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.