Fiji - Mana Island

Playing with the locals

As soon as we arrived at Mana I knew I was going to like it. The hostel was much better than the one on the mainland, with very friendly staff who had learnt all of our names within five minutes and a nice beachside location (it was jetting out onto the sea). We were shown to our dorm which was lovely, cool and spacious and we barely had time to put our bags down before it was dinner time. At dinner time a bell rang and we all queued for our food (which was included in the price we had paid). We sat with the Americans, Ally and Matt and enjoyed dinner with an amazing sunset over the beach. I went to have a shower and when I came out, the hostel staff had gathered everyone around the bar and were singing welcome songs and playing guitars. It was bula hour. Bula hour happened every evening. It was where King David (the entertainment manager) and his staff welcomed the new arrivals to the island and sung goodbye to the leavers. After bula hour, all drinks were half price, so we sat around with our new friends (James from Canada, Ally and Matt from the USA, two Swedish girls and a Dutch girl called Henrike) and played drinking games with King David (KD). After that, we had an early night and read our books in bed.

Sunset beach

The next morning we got up early for breakfast and then went for a walk to sunset beach which was a secluded beach with crystal clear waters and nobody else on it. It was a really hot day but there was a nice breeze from the sea and the water was so refreshing and clear. We relaxed for a bit under a palm tree and read our books and then the Americans came and joined us and we all went in the sea together. After swimming, we walked back to the hostel for lunch (pizza and chips – mmm) was a free basket weaving session on in the hostel where they showed you how to
weave the palm leaves and also how

to open a coconut.

Walking to survivor beach

In the afternoon, we found out that there was a beach a short walk from the hostel that was used as the location for survivor uk – one of my favourite TV programmes back in the day! We were also told, that if you went snorkelling at this beach we might see some sharks (the non-man-eating-variety). I was so excited about seeing the survivor set because I had watched every episode when it was on 10 years ago. We set off, with Alex, an English boy we had met and walked through the local village, up a hill through some jungle and then down hill through some jungle to get there.
 I was quite disappointed with what we saw. It was basically just the ruins of a fabricated temple covered in rubbish and weeds. Alex stood on an old rusty nail that went right through his flipflop and into his foot and it was at this point that we all decided to walk back. When we got back, Jemma and I decided to go back to sunset beach for some more swimming and sunbathing. We had just found a lovely secluded spot and Jemma went for a dip, when all of a sudden we were pounced upon by 4 little Fijian kids. They wanted to play with us and snorkeled around us until we gave them attention. I started throwing them like darts and then Jemma let one of them climb onto her shoulders and let them use her as a diving board. After that, all hell broke loose and there was a queue of Fijian kids behind her, scrambling onto her back, pulling on her bikini shouting 'Throw me next! Throw me!'. I got out at this point and settled back onto the beach and watched in amusement. We finally managed to part ourselves from the kids about 40 minutes later, and walked back to our hostel in our bikinis, across the airfield that you have to cut across. By the time we had completed the 10 minute walk back to the hostel, we were bone dry again. We got back to the hostel, had a shower and then the bell rang for tea, so we joined our new friends, Ally, Matt, Charlie and Alex for tea. The best thing about Ratikini hostel was without a doubt the people. We met such fantastic people there and the staff were so friendly. After dinner we had Bula hour again, where James, a Canadian guy (one of the most friendly people I have ever met) joined in and pretended to play the guitar. He had become a regular feature of Bula hour. After this, I had a lovely kitkat chunky from the fridge and a glass of wine and we all sat around chatting. Most people disappeared off to bed quite early and we ended up playing cards (cheat) on the floor in the dorm, before settling into bed with my book.

More photos here: Fiji