Fiji

On 26 June we flew to Nadi, Fiji. We arrived about 11pm at night and were bundled into a shuttle bus by a man with no teeth, who took us to our hotel Nadi Bay Resort. It was a nice, cheap hotel with two swimming pools and two restaurants!

After a day of lounging by the pool and soaking in some much needed sun, we took the local bus to the town centre. It was packed full of people and the ride was really bumpy. The driver played some UB40 though! In town we experienced a traditional Fijian kava ceremony - we we drank a strange drink that tasted like dishwater. It made our tongues go numb! Later we visited the Hindu temple:

That evening our hotel treated us to a show of 'traditional' Fijian dance (it was set to a techno drum beat!) and fire dancing. The dance moves were hilarious & the men were dressed in pink grass skirts and coconuts.

The following day we boarded an Awesome Adventures catamaran bound for the Yasawa Islands. We had bought a 7 day island hopping pass, which allowed us to visit any island in the Yasawa group. Our first stop was Waya, where we stayed at a budget resort called 'Sunset'. We were welcomed with a 'Bula' song & then taken to our traditional thatched 'bure' (or bungalow) where we would stay for the next three nights. The volcanic island was covered in thick forest, and was really beautiful. The beach was great for swimming and snorkelling too.

We found it strange doing nothing after New Zealand, but it didn't take long for us to get used to it. Our days were spent reading or swimming, whilst we waiting for lunch and dinner to be served. The weather was a bit cloudy at first, but became really hot and sunny. The food was carb laden, but could have been worse. Our bure was a bit of a zoo though, we were paid visits by several different species - huge cockroaches, spiders and a mouse!

The locals & other people staying at the resort were really friendly and spent the evenings socialising with us. One night we played musical statues and limbo. Ollie came second after a ten year old girl and won a free beer! We were also treated to more fire dancing, although Nesi burnt his scalp during one of the moves.

After a goodbye song from the locals, we boarded the catamaran and continued North to Naviti, the biggest island in the group. Here we stayed at another budget resort called Coconut Bay. It was pretty empty- there were only 7 of us altogether. The food was an improvement and our bure was bug-free, but the beach was littered with coral, which made it impossible to swim. Fortunately a beautiful secluded beach called Honeymoon beach was only a 10 minute walk across the island.

We then sailed up to Nanuya Lailai, near the very tip of the Yasawa Group. We stayed at Sunrise this time and we really enjoyed it. Our bure was the best so far and right on the edge of the beach, so it sounded as if we were at sea during the night! The resort was run by 'Queen' - the campest man in Fiji! (Possibly the entire South Pacific) who had a great story to tell that Oprah Winfrey once stayed at Turtle Island, where he used to work, and asked him to come and stay with her in LA. We weren't sure if it was true or not, but he certainly made us laugh!

We had another kava ceremony with the locals and visited the Blue Lagoon across the island. The movie Blue Lagoon was actually filmed there. Here the snorkelling was good and the food we had at our resort wasn't bad either. We also won three rounds of Bingo during a game that only lasted 5 rounds!

Our final stop was back at Waya, but this time on the other side of the island at a resort called Octopus. It was amazing and we really didn't want to leave after 5 days. (The longest we have spent in any one place since we left home!] When we arrived it was pouring down with rain, but the staff were all huddled under an umbrella singing a Bula song for us. We were then given some cocktails and taken to our lovely bungalow:

That evening we were welcomed with another kava ceremony, and then scoffed our faces at an all you can eat meat BBQ. The food was really fresh and delicious. Thankfully the rain only lasted one evening, and we were able to bask in the sun for the rest of our time at Octopus. When we weren't snorkelling or lying on the beach, we were taking part in the activities that the resort had to offer. We went to the Sunday church service at the local village and played with the young children:

& Ollie climbed up a mountain:

Fiji was really beautiful and the people were some of the friendliest we've met. It was nice being in the middle of nowhere and doing nothing for a couple of weeks!