PART 2 CONT…….

After a very sad wave off from our new found friends the four of us were then headed for:

KUATA

The Island looked completely different as it was a lot lot bigger (much too big to walk around!) and looked thick with forest. It was also facing another island where the local 'village' was. The beach was not as nice, very small and a little stony but the sun was at full blast and the water was still as clear as anything.

We got straight to sunbathing and my god was it hot- at times unbearable, so much so you'd get out after a refreshing dip only to be sweating again in seconds and find it impossible to lotion up! Still who can complain when you're on a tropical Island?!

The food was not as good on this Island, with a sorry looking egg roll for lunch and chicken on the bone stew for dinner- we missed South Sea a little although the staff did a good job of introducing us to the 'Bula dance' a favorite with the Fijians!

There’s not much to mention in comparison to our first Island so I will just say quickly about our visit to church on Sunday!! We had the chance to go with the Fijians to their village (on a small boat) and watch their service, only a few of us so great experience- the kids were the cutest singing their hymns and forgetting their words and mainly staring at us who stuck out like a sore thumb the whole time, good insight into their regular every day lives.

Last but not least we had to say a sorry farewell to our good friend Jeremy- he put up with us three girlies for long enough and was heading back home (USA) we would definitely miss our Jezzabelle!!

KOROVOU

Happy to move on to the next Island we were even more made up when we saw it- the staff firstly were the most welcoming with a glass of juice (so appreciated in the hot weather!) and a flower stuck in our ears, sung to and shown to our best room of the trip- well it was still a dorm but nice none the least! Korovou had a gorgeous swimming pool and because the sea was always quite far out we basically spent most of our time there soaking up the rays and reading our books, was heaven! Other free activities we participating in during the days here included fish feeding (crazy zebra fish), a herbal medicine tour around the Island- techniques passed through generations with all their different plants, a coconut demonstration (how they crack and shred it) , volleyball with the locals and Katie made a bracelet out of a coconut with a local woman- creative moment!

The Island was generally just gorgeous and happy and the food was delicious- fresh fish, yellow bean soup and all sorts. The entertainment was also great- with the ‘Bula Boys’ dancing for us in their grass skirts every night and putting on an amazing performance fire dancing. We were lucky enough to make a whole bunch of friends including Mike and Tasha (London couple!) Sean and Kate (Manchester- who stayed with us rest of time) and a few more couples and lads who all joined in with some drinking games in the evening- very funny!

We were sad to leave this Island as it had become a close second to South Sea Island but onto the next……

CORAL VIEW

We arrived to all the staff lined up holding hands and singing and as we walked up the beach we shook each and everyone’s hands- a nice welcome but sadly because there were so many we weren’t to become friends with any of them like the previous Islands. Apart from all the usual paid trips- shark feeding/ caves/ scuba diving once again there was not much to do but chillax in the rays (see a pattern emerging here?!!!) There wasn’t really a beach but a grass area with sun beds and the usual array of hammocks around. It was quality book reading time and shell spotting and we were often counting away the minutes as to when the drum would go for lunch/ afternoon tea!!

The evenings were spent watching the staff do a couple of songs (they loved to sing- although hearing the same one each night did get a little tedious by the end!) and then eating a yummy buffet and playing a few games i.e. bingo, Fijian dancing. It wasn’t much of a party Island and we were beginning to get used to the fact that the Islands were actually pretty sparse and not as busy as we expected, also the majority of guests were couples…. So the three of us resorted to playing pictionary in the sand (really works!) and hoping our final Island Beach Comber, renown for being the ‘party Island’ would live up to it’s reputation!

On our last day we decided to up the pace and go for a walk along the beach, we got to a really secluded area with the whitest sand and blue lagoon, it was so stunning you almost thought it was a mirage. Not content with the amount of exercise we felt we would challenge ourselves to walking around the entirety of the Island… not a good idea!! We found ourselves climbing huge rock faces with the waves crashing up and then wading through thick forest without a track to find the way we came… uh oh!!! After a vote and us two managing to convince a determined Lindsay it was probably best to turn back we finally managed to find our way, but we will admit we were a little scared for a minute… one of the main reasons that we weren’t going to be back in time to get our boat to the next Island! Our Indiana Jones moment over, we ran back to the resort- just in time!

WANATAKI

This was our night ‘on board’. It was not quite what we expected and I don’t have much to say about it other than it was a dorm for 30 and there was only 5 of us… party on! I think everybody kept hearing we were coming and disappeared! The two German girls we were on it with were nice enough but the staff turned out to be lazy and not very polite (probably because they’re used to entertaining more people) For example, there was a DVD player downstairs and so we went to watch one in the evening only to find all the staff laying on the sofas watching their own film and not moving an inch to accommodate us or let us put one on!! The only good thing about this turned out to be the kayaking and the snorkeling. In fact we kayaked to the nearest Island where Kate and Sean were staying (Manta Ray) which was a down sight better and guess what… had lots of people! We stayed there for most of the afternoon then had to head back.

Oh and we forgot to say, the whole time it pretty much poured with rain- bonus!

BEACH COMBER

Last but not least... the ‘party Island’ with the famous 100 bed dorm room!!!!

Sadly the rain was still going strong when we hopped off onto the Islands boat but that didn’t stop our morale as we sang “I’m singing in the rain’ at the top of our voices! We were surprised that the 100 bed dorm did not look as big as we thought it would, although they do pack you in like sardines… luckily we were put up some stairs in a 10 bed part so it was sort of sectioned off from the rest.

As we arrived just before dinner we got showered straight away and headed to the bar, but of course we took our own duty free bounty rum in a plastic bottle and didn’t fork out for the overpriced alcohol. This however was not allowed on the Island and we’d heard horror stories from the girls in our room saying the staff would come around and actually sniff your drinks and confiscate anything they found!! We had to be careful; we couldn’t risk it being taken away as we had no funds to get anything else!! Eek!

The food on this Island was the best yet- it was delicious and the portions were huge! You were invited to seconds… even thirds haha! It was a buffet of all sorts of veg, salads, BBQ, Indian style dishes, fish, and fruit… good stuff. So after filling our bellies (maybe a bit too much) we were back to the bar pouring our drinks very secretively under the table and started some drinking games. We were with obviously Lindsay, Kate and Sean and some other random people- I tell you drinking games to fellow travelers are the best ice breakers!! Feeling gradually more and more tipsy we decided to join in the limbo contest and we are very proud to say that out of a good 20-30 people Katie came in 4th and Jemma had her moment of victory taking 1st place and winning a free Para-sail the next day woop woop! It was perfect as we now felt equal with Katie’s pool win in NZ now Jem had her very own amazing activity to look forward to!!

The night had just begun when Lindsay and us got up to throw a few shapes on the dance floor (well sand!) and this is a ‘you should have been there moment’ but we can’t go on without mentioning Lindsay’s spectacular tumble…… bless her!! Mid- dance move she lost her footing and whoosh she was gone, the best part was when she stretched out her hand to steady her fall on a pillar only to completely miss it- we’re not kidding it was like the infamous episode of Only Fools and Horses when Del Boy goes to lean on the bar… hilarious!!!! A small dip in the outside hot tub later and we took our very tipsy selves home.

Sadly it wasn’t the sunshine that woke us, our penultimate day had been introduced with the pounding of more heavy rain and gusts of wind- thank the Lord it was at the end of our trip and not before now. Our moods weren’t that dampened as we knew we had a good innings, however we were just worried that Jem wouldn’t be able to claim her prize as it was put on hold until the next and last day. We tried a swim in the sea but the current was really strong so we ended up reading our books under cover for the majority of the day, making the most of the free flowing tea and coffee. Oh well, it was the party Island so as long as the evenings were good right?!!

Last night on the Islands and it wasn’t a huge one but a nice evening drinking and playing cards, we also made use of Lindsay’s twister towel that came with dice as we invited some other people to join in (Lindsay had tried to get us to play on every Island so we felt it was time to give in) and it turned out to be very popular… everyone wanted to play- we were turning people away haha! We ended the night with a walk along the beach, looking at the stars and realizing it was all coming to an end and would soon feel like a dream.

NADI BAY HOTEL

Back to the mainland for our very last night in Fiji and we spent it doing none other than fulfilling our long lusted craving of …. Pizza! Boy was it good. Just the three of us for one last meal all together as the next day we had a lovely time around the pool then had to say goodbye to Lindsay loo as she set off to her flight to OZ (her travels had only just begun) It was really sad as we had become so close to her but we knew we’d stay in contact and be great friends when she comes home.

So finally we got our flight with Kate and Sean who were also off to LA and after an upgrade to ‘upstairs’ on the plane (yes there is an upstairs!!) we had a very pleasant flight with movies and lots of room. Another goodbye and once again we were on our own, to start all over again, make new adventures and new friends… bring on the U S of A!!!