Island time!

We saw our taxi boat pull up and realised that all we needed to use was a train and then during our world trip travel we would have traveled every type of transport. We handed our scaled down backpacks and island supplies consisting of all the important ingredients (water and ALCOHOL) over and boarded the boat. The journey was about 45 minutes long speeding over the crystal blue waters islands surrounding us, we arrived at our island Wulu and were greeted with a warm "BULA" and a Fijian welcome song and then shown to our room. We were told that we would get a free upgrade but that didn't happen quite the opposite we were at the very top of the resort and to get to our room you had to climb thousands and thousands of stairs, I would say we were down graded. However the stairs did lead to an amazing view, from our room you could see for miles and miles. We could see a small secluded island opposite us which we later found out was $3000 a night!

On our journey over we saw how clear the sea was so decided we should finally use the snorkels we had been carrying around with us for the past 6 months. We jumped off the dock and into water, it was only about 3 meters deep but both Becki and I were so sketched out by our previous trip with the bull sharks that not being able to see the sea bed we both made our excuses and jumped out as quickly as we had jumped in. There wasn't really anything to see in the water but all I could think about was sharks, it was crazy as I wasn't scared it was just not knowing. The rest of the day was spent chilling around the pool sunning ourselves.

That night we ate some yummy food and enjoyed crab racing, table tennis and cards. For meal time you got a choice of about three dishes and the opportunity to pay for some extras. We some how got conned into betting for the crab racing to which I named my chosen crab Hana as I was caught off guard and didn't really know what else to say. A huge calk circle was drawn on the floor and the little hermit crabs were collected in a plastic cup. We all counted down from ten and then the crabs were let out... off they trotted with their little houses on their backs, it wasnt the fastest race I had ever seen but unfortunately Ireland won being the first to waddle out of the circle! We still never saw our hermit crab so couldn't tell you how he did.

The next morning we got up nice and early, had a leisurely breakfast and sat by the pool. Just after breakfast and just as I was settling comfortably into my sun lounger, a guy in his brightly coloured shirt came through shouting "fish feeding, fish feeding" Not ones to miss out we joined the group to feed the fish the stale bread left from breakfast, getting a little more daring and jumping into the schools of fish and feeding them from in the water. However Becki did remind me that if we fed the small fish then the big fish soon follow and again we were soon back on dry land. The rest of the day was spent exploring the island and sleeping by the pool until dinner. That night we made some friends and played some games. We exchanged some traveling stories swapped some drinking games and unfortunately for some gave us even more reasons to head to Asia on the way home.

The next day the boat came to collect us and take us to Mana Island. We really enjoyed our time at Walu Beach but we were excited about going to the another island even after hearing a few horror stories. After about 20 minutes on the boat we arrived and were greeted by more big smiley faces and of course another BULA song, however slightly adapted to fit the Mana Lagoon experience! You could tell just from looking at the island and Mana Lodge the food and accommodation wouldn't be as good as Walu beach but we were excited to be there as it was full of backpackers. We were sung to by the staff and some long term backpackers and and then shown to our rooms. The rooms were ok extremely small but each had a fan which was great when the power was working and a window so it was all good. Inside the hostel the walls were full of notes left by other travelers. The hostel wasn't very nice looking but it was screaming with atmosphere and love. The weather sucked and it looked like it would be rubbish for our whole stay so we decided if we weren't gonna get tanned we would spend our time underwater.

For ages now I have been on about becoming a dive master so I decided to take my dream one step closer and do my Rescue Diver course. Becki decided she wanted to do the course more out of curiosity and for personal development. We asked at our hostel but weren't too sure about our dive master, a lovely guy but had sniffed one too many petrol tanks and liked a few drinks! We weren't too sure how credible our certificate would be plus we only had the four days and want to get our course completed ASAP. So we walked along the beach to the other hostel and although a little more we decided it looked more professional so the deal was done.

That night we had a few get to know people drinks and watched the "Mana" welcome party. Tonight was an extra special party as it was one of the staffs birthdays and a long standing travelers birthday so the staff had big plans for us. We ate our not so amazing buffet dinner, im sure it was made up of the left overs from lunch!! We watched a Fijian show, which had two male and two female dancers, dressed in their traditional Fijian clothes shaking their booties, slapping their bodies and stamping their feet. They told stories through their dance about how a poor fisherman's family struggled to catch enough fish for the family and how they turned to the gods for help. The dancers were really good however after you had seen one the other five looked fairly similar. We then watched the guys who worked for Mana do a fire show, I think it was just more showing off and then the party really started.

Of course you have to expect that up to date music wouldn't be the first thing a island would order but they actually did have a CD with some of the latest tune however Gods honest truth our hostel had about ten songs which were on repeat constantly and man they were cheesy!!! But hey all part of the experience :)!!! All I can say is "Baby,baby,baby ohhhhhhhhhhh" yes Justin Beaver is in my head constantly but it does bring back good memories. After a few classic drinking games we head to bed before an early start tomorrow morning.

Day one of the Rescue Diver Course and we were buzzing rearing to go! We watched the standard Padi DVD where they try and sell the other courses, tell you how amazing the course you have choosen is and then continue to bore you with the basic fundamentals of your course. Normally you watched one section then answer the questions, but having an usual Fijian approach we are rushing through all 5 sections not answering any questions so that we can get in the water ASAP! We don't complain. We have a little relax break to get some lunch and catch a very midday sunshine before kitting up for our first dive into the shark invested water! Now the last time we tried to go swimming we did have a little freak out, but not this time even with the warnings of sharks in the sea we are so happy with our shorties, tanks and BCD's that we swim happily out to the bouys in the bay. To be fair we have a new worry, there are actual sea snakes in the water that are far more deadlier than the sharks... snakes also being Hana's biggest fear but I wouldn't say I am their biggest fan! We prove that we are confident diver recapping our Open water drills of removing mask underwater, sharing breathing and not my favourite but turning the air supply off so not to panic if it happens in reality. On the surface we do some tows and swimming and start to look at some of the on the surface water rescues before calling it a day and allowing us to relax for the evening. Being very serious hard working girls we have some dinner and head for an early night of studying and not because we are absolutely shattered!!

It is only day two of Mana Island and we are already understanding the rumors that fly around the travelers regarding Mana's food. I have never seen a buffet breakfast that has so many different types of regular bread! If you were trying to cut Carbs out of your diet you would be very hungry! However we manage to swallow some dry bread with butter down and have a strong coffee before kitting up for an early dive in the bay again.

Today we meet up with two others on the same course and complete our basic rescue drills, learning how to deal with distressed diver underwater and on top and learning how to deal with unconscious divers. It is all very interesting and with our rescue backgrounds behind us we are finding it strange that priorities are different. Getting a little cold we head inland for some lunch. After only the second day we are already finding that Mana food is not its specialty and that one buffet is pretty much the same as the next, but as a wise French guy told us on our travels "food is a functional requirement we need, it serves a purpose to supply energy not to taste good".This helps and the reminder that there are people who would be grateful for this food and although samie it doesn't taste that bad.

We are grateful we are doing our course as the weather is a little overcast and although these islands are super when the sun is shining and you are basking by the sea, when it is too cold to just lounge around the islands can be very boring. We return to be given a compass and a piece of string, oh great navigation has never been either of our strongest points. Luckily we practice on the beach following specific patterns to use when looking for a missing diver. Being slightly more successful than usual we do very well, work well as a team. We have friends, stray dogs who assist us by hiding in our paths for us to find! Underwater it is a different thing, we go down as a group but Hana & I have to wait on the bottom while the others practice. It was a very strange feeling and I didint like it much being only 10metres underwater but on our own with very poor visibility luckily they appear and it is our turn. Hana starts with the compass we link arms and start our expanding square but the compass isn't playing nice so we swap roles and find the missing fin!! We do a few other drills but we have completed our drills and can have a mini celebrations as from now on it is just fun diving with a various scenarios!!!

We head back for some yummy left over lunch dinner, and return to find out we have a party again tonight. Free punch and a night of games before the disco consisting of the 10 Mana songs. Were on holiday and decide it wont hurt to enjoy a few drinks and have a good laugh. It was back to old school party games! The first game was in pairs but it had to be boy girl pairs. We did as we were told and went red when we realised what was expected....... Girls leaning over the benches bottoms held firm the boys were lined up inline with their partner and handed a balloon.... I'm sure some will guess where this is going.... the boys had to burst the balloon in between them and the girl, the quickest balloon popped went through to the next round. What made this hilarious and something I had to mention is that it went fine for me even though we didn't win but Hana had a character of an Italian who even after the balloon had popped didn't stop trying made everyone laugh. We then played some other fun relay and jumping games made us all feel like kids again and everyone laughed, however competitive everyone got.

We awake super excited not for breakfast that is for sure but because another reason for choosing our PADI course was the amazing dive sites we would visit to do our scenarios. We had to get there early to allow enough time to do both sites with a good safety stop. Although early the sun was shining and it was nice to have the cool breeze as we rushed across the sea in our small speed boat, it was basic not what we were use to and lacked a lot of the safety equipment we had been trained to used. Our first site was going to be a wreck, the Salamada Wreck. I love the idea of seeing wrecks as each one has a story, this wreck was once a boat cruiser that use to go between the islands rumors are it was sunk for an insurance scam as no one was injured but who knows. It had three levels and we were told how we were going to actually swim through the decks, I was so nervous to think I was going to be enclosed but was excited about exploring the cruiser and seeing new fish. As usual I got slightly nervous I dont know why I think its the whole looking down into the dark blue, but that is also the ore when the spooky ship comes into view. We had our briefing in the boat but it had been short so we could beat the other boat that had arrived to get the best points around the sunken cruiser. We whizzed to the back of the boat but stop just before entering to marvel at the poisonous lion fish, Hana didn't try to touch this one thou! We lined up one behind the other and prepared to enter the cruiser through a hatch in the deck down into the hull. It was a small opening just large enough for you to fit but you had to swim close remembering that you had a massive tank strapped to your back. It was a crazy feeling to be inside a boat 30 meters under the water, slightly nervous that we were fully enclosed but luckily visibility was good and it was surprising light. We wiggled our way through the cruiser flashing are torches around desperately trying to keep bouyant but not 100% successfully, but better than the other two. We then exited the hull and swam around to the deck area swimming through the area that people use to sit in awaiting their destination to a deserted island, this was one of my favourite parts. As you swam through your bubbles would collect in the ceiling and you could reach up and fill the air bubbles, if you dared you could try to breathe! However the delight for me was that the air pockets created a mirror image and beautiful fish similar to Gill from Finding Nemo would swim staring at their reflection with no care about you swimming by. Hana & I got a little carried away with the toilet section, becoming extremely confident and learning to be conservative with our air allowed us to enjoy our underwater experience. Finally we went to the Captains deck and pretended to drive the sunken boat before starting our descent, a little concerned are dive had only been fun with no incidents. As we climbed out of the water to off load our equipment we assessed our war cuts from the dive before realising the scenarios had started and we had to deal with our first of many scenarios an unconscious diver, it came naturally to us one of us being the surprisingly more bossy one but still effective even if a little too polite!

After our morning excitement at the wreck we headed back to shore for a lunch bite before setting off for our second dive at Tuanuka. A little sadden we weren't going to the supermarket but we were promised sharks. We had some others join our group, these guys were experience divers and were going to help us with our course. I hope one day I will become that person who helps out and be looked up to by newbies. It is strange getting ready in this boat, we are both so use to big boats with special equipment and storage areas, not this one its what you call basic Fiji style. Our stuff is tucked around the edges only our weights stopping them rocking around, we sit on the bottom of the small boat powered by a small engine and a local guy who enjoys his cigarettes right by the petrol tanks....... health & safety would have a fit but hey it works. We get our stuff together and with our growing confidence throw our equipment in the water and suit up like professionals. We dive down and are not too impressed we have been quite spotlit with our dives even if beginners and there wasnt much to see, no impressive coral reefs or thousands of fish, they tried to point things out but I really just couldn't see anything. However we ace a few more scenarios and drills however much it seems to go against our lifeguard training. We head back to shore confident with ourselves and looking forward to an evening of entertainment with our Mana friends.

Our final full day of relaxation before our Oz adventures begin and reality life starts and we are again so excited that we are doing some of the best dives you could ask for at Mana island. We have to start early again but we dont mind, setting off again with the wind in our hair. After an hour or so we arrive at the famous Plantation Pinnacle, a strange place as it is literally in the middle of nowhere I dont know how the boat men know where to go as one bit of sea looks the same to me as the next. We have our briefing and are told to go and explore for at least an hour as you cant get lost. The Pinnacle is exactly what it is a hugh 15metre tall circular coral reef, you simply sink to the bottom and drift around in circles exploring all the marine life, our instructor is so excited as he gets to see his favourite fish today, a green leaf fish. We kit up and our left to dive on our own, so being good we do our checks and descend. We reach the bottom and head to the major highlight for us at the bottom of the pinnacle is a tunnel so you can swim back and forth through the passage, swimming through the glass fish little clear guys who if you look close you can see all their insides by far one of my favourite fish. We pass in and out the tunnel, through the hundreds of fish before setting off to circle the pinnacle. A keen eye and patience arent traits Hana & I have perfected yet so we wait till we hear signals from the experience divers and rush to investigate, this is something we perfect and although it wasnt always our instructor others were always happy to show us the awesome fish. We get to see the green leaf fish,octopus, moray eels, scorpion fish and loads more that im sure we should appreciate more. At the top is a flat area full of life, holding on tight to fight the currents you can see just how busy the little guys are completely at easy with your watching their business. Its time for our safety stop and we ascend to the top, the boat is buzzing with conversation about the dive everyone excited about what they saw that we forgot we were training but all was saved reminding you that safety is important no matter how exciting the dive is.

We have our safety stop in the boat bobbing around at the next site, not far from one of the most popular surfing spots where surfers paddle far from the shore to visit the awesome break created by the coral reef. Our briefing was important this time as strong currents and wrong turns could lead to danger if caught in the swells, but as long as we stick to the passage ways its fine. Feeling slightly left out that I had yet to notice the garden eels, Rob our instructor took me down first and made the others follow behind and WOW what a site....... deep underwater totally uninterrupted you could see hundreds of snake like creatures wiggle out from the sand all swaying in time with the motion of the sea, however as soon as you swam close they got shy and disappeared into the sand not returning until the coast was clear. Again the dive wasn't too exciting from then on however I think again we didn't appreciate the massive schools of big fish mainly because we didn't recognise what they were. All was not lost though as towards the end of the dive one of my most memorable dive if not life experiences was when Hana & I had drifted to the back of the group and were messing around with each other before we noticed we had a friend, a white tip reef shark was following us his sleek silver body just snake his way through the water curious to what we were up to. He was only a metre and a half and we werent scared at all, we just floated nice and still while he just moved around checking us out with his black beady eye before sharply turning and swimming off into the deep blue sea. It was so serial.

After some awesome morning dives we decided to have an afternoon off as we wanted to explore the island with our Mana staff. We set off along the beach, and as it was school holidays the local children had come out to play with the backpackers following us keeping us entertained. We were planning to make some coconut jewelery but this involved us finding the coconuts first. They showed us how to climb the trees (the lads having a go but us girls staying firmly on the ground), cutting down several coconuts which they opened allowing us to enjoy some lovely coconut juice on a paradise beach. They we continued to explore the island taking us along beautiful beaches, through fields, climbing along rock faces until we came to the set of 'Shipwrecked', it wasn't all that exciting but you could see where the survivors had stayed but made you realise the show was fake and they weren't on a deserted island! Returning back to home we passed though the village, such simple lives but everyone with warm smiling faces of happiness. We didnt get time to do any jewelry making and had to rush back to do our exam before indulging in our last party on Mana Island.

A massive relief after we completed our exam and headed back to really celebrate our final night of backpacker freedom, tonight was ladies & gents. Ladies dressed as the guys and the Guys dressed in their best girls outfits, we personally left it to the young ones to do all the dressing up. Everyone swapped clothing and the competition began, the girls not only dressed as guys had to now strut their stuff down the catwalk doing their best impression of guys it was very stereo typical but nowhere near as funny as the guys doing their female impressions. Winners were announced and the drinking games began, listening to the same famous five songs over and over again but we weren't fussed as we were just having so much fun!! We built a fire on the beach and watched as the boys did flips into the sea.

We packed our bags and prepared to leave preparing ourselves for the real world, we had to pop to the dive centre to check we had passed our rescue diver course and of course we had with flying colours. So we spent the rest of the morning enjoying some early sunshine reading our books waiting for our water taxi. When it arrived the usual welcome songs were played to the new arrivals but they didnt forget the ones leaving and we had our own farewell song, Bosco the legendary owner gave us all hugs and we were off back to Mama's.

That night we spent the night trying to fit everything back into our bags for our last flight of our trip, Mama had been awesome looking after everything and looked after us well giving us a super free dinner. It was early to bed to rise early for our flight. At the airport we met up with some friends from Mana who told us some stories, we hadn't realised but while we had been staying there H&S had shut down Mana for dodgy food because lots of backpackers had been ill we had been fine but laughed that they hadnt taken it seriously and were still have visitors arriving. Reflecting back on our time in Fiji thou things may have been tough but the people were so friendly. There was never a divide we played games altogether and each and everyone made you feel part of the family knowing your name within the day. Bosco saw us all as his extended family and Mama took care of us like her children it was a perfect end to our backpacking travels, next stop is Oz and time to achieve the dream of working and setting up a life in another country.