Bula again from Fiji!

Well it's been a week since we last updated you all so we'll give you a quick update on where we've been and what we've done:

Monday 23rd July

Had to get up early today and catch the bus from the main road to Raki Raki via Lautoka. The journey took us about 4 hours and the journey was really good as not only did we get to see the stunning scenery but the bus also had no windows and loud music playing so we were kept cool and entertained! When we arrived at Raki Raki I sat with the bags whilest Kerry dashed around the local supermarkets to stock up on food for the next 7 nights. We were then picked up by Lawrence, a member of staff from Safari Lodge who took us to the boat at Ellington Wharf in his 4X4.

The boat ride to Nananu-I-Ra took 15 mins so before we knew it we were beaching the boat at Safari Lodge and saying hello to Warren and Steph, the laid-back Aussie owners. We were shown up to a gorgeous private room with it's own balcony overlooking the ocean. We spent the afternoon lounging in the hammocks and in the evening we caught up with Alice and Lammie who we met on Mana Island. They were staying at Safari Lodge too in the private villa on the hilltop behind us. The accommodation was really tidy and new and a world away from Mereanis Backpackers on Mana Island.

Tuesday 24th July

We spent all day lazing around in the hammocks and walking along Mile Long beach. We took a green canoe out today and tried to paddle to the next island however the waves proved too strong and we gave up after an hour of paddling in the same area! We met up again with Alice and Lammie and ate dinner with them before heading down to the main building and watching The DaVinci Code on DVD in the main lounge. Alice and Lammie also gave us some great notes for travelling in Asia.

Wednesday 25th July

We said our goodbyes to Alice and Lammie this morning as they were due to leave in the evening to fly to L.A. to meet up with their friend Chloe. We decided to grab our bags and move our stuff up to the private villa that they were using as it had it's own kitchen and hammock. We spent the whole day reading our books and spoke to a couple called Debbie and Mark who were staying in the room next door to us. They were fanatical about wind surfing as were most of the guests staying at the lodge.

Thursday 26th July

The morning consisted of more book reading and snoozing in the hammock before heading over to the other side of the island to do some more relaxing on the bigger beach as Kerry wasn't feeling too well. In the evening Kerry went through magazines deciding what dresses she was going to have made if we make it to Vietnam.

Friday 27th July

With the beach towels, snorkel masks and water supplies packed we set off an a mission walk across to the North side of the island. We chose the perimter walk as we didn't realise until on the way back that there was a quicker ridge walk across the island! After 2 hours we made it to a beach called One Beach, which was derserted and absolutely stunning. The water was as warm as bath water and the snorkelling excellent. We spent over an hour snorkelling, with some breathtakingly colourful fish and coral to be seen. The coral here rivalled anything we had seen on the Great Barrier Reef, with some sections bright colurs of orange, purple and yellow. We saw some clown fish, sea stars, sea cucumbers, triggerfish and parrot fish. After the long trek back to safari lodge we spent the evening chilling out and drinking a few hard earned Fiji Bitters!

Saturday 28th July

After yesterdays amazing snorkelling we enthusiastically packed up our gear again and headed off to the North point, which took us nearly 2 and a half hours to get to and included me getting stung by a wasp on the back of my head! We eventually made our way from the ridge down to a deserted beach and did some more amazing snorkelling over the coral reefs. Kerry saw a huge eel and unfortunately neither of us saw any sea snakes, which we'd read were abundant in the area. In the early afternoon we set off on the return journey and found a short cut and got a lift part way by a friendly local so we were back at the lodge within the hour! We tried to find sunset point in the evening but failed so we retreated back to the villa. Kerry still isn't well so she went to bed early. When I got back into the room Kerry discovered a spider bigger than my hand sitting on the wall nearest my side of the bed so I spent a while chasing it out of the room before I could get any sleep!! Thankfully we have a mosquitto net surrounding the bed so no nasties can get in!

Sunday 29th July

Weather took a turn for the worse today and rained all day so no snorkelling culd be done today. Instead we spent the day having a film marathon in the main lounge watching Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Shaolin Soccer (absolutely hilarious, you must watch this film if you like Kung Pow!) and Dodge Ball. We ate the most amazing Pizza on the other side of the island in one of the other resorts and spent the evening talking to a nice couple called Phillip and Annita who told us about their interesting Jewish, Buddhist and Native American beliefs. Apparently the world is going to end in 2012 so thank goodness we've gone travelling when we did!

Monday 30th July

The morning was spent talking to some new vistors at Safari Lodge and Lance and Laurie who are staying until the end of the wind surfing season in November. Our 9:30 a.m. boat arrived at 10:30, earlier than we expected for Fiji time and we said goodbye to Warren and Steph and once again set sail for the main land. We then caught an express bus that took us through some humbling countryside to the countries capital Suva. An hour of the journey was along unsealed road so we were juggled all over the place, which didn't help Kerry as she desperately needed to go to the wee! At Suva we immediately jumped on the next bus, a crowded one at that, to Pacific Harbour on the South Coast. When we arrived at Pacific Harbour we got a cab to an accommodation called Pacific Safari, which had been reccommended in the Lonely Planet. OUr room is only $60 a night and has it's own shower and kitchen. At the reception we booked our treat for our 4th anniversary tomorrow. No, not a lovely meal in a fancy restaurant, but instead a trip where we could end up on the menu instead! Tomorrow at 8 a.m. we get picked up and taken to Beqa Lagoon where we do a dive down to 17 metres and watch up to 6 different species of shark, including Bull and Tiger Sharks, being hand fed without the saftey of a cage around us!! Apparently it's all safely conducted and is reccommended as being one of the top shark dives in the world! Wish us good luck! We look forward to updating you all on Thursday evening, when we get back to Nadi ready for our flight to Singapore early on Friday.

We hope that you are all well, we miss you all and send our love! To all the guys reading this who are still travelling themselves, we hope that you're all still having wicked adventures!