"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

Moving on to Fiji!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Saturday, 4 June 2011 14:03

On Wednesday we got up early to be completely ready and not rushed. We left the campsite at 9am and dropped of the Jucy van first. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to our home for the last 5 weeks, we have really enjoyed it! Jucy had a shuttle bus to take us to the terminal, and we checked in our bags straight away and were ready for the off! Had the usual airport moseying around time etc, and tried to get up to date with the blog, but did not quite finish it, hence this one being posted so late! (I am writing it while sat on the balcony of my beach front bure in Fiji!) The flight was a little bumpy, but we had been pre warned, and it was nothing serious. The film they put on was called Rabbit Hole, and was the strangest choice of films for a plane I think. It was a really serious story about a couple coming to terms with the sudden loss of their son, and it was really sad. I thought it was a very good film (if a little odd for a plane), but Ben was not at all impressed! Admittedly it was very slow and not a lot happened so I can see why he did not enjoy it! We got off the plane to immediate warmth which was funny after all this time! It is also different to the warmth you feel on a hot day normally, the humidity makes the air seems much thicker! Our bags must have been first off, as we grabbed them as soon as we got to the carousel which was a novelty! Then we saw a lady holding a sign saying ‘Beautiful Pacific, Ben O’Neill’ which was quite funny! You always imagine being important arriving at the airport with someone holding a sign with your name, and here it was. A lovely lady greeted us and gave us each a beautiful shell necklace with fresh flowers on it and placed it around our necks! We had booked all the island hopping for Fiji through a company as they were cheaper than when we priced up booking it all ourselves, and we thought it seemed more straight forward. However, Ben had begun to worry that something was going to go wrong, so he was very relieved to be greeted at the airport, an we checked through all the tickets for the various parts of our trip and they were all present and correct! We had a bit of a wait for our transfer to the first hostel, which the lady was very apologetic for, but then we were on our way. It felt very strange after being in Western countries for so long, to be in such a different place again! But I love it! It’s hot, and the streets are dirty, and there’s buses full of locals rammed on, people walking around and loads of noise, it’s so completely different! We got to the hostel, and were shown to our room, we had a double room, and it was just like being in a hotel not a hostel. We went straight down to have a look around. We were right on the beach, so we had a nice drink looking at the ocean. We decided to go upstairs and pack our bags as we had to be on the bus at 7.15am the next day. Ben had the good idea of packing one big rucksack of stuff to take to Fiji, and one to leave behind in storage with everything we wouldn’t take. This was a bit of a mission, but we managed in the end, and then went downstairs for fish and chips for dinner! Ben was really excited that the price of beer was so cheap after Australia and NZ! We watched some ‘fire dancing’ on the beach perfored by some locals, and then headed up to bed.

We got up nice and early to allow ourselves enough time not to be rushed, and it was a good job we did. We had heard some very heavy rain in the night, but what we didn’t realise was that it had been raining in our room, over Ben’s bag to be precise! Luckily it as only his small rucksack, not his big one, but it did have his camera in, his clothes for the morning and other stuff! His clothes had taken the brunt of it, which was lucky really as it keep all the water from the important things, but his t shirt had to be rung out it was so sodden! We emptied the bag and dried everything, and luckily his camera was ok in the camera bag. I set the hairdryer up over the bag to try and dry it a bit as we had to take it with us. I rang the reception but they didn’t seem to care and there wasn’t anything they could do anyway. We took the big bag down to leave in the store room and I took Ben’s clothes down and asked for complimentary tokens for the dryer, which I got, so set Ben’s clothes going and then we went for breakfast. We checked out after breakfast and grabbed Ben’s clothes from the dryer and jumped on the bus to the port. Another leg of the journey was successfully completed and all tickets present and correct etc! We got in the queue to load our bags on the boat, and then had a bit of a wait before boarding. The Yasawa Flyer is a bright yellow high speed catamaran which travels north to all the islands in the morning, and then south back again in the afternoon, so island hopping is relatively easy! The journey was lovely, we were on the top deck enjoying the sunshine all the way. The view was spectacular, gorgeous little islands like the ones in your imagination speckled in the sea. At each stop the catamaran would stop and a small boat from the island would bring any passengers leaving, and then take the ones getting off back to the island. Our island was about the fifth stop, so we climbed in the long boat and were taken ashore to a group of singing Fijians on the shoreline. We were greeted and our bags bought up to the reception hut. A lovely lady told us what time meals were and where we could sign up for any activities, and then we were shown to our room. We had booked a beachside Bure, a Bure is a wooden hut. It was lovely and spacious with a double bed, a single, a huge wardrobe space, and a lounge area, it also had a balcony and was right on the beach. We literally have to walk down the steps of our balcony, and then down some steps onto the beach, I have never slept this close to the ocean before! It wasa lot nicer than our beach hut in Thailand, which is what I was expcecting, so it was a pleasant surprise! However, back to having cold showers which I did know about! We also only get electricity from a generator about 6pm to 11pm which is funny! We’ve got the torch for any middle of the night pee’s etc! All the islands we chose have a compulsory meal plan, as there is no restaurant etc, so you have your three meals a day at the big hut over looking the sea. We only arrived about 10.30am, so after lazing on the beach for an hour and a half we heard the drums which call you to lunch!

Lunch was rice and a beef stir fry with some bread and then a bit of fruit for dessert. We spent the afternoon being very lazy, relaxing on the beach, and then checking out the activity bure. They run trips daily, snorkelling with reef sharks, diving, and a village visit were on our list of things to do, so Ben signed up for a dive the next morning, and we planned to visit the village including the school in the afternoon. Dinner came around quickly at 6pm and we had a yummy chicken curry with rice. When you have a chicken dish in these countries they just chuck hacked bits of chicken in, so you end up with a lot of bones with not a lot of meat on sometimes, but it’s all part of the experience, and there’s always seconds if necessary! With three meals a day and no snacking we’re hoping to lose a bit of the weight we have both gained! The cold shower took some getting used to again, but thankfully we have a flushing toilet! This is not a party island, one of the reason we chose it, so it was a pretty laid back evening, playing travel Rummikub which we bought at the airport and reading before bed. We fell asleep listening to the ocean right outside our window!