NACULA ISLAND (Blue Lagoon Beach Resort) /NADI

So back on the ferry it was, and was happily reading my book in the sun when after a few stops there was a tap on my shoulder, FIDI!! Even better she was heading to the same resort as me! A little further on the journey and there was another tap on my shoulder, Anne! She wasn't going to the same resort but it was good to have a catch up.

We got off at blue lagoon and headed to our dorm, and met Jerry, Anna and Ellie who had come off the boat too. We all hit it off straight away and everyone thought we were a group on holiday together from the get go! We spent most of the day on the beach and watching a bit of Olympics that they had playing in the beach bar. In the evening we watched the sunset and joined the local boys in a Kava ceremony, where they made me chief and Jerry spokesman for the resort. We drank lots of Kava and listened to them sing lots of traditional Fijian songs. As much as I try it I don't think I'll ever get used to the taste!!

The after dinner entertainment was international crab racing. Anyone that knows me knows my views on crabs. Anna felt the same so we hid away on a hammock while the others picked their crabs for the race. When the umpire was explaining the rules something fell out of the tree on to us, and naturally we thought it was a crab and jumped up screaming. Safe to say we got the whole resorts attention. We watched the comp from afar and was glad it was over, although were freaked out that they were all now on the beach. The fear came true when Jerry had to save me from one the next day….

One of the kids decided it would be funny to chase Anna with a crab and it all got a little out of hand when he put one in her bag and threw one in her face. I felt her pain as I would have freaked out! Safe to say his parents gave him a good b******ing about it. It was then we decided to play volleyball and realised just how bad we really were… In the middle of the night I went to the bathroom which has its lights on through the night, I have never ever seen so many bugs before! There were moths the size of birds!!! Luckily I was tired and my need was greater than my fear at that point!!

The next day the girls we're all diving so I went on a visit to the local village. This was really fascinating to see real Fiji and not just a tourist resort. The village although only having a couple of hundred people in had 3 churches for their different religions, and when one was destroyed the other churches helped to build it again. They had a community hall with a bure next to it where the chief resides when he is in the village. Here in the hall some of the locals greeted us with flower garlands and danced and sang for us. It was very touching and special; the Fijians are by far the most kind and welcoming community I have come across.

We went on a visit to the local school, which schools the 3 villages that are on the Island. As it is too far for most of them to come the school is a boarding school but in very basic conditions. We went and met some of the children who were so happy and sang us lots of their favourite songs, including all the little ones singing 'Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut' was so adorable. The school had very limited resources, but they still had a massive rugby pitch (rugby is huge in Fiji!)

I returned to the resort and joined the local boys in their kava ceremony, it only seemed right being the chief and all… more singsongs and much kava ensued.

The next morning I had a good game of scrabble with some of the new arrivals and chatted to the girls before my final ferry ride (this one was going to be 5 hours….) I started reading my book but the ferry was so choppy that I was feeling a bit sea sick so just chilled out at the back of the boat praying it wouldn't last for the whole 5 hours!! Low and behold Anne got on the boat after a couple of hours, truly my ferry buddy! At the same stop Jenni got on too so had so company for the last part of the journey which luckily was a bit calmer!

Back in Nadi Jenni and I headed back to our hostel and arranged for a few others to come round for dinner there. We all had a nice meal by the pool with a few cocktails which was a nice way to spend my last night in Fiji.

On heading in to our dorm Jenni and I were sharing with an Aussie man in his 50's and a Taiwanese girl in her ear 20's who were there together. It all seemed a bit dodge… it turned out he would take in Asian girls who needed to do their working on the land part of their visa, do the work for them and in turn they would cook and clean and look after him. Like I said, sounded really dodgy!! Was glad Jenni was in the room with me!

I had a nice breakfast with Jenni by the pool and then it was time to say farewell to Fiji and hello to NZ!!

I truly loved my time in Fiji, and think I've said Bula more times in the past week then I've said Hello in the past year. Perhaps I should bring some Bula charm home with me!

I've been barefoot for a week so it's going to be interesting wearing shoes again, and I haven't worn any make up since Hawaii so maybe I should think about that too.. although my fave might as well be one giant freckle right now... I'm in NZ safe and sound, and have gone from sleeping on an Island to staying in a hostel that provides hot water bottles. But I'm definitely up for my next adventure.

Miss you all, lovelovelove xx