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!)

Robinson Crusoe Island, Coral Coast, Sigatoka, Biausevu and Pacific Harbour: Whole Hula

Tuesday 28th February 2017

I was particularly sad to leave Robinson Crusoe Island this morning. It is now my favourite place I have ever been. But I was super excited for the rest of the day so the sadness didn't last long! We got the boat back to the main island after breakfast, but had quite a wait at the dock for our coach to come back to us... Fiji time!

We travelled up the Queens highway to get to Sigatoka, but almost got stuck in the mud half way there! Luckily the driver managed to get us on our way pretty sharpish! Langi pointed out more things to us on the way, most notably a hummingbird and hawk, such stunning creatures. There was also something that looked like a rainbow in the sky, but didn't arc just sat behind the clouds. It was beautiful.

We also stopped off at a beach, I can't remember it's name exactly but it was stunning! There were a couple of horses tied out in the sun, they didn't look like they were looked after properly which was sad, it was too hot for us in the sun let alone animals. Langi said that this wasn't unusual, and their owners were sitting in the shade nearby!

We stopped off in Sigatoka for lunch, and we're greeted by the staff in the department store Tappoo with a necklace each which was neat! Langi showed us to a small bakery and I got the nicest chicken pie and coconut slice for about £2! It's crazy how cheap some of the things are here.

Our next stop was at the Biausevu waterfall. It was about a half an hour hike each way and we trekked through rivers to get there. Langi pointed out coffee beans, bananas, wild pineapple, bread fruit, various tea leaves, ginger, mandarins and managed to find us ripe guava to try! It's crazy to think that all that fruit can be found in one part of the rainforest! The waterfall itself was beautiful. The water was very refreshing and a few people climbed up the rocks and jumped through the falls. I started to climb up, scraped my elbow and thought it's probably not worth me injuring myself further for!

After we hiked back, Linga was telling us that it was the Biausevu village's anniversary and they invited us to join in with the celebrations. We had more Kava and tried some of the local food. The fish and something that tastes like an onion baji were so delicious! They invited us to stay longer but Langi politely refused and he later told us that it was unusual for us to have had that experience as it was in the chiefs house and the chief was present so that was awesome!

We then made our way to Uprising Resort in the torrential rain. Our dorm was really nice, and we had hot water showers! I had a beefburger for dinner and it was amazing, but I couldn't finish it all! We were serenaded as we were eating and it got dark really quickly. Linga was telling us about how this place is the adventure capital of Fiji, and many people do shark diving which sounds awesome! I was pretty tired so a few of us went to bed earlyish, but I didn't sleep very well at all sadly!