BULA! And welcome to Fiji...

The moment we stepped out of the airport, we headed straight for the Yasawa islands. Of the 300 or so islands that make up Fiji, the Yasawas were some of the closer islands to mainland but by no means less beautiful. We only had the one week here, but we decided to island hop, visiting 5 islands over the 7 days...Beachcomber, Wayalailai, Matacawalevu (Long Beach), Nacula (Nabua) and Sunrise Lagoon. All of the islands were pretty tranquil and the week consisted pretty much of sitting on the beach and in hammocks, just chillaxing.

With only one day of cloud, it was perfect for topping up the tans and catching sunrises and sunsets. We also did a bit of snorkelling, where we could see a fair bit of marine life, including bluey purply starfish and nemo fish. We also took a walk, which actually turned out to be a small trek, to Oarsmans Bay, an exclusive resort, with a gorgeous, long beach and clear blue waters. Our boat lift back from there didn't show and when it did eventually turn up, we found ourselves guiding our way back by just the moonlight.

At Beachcomber, the livliest island (and probably the smallest, taking a total of about 15 minutes to walk around its circumference), we sampled our bottle of Southern Comfort 100 proof (50%) which we managed to pick up at the airport, met our pilot from the night before and managed to lose and find our lost snorkel in the middle of the sea. Throughout the week we also sampled the Fijian national drink, Kava, what can only be described as tongue-numbing muddy water drunk to a ritual. We joined in on the evening crab race, but with no luck, both of our crabs running around in circles instead of to the line, and in an attempt at something cultural we went to check out the local village's Sunday service at the Church..which was actually a very small, hot house and a little bit too intimate for comfort.

So, heading back to mainland on our last day, we did a homestay with a lovely lady called Dee, really friendly and helpful, as we found all Fijians to be. Getting around the mainland seemed to be more a case of hitchhiking as taxis were few and far between, but we made it to the airport in time to catch our next flight...to Sydney!