Sorry for not writing for so long. Unfortunately that now means that this is going to be a veritable essay!! Not like you won't be able to tell from this whole blog how much of an awesome time I've had here in Fiji I'll just say it right at the start. Fiji is AMAZING!! I really don't want to leave tomorrow! I'm definitely going to try and come back and do some Island hopping while I'm still on this side of the world!!

I arrived into Nadi Airport at ridiculous o'clock in the morning on the 19th November and walked into a wave of muggy heat. Nice! I'd arranged an airport pick up and was expecting a little cab or something to take me to Nadi Bay Resort where I was staying until I started the Feejee Experience. Oh no, I got a whole coach all to myself!! I spent the first couple of days just chilling out by the pool and exploring Nadi Town. After the whistle stop tour around The States it was really nice just to lie around and do nothing for a couple of days!!

DAY 1

On Saturday Emily and I, who had been sharing a dorm at Nadi Bay and who were both doing the Feejee Exp tour got up early and went to meet our guide. We met our guide, Jerry, and the other 8 people who were doing the tour with us and set off to Nadi for a quick shopping trip before heading off to our first stop at Natadola Beach. You can see from the first few pictures how amazing Natadola Beach is. We were told that it is one of the Top 10 Sexiest Beaches in the World. That we weren't so convinced by! After a bit of a sunbathe we had a BBQ lunch on the beach and then we had a tour round a Fijian village before heading off for some sandboarding. The sand dune we had to climb was ridiculously high and the sand burnt your feet as you were attempting to climb up to the top of it! When we all eventually managed to get to the top we were trying to decide which of us would be the unlucky sod who had to go down first! At the end we were all completely covered in sand (I've still got some in my short pockets, I can't get rid of it!!) and Rob managed to face plant into the sand at the bottom of the run and so was blowing sand bogies for the next few days. We couldn't wait to get to Mango Bay, our first nights stop, to all go and jump in the pool to get rid of the sand! We've all been amazed at how nice all of the places we've been staying at are. Its ridiculous how cheap the places are and you're staying right on the beach, it works out at about 10 - 12 pounds a night, amazing! We finally managed to get rid of the sand and after getting ready we had to take part in a Kava ceremony. It is a traditional Fijian drink made from the roots of dried plants. They mix it with water and then you have to knock it back without stopping. If you stop without finishing, you get more! We weren't overly impressed, it tastes A LOT like muddy water and makes your tongue go a bit numb! After that we had dinner, watched some traditional Fijian singing and dancing and then had a few drinks before MOST of us headed to bed!

DAY 2 - Trek day!

We left Mango Bay in the rain, which wasn't a brilliant start to the day and the trek we were heading off to do. Luckily the rain cleared and we trekked through the forest with our guides to the waterfalls. We got to jump off the waterfall when we got there, which is where I hurt my ear. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense that day because I was like Bambi on ice trying to walk across the wet rocks. Considering I can be quite clumsy anyway this was about 20 times worse! After we left the waterfalls we had to trek through a swamp to get a boat back to the start of the trek. Shrek eat your heart out!! My trainers are now a nice shade of black and swamp brown! I managed to get stuck up to my knees twice and Jerry had to rescue me by pulling me out! I even managed to injure myself doing that and ended up with a massive bruise under my arm where he pulled me out! We were quite glad to get to Uprising Resort round at Pacific Harbour on the Coral Coast of Fiji after the trek. We had lunch and then had a few hours in the afternoon to either do some activities, have a massage, or just sunbathe by the pool like yours truly! As if Mango Bay hadn't been beautiful Uprising was even more stunning, and again, it was ridiculously cheap to say there. At night we had dinner and some drinks, a bonfire on the beach and then some more drinks! A few people didn't get to bed that night, good job they managed to sleep on the coach the next day, we were driving for hours! The end of the night was a little bit sour when we went to bed and Amy and I found people in our beds. They say they'd checked to make sure that people weren't in them and they threw all our stuff on to the floor, suprisingly we weren't very impressed!

DAY 3

Not too eventful on day 3. We spent about 4 or 5 hours driving in total, which at least meant we got to catch up on our sleep from the past 2 nights! We visited a traditional village and took part in a Kava ceremony (YUCK!!) and then got to make some bracelets. Afterwards we went to the local school and got to see all of the lessons. The children's English is amazing, its compulsory for them to learn it here (England, take note!!) and we got to talk to them about what they were learning, as well as the younger classes doing a few dances for us. Afterwards we went bili bili rafting, which are basically long pieces of bamboo tied together with string! After a few games in the river we raced each other back to the mouth of the stream. Go Team Motha Sucka! We won which meant we got to choose a forfeit when we got to Voli Voli Beach Resort later that night! Voli Voli is near a village called Raki Raki and I think it is pretty much the most northern point on Viti Levu. The place was again, amazing, and even cheaper than the past 2 nights! I had planned to jump off the bus here and do my scuba diving course, but after the waterfall jumping I was a bit worried I had really hurt my ear and wouldn't be able to do it. Voli Voli was a lot smaller and quieter than the other places we had stayed at but out of all of them it was my favourite. The night there was definitely the best, we ended up playing games after dinner with the other guests who were there. Hilarious! You can see for yourself from the pictures!! After Lauren, Amy and I were victorious I gratefully received a free drink and we danced a lot more before finally heading off to bed! As it was the last night for our Feejee Exp group it was definitely a good one!

The next day I went for a introduction to Scuba Diving course to see if my ear would be ok to dive. Luckily, it was and I waved goodbye to the guys from the boat as I headed off on a dive and they headed off back to Nadi on the bus. For 4 nights accomodation and the dive course, where I was one-on-one with my instructor it was about 200 pounds. Bargain compared to Oz!! Your supposed to do 3 closed water dives before you do any open water dives but I was just taken straight out to sea and thrown off the boat!! (Not literally I might add). After the morning diving I settled down to do my homework and read through the textbook by the pool. The next couple of days pretty much followed along the same course and I spent 4 days diving and enjoying the sun and Voli Voli! When the bus came round on Friday which I was supposed to be getting back to Nadi on Saturday morning I really didn't want to leave! I was trying to persuade the staff at Voli Voli to kidnap me so I could stay in Fiji! The diving was amazing and I ended up doing 7 dives and saw loads of different corals and fish! I saw a turtle and some sharks and on the way back from one of the dives Pola and I caught a fish!!

DAY 4

Day 4 of my Feejee Exp was me getting on the bus with the group that had arrived Friday night and heading back to Nadi. I really didn't want to leave Voli Voli that morning! We stopped off for a curry and got to make Roti to eat with it. After that we headed to the mud pools and hot springs just outside Nadi for a quick dip. The mud was wierd and I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasant experience! After we got back to Nadi I met the guys from the bus for some dinner and a few drinks and then we all went to bed as we were up early in the morning to head off for either day tours or island visits.

South Sea Island Tour

I'd decided that I wanted to do at least one island tour while I was here as I've just been round Viti Levu since I got here. There are so many to choose from but I decided to do the South Sea Island day trip because there was the opportunity to go Scuba Diving. The island is really tiny and really beautiful, you can walk round it in 4 minutes! We had lunch, a free bar and there was the chance to go in a semi-submersible and see some of the reefs they have there. I did a dive in the morning which was to a sunken ship just off the island and then in the afternoon we did a dive to the fish village. Apart from a little mishap with my regulator the dives were amazing. I think the diving instructor thought I was panicking and had got water in my mouth but I was definitely breathing in water through the regulator. I changed to my octupus one but could still feel it so I had to swap to his alternate air source. By this point I was running out of breath and had swallowed some water so I had to do an controlled emergency ascent. We weren't that deep but god it feels like a long way up when your breathing out and need to breathe!! I was quite impressed that I didn't panic when I was down there and I was fine afterwards (Mother don't panic!). Dan checked the reg and said it was fine, which is why I think he thought I was imagining it or that I'd panicked but I wasn't, there was definitely water coming in from somewhere! That night when we got back to Nadi I got to see some Polynesian Dancing and some Fire Dancing which was pretty damn cool. Those guys were nuts!!

And so, my last day in Fiji. I definitely want to come back here and explore more of the islands at some point and I've loved every minute of my time here. Everyone is so friendly and the places I've been to have been amazing. It's definitely worth a visit! I'm uploading all of my pics before I get to Oz and before I forget everything that I've done since I've been here! I'm off to enjoy the rest of my last day and repack my rucksack for what feels like the millionth time!!