A Handsome Man, Schmetterling, Bula and Power Naps

I really didn't want to leave Australia. I felt so comfortable in Cairns, living in the Woodduck and having so much fun. But of course all good things must come to an end. My last full day in Cairns was spent shopping for koala-related souvenirs (honestl I think I'm obsessed!), eating Dominos pizza, relaxing by the lagoon (yes after so many days of rain, sun had returned to Cairns just as I was off) and hunting for pyjamas. I had decided the theme of my last night (as I do so love to sleep) was to be a pyjama party at Woolshed. Unfortunately excessive goonage and too many free Woolshed dinners prevented me from sharing my legendar 'talk to the hoof' pink Primark pjs adorned with zebras with the world. So instead I opeted for a slimming black shirt and shorts combo. As predicted the theme went down like a lead balloon with the boys (with the exception of Kevin who worryingly resembled a gay sailor and then failed to come out anyway, no pun intended). So it was up to us girls to kick start the fun. After a final steak at the Woolshed, I began on my final bottle of passion pop and then moved on to the goon. I became pretty bleary early on and the whole night was rather messy as I treated everyone to esome exceptionally special dancing (apologies for the excessive floor grinding). It was naturally enough a rather classy finish. Old Simon woke me at 10am to check out (cheers) and I had a last minute pack, close of my bank account and sale of my underwater camera to Sam. Hooray. Some of us went to Cairns for goodbye sushi. I of course bought 4 rolls, ate two and promptly left the others behind in the fridge, because some things never change.

After a final frolic in the chlamydia pool (which was looking exceptionally revolting as the filter needed changing), it was time for young Simon to drive me to the airport. Carly, Rach, Sam, Ed and Charlotte also made the journey with me for the fond farewell, or perhaps to check that they had finally managed to get rid of me. And like that it was over. I'll miss you guys!

I headed for my Qantas flight to Brisbane, feeling horrifically out of place amongst the businessmen with their briefcases. I didn't feel like me and my skanky feet, 500 trashy magazines and hand luggage in plastic bags quite belonged in such civilised society. Still I felt quite the flashpacker as we got fed and everything (you can take the backpack off the girl...). I made it to Brisbane, where there was a definite chill in the air and sat in the international terminal for 5 hours waiting for my flight to Fiji. I didn't have the slightest idea what I was doing. There was no Lonely Planet in my bag, no hostel booked the other end. I was completely on my own. Some may call it stupid, but I was pretty damn excited, oh who am I kidding I was s*** scared.

After my three hour flight to Fiji, I landed at 5.10am, tired and apprehensive about what was going to happen next. I spent over an hour going through customs and somehow managed to end up in a skanky backpackers in downtown Nadi, although at $18 a night I couldn't really complain. After a brief power nap, I hauled myself out of bed to change money and work out exactly what I was going to do with myself. My last minute approach thankfully paid off as I bought a 7 day all inclusive island hopping pass for $750FJD ($450AUD, 250 pounds) from and exceptionally camp Fijian man at the hostel. If I had of bought it from Tribal in Cairns, even with discount it would have cost me $650AUD. Result. I was pretty anxious to get out of Nadi, as it was pretty boring and the hostel was dreary.

Nethertheless I managed to find a friend, my roommate, an Essex boy named Ashley, was also off to the Yasawa Islands the next day. Our other roommates, an English couple, had just got back and recommended we start at Nacula, staying in Nabua Lodge. It was the only advice we had to go on, so off we went.

After a 6.30am start and an incident involving a guy in an unmarked battered old car who asked us 'Taxi?' (my suspisions were raised and much embarrassment ensued when it turned out he was the pickup), we finally made it to Denarau Port and onto the Awesome Adventures Catamaran. Five hours, much wind and a bit of sunburn later, we made it to the top of the Yasawa Islands and to our little resort. 4 others also jumped off the boat, making the total number of guests, 13. We relaxed on the beach, ate a leisurely dinner together and petted a stray cat. It was a far cry away from the debauchery of the Woolshed.

After an early night and a questionable breakfast, 3 of us, myself, Ashley and an Irish guy named Dermot decided to visit the Blue Lagoon, as famed in some Brooke Shield movie (apparently). What our hostel failed to mention was that the likes of us backpacker riffraff weren't allowed on the majority of the beach, as we were disturbing the paying guests (yes we were forcibly removed from one part of the beach). The boys got pretty angry, but I found it quite hilarious and wasn't at all surprised. Its just a bit of a shame that even in Fiji money buys you the ability to stop others from experiencing the same thing as you on a lower budget. I did, however, get the chance to go snorkeling and saw nemos and electric blue star fish. The beach was beautiful, the waters crystal clear and warm and the people (on the whole) were so friendly. I had to pinch myself that I was paying just 23 pounds a night for accommodation and all my food in a place so desired by honeymooning couples. The pace of life was so relaxed, there was no need for a watch, we were running on Fiji time now. Still no hot water and electricity between 6.30-10pm only reminded us this is the simple life and I was adapting to it quickly.

On the third day, Ashley and I decided to get the real Fijian Sunday experience and go to church. It was a little bit bizarre, lots of 'Praise the Lord' and 'Hallelujah', very American happy clappy. There was even a woman behind us crying and wailing, making me feel quite uncomfortable. I guess it might have been a more emotional experience if I had had the slightest idea what they were going on about, but as they were speaking Fijian I was not in the know.

Ashley, Dermot and I decided to progress together to White Sandy Beach Resort on Naviti Island for two nights. We formed a clique with an Austrian named Karin and two Londoners, Tasha and Michael. Together we managed to laugh at the unfriendly German 'lesbians' also staying in the resort, practice our German (Schmetterling, scheisse es ist bewoelkt usw.), drink the bar dry, make Ashley the s***head and star gaze a bit. We basically did very little for the next two days besides sunbathe and wait for meal times (the food ranged from good to down right disgusting - spag bol was a particular low point). The second evening we drank our own bar dry and in a bid to escape the awful 'bula' dancing the hostel insisted on every evening, we wandered along the beach to the next resort, where Tash, Karin and I drank all of their wine supply (much of it was downed by me thanks to Mike's shell-in-a-drink game, which ended in tears [his] when I lobbed it onto the beach). We continued the evening with more games of s***head, f*** the dealer, helicopter until the generator cut out (whilst I was on the toilet, always a treat) and we eventually stumbled to bed.

Michael and Trish were meant to be off to Beachcomber the next day, but as they couldn't bare to be parted from me (thats the option I'm going for anyway), we all instead went on to Waya Lailai together and the Waya Lailai Eco Resort. After a swim, dinner and a 'power nap' we had yet another round of card games. I however was pretty exhausted and the Fiji Bitter basically made me want to pass out, so I returned to the 16 bed dorm pretty early.

The next day we were all pretty subdued. The combo of late nights, early breakfasts and pretty crap food had put most people in a grump to rival Michael's daily strop. There was no rest though as we all headed to Beachcomber Island, the notorious party capital of the Yasawas. It was a little upsetting that we had to part with an extra $50 to upgrade, but it was immediately obvious why. 100 bed dorm aside (yep 100 beds in one dorm), the resort was far more commerical and polished. The food was yummy, the entertainment more interesting and it even had hot showers! The island was basically exactly what you would expect of a Fijian island, i.e. a beach all the way around that takes a max of ten minutes to walk around. The night life was not as raucous as anticipated and instead we were left to shout to each other as Justin Bieber's 'Baby, Baby' (who the hell is this kid???) played for the 300th time. None the less everyone got battered, particularly when I had to down two beers and a disgusting cocktail and Dermot, who did it for the Irish and had to be helped to his room at the end of the night.

And like that it was over. Seven days of sun, sand and Fiji Bitter. It was the perfect amount of time as I was feeling pretty knackered. We said goodbye to Ashley as he headed off for another 14 days around the Yasawas (he left with two girls, one of whom had a soft spot for him, so I don't feel too bad for him). Fiji was beautiful, everything that I had wanted at the end of my trip, and maybe even a little more. It was much less spoilt then I had anticipated. Sure there were the odd drunken Aussies and obnoxious Americans, but really it was very quiet. After another beach day, I bronzed myself in anticipation of returning to the mainland (I was looking mighty tanned :)). Another saying goodbye to Tash and Mike, who were off to Sydney, I got picked up by a lovely Fijian woman and taken to the hostel Karin was staying in a little outside Nadi. It was a far cry away from the disgusting Down Town Backpackers and there were only five other guests, making me feel a little like we were visitors rather than paying guests.