When we arrived at Nadi airport in Fiji we were both very excited to be back in the hot weather again after New Zealand. We landed around 5 and the sun was still out, but our flight had been delayed by about an hour. We had had to hang around Auckland airport for a while, and the flight wasn't particuarly great. We had finally arrived though! We had booked a hostel in Nadi for the first two nights and managed to track down the shuttle bus that could take us straight there. Luckily Skylodge, where we were staying, was very near there airport. We had booked into a twin room as it wasn't that expensive, but were still exxpecting bunkbeds or something so were surprised when the room was really nice with two huge double beds and our own bathroom. It felt just like being on a proper holiday again. The hostel was really nice and even though it wasn't near the beach it had a good pool and restaurant/bar. That nigth we booked our trip around the island with the tour desk which took a while to sort as there are 333 islands in Fiji, and a lot of places to choose from! Once that was sorted we had some dinner and drinks. Even though I loved being in the van in New Zealand I have to admit it was nice to be staying in a room again.

That morning we caught a taxi into Nadi town after breakfast. The town was really busy and we just had a walk around the shops for a couple of hours and a drink in a cafe. It was a nice atmosphere and it was good being back somewhere very different from home, but it wasn't good having to get used to people shouting at us to buy things everywhere we went again. We got picked up by the same taxi driver again at noon and went back to the hostel. It had been cloudy in the morning, but by the time we got back it had cleared up and the sun was out so we spent a few hours by the pool. It was great being back in the sun again. We also had to spend ages trying to get our tickets for the islands. It was our first taste of "Fiji Time!" After having dinner there again that noght we went to bed early as we were being picked up in the morning to be taken to the first of the islands we were going to visit.

We got picked up from the hostel at about 8 in the morning and got into a bus which took us to another hostel by the beach after picking up a few more people along the way. We had to hang around for quite a while there before the bopat came to get us but that wasn't too bad as they had hammocks we could lie in. Eventually the boat arrived to take us to the island of Mana. The boast was quite small compared to the amount of people on it, and Justin ended up having to sit on the front. It only took us an hour to get there, and I knew I would like Mana straight away as the place we were staing was right on the beach and the sun was out. We had also met some nice people on the boat including another couple and some pople we had seen in both Australia and New Zealand. After the boast dropped us off onto the beach we were taken to the dining/meeting area and bar and had our welcome song sung to us. We were also told a bit about the place and the things there were to do. The people there seemed really nice and friendly. Where we were staying was right in the village where the Fijians lived, and even though we had already been warmed the accomodation was very basic, it was too bad. As we were right in the village with them we were made to feel a part of the community. It was quite a new place so they asked that we take part in a lot of things too. Once we had settled in and dumped our things on the first day there was time to have a quick wander about before it was time for lunch. All our food was included, and although it was simple and a bit stodgy it was still nice. You could help yourself to as much as you wanted which is always a plus! After that we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. It was a good job that it was so hot as the showers were freezing cold and there was just a pipe spurting out the cold water. Electricity didn't come on until 5 so I also had to have my first shower in the dark! As we waited for dinner we sat on the sand and watched all the cute Fijian children play in the sea. It looked like they have such a nice life here as it is so relaxed. Dinner was along the same lines as lunch, and then afterwards they put on a quiz which our team came second in, probably no thanks to me. There were 4 of us but only two beers as the prize, so they obviously went to the boys!

The next day we just relaxed on the beach most of the day as I am determined to go home at least a bit brown. After lunch myself and some fo the other girls decided we wanted to make some coconut jewellery, which in hindsight really wasn't worth the effort, but it gave us something to do. First of all we had to walk all across to the other side of the island to find a coconut to use. I don't know why we couldn't just pick one off a tree but the guy who was helping us said we couldn't. After that we had to scrape all the hair from the outside until it was really smooth. At this point I discovered that my coconut was full of green maggots which took me ages to get out, but I couldn't be bothered to start all over again. It was a bit disgusting though! Once that was done the guy sawed off the ends and scraped out the insides to make the braclet. After that we just had to sand it all down. I managed to 'disappear' for a while though and had most of mine done for me. The finishing touch was to cover it with suncream and then bury it in the sea for 15 minutes. It seemed a very strange thing to do but it made it go a dark brown in colour. Very creative! That night they put on a show for us to show us a few different Fijian dances in the traditional costumes. It was really good fun and very entertaining, especially the fire dancing at the end. The men that did that were a bit crazy and set fire to their mouths and backs, but they were very good too. It was amazing how fast they could go and how they could catch the fire stick after throwing them up in the air. All our hands hurt by the end of the night from clapping so much.

The following day was spent on the beach again. I could see this was how most of our days were going to be spent in Fiji, but I was definetly pleased about that. The beach at Mana was gorgeous and so was the weather. The furthest we managed to walk that day was down to the pier, but as this is owned by another, more exclusive resort, we ended up getting kicked off as backerpackers weren't allowed on it. That was as energetic as it got really. There wasn't any entertainment put on that night, but we didn't mind as we were happy just to have a few drinks in the bar. That was our last night on Mana and we were leaving in the morning. The boast came to pick us up at about 11.30 so we just had time for a quick lie on the beach and walk around before we left. As breakfast was served so early, from 7-8, we were used to getting up early so still had most of the morning there. We had our farewell song sung to us, and it was quite sad as we didn't want to leave. We were told never to forget our second family in Mana!

The next stop was the island resort of Beachcomber. It only took about 20 minutes to get there from Mana, but when we got close I thought there must be some mistake as it looked much too nice for somewhere we were going to stay. The island itself was tiny and looked just like a stereotypical desert island, which was great. The island wasn't inhabited and was just made up of the Beachcomber resort, but it was really beautiful. The only downside to the island itself was the sand as it was covered in pieces of coral which hurt to walk on. It still looked nice though! We hadn't been to sure about staying there at first. However as Mana was in the Manamunca group and the last island we were going to was in the Yasawas we had to stay either there or on another island called Bounty so we could change boats between the two island groups. Beachcomber has a bit of a reputation as a party island but we thought it would be nice to be somewhere more lively and where we could have some fun. We had heard some stoires about people being sick and weeing in the beds but luckily it was much better than we had expected and we didn't see anything like that happen! The resort was really nice and had a huge bar and dining area. The dorm was a massive bure with a thatched roof, but it held 150 odd people. This is by far the biggest dorm we have stayed in but it was fine and it seemed like there was much more space than there actually was. They even had hot showers, even though all the water had been used up by the time I had mine so I still had a cold one. Overall it was a really nice place. We could see why we could only afford to stay for one night. We arrived just in time for lunch, and found out that the food was great too. The buffet was huge and they had loads of salad and vegetables which I was strangely really happy about. As we were only there for one night and were being picked up early we thought we would spend the rest of the day on the beach. It was a really hot day and the beach was stunning, so it was a nice afternoon. After that we got ready for dinner, which was again really nice, and spent the rest of the night having some drinks with some people we had met before on Mana. There was a band playing too who did covers of some cheesy songs and it was a good night. I couldn't go too crazy though as I had a bit of a dodgy stomach, probably after something I ate at Mana. It was a good night, and I got a good sleep despite being in a room with another 150 people!

We were supposed to be picked up to be taken to the next island at 9.15, just after breakfast. We waited and waited, but no boat came. We just thought this was another example of Fiji time, but then found out that the boat had broken down and it ended up being 4 hours late. Obviously we didn't know when it was going to arrive so we had to hang around all morning, but it wasn't too bad as we could alternate between sitting on the beach in the sun and at a table in the shade. At about 1 lunch was served and we managed to get to the front of the queue so we could have some. As soon as we had finished eating the boat arrived, and some people didn't manage to get anything. I did feel sorry for everyone else who had actually been stuck on the boat for all that time. We had to get a small boat out to the bigger one that was going to take us to our next stop, the island of Waya Lai Lai.