So Fiji wasn't all rain and scary boat rides - it was actually pretty bloody amazing. My first stop was Nacula island, staying at Blue Lagoon resort. The dorm was the best I have seen..loads of space, towels, flowers on the bed and most of all it smelt like roses! The first couple of days were pretty rainy but I had great fun jumping the enormous waves in the sea, making bracelets and drinking cava. I was really lucky and met some really nice girls to hang out with and soon the sun was out! In the evenings some men from the village would come over and would play music and drink cava. Cava is a traditional drink made from root cava plant and it can make you feel pretty relaxed! I was made chief by Noble who led the Cava proceedings and had to sit next to him with a flower behind my ear. Think he was trying to get me to be the next Mrs Noble!
We did a couple of trips whilst there, one was a trip to the caves where the film 'Blue Lagoon' was filmed. I have to stop myself saying 'movie' - need to keep my Britishishness !
It was basically a freshwater cave which led to another cave. The only way to get to the second cave was to swim under water in the pitch black through a gap quite deep down. It really was pretty scary as so claustrophobic and dark. The guide would go on one end a shine a light which you had to swim to-once you got there he would help you get up as if you came up to quickly you would hit your head on the cave ceiling. Pretty cool indeed.
Another highlight was a trip to the village where the villagers danced a welcome ceremony for us, in traditional clothes. They ended up dragging us up too and it was pretty hilarious. I danced with one lady of about 90 with no teeth.
Did I mention I had a champagne breakfast on the beach??? Ha, this really is the life eh? It was a prize for a game we won where we had to answer questions about Fiji, throw seashells and crack open coconuts etc, I was lucky as I had some very rainy people on my team!
After a fab 4 days at Blue Lagoon I was off to 'Otto and Fannies' resort on a nearby island. I had heard it was very different and pretty rustic so I was intrigued to see what I would find!
The resort is actually one of the oldest in the Fiji island ad is owned by a family -Otto and Fannie are husband and wife -sadly Otto had died 2 years previously but its such a cool find -completely family run. They greeted me at the beach along with 6 dogs(inc 3 pups) so I knew I was going to enjoy it there! They had very sweetly upgraded me for free to my own garden bure, which is basically a little hut complete with terrace and bathroom. Very cute. My own hammock outside. I was the only person on the whole beach-clear water and so many gorgeous fish . The rain unfortunately was pretty heavy for 2 of the days but I just took it as some time to catch up on sleep and my book.
It was actually so embarrassing being the only person there as on my night-time meals they would serenade me with Fijian songs as I was eating! I couldn't stop laughing. I enjoyed some cave after my meals with the family and it was actually so nice as I learnt so much about Fiji. One afternoon I sat with Fannie, who I had already met by chance on the boat up to Blue lagoon. I should have realised I was the only guest when she had known my name straight away on the boat! Anyway she told me all about her childhood, the dogs (which are extremely loved) and making tea for the Queen! She also mentioned the boat journey... bearing in mind this lady is in her 70s and has lived on the islands all her life, she said it was the worst journey she had ever been on and she has been on alot. It was so bad that she couldn't feel her arms or legs either and said she had gone into shock-she even had to have an injection when she got back to the island. Just goes to show how bad it actually was!!
I did plenty of snorkelling too and actually saw 3 reef sharks-don't worry mother I am still here to tell the tale but lets just say the fish made a quick exit.
On the last night, Mark who was one of the family asked me to put on a 'sula' which is a sarong, so my knees were covered and to follow him! Don't worry nothing dodgy!
After eating my amazing veggie meal which included seaweed from the river I went down to where the villagers live and they asked me to join them on the woven mat to drink cava. An elder in the village had died and its traditional for all the villagers to stay up that night and drink cava and pay their respects. So basically here was little old me with a family of about 14 plus the village dog drinking cava by lamp. It was pretty amazing experience..soon the rain started to come so we all headed to a hut and carried on there. I learnt so much about their culture and they were so welcoming to let me join them.
After a heavy cava session I called it a night as the Cava was taking effect. I was leaving that morning for my next island and before I left they planted a palm tree for me which they told me to come back and see soon. After a little boat ride up to the Catamaran wearing my flower garland I was heading off to my next stop -Octopus.
The boat journey was pretty tame compared to the last one, apart from when we hit a certain channel and the waves were back.
There was a welcome drink and singing to great us at the next island and I soon made friends with a girl from Liverpool and saw a girl I had befriended on another island. Good job as I was convinced I was going to be surrounded by honeymooners.
The next few days was all about snorkelling, its really amazing as you can literally step off the beach and you hit the reef with the most amazing jelly fish. Did I mention the jelly fish??? Ha yes Portuguese Man of war jelly fish had been swept in from the storm so it was a little bit scary in case I saw one but the fish were so amazing I couldn't resist the water.
I also went on a school visit and all the local kids performed songs etc for us which was really sweet.
It was such a nice few days and when the boat came to take me back to the mainland I was pretty sad to leave.
Laura, the girl from Liverpool, plus a couple of guys we met on the island were also on the mainland so it was nice to have them to hang out with till my flight.
You know how bad luck comes in three's..... First off one of my (many) bags was not loaded on the boat so I was very worried I would not get it back before my flight as the boat only runs once a day-luckily I managed to get it back just before I left for the airport the next day. Second bad luck-walking to meet Laura for dinner when I stepped on a shard of glass which went through my flipflop and into my foot. I hobbled along, looked down at my foot and it was covered in blood. It was so gross. The Fijian people are so lovely though and I was whicked into first aid where they patched up my foot and I was as good as new, hence a big bandage. Luckily I have flipflop feet now after months of travelling as if I had babty soft feet it would have gone much further in (sorry guys I bet you are picturing battered feet now-they aren't that bad) Thirdly after my dinner I headed to my room only for a lizard to commit suicide in front of me. It literally just throw itself of the wall and died at my feet :(
So Fiji was brilliant. The people are by far the nicest I have met, just very warm, friendly, laid back happy, fun people who have real amazing community spirit. Its not to con you either, they don't really want anything other than a chat. So as you can see I was sad to leave but I was also looking forward to getting to Melbourne and meeting friends and to also get some chocolate as it had been a while!
ahhhhhhh and I had a whole row of seats on the plane all to myself.....bliss
