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!