Return to Auckland: Part 1

Sunday 12th March - Wednesday 15th March 2017

Sunday
The flight was slightly delayed as someone got off again in Nadi due to feeling unwell, but that didn't matter as we had an upgraded plane from the way here and had screens which was awesome! I started to watch La La  Land but got pretty bored half an hour in so gave up and watched Life of Pi instead, which I have no regrets about! Sadly, when we got to Auckland it was bittersweet as I was saying goodbye to Emma. I know we'll see each other soon but it's so weird to spend a month and a half seeing the same person every day to just separating from them!

To save a bit of money in Auckland, Lisa (from Contiki) had recommend that I stay with her friend Neil through Couchsurfing. I'd never done Couchsurfing before so I was a bit nervous, but Neil is so kind that I really didn't need to worry about anything! He even offered to pick me up from the airport, which was super nice! He lives in an apartment in the Heritage Hotel, which means I can use the pool and spa pools there which is awesome!

As it was a rainy Sunday, we decided to go to the cinema to watch Logan. Typically, I hadn't seen any of the other Wolverine films so I didn't quite understand everything, but it was pretty spectacular. Neil then showed me a local Asian food market and we grabbed food there - it was so delicious! After eating we just had a chilled night. Neil will be working in the week so I will only really see him in the evenings.

Monday
After a nice leisurely morning, I headed into town to sort a few bits out and grab some food - the bacon bread from my favourite bakery! I had an interview at 1 in Parnell so I grabbed a bus up there as I didn't know how long it would take to walk. I needn't have worried though as it was closer than I thought!

The interview went really well. It was more of a further get to know me and how good of an Au Pair I would be kind of thing but it was great fun and Morgan, the lady I have been talking to about au Pair work, is really lovely and made everything so easy and clear!

That took about an hour, so I continued up to Newmarket to go to the big Warehouse to get a New Zealand phone. I just got a cheap little alcatel phone, thinking it would be easy to use and set up. When I got back to the hotel I went to set it up, and it was telling me I had JavaScript turned off so I couldn't get on the Vodafone page, I couldn't find a single thing on my phone to turn it on so I gave up, deciding to go to Vodafone the following day!

I spent the rest of the day chilling out and reading as the weather wasn't overly great, until Neil came back from work. We went to grab stuff for dinner and rented out Deadpool as I haven't seen it yet and my bro keeps on at me to watch it!

Tuesday
Today was another chill out day (unsurprisingly). There wasn't really anything I needed to get done, so I just watched Call the Midwife for a bit (it's so nice having decent wifi and actually being able to watch Netflix) and then went into town. I grabbed my favourite dumplings (they will never get old) and didn't do a whole lot else all day!

After dinner, Neil and I played the board game 221b Baker Street. It's pretty cool, obviously it's based around Sherlock Holmes and you have a card that tells you about a scenario and then you have to work out a few things. For example, we had to work out the name of the thief, and how he disappears so quickly. Then you go around the bored, going to different buildings and there is a clue in each place you have to look up in a book. It was pretty hard and I didn't get anything right! But hopefully
if I play it again I'll get it!

Wednesday
Today the weather was gorgeous, so I went and chilled out on the rooftop pool, taking it in turns to sunbathe and swim.

After a while I started to get hungry, so went to Wendy's for the classic $5 meal and then I wandered over to a park to read in the sun for a bit.

Every Wednesday, they hold a weekly drinks for people who host and Couchsurf in Auckland, so we went along to that. I met some really cool people that we're hopefully gonna go out with on St Patrick's day which will be awesome!

Last day in Fiji

Saturday 11th March 2017

Last night was potentially the worst nights sleep I've had for a while! No one turned the lights off so I woke at around 3am to them glaring in my face, I reluctantly got up to turn them off. 2 hours later the alarms from the girls next to me kept going off every ten minutes from 5:20 for an hour. One of them being a continuous quacking that the girl would not turn off. So that was lovely!

Emma was still sleeping so I grabbed breakfast around 8 and then sunbathed and read until it started to rain. We then grabbed lunch, and the waiters and waitresses thought I was weird for having a crepe for lunch and kept asking me if I had a good dessert!

The weather had been pretty miserable all day, so we spent the whole day in Emma's room watching Grey's Anatomy! It's so crazy to think that this is our last full day together after a month and a half of being with each other the majority of the time!

The past month and a half have honestly been the best of my life. From skydiving to walking on a glacier, to swimming with sharks, to being able to see where my grandparents used to work, I have definitely had the experience of a life time and made some memories I'll never forget! But now it's time to settle into Kiwi life and I'm just as excited for the next 5 months working as an Au Pair.

Suva - Centenary Methodist Church & Deaconess House

Friday 10th March 2017

Today I decided to try and meet some of the people my grandparents knew in Suva. I got a taxi to the bus station and then it was a 4 hour journey to the capital. I recognised a few things along the way,
and it reminded me of Linga as I remembered a few of the things he told us about different places. Other than that I kept myself occupied by watching a few things on my iPad.

After arriving in Suva, I headed to Tappoo City as that's where we came and I remember there being a good food hall there. I ordered food and then attempted to ring the Deaconesses - with no such luck unfortunately!

Luckily after a few more tries I managed to get through and we arranged to meet at Tappoo City in half an hour. I started to get a bit nervous as I had no idea what Meresiana looks like! But eventually she found me and took me to the Centenary Methodist Church, which was just across the street.

Firstly she gave me a sulu, as I had stupidly left mine hanging on my bed at Smugglers! Whilst we were at the stall, another deaconess came and was ecstatic to meet me and told me how much my Nana and Grandad had impacted her life.

This was to be continued as every time Meresiana introduced me to someone they had a different, individual story to tell me about my beloved grandparents and their work for the Methodist church in Fiji. Their teaching methods are still used in primary schools to this day! Which is definitely a legacy to be proud of! The only downside is that quite a few people didn't know they had passed away, so I had to keep telling people that as I went along - I held it together though which surprises me!! Meresiana then showed me a photo album she had with photos in my grandparents house and some of my family members which was pretty special.

We then waited for a bit to meet Levi, who I've actually met before when I was a baby! He also brought pictures to show me, and there's one photo of me with his daughter who is in her early thirties now with two children of her own! Both Levi and Meresiana studied in Birmingham and my grandparents invited them to come and stay with them for Christmas and to come and see Dorset. As soon as I get back to England I'm going to rummage through their old photo albums to see who I can recognise!! (Mum sent me a photo of me and Levi not long after I left Fiji, it's crazy how it's been 22 years since I last saw him!)

We then said goodbye to the Methodist church and headed out to the fruit market. Meresiana kindly got me some pineapple as I said it was my favourite! The market was the biggest I've ever seen - so much food everywhere!

After the market, we got a taxi to the Deaconess house, about a five minute journey from the centre of Suva. When I arrived, I went into the teaching room with the students who are training to become Deaconesses themselves. It was such a whirlwind that unfortunately I can't remember many of their names, but it was pretty spectacular! The reverend and another deaconess also came to say hello, and they were students when my grandparents lived in Suva. I kept it together until prayers when so many beautiful words were said about God, my grandparents and I... embarrassingly I started to cry even though I tried my hardest to keep it together!

They then brought out so much food, I presumed that it was for everyone to share but it was all mainly for me! I've never seen so many sandwiches in my life!! They packed up loads for me to take with me on the coach which was so very kind. Unfortunately, I was restricted to the last bus so it was only a quick visit. After a few more songs and a big goodbye I sadly left them all with the promise of returning! I would love to come back and spend a couple of weeks with everybody and get to know them better, keeping up the relationship between my family and theirs.

Meresiana and one of the trainee Deaconesses (called Joanna so I won't forget that!!) came with me to drop me off at the bus stop. It was a sad goodbye but I know I'll be back so it was more of a see you later!

The journey back was long and I kept falling asleep, the sunsets at 6:30 and then it just goes pitch black so it feels like it's the middle of the night! After getting a taxi back to the hostel I found Emma in her upgraded room before going to sleep.

Beachcomber Island and back to a Nadi: Bula Combo Pass

Thursday 9th March 2017

After breakfast this morning we checked out and got to choose which boat we were getting which was a luxury! We opted for the 5pm so we could spend a full day on Beachcomber.

I walked around the island, it literally took 5 minutes! I came back around to the beach and I thought it was a different part of the resort, until I recognised the bar! It's crazy how small it is, but it's so beautiful.

We chilled out on the beach this morning, there wasn't that many people there so there was loads of space. Emma and I thought lunch was earlier than it was so we went back to our towels to carry on sun bathing, but mine had gone! I don't think it could've been the wind, as no one else's towels and moved, but I have no idea why someone would want my stinky towel!! I was going to throw it away before I left anyway so I'm not overly fussed!

After lunch we did another snorkel trip. I didn't bring my GoPro this time but I wish we did! There were heaps of fish and we fed them bread so more and more kept coming. The parrotfish are definitely my favourite, the vibrant colours on them are amazing.

We had a couple of hours of just chilling before we got the boat back to the Viti Levu. It was just under 45 minutes before we got back to Port Denarau and I have to say I was pretty sad to leave the islands behind!

Our transfer didn't take long, and we were back at Smugglers Cove again. Some of the staff recognised us and made a point of talking to us which was so nice! We were both knackered though so we grabbed food before going to bed early.

Wayalailai Island and Beachcomber Island: Bula Combo Pass

Thursday 9th March 2017

Today is our penultimate day island hopping, it's gone crazy fast! But the best ever thing was that at breakfast we had chocolate cake and pineapple! I was so happy, I even took a few bits for later (that eventually got all crumbled in my bag but it's fine, it tastes great!).

After we brought our bags to reception, we went down to the dive hut to prepare for swimming with sharks. We grabbed our snorkel gear and headed to the boat. It took under ten minutes to get to the reef, and they feed the sharks in a pool in the middle of the coral. It was amazing! We were with white tipped reef sharks and they were much smaller than I imagined but still so magnificent. After my dreaded snorkel at Robinson Crusoe Island, I kept my life jacket on, but kinda regretted it as it kept getting in my way. But I felt safe the whole time which had made me want to do it again, unlike the last time!!

The boat journey back was 100% scarier than the swim! The waves had picked up a bit on the way back and this meant that I kept flying out of my seat and slamming back down, causing my bum too hurt rather a lot! But despite my terror every time we soared over a wave it was a lot of fun!

We only had an hour or so before lunch so we chilled out for a bit on the beach. After lunch we went back to sunbathe, and I also went and made an anklet out of shells. The time went pretty quickly and it was time to move on to Beachcomber, our final Island.

Jumping on to the boat, it was clear that Beachcomber was similar to Robinson Crusoe Island - it looked like it was straight out of a movie. Paradise. Beachcomber is known as a party island, but as we came on off season there wasn't as many people so less of a partaaayyy and more like in bed by 10 #cray. However, on the upside we asked for another free upgrade and we got another private room which is super awesome!

Beachcomber is a two and three coconut island so it's already more luxurious than the other places we've stayed at, definitely more of a holiday resort than a cultural experience! The food was amazing. We had a 4 course a la carte menu, but for pudding we only got ice cream and we noticed that other people had cake. This didn't sit right with me, so I asked them if we had cake and we got two pieces each! This day has just been amazing!

We then watched their Polynesian dance and fire show, but I didn't take any pictures this time as it was pretty much the same as smugglers and Robinson Crusoe. I will never get sick of watching it though, it's so good!

Emma and I then cracked out the wine I have had in my bag since the last day of Feejee Experience! I had left it in the sink in cold water since dinner so it was kinda cool, but wasn't brilliant. We then went to the bar expecting everyone to be there dancing, but there was about 6 people and they were all grinding on each other so we decided to go back to the room and watch greys after making use of the free wifi!

Drawaqa Island and Wayalailai Island: Bula Combo Pass

Wednesday 8th March 2017

Checkout from Barefoot Manta today, it's been nice here but so flipping expensive compared to the other islands we've been at!  Although we managed to blag all our meals free as the boys we saw yesterday said they had an offer from the boat so we just said we were told that too so we saved $168 on food. I was sad this morning as the donuts had flies all over them so they were taken away!

We grabbed our bags and went to check out, but they had lost signal on the card machine so we had to wait. We left our stuff at reception and went to get a kayak, as I had won a free ride from the crab race the other day.

Getting out on the water really showed how beautiful the coral reef is around this island. There were so many fish and I've never seen so many starfishes before in my life! I attempted to get some photos from my GoPro but I had no inclination as to how they would turn out when I was taking them, but some of them turned out ok!

 

Our plan was to then go and chill on the beach for a bit but then, shock, it started to rain again! (I'm definitely coming back to Fiji outside of the wet season!!) So we stayed in the main building waiting for it to pass over, and after a while I went out to sunbathe on the beach againnever last as long as I do in England sunbathing a sits so flipping hot! I stayed closer to the rocks at the end of the beach and there was a fish swimming around aimlessly, I don't think that fish was well! He was beautiful though.

We then bumped in to some others and Chris let Emma and I borrow the snorkel he hired out. It's so amazing that you can swim out for less than 30 seconds and be surrounded by beautiful fish and corals.

Time went by pretty quickly and then it was lunch time - I can't wait to start eating meals on my own time again! After lunch we only had about an hour before getting our boat, so I went for a walk around sunset beach and  then chilled out for a bit waiting for our transfer. The weather was much better than the last time we got the boat, that's for sure. Although it still felt like we were riding a rollercoaster - they don't call it the Yasawas flyer for nothing!

Waylailai island is awesome, the rock formations around here are something else. We were a little cheeky and asked if there were any free room upgrades, so instead of sleeping in the dorm we've got our own bule which is nice! Although the bathroom stinks and there's no electricity so that's a downer but we'll live!

We went for a dip in the ocean, it was refreshing but there is seaweed everywhere, the beaches are much nicer at oarsman bay and Barefoot Manta! The sun went in so we went and got ready early (what a shock). We get an afternoon tea here which is really exciting for us! (Turns out it was just tea and crackers, less exciting).

Dinner was delicious, some sort of spicy chicken with rice and noodles - buffet style! Hands down my favourite meal from all the islands so far! And I had so much pineapple, I have never tasted pineapple as good as the pineapples in Fiji.

Emma and I had planned to get an early night, but the staff at Wayalailai had other plans! We had a few dances to 'make sure the sun comes out tomorrow' and then we played this ridiculous game where the first person carries as spoon in his mouth balancing a marble, thrown everyone else takes turns in sitting on a potato, carrying it between their thighs and then passing it to the next person, and then we had to pass an empty bottle to each other by our thighs and then sit down. It was a bit over complicated but our team won! We all got a free drink at the bar which was awesome!

Afterwards we got chatting to a few people and it's honestly the most I've laughed since being in Fiji! It was brilliant.

Drawaqa Island: Bula Combo Pass

Tuesday 7th March 2017

We had a continental breakfast this morning and I was ecstatic to see syrup by the pancakes! I've had dry pancakes too many times in Fiji! They also had donuts with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top, it was heavenly!

The weather was a bit hit and miss this morning. It poured down whilst we were eating breakfast, but brightened up for a bit so we went to the beach just in front of our bure to sunbathe. It lasted all of fifteen minutes before the rain came back!

But luckily it wasn't too long before the sun came back to stay and it was so good just dipping in the sea and then sunbathing.

We did that all morning and after lunch we did the same thing on sunset beach! I got a little burnt but not too badly! The clouds came back at around 4 so we went back to the room, even though we still had three hours to kill before dinner. We were going to watch Greys on the beach but it started to rain so we retreated to our bule for an hour or so before getting ready and going to the main building. One of the divers was doing a talk on coral and it was really interesting!

No cake at dinner today which was sad! We didn't hang around for too long afterwards today as there we're less people around and I had to repack my backpack (for the millionth time) as we're off to Wayalailai tomorrow. It's been so nice having two nights though as today has been full on chilled!

Matacawalevu Island and Drawaqa Island: Bula Combo Pass

Sunday 5th March - Monday 6th March 2017

We got up early today to go to church, on Sundays they don't run any activities so it was nice to have something to do to pass the morning!

Breakfast was really good, I had weetabix, apples and the most delicious custard slice I've ever had! It just melted in my mouth! We were leaving to go to the church at 8 so I just about had enough time to brush my teeth and sort my bags out before getting the boat round to the part of the island the village is in.

We walked up an extremely muddy path and eventually came to the church. This village is Catholic, but the majority of the churches in Fiji are Methodist. The ceremony was beautiful, everyone sang the hymns with the most amazing harmonies and it brought a tear to my eye not gonna lie! It was so nice having communion - it's been a while! Everyone is so friendly and kind, Fijians have such a wonderful way of life!

We then went down to look at the primary school, I was surprised to see Jolly Phonics stuff in class 1&2! It brought back good memories of working at nursery!

We then wandered around the village for a while, Jacob (he's part of the family that runs  Long Beach Resort) carrying his baby sister Cara, showed us around for a bit. Although it felt like he was just taking us places to kill a bit of time! He showed us a whale tooth in one of the houses, not entirely sure why but it was cool! There was also a hideous looking spider with a bright green body that he pretended to flick on us. He also told us we weren't allowed to take photos, before wetting himself laughing! Let's just say he likes a joke!

We then got the boat back round to the resort, and brought or bags round to the main but. It just started to torrential rain again and it was only 2 hours before getting true speedboat out to the big boat so we prayed it would stop soon!

For lunch we had spicy tomato pasta which was good, although it tastes like something I would've made for myself at uni! The sun came out for a bit but the clouds were still looming and the wind had picked up a bit. This made the ride in the small speedboat less than fun... I thought it was bad yesterday, well it had nothing on today! I just plonked myself in the middle and prayed I wouldn't fall in!

The ferry ride wasn't much better, the rain came in and the waves rocked the boat a fair bit - it wasn't as bad as the ferry from Wellington to Christchurch though! We had a covered boat to get to Barefoot Manta Resort which was good! Two girls greeted us on the boat who are volunteering at a nearby school for a month which seems cool!

Barefoot Manta is more expensive than the other resorts, it had a set meal plan of like $90 a day and wifi is $24 a day so I won't buy it today, and probably won't tomorrow unless it's raining all day again! Hopefully the sun will be out so I can get back to sunbathing and swimming! Emma got wifi straight away so I had a wander by myself for a bit. The island is stunning. They have three beaches, but sunset beach is my favourite. There are so many crabs it's crazy!

I then had an early shower as the weather still isn't great so I didn't fancy a swim this evening, but as it finally stopped raining I sat on the bench just outside our Bule and read for a bit until it was dinner time. We were a bit early for dinner, as Emma wanted to use her wifi, and when we got there hey we're doing a hermit crab race. This time we got to pick our own crabs and decide on the number, we had two rounds and a final. Emma's crab won the first round and mine won the second! So either way  one of us would win! In the end, my crab won but it was for a double kayak so it worked out perfectly!

Everyone we met had said that the food at Barefoot Manta was the best out of all the islands so I was super excited for dinner. However, I didn't find it to be that exciting! The pumpkin soup and pineapple upside down cake was amazing but the main course was mediocre - a super chewy beef patty with a jacket potato and veg.

We had met a load cool people here so we actually didn't go to bed straight after dinner for a change! We chilled out, playing cards (well I watched as there were so many people playing already!) and went for a night swim which was amazing - there was a storm at the same time and the lightning lit up the whole sky making it look like somewhere out of a movie.

Nacula Island and Matacawalevu Island: Bula Combo Pass

Saturday 4th March - Sunday 5th March 2017

It had rained through most of the night - so at least it was a bit cooler! We had a continental breakfast
at 8 and as the weather was still overcast we just chilled out watching Grey's again! As we were
going to Long Beach Resort today, we had to checkout at 11, but at around 10 someone came to get our bags which was a life saver! He had my bag on his back and Emma's on his front... Christ he must've been strong as we have not packed light!!

I was feeling a bit funky... (probably either the curry, gone off coconut or water!) so I asked for plain food for lunch. The others had fish curry so I just had the rice and an apple and orange segment which was nice but I could've done with a bit more! The curry smelt amazing but I didn't want to risk it!! We just chilled out on the deck before our boarding call came, at around 1.

The speedboat was crazy this time round! There were 6 of us and all our luggage so I don't know if that's why it felt rockier or if it was because the sea was choppier I don't know! But there were a few times where I was a tad scared for my life! The water was so clear and shallow though so I could see all kinds of fish which was awesome. I tried to concentrate on them to distract myself from the feeling like we were going to fall in!

It only took us less than an hour to get to Long Beach Resort, and we hadn't filled in our accommodation pass yet so it was touch and go for a while if we were even going to get in there! Eventually it all got sorted - literally seconds before our boarding call which was lucky!

At first sight, long beach isn't as stereotypically pretty as Oarsman bay lodge, but it's beautiful in its own way. There are loads of palm trees and there are various rock formations around, plus coral in and around the water. The bay is pretty shallow, we got in at low tide, and we were warned not to go in snorkelling or swimming as a girl got stung by a stingray a few days ago - not that there was enough water to go swimming in anyway! We were greeted by a gorgeous dog called Toni (he has a longer name but I can't remember it!).

After checking in, we were taking to our dorm, a room with about 8 beds and one bunk bed. I was on the top bunk and I noticed that there were bugs crawling all over my bed. At first I thought they were bed bugs but then I noticed a trail of them going through the window and to an ants nest outside. I mentioned it to the owner and luckily she sorted it all out as there were none in my bed when I went to sleep!

It had started to get quite stormy, so after chilling out in the hammocks reading for a bit, we were forced to wait under the shelter whilst the torrential rain poured outside. A few people were drinking Kava, and we were invited a few times but as it wasn't a proper ceremony and just for tasting I politely declined! I've had enough Kava to last me a lifetime!! Whilst we were waiting for the rain to die off, a little boy came up to us - he had followed us around whilst we explored the island a bit and has seemed to take a liking to us! He can't have been more than 4, and his English wasn't great but he understood a basic amount. He pointed at my phone so I showed him the camera and he took a few selfies before having a look through my photos. He kept clicking off it then going back on, and every time I tried to help him look at different photos he told me off! It was pretty funny! After a while an older man came and took him away - he started crying but I didn't know what they were saying so didn't want to get involved!

After a while the rain had gone and we went back on the hammocks as they dried off reasonably quickly. I finished the book I was reading - Diary of a Fat girl by Moira Mugweni - it was a very easy read but quite amusing, I enjoyed it! I then went for a walk down on the beach with Toni, and he was loving life trying to catch the fish in the sea! By that time, food was nearly ready so we went to get ready (definitely made sure we had enough insect repellant on!!) and went to sit down for food.

Dinner was good, but I've definitely had better! We had potatoes and BBQ chicken or fish, and the most delicious vegetables I have had for a while! I think they boiled them and mixed them together with mustard and something else but they were so tasty!

At long beach they only have electricity for a few hours in the morning and evening, so we headed back to get ready so we wouldn't miss out on the water and light! Most people decided to have an early night - when there's so few people here and I'm so tired I'd rather get up early and go to bed early!

Nacula Island: Bula Combo Pass

Friday 3rd March - Saturday 4th March 2017

It was a super early start this morning, and I fully hadn't slept well at all in the night which sucks! But we grabbed breakfast at 6:30 and  then the coach came at around 7:15. It was only whilst we were sitting at reception that it dawned on us that we had no idea what we were doing on the Bula Pass. It took us a while to find someone to even make sure we were going on the right coach!

When we got to the Port, we went to check in our luggage and we were asked what our destination was. We had no idea! So we went to check in and eventually found out that you can book as you go on the Bula pass on the boat, and just change where your luggage is going as you go. So after twenty or so minutes of pouring down the list of resorts, we decided to stay at Oarsmans Bay Lodge on Nacula Island. This meant we wouldn't be seeing the others, as they're all going to Beachcomber Island which is a shame, but it works out easier for us to do it the opposite way round. But this also meant we had 4 and a half hours to kill on the ferry!

We passed all the beautiful islands and time surprisingly went quite quickly! We got in a little speedboat and someone took our bags (thank god!). The sea is crystal clear and shines a beautiful shade of turquoise - the whole island is idyllic.

We were greeted by the staff members and a complimentary juice which went down a treat! The owner then went over meal times and things before giving us our room key. We are in a bule just the two of us which is amazing! It's been so long since we just shared a room together!

So I can't imagine my blog posts being overly interesting from now on but I'm going to keep going anyway and include more pictures! We spent the afternoon going from sunbathing to swimming, the water was a perfect temperature to cool down in - not too cold and not too warm! There were loads of fish swimming around as well.

I then went for a short walk to the rocks at the end of the island. The sand is so hard to walk on, it just consumes your foot with every step you take. There were loads of hermit crabs on the beach, and one showed a lot of interest in my GoPro! I had a look in some rock pools but there wasn't much there, a few crabs and fish!

The resort next door has an inflatable slide in the sea so we snuck on it... I managed to not die after going down the slide which was great! (I have zero confidence in my swimming skills especially after the snorkelling!) We then bumped into a couple of girls one of whom came from a nearby village, the other from Nadi. They had been snorkelling and then we got chatting about life! They work here in their uni break, both studying tourism which seems perfect for Fiji!

After showering and putting on moisturiser (I'm finally getting a tan yay!) we chilled out in the room watching Grey's until it was time for food!

Dinner was some sort of chicken broth with sweet bread,the broth was super yummy but the bread was a bit weird! Then we had Fish, chicken and sausage in some sort of BBQ sauce with coleslaw and one potato! I'd filled up on the broth so wasn't overly hungry but it was pretty good, just a bit random!

After dins we just chilled in our room, these long days are making me feel exhausted! But it feels so good to just be chilling for a change!

Rakiraki and Nadi: Whole Hula

Thursday 2nd March 2017

We had a chilled morning this morning, which made a nice change from the early wake ups! After breakfast they fed the fish in the man made coral reef that's just outside the resort which was cool! There were so many fish and crabs of all different colours and they were jumping out of the water to get their food!

We then chilled out by the pool sunbathing. I ordered a fresh coconut but when I got it, it had gone off so the lady gave me another one and didn't charge me which was sweet! We then packed up and paid our bills before heading off to the mud pools. Linga told us about the 'Fiji fantastic' animals - when they breed sheep with goats!

It was overcast by the time we got to the mud pools, but that didn't matter too much as it would've been way too hot in the hot springs if the sun was out! Firstly we covered ourselves head to toe in the mud before washing it off in the mud pool to 'give it back'. We then chilled out in the hot springs pool for a while and everyone got a half an hour full body massage afterwards.

We went back via Nadi town again, and then it was back to Smugglers Cove. Charis and Karli were both staying there as well, and the others joined us for dinner. Overall Feejee Experience has been soooo good and I would definitely recommend it to anyone coming to Fiji! Next stop: Island hopping!

Pacific Harbour, Suva, Nasautoka and Rakiraki: Whole Hula

Wednesday 1st March 2017

Another early start this morning as we were off to Suva, the capital city of Fiji. We stopped off there to grab some stationary for a school we were going to go to in the afternoon  Linga also showed took us to Tappoo to show us the view of the city and pointed out the tallest building, only 18 stories high!

We then had a mini coach tour around the city, pointing out parliamentary buildings and we stopped off outside the President's house.

After this, we had a 2 hour journey to Nasautoka Village. We had an opening ceremony initially and had to pick a Chief, and Alex took on that role! We all drank Kava and one of the villagers blessed us all.

We then made our way to a local school that was destroyed last year in the cyclone. They have rebuilt half the school but the headteacher kept apologising for all the mess around the school. Most of the children were pretty shy, a few of the younger ones were messing around and kept grinning up at us with a twinkle in their eyes. However the year 5s were much more energetic and we're excited to make conversation with us... especially when we were taking photos! Then, just as we were about to go, a sweet little girl in year one came up to me and showed me her work book and her drawings of fish. She was literally so cute, I could've taken her home! After a manic round of high fives with all the year ones it was back to the house for more food!

The food layout was similar to yesterday, laid out on the floor on a table cloth and a help yourself lay out. It was predominantly vegetarian food but they also had chicken and prawns. It was pretty tasty!

We then got up and stretched out legs for a bit and a had a group photo, before going back in to say goodbye with more Kava and handshakes. We were supposed to go bamboo rafting afterwards, but as they've had a lot of heavy rain the river banks have all caved in and the water is pretty dirty so they decided it was safer not to do it. Which is a shame, but not the end of the world!

We then made our way to the Golden Point resort for our last night with Feejee experience. It was slightly overcast but not too bad so Charis and I decided to go kayaking. It didn't look to rough until we got in the kayaks , mine was super light and our paddles were flat so it made it really hard! I paddled around for a bit but kept getting knocked into rocks, so I gave up and went back to shore. My GoPro had run out of battery as well so I didn't even get any pictures! The water was so warm though, like getting in a hot bath! Unfortunately, there was so much broken coral around that it made it uncomfortable to walk in so we went back and got ready for dinner. I had chicken chow mein and it was sooooo good I could've eaten it all over again! We then chilled out on the deck with a shisha. The sun sets at around 6:30 and it gets so dark so quickly that 9 feels like after midnight so I've been having a few early nights (well going to bed to watch Greys anatomy anyway!)