Nick had used his pen knife the day before to crack one open!
When we left Naquila Lodge we decided to splash out on one of the posher Islands and chose Bounty Island which was home to Celebrity Love Island! It had a lot more people on it than our previous Islands but was a nice one to end on. You could walk round it in like 20 minutes. Here we saw the best sun set over the sea, It was amazing! The moon was so bright as well and looked massive. In the day, we rented kayaks, turns out they are quite hard work though, so we opted for snorkelling instead!
There is a marine reserve surrounding this islands so the snorkelling was amazing, lots of bright blue starfish and really brightly coloured fish. You could just swim through schools of fish and I'm not going to lie, you feel a bit like a mermaid! This place had really nice food… Cereal for breakfast!! I was so happy! Then Spag Bol for lunch.. It’s like they knew I was coming! When we were waiting for our boat back to the mainland we heard a loud crack of Thunder then looked across the sea to sea a storm while we were in the boiling hot sun.. it was kinda awesome.
In the morning Nick went shark snorkelling while I got my tan on, apparently the sharks where amazing! And the Fijian man just killed a fish with a harpoon to attract the sharks, they were really big apparently, but they couldn't bite you. We also climbed a mountain, in our flip flops which wasn't ideal, but we had left most of our stuff on the mainland.. we were majorly running out of pants! The mountain was amazing though, a Fijian man took us up there, it was so steep and slippery! Was definitely worth it, the view from the top was spectacular! And we saw the three sisters rocks, they were so cool! On the way down I went to see the ‘wobbly rock’ which is literally a massive boulder on the edge of a cliff that wobbles!! Apparently they used it back in the day to squish enemies! I also saw some bats, they were massive, more like Crows!
Our last evening in the Naquila Lodge resort was spent at a traditional Fiji ceremony that the staff had put on, you had to be quiet and serious during the Kava ceremony and our dinner was cooked in an underground oven (apparently what they used to cook humans back in the day! EW!). It was a lovely ceremony, but I couldn't eat any of the food, as it was all on bones and looked dirty. But I enjoyed the activities, we made a bracelet out of coconut leaves, and taught how to get into a coconut, using just a stick and leaves! Nick had used his pen knife the day before to crack one open!
When we left Naquila Lodge we decided to splash out on one of the posher Islands and chose Bounty Island which was home to Celebrity Love Island! It had a lot more people on it than our previous Islands but was a nice one to end on. You could walk round it in like 20 minutes. Here we saw the best sun set over the sea, It was amazing! The moon was so bright as well and looked massive. In the day, we rented kayaks, turns out they are quite hard work though, so we opted for snorkelling instead!
There is a marine reserve surrounding this islands so the snorkelling was amazing, lots of bright blue starfish and really brightly coloured fish. You could just swim through schools of fish and I'm not going to lie, you feel a bit like a mermaid! This place had really nice food… Cereal for breakfast!! I was so happy! Then Spag Bol for lunch.. It’s like they knew I was coming! When we were waiting for our boat back to the mainland we heard a loud crack of Thunder then looked across the sea to sea a storm while we were in the boiling hot sun.. it was kinda awesome.
We are in Auckland now, the weather isn’t great but we both love NZ already! I Will write about it soon!
Sarah
xxx
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