FIJI 7

Day 105- 18/11/09
WAYA LAI LAI ISLAND – SOUTH SEA ISLAND
Wednesday

Today we were on our way to the smallest island of the Yawsawa’s!! To avoid the more expensive touristy boat, we went with the auld reliable local fishing boat!! I (Rob) headed into the village to get our captain for the day. There were people coming at me from every angle to help me find the right person, the money will go to the whole village, not just the boat owner! When finding the right man, we haggled for the right price, and then met him in front of our resort that afternoon. When meeting the boat driver at sea, it looked like he brought his whole family and 3 barrels of fish guts that he was going to try and sell on main land. He was thinking; why not make a day out of it, if a tourist is going to pay for it!!! The smell was outrageous, bit like tripe!! The weather wasn’t the greatest either, very windy which meant high swells. The first 30 minutes were fine, but once we got pashed the wind blocker, it was awful!! Full throttle, hitting the waves at speed. We were at the top of the boat so every wave we hit we got the impact right on our backsides!! The last 10minutes were painfully funny, the boat being air born and landing straight back down on our asses!!! We were in stitches, I didn’t know if I was crying from the pain or from laughing so hard!! But I think both. What made it even funnier was that the boat driver’s wife was sitting beside me and she was asleep!!!! No joke, eyes closed with her head bobbing up and down!! While we were holding on for dear life, classic moment!!! Finally arriving, considering never going on local boats again!! But the experience was amazing and one of our funniest moments! The island was tiny, luckily enough we were only staying here for one night because it took us 5 minutes to walk around it, so you could get bored quite easily!! You won’t believe it until you see the picture! There were only dorms on the island, so it’s a first for us. Staying in a room with 20 beds!! When walking around the island it looked like there were hundreds of people there and there was, a lot of people do day trips to the island and don’t stay!! Which I think is cheating!! But when they left, it was down to 12 of us on this tiny island, it was so weird not being able to get away from anyone! We met a lovely couple from England Joe and Charlotte, who we bump into again on our trip!! If you stood in the middle of the island and turned 360 degrees, you could always see the ocean!!! But one thing was good; there were no insects, mosquitos, mice, cockroaches or grasshoppers!!

Day 106- 19/11/09
SOUTH SEA ISLAND - NADI
Thursday
Today was super hot, so hot that we just couldn’t take it, so we sat in the shade for the day and caught an early boat off the island. It actually worked out quite well because the early boat brought us around the Mamanuca Islands. We got to see Bounty Island, Beachcomber, Travellers, Mana and Castaway Island! They were amazing! These islands seemed a little more upmarket! They had big jetties and loads of sun loungers and pretty beach front bures. We sat on the top deck of the boat and enjoyed the sun and the breeze. Though Rob got quite burnt and I think a little sick from the sun and the wind! But we kept our promise (not that it was a hard one to keep) and we treated ourselves to a magnum!! Yum!! But unfortunately they didn’t have the choc and caramel one, so I settled for white choc instead!!
When we got back to mainland, it was a nice relief to sit on a bus and drive away from the water! Less claustrophobic!! We stayed in Drift In; a couple recommended it to us. It’s a pretty sweet deal, just over €10 a night including breakfast and dinner AND free internet!! Too good to be true… hope not!!
We had a Kava night, hadn’t drank that in a while, but it still tastes the same, muddy water with an after taste of ‘Halls’ throat sweets, it numbs your lips and tongue!!
Only 3 bowls for me, just as a sign of respect but really I don’t like it!

Day 107- 20/11/09
NADI, DRIFT IN (TOILET DAY)
Friday
Today I (Rob) felt like crap, obviously I had too much sun, on our cruise yesterday! Everything I ate went straight through me, but I won’t go into detail!! So today I had to stay close to indoors until I felt better, so the day wasn’t very active! Mostly spent on the toilet or typing the blog!!!!

Day 108- 21/11/09
NADI, DRIFT IN (THE BIG M)
Saturday
Today we headed into Nadi Town. We found a cheap and fast internet shop so we spent a fair bit of time there catching up on our mail for the last few weeks and updating the blog! We had a bit of a wander through the town, it a busy city especially on a Saturday and with the humidity made it a touch claustrophobic for me (Danielle). But I was happy to be out and about, after all that’s what we had missed while on the islands! Rob meeting his Twin!

After picking up a few pressies we walked out of town, thinking that it wasn’t that far… we were wrong!! It was bloody ages out, but we were trying to save dosh by walking! Then as we turned the corner we saw the big golden M!! (Aaaahhhh… God like sound!) The heat and the tiredness were catching up on us so we popped in to cool down and step away from it all (you always feel in a no-mans land in Mac D’s… it could be anywhere! And that was a refreshing place to be for that nice cool hour!) We finally packed it in a paid the $2 taxi back to the hostel. The evening went quickly while we played cards and drank rum with Charlotte and Joe (the couple form England who we had met on South Sea Island! Really lovely couple!)

Day 109- 22/11/09
NADI, DRIFT IN (BALLYERS IN FIJI!!)
Sunday
Ireland were playing Fiji at 5.30am Fiji time, and Johno Sexton an old rugby team mate of mine from St Mary’s was to get his first cap. So we had to get up and have a look and him in action. It was very strange heading outside to watch the match on this tiny TV, with the sun rising in the back round in Fiji, having Ryle Nugent voice commentating!!! It was if we were home for the 80mins!! Great win for the Irish and Johno getting 7/7 kicks and man of the match, defiantly stitched his name into the number 10 shirt for the future of Irish rugby. The security man in our hostel wouldn’t stop talking at the end of the match and I (Rob) wanted to hear every word, so I had to turn to him politely and tell him to “shut the hell up”. No doubt we went back to bed for a few hours once the game was finished. Once up, I was feeling a bit better, so we headed down to the beach. Coming from the Yasawa Islands, we expected all beaches to be amazing but on the main land the beaches are like Dolymount!!! Well I don’t thing as bad, but you know what I mean. Stopping for a drink I couldn’t help to see another game of rugby on in the background, Scottish taking on the Wallabies. It was great to see a good game after being stuck on an island for 3 weeks! When walking back into our hostel, it felt like we walked into Ballyfermot!!! Or “Ballyer” as the polite lady said it was know as locally!!! I have no issues with “Ballyers” but when they talk to other nationalities about Ireland saying that, and quote “ Da cocaine is shi in Iurland, once eh leavez da flatz, itz 95% wazhin up powdor and 5% cocaine”!! And quote “10 yer ould kidz, run around robbin caarzs and grannyz for therez moneyz!!” the look on everyone’s face was hilarious!!! They thought Ireland was a shit hole after there conversation!! It was great entertainment for the next few days!

Day 110- 23/11/09
NADI, DRIFT IN
We were up early to head into town to dwindle away our last day on the internet. We spent the day chatting to family on skype and looking up accommodation in Sydney. A wee bit bored!!

It’s a terrible waste of a day but we were so beached out that we couldn’t head to the beach for today…plus we have months of it to come in Australia! We spent the afternoon packing our bags, making sure that we were wearing all our heavy clothes like our runners and jeans and of course ‘Red’ (my best friend of a jumper)!

FIJI 6

Day 96- 9/11/09
MATACAWALEVU ISLAND, BAY OF PLENTY
Monday – FIJI’S FINEST COOKING!!

This morning we headed over the hill to the family’s farm, one of the brothers now runs it- Tuki. Tuki has transformed a traditional cassava (root crop) farm into a full fruit & vegetable farm – he’s even testing with raspberries…. They were a little shrivelled to look like raspberries!!
After our tour of the farm we headed back to the house where we were going to learn how to make a traditional Fijian desert….yum… or so I thought!
They used things from the garden – so we got papaya fruit and cassava and coconuts. Their Kitchen!!
The papaya was boiled down to a jam like texture; the cassava was washed and soaked then shaved finely to make a thick paste (remember cassava is kinda like potato) then we mixed the two together and formed a gloupy paste like sauce…. This is where I thought they would add flour or a cake like mixture and it would be the filling but no…. that was it! Well no not exactly… we got a go at cracking open the coconuts and shaving out the inside and then the coconut shavings were heated ‘cooked’ by a large hot stone. Once ‘cooked’ she squeezed the coconut milk on top of the fruit and cassava paste and served it up!! The sight of it makes me sick!!
At first it tasted ok, but after a few mouthfuls I started to get the sweats…. I couldn’t eat anymore… and Rob was struggling too so I couldn’t pass it off to him! I couldn’t take it any more; it was quite sickening so I just politely said I’ll wait til after my lunch!!! I legged up the hill to our room where I could feel my tongue swelling… (Either I was allergic to coconut or I ran too fast, I think I’m slightly allergic!) We both felt a little dodgy after lunch but we just pushed it to one side and headed of on another Fijian experience…Fishing! Dan the owner of Bay of Plenty took us out on his boat, Rob already has his hand line and I got a wee red one! We went out near Turtle Island, that’s the celebrity island where it coast almost €1000 a night. We put down the anchor not far from their beach, then we saw a couple rushing along the sand, the woman put a towel around her head for cover (we immediately thought it was a celebrity, but who) the next thing that happened was pretty weird… she stripped off completely… we still couldn’t see her face covered by the towel but we could certainly see her white bum!!! Ha ha… she prob thought we were paparazzi coming to get a pic of her ass…. Ha ha!
Anyway back to our jam packed day! So we were out fishing, at this stage Dan and Rob had caught about 7 fish between them. The next thing I feel is a good tug… oooh I caught something… I was so super excited, really giddy and I remember Rob saying that it was such a buzz catching a fish, I had to agree!! Then as I pulled it up really hard a huge piece of coral lands in the boat… how embarrassing!!!! Ahh! I had caught a rock!! My Rock fish!
The two guys broke their sides laughing, I had to laugh too, you should have seen how excited I was! Eventually their laughter subsided and we moved on another location (for my benefit) The next spot was much better, I caught the first of many fish there (but I was slow to let on that I had a fish on my hook on til I could see it!) When I say first of many fish… I mean the guys went on the catch about 15 more fish! At the end of the day the score was Dan 15, Rob 6 and Danielle 1 (and a rock). We got a big feed of fish that night, before Dan sat us down with Mike and Ellen (the cute young Canadian couple, only 18 and 19!) and taught us some basic Fijian phrases!! Now repeat after me!!....
It was actually great to learn something other then ‘Bula’! We went to bed feeling a bit queasy after the desert earlier that day and the boat ride combined… fun night!

Day 97- 10/11/09
MATACAWALEVU ISLAND, BAY OF PLENTY (DAYTO OUR TOUR GUIDE)
Tuesday
Getting use to all the creepy crawlies is still an issue over here, as one of the Lizards feel on my (Rob) back last night as I was asleep!! Waking straight up, finding it in my bed! I wasn’t the better of it! We decided to walk the mountain at the back of our resort, which is a great look out point to view all the islands! Obviously the dog, Dayto led the way. If the track broke into 2, we just followed Dayto hoping he would know the way! Half way up this was being more of a climb then a walk, and having flip flops on, with one of them broken made it even harder! We came across big spiders, ducking under there web hoping it wouldn’t fall on your back! Dayto was still leading the way until he took a short break, not even squatting placing his bum on a long piece of straw that was in perfect height to his bum and having a shit!!! The smell was atrocious! So we marked it and made sure not to walk into it on our way back! When reaching the top, the views were astonishing, again the colours in the water were so strong, plus being able to see the perfect outline of the islands were amazing. When trying to take a picture, Dayto wouldn’t get out of the way, so trying to push his head out of the frame while taking a picture, tells a good story! Coming down wasn’t so easy, slipping on our bum every 2 minutes. But we did manage not to brush our knee of the shit on our way down!! If it wasn’t for Dayto, we defiantly would have been lost. He even showed us a few shortcuts on the way down!!
After the walk I decided to go night fishing from 6pm to 10pm hoping to catch big fish but only managing to pull in a 6inch snapper! I’ll never do night fishing again.


Day 98- 11/11/09
MATACAWALEVU ISLAND, BAY OF PLENTY – LONG BEACH
Wednesday – LOT’S OF BOUNTY!!
Rob spent the morning trying to spear fish a crab, but there is a knack to it! So he didn’t catch the big crap… big cash if you do!! I was pretty tired after last night so I lazed in the hammock; only to be woken abruptly by Dan… he shook the hammock and then gave it a good swing… just for kicks you know! Well this wasn’t the best thing to do… I got into quite a strop being woken like that, ha ha!! Oops! He eventually went off to play with Rob and I was left to dream again. I was later woken the same way by Rob but I can’t stay mad at him so I woke up in a better mood!! Then we got a little boat over to the other side of the island to a resort called Long Beach… called so because of its long beach... Funny that!
Had a good night in our nice private room just over looking the beach… we fully enjoyed ourselves and also enjoyed the Bounty Rum!! It’s growing on me; well it is the only booze on the islands!

Day 99- 12/11/09
MATACAWALEVU ISLAND – NAVITI ISLAND (BEARDED LADY)
Thursday
Waking up with the taste of rum in my mouth, saying I’m never drinking again! We lazed around for the day waiting for the boat that came at 2pm to bring us to the next island. We decided to go on boring medicine walk, I knew as soon as the guide slow blinked and talking slow it was going to be very depressing plus with a hang over! Telling us that he never had to go to the dentist or hospital because he used all the island natural medicines! Funny thing was he was only around 4 foot, so I think he made the wrong decision!! The boat finally came, when hopping onto the boat we weren’t checked for our tickets. Us not having any, sat there quietly hoping to get a free boat journey, in which we did!!! Stepping off the boat with an extra €50 in our pocket was a good feeling!! If they don’t ask, don’t pay!!! We were heading to White Sandy Beach Resort, Greeted again with the same Fijian singing, sort of felt like ground hog day but still a great sight! Again hugging us and shaking our hands, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, a bearded lady!!!!! Haha I had to hold it in. introducing herself to me I could only look at her curly beard and those fine sideburns!! I felt I stepped into a circus! Not making eye contact with Danielle helped me hold in my laughs. We walked along the white sandy beach before heading to dinner. After a quick meal, the bearded lady came out and explained what entertainment we were going to have tonight. We sat through 5 Fijian dances. After that we all played musical statues, in which Danielle came second!! She really wanted to win!!

Day 100- 13/11/09
NAVITI ISLAND – WHITE SANDY
Friday
Rob went fishing on a kayak, but he had to use wee crabs as bait which didn’t really work so no luck for him today! I spent the day relaxing into Fiji-Time (something that you get way to used to here, I’m sleeping more then I am awake!!) another couple arrived today, Angelina and Marco. She’s a beautiful young greek-aussie girl with her much older rougher looking Italian boyfriend, they are really nice and Marco is pretty funny because he can’t understand Shelly from England, she talks too fast for him! Shelly is super chatty and you can’t really get a word in edge ways with her, but she’s funny too and I have her to thank for getting me started on the Twilight books. She swapped it with Rob for his Ewan McGregor book, pretty bad swap for her tho! I have seen the movie ‘Twilight’ but I may as well read the book, I’m running out!Our outdoor shower!!
That night was a Fijian Themed night. We had a fancy dinner set up, with Lovo (pronounced lobo) food cooked in an oven in the ground ‘pit oven’. So we had fish and chicken, both covered in coconut milk… euww! And plenty of seaweed and sea grapes (more sea weed but shaped like a bunch of little grapes) and cassava. I tried everything but mainly ate the cassava and ketchup…. Dying to have western food! (god that’s bad) also dying for chocolate, haven’t had any since we left main land… that’s pretty good for me! But I made a pact that I would wait til the last day home on the boat to buy a magnum choc and caramel!!! Yum!!
Anyway we had ten Fijian dances that night, pretty much a repeat of last night; actually the bearded lady repeated word for word her spiel form last night… very funny!! “You want more….I can’t hear you” (that’s because there is only 5 of us tonight not 12)

Day 101- 14/11/09
NAVITI ISLAND – WAYA ISLAND
Saturday
When arriving at our next island, we weren’t so lucky with our free boat ride having to cough up as soon as we boarded! But when stepping onto the island, I (Rob) felt it was the best island yet, at low tide the island formed a sand bank which entered onto the other island in which you could walk across. Greeted by the most outrageous hosts yet, Moses and Semi!! They were characters to say the least. Moses was in his 60’s and semi 50’s and the two of them were crazy. So crazy that the Lonely Planet have even mentioned them in there book, saying how great and welcoming they were. But when getting to our room, we knew we were going to have some interesting guests later on tonight because the netting on the windows were all torn, there was a 12inch gap, where the wall met the ceiling and there were holes every where!! It was like, if a blind person built it. But it didn’t take away the scenery and great hosts of the place. We meet two very very old people, around 56!!!! Ha Ha! They were taking a year out but I felt they were 30 years to late!! It was great to see at there age, getting involved in all the games and drinking!! There is still hope, Ken!!! At 9pm Semi brought me crab hunting on the beach, seeing 30 odd craps run along the beach and Semi running after them trying to pick them up was a funny sight!! He managed to catch 7, which is impressive seeing how fast they move!! After Moses and Semi entertaining us for the night, we decided to make our way back to our prison cell!!! When we opened the door 4 cockroaches scattered across the floor, around 20 flies hugged onto the light bulb and I felt there was more to come!! After killing the cockroaches and getting rid of the flies, I checked our bag of food, which mind you was wrapped in 5 plastic bags. It was torn to pieces, I didn’t know if it was a rat or a mouse because anything could have fitted through the gaps in the room. Finding mice droppings said it all, not a good feeling having a mouse go through your bags!! While cleaning it up a grasshopper flies onto Danielle, spinning in circles until it came off!! Plus when in bed with our net down, a cockroach climbed up right beside Danielle’s head. So in one night all these things happening, no wonder our night sleep was awful. Danielle had to have a shower at 3am because she was itching so much and sorta had a panic attack. We had to stay one more night here!!! Please no!!

Day 102- 15/11/09
WAYA ISLAND, SUNSET BEACH
Sunday

The beach here is perfect, best beach I have ever been to… well definitely one of them! The tide was out this morning and we got to go across the sand bar, the water was so deep either side that you could dive in. That’s if you made it passed the sinking sand, if you didn’t your elegant dive turned into a bit if a side flop or a nasty looking fall!! Ha ha!!
So Rob went off fishing again with the crabs from last night, he caught one which he used for bait but then had to come in for lunch! I again spent the day enjoying the beautiful beach… and I was totally engrossed in my book at this stage… god it’s a good book, on the verge of obsession now!
That night we bumped into Oliver the loud and pompous public school boy from London, wow he was drunk….the table was lined with his 17 bottles of Fiji Bitter Beer, which made him even louder! We had seen him on the island before but he didn’t seem to stay in our resort, we found out that he had been here 3 months now and had bought a bure (the little huts we sleep in) on the other side of the island. Strange that he hasn’t travelled around, I’d go crazi on an island that never has any stock!! Anyway he fancied himself as the Gordon Ramsey type but better, so he commented on our dinner and “boney chicken bits with pumpkin and burnt potatoes” he was eventually brought home staggering, after he shouted at most of the guests and once he had raided the dorm bathroom, telling the only girl staying there that he had ‘tidied up her stuff cause it was all messy on the shelf’. So after that entertainment we stayed up with Gavin the comedian from Wales and Anna from Liverpool, Gavin very kindly shared his Bounty but with a lack of stock the guys resorted to beer being the mixer…. Well it worked because I wasn’t going to bed until I was so tired that I wouldn’t be able to hear a cockroach scuttle across the floor! But we managed to have a bird the next morning in our room!!! Amazing place but accom was terrible to say the least!!

Day 103- 16/11/09
WAYA ISALND – WAYA LAI LAI ISLAND
Monday
Comedian welsh Gavin, wanted one of my (Rob) books but all he had to swap was a Harry Potter book. He really wanted it so I gave it to him but don’t think I will be reading about wizards anytime soon! We got a local taxi boat to the next island, which is cheaper and keeps the money within the local community. When we arrived I remembered I left a lot of things back at the other resort, knowing getting it back will be difficult because the Fijians are so slow and too lazy to help if it means they have to move! Harsh but true! Waya Lai Lai Resort was a lot bigger then any of the other resorts we have been to, having about 40 guests here, when all we were use to were 4 to 6 or sometimes no guests!! It didn’t have the same feeling as the other islands, due to young brits-on-tour feel, playing music up loud and shouting through the night. We heard the drum that rings when dinner is ready, on our way down seeing a big queue was so strange to see coming from what we were use to. We got talking to 2 lads from Melbourne who had the same feeling about all the other larger louts in the resort. After a few drinks with them we headed to bed. The larger louts were up till 5 am keeping more less everyone else up with them! So another rough night’s sleep!!!


Day 104- 17/11/09
WAYA LAI LAI ISLAND
Tuesday
I spent the day in that hammock until the book was finished; OK is safe to say I’m hooked!! They even teased me with a peak at book two so now I can’t wait to get to the airport to buy the ‘New Moon’. Rob headed off with Dan to go fishing or trawling with bigger rods, but they still only caught one fish… actually only Rob caught a fish… Go Rob! They cooked it up for us that night and the 4 of us tucked into it, the envy of everyone else!!

FIJI 5

Day 90- 3/11/09

NADI

Tuesday

We booked our boat to the Yasawa Islands! We have 3 weeks left in Fiji, so we may as well enjoy ourselves on the beautiful islands of Fiji! No outside contact for 3 weeks.. I think we can manage that quite nicely!!

Day 91- 4/11/09

NADI – YASAWA ISLANDS –NANUYA LAI LAI

(HI HO, HI HO, IT’S OF TO WORK WE GO!!)

Wednesday

Haven’t been up this early in a while, stepping onto the bus at 7am, we were on our way to the Yasawa Islands. There are around 17 islands in total and they are the only ones that have accommodation on them. Most of them are deserted. They call it the Movies Islands because “Cast Away”, “Celebrity Island” and “Blue Lagoon” were all recorded here! Plus some islands cost €1000 a night; we will be staying well clear of those!! We decided to go to the furthest Island away – Nanuya Lai Lai, then make our way back. The transport was brilliant, 20 meter catamaran that glided through the water. Our Island was 5 hours away, but when we came to the first Island, we couldn’t believe the size of it!!!! South Sea Island was only 20 acres in size; it looked like one of those carton drawings with just a palm tree on an Island!! As each Island we stopped at, the more and more tropical they got, we couldn’t believe the different colours in the water and the white sand. We thought we saw Fiji on the main land but “THIS WAS FIJI”!! It was the perfect picture.

When arriving at our Island, Nanuya Lai Lai Island, we were again greeted with a big Fijian smile. Family run Lodge, the owner Filo, (missing her front tooth) showed us to our room, the most basic room yet on our travels!! No electricity, no hot water and no toilet door!!!! But we were happy!! This is what we wanted, the real Fiji experience. When it got dark we heard a knock on our door, when opened, a lantern was sitting outside! There was no electricity but the lantern was perfect at lighting up the whole room. We thought if there is no electricity, the food can’t be great! On our way to the family’s house for dinner, we couldn’t have been more wrong. The food was amazing, stir fried rice with chicken then pineapple to follow!! Yum yum!! (God I miss home cooked meals!!) We seem to be picking resorts with no one in them, because there

was only another two staying here!! But we were happy with our choice. So we headed off to our Lodge with our lantern singing, “hi ho, hi ho, it’s of to work we go, work all day, and get no pay, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho”!!!!!

Day 92- 5/11/09

NANUYA LAI LAI ISLAND, GOLD COAST

Thursday – POOR PIGGY!

Our 'bure' in Gold Coast

After a peaceful sleep listening to the waves crash all night (such a relaxing sound) we joined the other couple, Keri and John, for breakfast. Loads of fruit and these bread like things – they looked like square doughnuts but with no filling! I stuck to the fruit though; no need for deep fried food that early. After breakie the four of us headed over the hill to the other side of the island. It was a nice simple track and this time we didn’t get lost! We made it to the beach on the other side which was so calm and clear unlike our windy side! We walked up along the beach until we came to the Blue Lagoon Resort; this is a fancy resort that ships in rich folk on a massive cruise ship. We were stopped from walking any further (our rough backpacker image tarnished their paradise!) so we headed back this time as it was low tide we walked around the island over the rocks back to our lodge. On our way there we came across a pig pen with three pigs in it, two in one pen and then another all on its own away from the others. This little piggy went to the market....

We felt sorry for that one so went over to her, that’s when we saw two wee piglets shivering in the corner, they were so little!!! She started to get agitate so we took our photos and left her alone!! But that wasn’t the end of our piggy experiences, when we turned the corner to our strip of beach we saw two guys unloading their boat. They were carrying a pig, tied at the trotters to a plank of wood like it was for a spit roast or something! I said to the others that it was still alive (I’m pretty sure I saw it twitch) then Rob turned around to me and said “Don’t be daft Danielle!!” with that the pig fully lifted his head and wriggled around…. We were all taken aback....especially Rob who had to eat his words!! Ha ha! We were all so curious so we headed over to check the pig out. The poor pig his face said it all, he knew his fate and he was just waiting for time to pass!! Rob and John had to pick it up for a photo op… the poor thing thought his time was up! Aww!

John and Keri left before lunch and no other guests arrived so we had a huge lunch to ourselves that day, yum!

Day 93- 6/11/09

NANUYA LAI LAI ISLAND, GOLD COAST

Friday

After breakfast, Filo (the lady with the missing tooth) kindly dropped us over to the other side of the island, where the blue lagoon was. Danielle said to me, “Did you see her legs?” “No, why?” they were meant to be hairier then mine!! So thank god I didn’t see them! When arriving at the Blue Lagoon, where the movie was recorded, starring Brooke Shields (never heard of it) we were in awe of the beach again. The place was untouched, just the odd person walking down but after that, it was just us!! The water was like a sheet of glass with every colour blue you could think of. Finding a nice spot, I (Rob) decided to turn into Tom Hanks from Cast Away again, going fishing!! The water being too shallow spoiled my act, so Tom will have to what till next time!! Walking home was a bit of a mission in itself. Coming to a dead end on the beach, we had to walk in shallow water around rocks. With the stingray incident still lingering in my head, it’s all I could think of when walking through the water and suddenly Danielle was miles behind!!! I just wanted to reach sand! Luckily enough we made it with no stings, but never again!!! Arriving back just in time for another amazing lunch. We mostly just lazed around on the beach in the afternoon, watching the family eat mango after mango after mango……they loved the things and that’s all we ever saw them eat!! After dinner, arriving into our lodge our place seemed to be infested with cockroaches. Again not my specialty, I hate the things. So I took Danielle’s flip flop again and off I went!! I could have slept better!

Braving the cold drip of a shower!!

Day 94- 7/11/09

NANUYA LAI LAI ISLAND, GOLD COAST

Saturday

We took the day to sunbath, seeing as no one was there and we had already circled the island twice! The only shop on the island!!

At around lunch time a boat of 4 people arrived… it felt strange having people on our island!! They were really nice though, a chirpy hippy couple from Perth (don’t think she could have been bubblier and he was a rock star in the making!) and a couple from Czech Rep. The day was nice and slow, lots of sun bathing and reading…. Enjoying the island life!

Day 95- 8/11/09

NANUYA LAI LAI ISLAND – MATACAWALEVU

Sunday

Last night was our last night in the Gold Coast Resort; we were on our way to Bay Of Plenty, which was the next island down - Matacawalevu. After the 10 minute boat journey to Bay of Plenty, we were welcomed with Fijian singing, they make such a big deal about you coming to stay, shaking your hand and hugging you as if we were family! Again there were only another couple staying in the resort! Our room was amazing compared to The Gold Coast, tiled bathroom and all!! The tide was so low that we could walk out around 2 km into the sea, that’s when our new buddy stuck to our side for the next 2 days! A man's best friend!

His name was Dayto, and he was a dog!! Everywhere we went, he went! He even sat out side our room until we came out, and sat under the table when we had dinner, plus guide us up a mountain to view the islands, he was a clever Skuty boy!!

FIJI 4

Day 80- 24/10/09

RAKIRAKI – NANANU-I-RA ISLAND (IT’S MY ISLAND!!)

Boat over to paradise.

Checked out of Volivoli Beach Resort at 11am and got a taxi boat over to Nananu-I-Ra Island, where I was going to learn how to kite surf for 7 days. Arriving in Safari Lodge- it only took 20 min to get there and on our way we could see these big villas right on the sea front owned by rich Aussies and Kiwis! Again Paradise!!! The view was incredible!!! It was so clear you could see the coral in the water and all the tropical fish. When we arrived the winds were high and perfect conditions for kite surfing, we were greeted by the owner Stephanie (Aussie) who showed us to our room, it was up a small hill and the view of the ocean again was incredible! Would you believe it, that we were the only people staying on the island; no one was there, it was totally empty. So we had the whole place to ourselves!! We went for a short walk along the beach front, we both loved it already here, and we just got a good vibe from the owner and the surroundings. Seeming that it was an island, there were no shops or villages, so we had to give in a shopping list and it will be delivered by boat the next day!!! So we had some amazing food in the lodge and hit the sack. (Can I just add the butterscotch cake was to die for, I would stay here for that alone!)

Day 81- 25/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND (Tom Hanks)

Woke up quite early for breakie. Wasn’t kite surfing today as the instructor was on holidays and was due in tomorrow. Danielle was so happy to see that they do yoga every morning at 7.30am which meant she could do a little bit of stretching and exercise as well. We headed for a walk around the island which only took 45 minutes, that’s how small it is. We found a deserted Resort on the other side of the island with a great big board walk.

I know I

The Resort has been closed for 2 years now but there are people still working on it for maintenance purposes. The pool is even still cleaned out every day and rooms cleaned, very strange!!! It was strange walking through the resort with absolutely no one in sight, with it in such good condition!! We found a great spot at the end of the board walk 300meters long, away from everything. I really wanted to go fishing but I had no bait, so the local said to me, kill a crab use it for bait, which will catch you a small fish, then use that for bait, to catch the big fish!!!! I thought he was taking the mick, but 2 hours later I got myself a big fish!!!! I felt like Tom Hanks from Cast Away!!! The place was so quiet you could hear and see all sorts of fish jump out of the water; I was in love with this island. Defiantly the most relaxing place we have been.


Day 82- 26/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND

This morning we headed off to our little piece of deserted paradise, I sun bathed and Rob caught a few more fish! Then in the afternoon Rob had his first kite boarding lesson with Guido (the instructor) and I went along in the boat as Rob’s personal photographer. He did really well today, learnt how to fly the kite in just 2 hours and got himself body dragging, that’s without the board. It looks amazing, so much so that I am tempted!! That evening we had dinner with the family, met Warren the owner and professional windsurfer, and the guys (Guido’s friends) entertained us with their drunken blabber (it is one of the lads stag do’s, they are here for a week so I reckon this is going to be a regular occurrence). That night we let off a few fireworks... better keep the rest for Halloween!

Day 83- 27/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND

I got up nice and early to do my yoga with Stephanie. It’s all coming back to me – love it! Then we headed out for Rob’s second lesson. He was out on the board today, he even got up a few times, and it was so cool to watch. Pretty tough I’d say, he looked knackered by the end of it and annoyed that he couldn’t kite like the others (eager beaver) but I’d say he’ll be up and running tomorrow. He’s pretty good already!
So that afternoon – after a yummy lunch and some delish choc cake- we chilled out and took the overcast afternoon off, watched Juno for the fifth time!
Then Rob watched the guys windsurf and kite surf (getting a bit of inspiration for tomorrow).

Day 84- 28/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND

I’ve even been dreaming about getting up on that god dam board!! Let alone keep my thoughts clear from standing on a sting ray! Today was the day; I was going to stand on that board! So we got all our gear and headed over to kite point, where the lessons were held. Guido was a fantastic instructor, patience of a saint and always very positive. There I was in the middle of the ocean, with Guido and Danielle in the boat beside me. Kite above my head at 12 o clock, pulled it to 1 o clock and then dragged it to 10 o clock, the kite caught the wind and I was up, not just for 2 seconds this time but for the whole length of the beach. It was a great feeling after all those body slams into the water to actually get up!! All I could hear is Guido, shouting and cheering in the back round!! Haha!! I am now hooked on the sport. So Olive and Ken, I’ll have a kite board, 12 m2 kite, kite harness and a surprise for Xmas!! Actually I’ll just buy it in Aus and I’ll send you the bill, Thanks!!!! Haha.
After Kite Surfing I was zapped again, it really knocks you around. It was great to have a big lunch after to re energise. My lessons were over but I might sneak in another 2 hours the next few days, if I’m lucky!!


Day 85- 29/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND

Today the wind was pretty low; apparently we are coming to the end of the wind cycle. So no kite boarding! Instead we go on a boat trip to the outer reef and head off snorkelling! It was amazing; the amount of tropical fish and colourful coral was just spectacular. Then this massive fish came up and pulled on my bikini… ha ha… no it was just Rob!! The water was so clear you could swim around the edge of the reef where you could see larger fish or swim directly over the coral only about a foot above it and see all the cute ‘nemo’ fish and star fish!! The water had pockets of cold scattered around the outer edge of the reef (seeing as I love the cold…not…Rob thought it would be funny to bring me out to one) but I think he quickly fixed the cold water situation… if ya know what I mean…no swallowing the water!!
After lunch we chilled out and headed over to the board walk… mmmm…. It’s so good there, so relaxing!

Day 86- 30/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND (ROUND IN CIRCLES)

We decided to walk the island today, there is an amazing deserted beach which was a 45min walk away, or well that’s what we thought!! The island had a small mountain on it, which was a good look out point. The scenery from the top was well worth the hike. It was a cracker of a day and you could see everything. Plus there was no one in sight, so we had the whole island to ourselves again. When we continued on to look for this deserted beach, we had difficulties. We could see the beach but getting to it was the difficult thing. Bushes and no tracks were the problem. When coming to a fork in the track we decided to go right, 25 min into the journey we were heading further and further away from the beach. So we decided to turn back and go the other way!!! So another hour later, on the hottest day in Fiji yet, we weren’t even close!! We couldn’t get down to it, so we decided to have our picnic that Danielle packed, under a dead tree, with ants everywhere!! Not the beach we imagined!! When heading back, with steam coming from my nose, the sweat was pumping out of me, kicking branches that got in my way! No doubt I was hot and bothered, until walking into spider’s web!! The web was so strong it was like walking into a fishing line, it didn’t even break. I thought to myself this could be bad!! I’m not a fan of spiders, so I jumped back to see a spider, that would have an Irish spider for breakfast, god it was huge. But it wasn’t on me!!! After letting off a bit of steam, from not finding that stupid beach, we rested on our now called “heaven” board walk for the evening. It was the lads last night and Guideo was going home, so we had dinner with them and a few drinkies!

Day 87- 31/10/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND

Today Rob had his last kite surfing lesson. Just to get him up and running. He’s got it now, kiting in both directions up on the board and also he got the hang of kiting up wind… apparently this is the most difficult because you are going against the wind, or something like that! After yoga I spoilt myself a bit by getting my hair done….desperately needed (and I know I said I’d go ‘au natural’ but come on…) Steph is a hairdresser so she popped in a few highlights and chopped of the dead ends!! It was perfect… Rob didn’t even notice…I think this is a sign that it’s a good subtle job… but maybe he wouldn’t notice anyway!! Ha ha!
That afternoon I got to send an email (it’s a big deal because there is no internet there) just to update the family on where we were and also wish Olive a Happy Birthday! Our time there was winding down so we had one last visit to our board walk and chilled out taking in the last of the sun that day. That night we finished off our tin of beans dinner… pretty sick of beans now …maybe we’ll go back to noodles for a bit!!

Day 88- 1/11/09
NANANU-I-RA ISLAND – NADI (STEWART LITTLE)

It was a wet night and cyclone season was coming, that explains the intruder we had last night!! Waking up to a rustling sound coming from the bin, I (Rob) jumped up half asleep thinking it was just the wind. But it was off again, I grabbed my torch (no electricity on the island did not make this procedure any easier!!!) Danielle at this point was telling me to “sssshh” and go to bed!! Smyth was on his own!!! Shining the torch at the bin the cutest mouse popped its head out!!! Well that’s what mouse lovers would think, all I wanted him to do was leave!! But he decided to run into the toilet, right into a dead end. So Smyth had to be brave and go in with the torch and sort him out! In I went, with Danielle’s flip flop (I felt it was heavier then mine!!) I could see him under the toilet, so I crouched down and banged the floor, he came running out and “BANG” I missed him by 4 inches, hahaha but it didn’t matter because he rolled over on his back and had a mouse heart attack and died, I was laughing to myself in the toilet at 4am with a torch, looking at this mouse that had a heart attack, I could only laugh!! So picked him up and flung him outside and made sure I didn’t wake up the princess sleeping haha!!!!!! It was time to leave Paradise Island, saying good bye to the family and owner, saying we will defiantly be back before we die. We travelled with Guido my instructor, and his mate Trent that was on a stag who was getting married in 6 days!! Too close for my liking!! Being lads, and doing what lads do best Guido stopped off at a shop and bought a case of beers and a few Alco pops for Danielle. The 3 hour bus journey went a lot smother then we imagined!! Trent hadn’t seen Denanrau Island (where we stayed in the Sheraton the first 2 nights) so we dropped off our bags to a hostel and we were on our way. After walking around the luxurious island, we found an electric buggy; magically enough my key worked and we were off!!! Driving around the resort, we explained that we thought they were for guests!!!!
This seems like the longest day ever, well it was for me!! We watched a Fijian show that night in our hostel and Danielle got up on stage and danced with other silly looking tourists with the Fijians!! The usual jumping into the circle and having a dance off!!! Very funny!!!! It seemed like 4am when we hit the leaba, but it was only 10pm haha but we did start at 11am!!!!


Day 89- 2/11/09
NADI

Today we headed into Latoka, the next town north of Nadi. It was pretty humid and packed with Indo-Fijian stalls selling all their spices filling the air with the smell of curry!! We walked around the market for a bit, munching on a quarter of a pineapple… yum!! Then we stocked up on noodles... it’s going to be our lunch and dinner for the next few days! Strolling down the road these two guys stop us and are so friendly to us, asking our name and where we are from etc. We thought well isn’t this nice, the Fijian people are so friendly! After a few mins of small talk they take out these wooden sticks with ‘carvings’ in them. (I had heard of this before, a total scam) the guy starts to etch into the stick my name, I immediately said no and laughed… but Rob hadn’t copped on and by the time he did (well his name is short) his name was written, so he had to buy it now… so my name was etched too! Rob offered $10, the guy was looking for $25, but unfortunately we didn’t have change and of course the guys only had a $5 note so we ended up paying $15 for a piece of wood with our name scratched on them!! Ha ha!! So now we were a little pissed off and it was increasing with the humidity!! Rob was looking for hooks and weights for fishing, we found a shop that sold them so Rob bought about 20… ha ha… he lost loads of them in Nananu-i-ra!! So we were at the cash desk waiting to get a box to put the hooks into, but the shop guy put them in a bag. So Rob asked again for a box but the guy blatantly ignored him… so Rob raised his voice and said it again...and the guy just looked at him blankly rustled around and then eventually said ‘oh, eh, no’… (We have to keep reminding ourselves that we are on Fiji time and that the Indo-Fijians tend to ignore you or suddenly forget that they understand English!!)
After our day in the town we headed back to Nadi for a nap!! It was very humid!!