Bula everyone!! I have spent just over 10 days in fiji and i have had a brilliant time! I spent one night in nadi before heading off to the yasawa islands which are north of nadi. In total i visited 6 islands so i did pretty well. I was a bit worried that i might be doing too many but now im glad i did and wouldnt have changed a thing. I really got the chance to learn about how they live and see what a beautiful coutry it is. The people are very welcoming and are keen to teach you new things. Entertainment with singing and dancing a frequent event. Not to mention the rugby union sevens rugby, they are obsessed! Fine by me!

Here is a brief description of the islands i visited. i had previously written all this in much more detail but the dam computer messed up and i lost half of it! So only doing a short version now, soz!

Bounty Island - 1 night

This was the first island i visited and it was very nice. This is the island where the Celebrity Love island is filmed, however the place where they stayed has been smashed up so i didnt see anything special. The island was very small and could be walked around in about half an hour! The dorms were pretty good with air con and ensuite so it was a good start. i didnt really do much here as i was shattered from all the travelling and lack of sleep, so i just realxed around the pool for most of the day, and then spent the evening watching the sevens rugby! great!

Nabua Lodge on Nacula Island - 2 Nights

This place was right at the top of the yasawas and i was a little worried as i had been told that the further up you go the more basic it gets. Well they were right, the rooms were very basic. But to be honest i didnt mind too much as it remined me of thailand a litte which i loved! And i was glad to be roughing it a bit as australia was getting a little repetitive. This was a bit more of a challenge. The beds were extremely uncomfortable, it was extremely sweaty at night, the mossies had a field day, and any vile insect could crawl in at anytime! haha! what fun! but i didnt mind too much as the place itself was gorgeous. The sea, the beach, the hammock, it was just lovely. I even did a little boat trip one day to the blue lagoon that was used in the movie and that was fab. Probably the best beach i went too.  

All the accommodation included food and it wasnt too bad. lots of rice, pasta, potatos things like that. A bit stodgy but ok. they had some weird combinations though. One night we had fish with veg and potatos, really nice, but then underneath the fish was baked beans! And not just any baked beans, beans with sausages!! haha!

met some really nice people here who i met up with a few more times along the way. Was a bit of a challenge staying there, but it was a good one.

Seaspray - 1 night

This place was prett much the same as the previous resort, expect this one didnt have electricity! All the others would have it between 6pm and 10pm but theres had broken so tea time was in total darkess. there was only two of us staying there so we had a nice candle lit dinner. To be fair though the food was excellent and they invited us to join them and the locals in a kava ceremony! Kava is the traditional drink in fiji and i reckon they drink it every night!

Bay of Plenty - 1 night

This place was really cool. It didnt have a beach or anything but it was on a farm! It was the plantation that provided all the veg and fruit to the other islands. I learned so much here! We did lots of activities that were free of charge, visited the blue lagoon, visited the farm where we tatsed lots of different fruits, diving off the boat for a swim, drinking more kava, eating in the old fashioned fiji way where the food is cooked underground, and we also went to watch the easter cross being swan across from another island to reach the church. Every easter the cross in taken to all the islands. The phots when i get chance to put them up will explain more.

It was just such a great place because the people were so keen to teach us about how they live and the traditions they still follow. It was a nice change from a typical beachy resort!

Coconut bay on Naviti Island - 1 night

This was another beachy place but much nicer.  The dorms were much cleaner and the beds and mossie nets were better. The best part about this place were the staff. Before dinner we played volleyball with them and then after dinner (which was again the old fashioned underground stuff which is gorgeous, they even had lobster this time!) they put on a show of lots of singing and dancing, some which were a bit of a piss take i think but it was hilarious. They gave me and the other newcomers a welcoming ceremony where they put a flower behind our ear and sing to us! they even had us dancing! well, it was more like a conga line really but it was great fun!

I also managed to meet up with a couple of people from other island which was good. This island was definately the one where i had the most laughs!

Octopus on Waya Island - 3 nights

This place was my treat to myself. It was luxury compared to what i had previously stayed in but not much ore expensive. The beds were great, (no bunks!!) we had our own personal fans and reading lights, hot showers, and they had really good mossie nets. Every day they would remake our beds awsell, so good! i was even lucky enough to put in a four bed dorm instead of the 13 bed one! There was a really nice pool and and restaurant with a bar. It was more of a hotel really! The food was fantastic! Lots of fish, fruit, salads, plenty of it too. I ate very well!

There was a different feel to this place but not exactly for the better. There were lots of familys with children and a few couples but there were still a few backpackers who like i couldnt believe what we were getting for our money. The only thing it lacked was the intimate fiji living feel you got from the other resorts. Didnt have as much character about it, but it was lovely and i had a great time so wont complain.

On easter sunday i went to church in the local village there! It was really good actually, the choir singers were fantastic! Something i will always remember i anyway. And the children in the village were gorgeous, they were all dressed in there best outfits, very cute! That night at the hostel they had movie night, and we watched "foot loose" haha, so funny and cheesy!

They had all kinds of activities available, snorkelling, diving (which i wanted to do with the manta rays but out of season!! gutted) fishing, island hopping amd much much more. But i must admit i did very little really, mainy due to saving money to be honest but the pool and the beach were so nice there that it was a good choice. I well and truely got into doing things in fiji time!!

Ok sorry that was a bit brief but running out of time. I had an excellent time in fiji and would recommend the yasawas to anyone. One tip though, take lots of cash, things are not as cheap as you would expect (just buying water was a joke) and once you are on the islands there is no where else to get cash, and credit cards can only be used on the luxury resorts!

Appart from that, Fiji rocks!

xx