Helloooo well this might be a long blog as we have 2 weeks worth of Fiji to talk about!!! First off lets start by saying Bula! Which is Fijian for hello and a general greeting that everyone uses! You say Bula to everyone...sometimes you say Bula Bula.... sometimes you say Bula Bula Bula!!! It made us laugh and also feel so welcome. The Fijians are so friendly and nice.

We landed in Nadi on 24th of November and boy it was hot!!! The hottest place both me and Emma have ever been to! We stayed in a double room for 3 nights. It was more like a Hotel than a hostel with a bar, 2 pools, a travel desk, live music, and restaurant. That said it cost us 12 pound a night and meals in the restaurant were about 4 pound! We chilled out by the pool working on our tans and went to the town which was an experience in itself. We went into a chemist to buy bug spray and basically this cashier followed us around the chemist trying to flog us anything we looked at!! We also walked past a policeman who said "Bula", we replied "Bula" then he said "no-one is your friend here in town don't trust the street people!" To which me and Emma both looked at each other and thought aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh (oh how we laugh now!)

We decided to go Island Hopping on the group of Islands called the Yasawa's. To do this we got a 7day Bula pass which basically payed for our boat between all the Islands. Now these Islands were amazing. The accomodation was pretty basic on some but the sights soon made up for this! The first night we spent at Nabua Lodge on Nacula Island. It was the first place we had been with Hammocks and Emma had some fun getting in for the first time heehee! We met 3 Irish guys from Cork who we could just about understand! Then there was a Canadian Guy who didnt have any suncream who had a very red face! and a few Americans who were ok but had very strange fashion (chef style trousers, don't get us started!) and a hell of a lot of luggage! We had fun here, we learnt the Bula dance and did limbo on the night, we went to the village during the day... we had a guide to show us the village and it was customary for women to cover up, and to meet the chief of the village. We had visions that this chief would be dressed like a warrior and have feathers in his hair and face paint... see the picture?... i was a bit let down! He was just a cool guy in a bula shirt! We payed him a donation and had a look around and it really struck us how privilaged our lifestyles back home are!

We left Nacula Island and headed for Sunrise Resort to stay with Queen!!! That is Queen of Fiji!!! Now he was an entertainer! The resort was on Nanuya Lailai island, again up in the North, and Queen told us a really really long story about his escape from Turtle Island...at $2500 US dollars a night it apparantly hosts some very famous people, and rich obviously! Anyway his story was very long, and apparantly its going to be turned into a film...so watch out for it! but anyway this guy was really entertaining in his own way! Whilst there we walked across the island to the blue lagoon on the other side, which is the best snorkelling site and had a look at the fish. we did not stay out too long but again we experienced some fantastic sights. Snorkelling may become one of our top activities everywhere we go!

On Thursday 29th November we headed across to Tavewa island and the Coral View Resort. This resort was lovely, a little more upmarket than the others we had visited so far, with fans in the dorms!! we basically spent our time on the island lazing about in the sun in our hammocks, which we had managed to figure out a way to get in and out of without falling! we decided not to do snorkelling as we did not want to overdo it! As we had done the village visit as well there was not much else to do except stroll across the beach and laze in the sun - and we did that admirably i feel!

Another day another island. This time Coconut Bay resort on Naviti island. Now this actually involved us getting back onto the main katamaran and travelling for a distance! We had heard some real horror stories about this resort, and we not anticipating good things from it, but to be honest we found it brill!! Every member of the resort was so friendly and helpful. they could not pass you without asking if you were ok, if you needed anything or wanted to do anything. We met up with the Irish guys from Nacula island, plus a couple of french guys and with the locals we played a game of volleyball. Emma is awful at volleyball, but she had a go, and i ran around for a good while and i think got quite good at it! Emma managed to bruise her hand and wrist by trying, but could not get the ball over the net when she served, bless! in the evening we had a display of traditional fijian dance, and then a limbo contest. This reminds me that there were also some Swiss people on the islands that we kept bumping into and one girl was so miserable Emma got annoyed and named her 'Smiler' (not to her face - although she never ever spoke to us!). Our time at Coconut bay was really fun, and we loved every minute of it. Maybe because it was quite quiet, but everyone was sooo lovely to us, we weaved bracelets and chatted to them and greeted newcomers before we left for our penultimate stop.

Manta Ray Resort is on Nanuya Balavu island - and it is rather posh! We decided to go here as the 1st December (the day it was!) was our 4th anniversary. The lady at Nadi bay resort must have told them this as when we checked in we were put in a Jungle Bure with ensuite bathroom right on the beach - for no extra cost! (A bure a hut/small house) It was absolute luxury to have a hot shower and a room to yourself that was clean and tidy with a nice comfy bed! We wasted no time in going out snorkelling for a while, and i think Manta Ray had the best snorkelling of the Yasawa islands. There were fish everywhere, and some of them were gigantic! There were several schools of fish too and they just swam along with you and ignored you completely! We could have stayed out for hours, but that would not have been practical - and we were hungry! And Oh My God the food was amazing! They had a big buffet table full of so many different types of food and all of it was yummy! There were salads, fish, meat, soup, pasta, so many different options and after a staple diet of rice for the last 5 days it was very tasty! Every meal was delicious and the resort was lovely, but as it was so large it lacked the friendly and homely atmosphere we received at Coconut Bay, which we expected to be the case, but it would have made everything perfect!

Our final stop on the Yasawa's was Wayalailai Eco Haven resort on Wayalailai. After the luxury of Manta Ray this was certainly a come down! The staff were ok, but did not seem to be particul;arly bothered if you were there or not, and the whole place seemed to us rather run down and in need of some TLC. We played a game or 7 of volleyball in the afternoon with the french guys, a Canadian couple called Jessie and Mary, a guy named Cedric and an irish guy named Lee. Again Emma was rubbish, but the irish guy was controlling the whole game and did not seem to pass much. he also tried to get every shot, so Emma stopped trying, as he was rather patronising towards her! We do both like volleyball (despite Emma's apparant lack of enthusiasm) and will hopefully try and keep playing everywhere we go, when we get chance!

In the evening, after a dodgy meal, we watched a fashion show of Fijian costume thorugh the ages until now, which was rather interesting - but was upstaged by the woman doing the voiceover as she spoke as though she had never read the words before, though she must have done in many times before! Then they performed a play of a missionaries visit to the island centuries ago, which was entertaining as well. It then began to rain, and we mean rain! Neither of us slept well that night as there were no mosquito nets so we were constantly in fear of being bitten to death! Emma took to sleeping with her sheet over her head until she started to struggle to breathe and i took it off her!

We returned to Nadi Bay resort on 3rd December and spent the next day catching up on sleep and wandering round the town again. It rained on and off all day, so there was no opportunity to brighten up the tan, but never mind!

Our time in Fiji has been a real experience. The island hopping was an amazing experience and we are both really pleased that we decided to do it. 7 days was long enough for us, if we had have done more we could have gotten bored we think, but we were glad of a weeks relaxation and chilling with 'Fiji time' - Fijians have little concept of time! Manta ray was the best place that we stayed, mainly because of the complete abilty to relax and the comparative luxury we found there, but Coconut Bay came a close 2nd! The Yasawa islands are well worth going to if you ever get the chance, no matter how long for, there is plenty you can do, and pelnty of time to relax and do absolutely nothing as well!

As for the mainland, we did not experience too much of it but what we did see was ok. We wondered if Fiji was like the Cook islands 20 years ago, as now it seems quite built up in places and the shop people following you around the shop is rather annoying after a while, which we did not experience in Rarotonga. That said, teh Fijian people are so friendly and polite, and they always have something to say to you, even if it's just Bula! You cant say bula without smiling!

Fiji will always be remembered with a Bula!, a hammock, the sun and a smile for us!

We begin our New Zealand North Island tour soon - perhaps we shall do more regular updates to save you the trouble of reading another essay! but for now we shall leave you to experience some more life changing moments.

Love to all, take care

Love Andrew and Emma xxx