Fiji - Via Long Beach, White Sandy, Kuata bay and Bounty Island 14th May to 21st May

After a life of luxury for 2 days in Oarsmen's Bay we left the crystal clear waters of the area and started the journey to Long Beach Resort. After a morning of kayaking in the sun the afternoon promised much but delivered little. As the call came from the captain to depart The Flyer we headed down to the one fishing boat that was waiting for us, perfect on any normal day but today there was just over 25 people checking into the resort. Imagine 25 backpacks loaded full of people's memories and dirty washing, place them at the front of the boat, and subsequently load 25 people into a space just big enough to fit 15. The result could have been worse but luckily for us we did make it there alive although the water did pore over the side of the boat at times. Also once we got close to the resort we were all ushered out of the boat and told to wait on a sand spit in the middle of the ocean until they could get another boat to take us to shore. Quite funny really the picture of us all standing in shallow water with our bags, lucky the tide was low I guess. When we did eventually get on the resort we entered the small dining room and were then allocated and shown to our rooms. Myself and Rachel were treated to a spacious little home with a living room, en-suite and double bed with a sea view. Happy we made our way outside for a look around. The cloud had started to build but with the day light hours coming to an end neither of us were worried. As Rachel Lay on the beach I met with some of the other travelers and played volleyball for the afternoon, as time went on locals joined in and the event became even more eventful.

After sweating vigorously I headed in for a shower. Rachel was sorting through her stuff and then also enjoyed a shower to clean the day's sun cream off but unfortunately was feeling under the weather so did not feel overly active for the evening. Although my bowl was on an active trip I headed out for a game of cards with some of the guys, thankfully a new game called 31's that Rachel and I had not discovered yet. After playing for a while we headed in for dinner, which may not have been as well presented as Oarsmen's but was still better than the other resorts we had eaten at. We sat in the corner, near the window, as an air flow helps when trying to balance the food going into your stomach to the food that is trying to come out… sorry.

After dinner we sat and chatted to people as all of us had been brought together by the joke of being dumped out of the boat in the ocean earlier in the day. Like us, Rob, Rav and Hanna were actually staying at the resort for the night so we did spent the evening with them guys mostly, sharing stories that were bound to secrecy from the camper van and playing the classis game of Uno. As time wore on many of us got sleepy so after showing them our pad we hit the hay, much to the delight of Rachel.

The next morning the weather could not have sucked anymore, the cloud was thick and rain was just waiting to fall to earth but after breakfast we decided to take a walk up the beach. The place was called long beach so it came as no surprise that it was a pretty long trek. As we reached the corner we looked back across the beach and out to sea where we could see the rain pilling in. To our left locals on the island got on with their daily routines, while saying 'hi' to us. Suddenly out of nowhere a pack of about 6 dogs came running through the bushes, making plenty of noise but fortunately with no substance. As we started to track back, knowing that we were going to get wet, one of the local dogs that had followed another couple up the beach played at the water's edge. Eventually the rain started to fall, heavy at that. On our journey back we called in at the local tea house. The kids were working and the lady in charge invited us to have a coconut. Although knowing it would come at a small cost we were intrigued at what she had to offer, especially after my nightmare of opening a coconut in Oarsmen's with a pair of nail scissors. She shouted one of the kids over who climbed the nearby tree, quicker than you could imagine especially as the tree was all but vertical! When he reached the top he kicked coconuts down with ease and his brother took his machete out and slashed the tops off. We all indulged in the most delicious of green coconut, the water inside was as refreshing as the rain hammering down above us. After we finished the milk the brother took his knife once more and slashed open the flesh for us to eat. It was not hard, but soft and flavorsome. We stood chatting to the lads and joked with them about how to open a coconut with no tools. One wandered off for a couple of minutes and then returned with a banana leaf, a rock and a brown coconut. He set it all out and said, "Watch" and with one swoop he smashed the coconut with his hand as if teaching karate. The coconut split completely. With a smile he said thank you to us all and wandered back inside, 'probably to heal his broken hand.' As the lady said bye she invited us back for afternoon tea which with her special cake on offer seemed a pretty good idea. The afternoon was long, we ate lunch and played cards for nearly the entire day as the rain fell persistently. Rachel looked glum, well so did many of us, but we entertained ourselves all the same before returning to the tea lady for unlimited cake to spoil our dinner.

As the day wore on the weather cleared so after tea I grabbed the volley ball and managed to encourage a few others to have a game. I did not quite realise that the small mess around I started would eventually turn out to a full blown game with the best part of 20 participants and 15 spectators, but what the hell, it was great fun but unbelievable tiring. The locals laughed at the top of their voices with some of the antics that took place, we joined them and made up for the morning of bad weather. As time wore on and the light faded we headed in for dinner and after eating did much of the same as the night before, except this time we just played cards while discussing movies.

The next day the cloud was still covering us so in the morning we read, played football, volleyball and ate snacks before being picked up by The Flyer for our next destination. As we were eager to get on the boat first so as to book in for our next resort Rachel and I positioned ourselves in a win win position. Thank goodness we did as when we got on and booked there was only one place left at the resort we wanted to visit next. We headed up on deck for the journey and the sun finally broke through and burnt off the remaining cloud. We arrived in White sandy and were pleased to see that the fishing boat to take us onto the island this time was not about to sink and the staff waiting for us were the most excitable we had met so the outlook for the next few days looked good. We arrived to the customary welcome song and were all sat down in the reception area and handed a fresh coconut, perfect I thought. Then with coconut in hand we made our way to the room which provided another beach view of dreams. However before doing anything we noticed an American couple who had got trouble with their booking so with two spare beds in the room we invited them to stay with us rather than be dumped in the dorm. Good deeds done for the day we headed to the beach, which was nice but not perfect, flies and ants being the main perpetrators of that. The day wore on and the air started to cool. I had been invited by Sami, one of the local lads, to play touch rugby with a couple of English lads although he himself would not be playing. I left Rachel and met the lads to get my daily exercise in. I now realised why I never took up rugby. Within the first second of playing I had managed to cut open my side and although desperate to get on the floor and roll around I held back and stuck with the macho trend. Averting how I actually cut my side as the shame of it is just too much, (I ran in to a tree) we got on with the game and had a ball. Breathless by the end and in hysterics with one of the local kids who seemed to be on something with his uncontrollable laughter we called it a day.

As dinner time arrived I introduced Rachel to all the lads and we ate well with three courses once more. Before the food could settle we were ushered outside for a night of entertainment, the show was great and the locals clearly put everything in to it especially the lad with the crazy, but scary smile and also the younger lad of the group who had an absurd amount of energy. After that they made us get up and play the numbers game and limbo. Thankfully this time I did not hurt myself playing limbo nor the numbers game, which is a form of rugby, grabbing people to form a group identified by the number the host shouts out in-between music. Being a winner me and one of the rugby lads won, not Rachel who was displaced from the game early on. After we all settled down, grabbed a beer and spent the evening playing cards, with rules of standing on tables with our trousers down if we lost, enough said!

The next morning we awoke to blazing hot sunshine and without hesitating made our way through to the beach on the other side of the island called Honeymoon Beach. Although we had to pay a local fee of a dollar to enter, as it was on private land, it was worth in with the lack of flies and ants a very clear winner. We baskeded in the sun, snorkeled and had hermit crap races with the lads to make the most of the weather that we had been waiting for. After lunch we stayed on the resort side of the island, playing a bit of ball in the sea and a few games of cards in the shade. We also indulged in more coconuts, thanks to the local kids, and basically absorbed more sun in one day than we had so far on the entire trip. But before we knew it the day was over and the chef was preparing dinner in the sea by taking off the scales and gutting the fish that would he would prepare for curry night the Fijian way. We headed in for a clean up before enjoying a Fijian curry night perfectly served but obviously not perhaps the best choice of meal for me with a bad belly. After a repeat of the previous evenings entertainment and a game of cards we headed for bed tired after doing nothing all day but laying in the sun but then we know that they tend to be the most draining of days.

As our final day on White Sandy arrived we had the morning to relax before the boat was due to pick us up. We spent the morning chilling on the beach but decided not to make the hike to Honeymoon Beach as our feet were still recovering from the climb the day before. Instead we headed to the resort next door for a brief look around before spending time snuggled up in a hammock together. Rachel sat and read her book and I played pinball on the laptop before we both spotted a slice of blue sky heading our way. We moved out into the sun for about an hour before we headed in for lunch, well a snack as it turned out as due to the unexpectedly high number of guests that arrived on the morning boat they had insufficent food supplies, but it was grub all the same. After deciding our next destination we gathered our things together ready to be called to leave the island. As we did the locals sang there good bye song and departed happy again with our choice of island and with the scars to prove that rugby really is a mans sport. Next stop was to be Kuata Bay.

After a relatively long boat ride in comparison to recent journeys we eventually arrived at Kuata. We said our farewells to friends we had met on the previous islands as they were traveling on elsewhere and we headed to Kuata, an island that sat facing the first island we had visited, Waya Lailai. On arrival the first thing we noticed was the amazing rock formations of the island, not to mention the stunningly clear sea that surrounded it. After disembarking we got shown to our room and instantly heard a shout from the dining area. We recognised the voice immediately so made our way there and found Henry and Ed (rugby lads) playing cards with the locals. Over tea and coffee we caught up with their antics and also the two London lads we had met on White Sandy before spending the remainder of the day looking around the area primarily at the fascinating rock formations. As we moved around the island we chatted to the locals who invited us for Kava, 'not again I thought' before grabbing a shower before dinner. The food was curry again… but it was good so the repercussions of eating it could be handled, sort of. After dinner the entertainment started and when it finshed it was not long before we were up enjoying some party games. One was musical statues, it felt like a 10 year old birthday party and to be honest I quite enjoyed it, shame I'm not 10 again though. The funny part of the entertainment was one of the locals, king of statues they called him, "Possessed robot I thought" as he reminded me of myself after one too many beverages. As the night wore on we all sat back chatting, playing cards and drinking. After deciding not to indulge in the Kava for tonight Rachel and I headed for bed in our little bure once more.

The next morning we got up sharply as we had booked ourselves in with the others for a snorkeling trip, but not just any old snorkeling trip this one was with the reef sharks. As we ate breakfast we pondered what we had let ourselves in for, and before we knew it we were out on the boat heading for a reef in the middle of the ocean. The boat ride turned out to be a trip in itself, remembering a scene from the perfect storm we all laughed as water piled over the top of us from unusually high waves. Eventually after about 25 minutes we arrived at the reef where the water was calmer. The host dived off the boat first, in his hand a spear, oh yeah, no guts for bait pre packed on this trip; our guide was out to catch the bait for the day. He dived time and again and most times emerged with a fish on his spear. He took them off and chucked them on the boat before diving down for more. After about 6 catches he returned to the boat and invited us in the water. We slipped in and swam over to the pit (a break in the coral) and the the sharks started to swim in towards us. 5 appeared in total, all around 2 meters in length they glided through the water as you would imagine, cutting it like a sharp blade. My heart raced as one swam right up to me and turned only to slap me with his tail fin. As time wore on we grew more confident and as the guides sat on the ocean floor baiting the sharks we dived down to get a closer look. At one point one did go scatty, which caused a brief panic as he attempted to nibble people. Once more a shark came close, rubbing right up against me this time, I could barley control my breathing but could see Rachel handling the situation really well as she leaned down and stroked one that went by. Eventually we had to leave; we jumped back on the boat and got soaked once more in the waves. Rachel looked at me and said, "That was awesome," and I have to say that's the only way it can be summed up.

After we arrived back on shore we spent the day in the sun as the weather was piping hot with not a cloud in the sky. As you would expect we spent most of the time discussing the morning's activities and both spoke of our close encounters reliving another dream on our amazing trip. After lunch we lazed about once more, splashing about in the sea at times and running to the toilet at others. After chatting to Ed for a bit in the sea whilst attempting to hit a bottle with loose gravel we were called for departure. Although we had only spent a day here it had been one of the best on the trip, aided by the weather and most definately secured by the shark swim. As we jumped on to the boat there was only one stop left on our trip and that was going to be the island made sort of famous by Celebrity Love Island, Bounty Island.

On arrival at the shores of Bounty the feel around the place was completely different to what we had been used to as we were now out of the Yasawa group. This island was literally an island in the middle of the ocean, sand surrounded it, and green trees overfed the centre of it. After checking in and finding our beach side bure we made our way to dinner where we were treated to roast pork which although obviously not of the quality one would get at Langham Butchers it was a refreshing change. After dinner we chatted to a couple from Norway before having a quick drink at the bar and going to bed so as to be ready for the day ahead. Thankfully when we woke the next day the sun was out brighter than ever, the sky could not have been bluer and the picture of paradise was, well we were standing on it. It was just perfect. We headed up the beach to find a secluded spot but then decided to walk around the island. It took no more than 15 minutes! Along the way we found the set of Celebrity Love Island, all smashed up but still in place, "typical I thought, build on paradise and then leave your crap behind." As we continued around the island we stopped and looked around, it felt as if we were in a James Bond movie, I even dragged my arms like a bull dog as I walked out of the sea like Daniel Craig in Casino Royal. Once we completed the round trip we collapsed on the beach and watched as the sea gradually rose up to our feet. After lunch the sun beamed down hotter than ever, our place on the beach had now been taken by the sea, although Rachel was safe on her sun bed and I was lost at sea, snorkeling around fluorescent coral and swimming down to get a fish eye view across this beautiful bed of colour.

The days now seemed to be passing quicker as our travelling adventure neared its end. Today was no exception but at least now our skin was a dark shade of brown, "well mine was" but unfortunately we could not put aside the fact that our dream was coming to a close. We sat down for our penultimate meal in Fiji while making love on the sand… not really making but drinking as its a cocktail mix of Kailua, Baileys, Crème de Banana and ice cream. We had met back up with Rob and the girls for our last night and we enjoyed our best meal yet of fish risotto. After we wandered inside we tore up the table tennis table and attempted to play Fiji pool, in other words pieces of splintered wood for cues and a brown table with more bobbles on it than a poodle. As the night ended we headed in for one last night of sleep before spending a night on the plane where the luxury of a bed would really be appreciated.

On our last day we gathered all our stuff together and checked out and then spent the day on the beach where the cloud eventually won the day but the heat stayed the same. Our boat was not due in till 16.30 but we knew it would come around quicker than ever. It was kind of sad in a way even though Rachel still had 3 days left it felt like it was the end, and after 6 months together I started to realise that the times we had had together on this trip were just priceless. As time passed we pulled the last pieces of sand from our toes and headed for the boat. The locals sang their song as we boarded The Flyer and the sun started its fiery decent in to the water. We wandered up on deck to say our final goodbyes to the islands of paradise.

We arrived at Port Delamere a little after 5 and the bus was there to take us straight to the airport. However as we boarded it was kind of ironic that just as we were about to leave we experienced one of the best sunsets on our travels so far. I jumped off the bus for a quick snap and we watched the sky turn in to the fiery aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Within minutes the colours were fading and we were steam rolling towards the airport. By the time we arrived it was dark, which reflected our mood at the time. We queued up and waited for checkin where after sweet talking the lady we wangled extra leg room for the 10 hour journey. Luggage free we then ate well in the cafeteria before boarding the huge Boeing 747 in true Fiji time. We stretched our legs out and listened to the engines roar. It felt like it took us an age to take off as I gripped the seat waiting for the wheels to finally leave the ground. As we banked towards the Pacific Ocean we knew our time was now shorter than ever, a day and a half in LA would be the end of a travelling trip of a life time but this would only be the beginning of an adventure our lives will provide. As we dozed off to sleep it would not be long before we arrived into the land of opportunity that is called the United States of America.