Bula! (Hello in Fijian..... said 100 times a day at least)

As we would not have enough time to visit the several hundred islands that consist of Fiji (much to Joanna’s disappointment) we settled for three Yasawa islands plus one Mamanuca island. We had an early start up at 6.30am for our ‘awesome breakfast’ before pick up at 7.15am…. it was a short drive to Denarau Port followed by a chaotic check-in process before boarding the Yasawa Flyer (a huge yellow catamaran) for the 5 hour sail north to Tavewa Island…. Craig was seconds away from missing the boat and the embarrassment of catching a lift with a local fisherman chasing a far superior ship to get on board like the two girls we laughed at!

We soon found out that the Yasawa Flyer stops in the middle of the ocean about 500 meters away from each island allowing a VERY small boat to collect you and your bags transporting you to the island…. You then literally step out into the crystal clear waters to walk the last few steps listening to the welcome song coming from the staff waiting for you on the shore.

TAVEWA ISLAND – Coral View Resort was to be our home for the next two days, a small group of Bures (thatched hut) on an otherwise uninhabited island….. it was a very unique experience holidaying in such a remote location, being able to take a short walk and find your very own secluded beach was amazing. The weather was glorious and we felt totally relaxed…. until several lizards decided to throw a party in our Bure, still slept surprisingly well though…. well I did anyway, not sure about Jo!

NANUYA BALAVU – Manta Ray Resort was our next stop, only one night on this island but we could have happily stayed more…. again the extremely remote feeling was continued, no shops, restaurants or even roads on these islands. We took a boat ride to a local Fijian village where we were able to meet the local children and take a look at how people live in a traditional village; you can immediately tell which is the chief’s house!! Imagine a beach front villa on the Costa Del Sol!

KUATA ISLAND – Kuata Natural Resort was our last stop in the Yasawa Islands and natural is exactly what it was, all the islands are very basic so you can imagine what we thought when everybody kept warning “its very basic”….. it was a beautiful island and our bure was very comfortable but the electricity is turned off at about 11pm leaving you to sweat and sleep……. the staff were very friendly and even called us by our first names as if they had known us a lot longer, they even sat amongst us having there own lunch / dinner which had a nice relaxed feeling to it. The staff built a fire on the beach on our first of two nights to welcome us, this was great fun to just sit, chill and chat to other travelers.