We arrived in Nadi - the third-largest conurbation in Fiji - located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu and got the pre arranged transfer to our hotel for the night. As we were travelling to the Hotel it poured with rain (torrential) which "dampened" our spirits a little as this was supposed to be the relaxing, beach holiday part of the trip. Luckily the rain only lasted 30 minutes and it brightened up very quickly afterwards. The hotel was very basic so we went to a nicer hotel next door for something to eat - it opened out onto the beach and we sat in hammocks having a beer until the mosiquito's got to much!! As we were up the next day at 6 to catch the transfer to the port for the 4 hour boat ride to Mantary Island we decided to call it a night.

We got up early the next morning for breakfast - although we wish we had stayed in bed for the extra 30 minutes - two pieces of toast (which the security guard put in the toaster for us) and a cup of tea. I felt like oliver when i went up and asked for more!!
We jumped on the coach to the port and realised that we did not have any money for when we got to the resort and there was only one atm at the port (which ran out of money very quickly.) Luckily we were at the front of the coach and verity got off first and ran to the ATM and i was left with taking our two backpacks and two rucksacks to the catamaran (short straw).

The catamaran trip was lovely - the sun was shining, the breeze blowing through our hair (well veritys - the sun was shining off of my head!) and we stopped off at six different islands before arriving at Mantaray Island. Each one varied in size but they all looked like paradise. To get onto our island the Catamaran stopped next to a small fishing boat which then transfered us to our resort - as the fijians threw our bags across 3 foot of open sea to the fishing boat we were ushered to the front part of it and we were on our way to the resort. As we neared the island we could see 10 people on the beach singing and playing guitars - they were the staff and they were singing a traditional fijian song welcoming us to the island. As we got to the island we were helped ashore and someone took our bags to our accomodation. We were extremely lucky as our room or "Bura" (in fijian) was the closest to the toilets, showers, restaurant, beach bar and hammocks! It was a small room built on stilts nestled in between palm trees - with a bed, two small sets of draws, a fan, mosquito net and a veranda that opened out with a view of the beach and clear blue sea.

We went to the restaurant where we had the welcome speech and met a few of the other new arrivals. The staff gave us a form to sign that literally said if we get hurt or die on the island (or injure, harm or break anything or anyone) they are not responsilble - nice way to start the holiday!!

As it was still early we headed down (well walked 20 metres) to the beach to relax and go for a dip as it was boiling. After an hour on the beach we noticed nearly everyone getting up and leaving. Then a couple of seconds later we heard a loud drum being beaten - this signified lunch was ready - we were at the back of the queue, but this did not matter as the buffet was huge. Fresh fish, vegetables, fruit, curry, rice and such an array of salads all laid out on a big table.

The restaurant was at the top of a slight hill and had a beautiful view overlooking the beach and sea. It was open air and the sea breeze cooled you as you ate. We sat next to a couple from sydney and one form liverpool, who had been snorkelling that morning and said it was amazing - so we decided we should give it a go (tomorrow).
We went back down to the beach, but it was too hot so we sat in the hammocks relaxing and reading until dinner. My first encounter with a hammock was disatrous - verity had gone to the bar to get a drink and most people were playing volleyball so i thought i would attempt to get in one by myself. After negotiating my way into a sitting position i cooly flipped my legs on only to be spun twice around and landing on my back on the ground. By this time all the people playing volleyball had stopped and verity was returning with the drinks - everyone was laughing! I calmly dusted the sand off and pretended not to be winded.

Dinner was another huge buffet and after we sat and talked to a couple from Australia - sean was a big chelsea fan and we found out that liverpool were playing chelsea the next evening and could be shown on the screen in the restaurant (at 1 in the morning). We decided to have an early night considering the next night would be a late one.

We awoke to the sound of the drum calling us to breakfast and - still half asleep - walked the 2 minute walk to breakfast. During breakfast the staff asked if we wanted to go to fijian village on the island - we declined and said we would do so the next day (this conversation happened every morning - each time we would say tomorrow!) After breakfast we decided to go snorkeling, so rented the equipment for the duration of our stay. We were told to be careful of a strong rip tide that would pull you down the beach. The sea was so clear you could see everything and the coral was just as good if not better than the great barrier reef! The fishes were every colour under the sun and very inquisitive - they got so close you could touch them. We were told to be careful as there had been sightings of black/white tipped reef sharks, mantarays (steve irwin sprung to mind) and sea snakes in the bay so we stayed near the beach and made sure we were not the furthest ones out.

A little more sun bathing and then after lunch i played mixed volleyball. One of the lads on the island took it a little serious. He starting telling our team about tactics and did not pass to any of the girls on the team!!! He got very frustrated as most of us had trouble getting it over the net let alone thinking of spiking and smashing the ball. Although he did smash the ball straight into one of the girls faces of the opposition - quite funny now (it was just like the clip from meet the parents!). While i was playing volleyball verity was cutting cocunuts down from trees, sawing them up, hollowing them out, smoothing them down and making them into bracelets!!!

After dinner that night we went to the beach to watch traditional fijian dancers from the local village next to a big bonfire. The men kept dragging verity up to dance what seemed like the hokee kokee with them. This then turned into a party on the beach.

Next day was so hot we could hardly sit out (although verity did her best!). A little more snorkeling and chilling in the hammocks. That night we stayed up and watched liverpool against chelsea with sean and jenna (and drank 6 bottles of wine between us!!).
Unsuprisingly we slept through the drum the next morning, which was a shame as the breakfasts were lovely - although you had to pay extra for eggs?!?

We picked up our snorkeling equipment and headed out - i had decided that i would venture a little further out to see if i could see any bigger fish. As i got to the edge of the coral the sea bed dropped off quite dramatically, but the visibility was great as the sea was crystal clear. The fish were alot bigger here, but not dangerous - well thats what i thought - until i saw a dorsil fin with a white tip!! I looked again - and i know i am not a fish expert, but the movement and shape of this fish signified it was a white tipped reef shark - about 2 metres in length!!! It disappeared behind a rock on the seabed and i turned and swam "duncan goodhue like" back to the shore. I think i would have beaten the world record for 50 metres if i was timed!!! verity had seen me sprinting back to shore and was stood up waiting on the beach when i got back, but i could not talk as i had no breath left! I spent the rest of the day on the beach. (I am quite sure when Andy re tells this story the shark will have been 5 metres long, probably a great white and he out swam it back to shore after wrestling himself away from it!)

The next evening we had a few drinks at the restarant and got talking to one of the bar staff - wilson. He told us of a traditional drink we could try if we went to the staff quarters that night so we decided to give it a go. We walked to where the staff sleep etc with a few of the others and sat on the floor in a shack with the villagers. When the drink came around it looked like clay and was served in half a coconut! It tasted of mud, but made your mouth and tongue numb and made you slightly light headed! We had a little "sing off" with them - we sang wonderwall (oasis) and they sang something fijian then headed for bed. Apparently the drink (called Cava) can make you halucinate but we were OK.

The next day was another day of swimming in the sea (it's a hard life!), snorkelling (near to the beach) and relaxing in the hammocks reading and sipping cocktails! We were a little late to dinner that night and sat on a table with a polish couple. He was quite a character - very loud and did not really mind what he was talking about - he owned his own recycling business in poland and was looking at buying a resort like the one we were in!!. The entertainment that night was a race - it comprised of two people with coconuts dangling between their legs trying to push another one along the floor. This could only been done by thrusting your hips forward and backwards getting the dangling coconut swinging so it hit the one on the floor!

After this the polish couple asked if we (and a swiss lad) wanted to join them for a bottle of wine on the beach - we did not want to but accepted. We were only there for 30 minutes when we had to make our excuses and leave as they started talking about their sex lives and how they were having sex on the beach in Turkey with people watching !!!! we sort of knew where this evening might be going!!

Next day we were leaving so we had to pay for the electricity (didn't know about this extra cost when we booked!) and drinks we had had (we were a a bit shocked when we saw the bill) and leave our bura. They sang another traditional fijian farewell song to us and we sadly departed the island. The trip back was quite quick and we arrived at our hotel back on the main island well rested and relaxed.

Next day we headed back to the airport to fly to Australia where we'd be staying with PJ, Wendy and Imogen. We had been looking forward to this part of our trip for ages.