Vinaka Fiji !!!!!!!!!!
Trip Start
Jul 31, 2005
1
166
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Trip End
Sep 05, 2007
Mana Island,
Fiji
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Fiji was amazing, we had such fun times there and we really did not want to leave, we were both tearful on the boat trip back to Nadi yesterday (I am writing this now on the 27may back in NZ for the day), which was ridiculous really, but we loved it so much.
Our last week went something like this -
We arrived at Nadi airport and discovered that we had missed the bus and boat by about 10 minutes, shame, so we decided to stay the night on New Town beach in Nadi, a pretty dark and dirty beach to be honest, the place was full of mozzies and our dorm was pretty characterless, but we coped, it was cheap and for one night.
Abraham as we were leaving!
That night was fun, we ate a delicious curry dinner and then headed to the hostel next door with a couple we met at the airport for some beers and to watch teh Fijian show and fire dancing that had around the pool.Next morning, we were up early and endured the choppy ride in a small speedboat with a roof to the Mamanuca Islands. We chose for a number of reasons to stay on Mana Island.
Upon arrival we looked in awe at the stunning beach, set up our tent in the friendly village behind the beach and enjoyed the first of many Fiji bitters on Mana.
We were going to try and visit a few islands, but Fiji boat transfers are incredibly expensive for backpackers, and so after a few days we just said that we would stay at Mana Island - despite a day trip that was exactly what we did!
Our days consisted of getting up early for breakfast in the bar overlooking the sea, swimming, snorkelling, lunch, swimming, sunbathing, shower, sunset beer, dinner and more beer!
Yep - it was great!
One day we actually took a trip to a nearby island called Moturiki
Ali drinking coconut milk on Mokuriki
. this island was used as the set for the Tom Hanks film "Castaway" and was so beautiful. The sands there were pure white and the seas so clear. We walked around the island, and Jerry and Rocky who work at our backpackers came with us. We drank coconut milk fresh from the coconuts after Jerry climbed the tree and knocked them down! We then went swimming and snorkelling. It was so beautiful and relaxing, then all of a sudden I saw a huge fish swim past me, Matt was at this stage on the shore dipping his feet in the water when he saw it and I ran out of the water, only to find out that a baby shark (which was still big and it is a shark!) had just swam right past me! That kind of put paid to the snorkelling, I know it was a baby, but we just kept asking ourselves where was mummy and daddy sharks?!! We did go back in and swim for a while but it was not as relaxing!Once back on Mana we sat and watched Emily, Leroy and Jerry (some others who work at the backpackers) prepare a traditional Lovo. This is basically an earth oven, the food we ate later that night was delicious. And then we were treated to a Fijian dancing show.
During our time in Mana we were treated to various dancing shows, including fire dancing on the beach - it was brilliant - the staff really know how to look after their guests and were so friendly and kind
Ali enjoying a Fiji beer!
.We joined some other backpackers and local villagers one night in a Kava session! Kava is from the root of a pepper plant and is a traditional Fijian drink. It is put into water in a muslin cloth and looks like muddy water, it tastes of nothing in particular - maybe a little peppery!? Some people thought it was disgusting, but we had a fun time, sitting around the table taking our turn to down a cup all night long, it numbs your mouth and makes you relaxed - a bit like smoking weed but it's legal!!
We sat up another night with the guys who run the backpackers and enjoyed a few beers the Fijian way! Basically they pour half a cup and you down it?! This goes on in a circle until the beer runs out.
A crab race was fun one night, people bet a couple of dollars on a crab which then had to move out of the circle fastest! These were hermit crabs so it did take a little longer than expected!
On our last night we watched more dancing and then went down the beach, there must have been only 8 foreigners and about 20 locals, all dancing and drinking on the beach, sitting around on straw rugs, chatting and having fun
Ali snorkelling in the clearest waters ever!
.They made us feel like part of their family, and even though Fiji is beautiful, it was not the white sand beaches why we loved it so much, it was the people.
We watched the kids go to school each morning in their blue uniforms, we heard them singing in the village church, people whenever they saw you shouted "Bula" which basically means hello, welcome. The villagers would stop and chat to us, the kids would laugh at show off in front of us! Our island had no internet, and our backpackers only had electricity for a few hours at night on the generator.
We took a ferry back to Nadi yesterday morning and flew back to NZ last night. As poor as we are, we slept on the airport floor and then took a bus into Christchurch this morning.
We fly up to Auckland and out to San Francisco in a few hours so we had better make a move on and get our butts back towards the airport.
We are going to have two Sunday's this week, we go over the international date line and arrive in San Fran about 7 hours before we left! LOL....
Hugs
AlinMatt
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