We arrived in Fiji late on Saturday night, 26 May. We had flown backwards accross the International Date Line which is super confusing & completely messes you around! Due to all the flight delays we had now missed our connecting ferry out to the Yasawa Islands - a string of islands off the west coast of the main island. So we immediately went to the Air Pacific offices, along with a whole bunch of other passengers, and got sorted out with a hotel for the night. The hotel was nice and close and the rooms were pretty big, but after trying for about 45 minutes to get the spa-bath to work, we just gave up and went to bed.

Sunday we woke up early for breakfast and then went to wait at the nearby bus station for the bus to the ferry terminal. The ferry trip to our first stop on Nacula Island took about four and a half hours, but it was sunny and host and we had made friends with an American girl (same boat as us - missed flight from LA,) so we all just chilled on the deck at the back with a bottle of wine, watching the other islands go by. Each resort along the way sends a smaller boat to the ferry to drop off and collect passengers, so we got on the Nabua Lodge one and 5 minutes later we were greeted by all the staff at the resort. We had lunch and then crashed into bed. We stumbled back through for dinner but didn't stay for the evenings entertainment and went back to sleep.

On Monday after breakfast we decied to go for a walk, so we wandered up along the beach to the next lodge. We didn't walk for too long though and soon we were back on a deck chair at our resort, soaking up some sun on the beach and swimming in the crystal-clear water whenever we got too hot :-) After lunch, Monique lay reading in a hammock while Kevin got a bit more sun. Later, we went back to our bure (beach hut) for a nap and to do some photo admin. In the evening we played a bit of backgammon on the deck before going for a walk to watch the sunset. After dinner we joined in for some evening games, which Monique turned out to be quite good at, winning two! We had a drink and chatted with some other travellers, before making our way back to bed.

Tuesday Monique woke up to find she was developing a rash on her face - must have been either from the facecream or suncream - so had to stop using both and spend the day inside. Kevin spent a bit of time outside in the sun and the sea, and then later that evening, we walked up the hill to watch the sunset. The sunset was beautiful but there were also two Canadian women up there who were pretty loud, so it wasn't exactly as peaceful as it could have been ;-) After dinner we skipped the evening games and instead went back to our room to pack and get an early night - the next day we would be leaving for another resort.

On Wednesday we ate breakfast and then, once the staff had all sung us the "Farewell Song," just kinda lazed around on the beach until the ferry got there. We got on and transferred at the next stop to get to Bay of Plenty. When we arrived, it was just the two of us, a British couple about our age, the two Canadians and another British guy so nice and quiet and chilled. The atmosphere was quite laid back and Sevu, who was the big Fijian guy in charge, invited us to sit while we waited for lunch. After our late lunch of vegetable stew and coconut rice, we just relaxed in our room until dinner. Unlike the other resorts, the bure's here were at the top of a hill, so while you weren't right on the beach, you did have a great view :-) Monique joined Sevu in the kitchen to watch supper being prepared, while Kevin did a bit of admin and waited for the drum before comming down. We played a few rounds of the "Flick Game" (Kevin undefeated!) and then sat down to a yummy dinner of vegetable curry, fish curry, rice and rotti's which we all ate on the beach by the fire. We stayed up chatting until the fire died down and then headed up the hill to bed.

Thursday we headed down at the sound of the drum to enjoy breakfast of some lovely Fiji-style pancakes (basically dough balls fried until golden.) Joe, one of the other locals working there, took us out to visit the nearby Catholic school. The kids seemed quite exited to see us and all wanted to show us everything in their classrooms. The younger kids even sung us a few English nursery rhymes :-) Afterwards we continued on to the the large hall where the local church there meets. There wasn't much to see though, so we soon headed back for lunch. After lunch it was relaxing time - we were waiting for the tide to go out enough so we could walk accross to another beach, but it didn't go out far enough in time :-/ Monique joined Sevu again to learn some more about Fijian cooking, while Kevin continued sorting out the huge photo mess (top tip, again: remember to set the correct date/time on your camera when you travel and change it when you change time zones.) By now the British guy and the Canadians had left, so it was just us two and Mark & Grace (the british couple) for dinner that night. They are also doing an around-the-world trip, but in the other direction, so it was great to hear their experiences in Asia and Australia. We enjoyed chatting over a delicious rice, noodles and chicken & beef stirfry, before heading up for an early night.

Friday we had some more pancakes for breakfast and then the four of us, along with a Polish couple who arrived the day before, walked out to the beach island. The walk was further than we thought and Monique didnt enjoy the seaweed-water with fish and possible stingrays, so there was some piggybacking involved ;-) The tide beat us to it and we had to turn back almost as soon as we arrived - so yeah... a nice scenic walk, but not the greatest beach day ever :-) We just chilled out in the room until lunch and then popped back for a nap after. That night we were being treated to a traditional Fijian dinner, so we came down in the afternoon to watch everyone preparing it. We saw the fire pit and woven basket things for the chicken/fish and learnt how to de-husk & split a coconut. We also got to "ride the horse" to get the white stuff out and taste the fresh coconut pieces raw and also some roasted on the fire. Dinner that night was amazing - there were so many dishes that you almost had to go back for seconds if you wanted to try everything. We ate seated on a big mat on the beach, along with all the staff and their families, which was great :-) Afterwards we sat around the bonfire chatting before heading up to the room to pack.

Saturday we brought our bags down, had a quick breakfast and then Joe took us and Mark & Grace to see the nearby farm. The island that we were on is the most fertile in the Yasawas and (I think) has the only farm on it. The farm is run by one guy and everything is grown naturally and done by hand. He grows just about every type of vegetable that you have ever heard of, and then some. We walked back to the resort in time to get our water-taxi out to the big ferry. We arrived at the pickup point a bit early, so had to chill on the beach for a while longer, but soon we were on our way back to the main island. The sea was quite choppy on the way back, but we both managed to make it back with our lunches intact ;-) We arrived back just after the sun had set, and caught the transfer bus for the 30 minute trip back to the airport. We checked through security and order a pizza while we waited (hadn't had lunch so were STARVING) which only arrived 45 minutes later as they make it on the other side of the airport and have to bring it through airport security?! We were ready to chew our arms off by the time it eventually arrived. Anyway, soon we boarded the plane and settled in for the five hour flight to Brisbane, Australia!