Final days in Fiji

When we eventually got off the ferry at the mainland, we took a taxi to a hostel we had booked online in advance on Bounty Island. I am so glad we did, because everywhere was booked up due to the cyclone. We decided not to stay in the same hostel as we did at the beginning (Bamboo) because I had such depressing memories of it and it was just a wooden hut, so no the best place to sit out a storm. Instead we checked into Bluewater which turned out to be one of the best hostels I have stayed in on this trip! It is a big house that has been converted into a hostel and it still feels just like you are staying in someone's home. The staff go out of their way for you and the meals are excellent. Best of all, when we arrived there, we saw Charlie and Alex, our two friends from Mana Island and they were staying there for a few days. We have spent the last three days just chilling out in the cosy hostel whilst the cyclone batters away outside. The hostel has free wifi which is such a luxury and it also has a lovely pool and garden area where everyone sits and night. The people here are lovely at it has been a very relaxing end to our Fiji trip – just what we needed before the chaos of Australia begins.

Jemma and Charlie outside the hostel after being rained on

P.S. A happy ending to our worry about getting the deposits back: We went back to the place where we booked our island hopping and the guy gave us all of our money back. We were so relieved as we had met people who had lost out on a weeks worth of accommodation and boat transfers that they paid upfront. In the end, we have actually saved money thanks to the storms.

In summary: we brought our flights to Fiji forward by a few days and when we first arrived I was sure that this had been the wrong decision because of the weather. However, it actually meant that we got more days of sunshine and met the amazing people we did, and had the amazing experiences we had. I would not want to change a moment of our Fiji holiday.

Our Fiji song: 

Fiji: Bounty Island

'Bounty Island in the sun'

Bounty Island is the island where 'Celebrity Love Island' with Callum Best and Rebecca Loos was filmed. It was very different to Mana; it was a lot smaller and there were no Fijians living in villages on the island – it was just a resort. When we first go there we were surprised and happy to be reunited with our friend James off Mana island and the two Swedish girls. We went on a walk around the island and it only took 15 minutes. It was a really relaxing place. The beach seemed cleaner than the main beach in Mana and the hostel was a big step up. The meals were serve yourself all you can eat buffet style and the food was excellent! I had beans, eggs and toast, cereal, juice and pancakes for breakfast, salad, chips and chicken for lunch and Indian curry with popadoms and naan bread for dinner! You could also have afternoon tea with cookies if you could squish it in. On our first night there, after dinner, because it was a Sunday, the staff sang some Fijian hymns for us and then sang a goodbye song to the leavers (the same as the song they sang at Ratikinis, which I later found out is a popular song in Fiji). It was a shame about the weather because it was very overcast and rained a lot. However, we didn't let this stop us and spent most of the day in the pool in the rain. At one point we tried to go snorkelling but the staff wouldn't let us because they said it would be too dangerous in case the cyclone came.  

Our pool (celeb love island pool)

On the second afternoon, one of the hostel staff came up to the pool and announced that anyone from Britain had to come and read a notice that had just been faxed through from the British Embassy. We went to read it and it was a letter from the British Embassy warning all British nationals that a cyclone was about to hit Fiji and we should adjust our plans accordingly. Later that night at dinner, after Bula hour (which they seem to have on every island, although the one on Bounty wasn't a patch on the Mana Bula hour), the head guy made an announcement that everyone would be evacuated off the island the next day and taken to the mainland because it was unsafe for people to stay out on the islands. This meant that we had to cancel our plans to visit the Yasawa islands, which we were a bit gutted about but knew that we were definitely better off sitting out the cyclone on the mainland rather than on an island. We were a little worried we would lose our deposits but we didn't have any choice other than to return to Nadi. That night we played monopoly with two very pleasant Aussie girls who by the end of the game became just as aggressive and competitive as us. In summary, we basically spent our short time on Bounty (2 nights) in the pool in the rain, playing board games and eating. Bounty was a lovely cosy little island and it was very relaxing. The most unrelaxing part was on the last night when we found a massive crab in our room and couldn't get it out. In the end, the security guard had to come and pick it up and throw it out, but not before he had made me stroke it :s . Also that night, I thought I found bedbugs in my bed and couldn't sleep then for the rest of the night and had to get in Jemma's cramped bunk with her. The next day, we had breakfast and then everybody was herded onto a little boat on the rough sea and we were taxied across to a bigger boat that would take us back to the mainland. On the bigger boat, which was packed to the brim (mainly with Japanese tourists), it was so rough that loads of people were throwing up everywhere and the journey that should have taken 20 minutes took 2 hours! It wasn't so bad though as we sat together with the people we had met on Bounty and they all played cards whilst I listened to my mp3 to stop myself from feeling sea sick.  

Fiji: Mana Island continued...

Our third day on Mana was the best day ever. The weather was glorious and after breakfast we decided to take a boat trip out to the sandbank to go snorkelling. The sandbank is basically just a lump of white sand (about the size of a tennis court) in the middle of the sea that you can just about see from Mana island. We piled into the little boat with our new friends (Americans, British and Kiwis) and coated ourselves in suncream and then the boat driver took us out to the sandbank. It only took about 10 minutes to get there and when we got there it was spectacular. It was everything I had imagined Fiji to be – just what you see in the brochures.

The sandbank

We all got our snorkels and flippers on and then set off swimming around the sandbank until we reached a ledge where the water dropped to hundreds of metres in depth. As the guy who took us out described it: 'this is like in finding Nemo where Nemo gets told not to go any further'. So we didn't go any further because there might be bigger fish out there. We stayed close to the sandbank but the fish were amazing, with lots of corals and Nemo type fish. Apparently you can also spot sharks (the friendly ones) and dolphins but we didn’t see any. It was pure paradise and the waters were crystal clear. After the sandbank, we all got back in the little boat and returned to our hostel for lunch and then a man showed us how to climb a coconut tree and how to cut open a coconut and make jewellery.

Later on we decided to walk to survivor beach again for some more snorkelling to try and see sharks. We set off through the jungle again with Ally, Alex and Jemma and walked until we found some rocks, which we had to clamber over and then jump into the sea. We didn't see any sharks but we saw a lot of fish and an eel. It was fantastic. When we got back, we had a shower and then joined the Kiwis and our other friends for tea and Bula hour. By now we knew all of the Bula songs and sang and clapped along. We then spotted a bonfire further down the beach so walked down to check it out. We found some people sat around playing guitars and chatting. We joined them for a bit before returning home to Ratikini to go to bed. A perfect day.

Bula hour (James on the right)

The next two days on Mana were just spent relaxing on the beach and snorkelling. One morning the hostel did a free guided walk to a lookout point at the top of the hill where yo could get a good view over the island. We borrowed a girl's underwater camera one afternoon and went snorkelling with Alex and took lots of cool pictures. On the last night we were all leaving the next day (all of our friends too) so we decided to have a few drinks. The hostel had also put on entertainment (traditional dancing and fire-throwing!) which was cool, however, half way through I got stomach cramps like someone was punching me and had to go to bed. I blame it on either the water or the dodgy mixed grill we had for dinner.

Snorkelling at survivor beach

On our last day on Mana it was so hot, we spent most of our time sat in the internet room which was the only air-conditioned room in the hostel. We didn't pay to go on the internet, just sat chatting. At 11.30 we waved all our friends off who left on a little boat to the mainland. It took them about an hour to set off because the battery ran out. The we hung about until 4pm, walked along the beach and then caught a boat to our next island – Bounty.




Photos: Fiji

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

Bula and welcome to Fiji

Luggage ready for the boat

Jemma drenched

Our arrival into Fiji was tropical, but not in the way we had expected. We landed in torrential rain (not sure how the pilot managed to land – the last plane had had to be diverted because the storms were so bad.). We waited in Nadi airport for a taxi with the guy from the hostel who had come to collect us. It was pouring down with rain, flooding everywhere and there weren't any taxis because the roads were so flooded. After about an hour of waiting, a taxi finally came and drove us to the hostel. It felt like real travelling again because the car was an old banger with no seatbelts and the driver drove really dangerously. We got to our hostel, which was basically just a hut by the port and everything was damp. We decided just to go to bed and hoped we would wake up to better weather the next day. There were storms and non stop rain all through the night. Every time I woke up I could hear it outside and felt worried that it would not stop by the morning. It didn't stop. It carried on for the whole next day and it was so bad that the town was shut down due to flooding and no cars or boats could leave. This meant that we were trapped on the mainland, which isn't the prettiest of places to be trapped. We spent the whole day trapped in the hostel, eating, talking to people and trying the kava (the local drink which is disgusting and tastes like mud). At one point the rain stopped and we decided to seize the moment and go for a walk. 

 About 30 minutes into the walk, the storms started again and we got absolutely soaked. It really wasn't fun. All of our stuff was wet, the beds were damp and I was so depressed because there was no prospect of getting off the mainland to visit the islands as we had intended to do. People were telling us that it was due to last another 5 days. I was horrendously depressed and had a headache. The whole hostel and the surrounding areas were flooded and there were no shops near by to buy food so we just had to buy meals from the hostel. We went to bed again that night to thunder and lightening, praying for a miracle in the morning. In the morning, a miracle happened and a small gap in the grey clouds appeared allowing us to see a tiny patch of blue which gave us hope. We managed to sit down with the guy in the hostel and plan a week of island hopping and he booked us on the next boat that afternoon. As long as it didn't start to rain again, we would be off. The rain just about held off for us and we eventually got on a boat along with two Americans we had met. We were so happy to arrive at our first Island, Mana, to a group of singing ukulele players and sunshine.