Bula.
Fiji is chuffin fantastic. Go visit. Now.
The home of kava does not disappoint, with a genuine warm and friendly welcome. And lets not forget Fiji time... a slow, meandering pace of life that is hard to ignore... which explains the delay in publishing this blog. In fact we became experts, as each day started with a hammock and ended with a cocktail. But it wasn't all R&R. We had some serious snorkelling to do. Snorkel, snorkel, snorkel. Sharks, sea-snakes, stingrays, octopus, lionfish, cuttlefish, pufferfish... to name but a few. Oh, and we found Nemo. 435 times.
We were staying in the Yasawas, a bunch of tropical islands to the northwest of Suva. First stop the island of Waya, and the Octopus Resort. Would Dani move there? Yup. From the staff and the accommodation to the beach and reef... everything was perfect. In fact we ended up booking a further 2 nights on our way back south at the end of the trip.
Besides the managers, scuba-guide and a couple of mainlanders, the majority of the staff came from the small village Nalauwaki on the other side of the hill. The resort also helps fund the small pre-school in the village, as well as many other projects, and the villagers were happy to show us around. Dani even managed to scare school kids on the other side of the world. And a bunch of dads, lads and myself went out deep sea fishing and came back with an Indo-Pacific sailfish of all things. Yup, that's right a fully fledged Istiophorus platypterus with sword and all. Tasted bloody marvellous. Yup Brad... you just missed out.
Anyhow, sadly we soon left Waya, and headed north to the Tavewa group, and the back to basic accommodation of Otto & Fanny's. We'd been spoilt back in Octopus. Fighting cockroaches the size of your face is not what we had in mind... but luckily we were not alone as we joined forces in this battle with a small group of other hardy-ish travellers. And the surrounding view helped as well. The men reading this may remember a certain film called 'The Blue Lagoon' with a scantily clad Brooke Shields... well a small island opposite our abode set the backdrop to this classic film. It's hard to describe the setting so you'll have to either look at our pictures or come and see for yourself. Oh, and a few encounters with a deadly sea-krait added to the excitement.
Anyhow it appeared that a nasty little critter in the water supply left Dani and some of our travelling buddies not too well, and so The Eder had to stay in bed for our next stop on Mantaray island. Although obviously upset the view from our bure put a smile on her pasty face. As per chuffin usual the manta rays that are renowned around this island had been on the animal grapevine and buggered off as soon I stepped near the island. But not to worry as some of the best snorkelling and diving sites in the region awaited me... just a pity I don't dive. Yet.
During our stay back at Octopus I managed somehow to complete a trek to one of the highest points on Waya. I say managed as as soon as I'd reached our hammock then the dreaded bug I'd avoided claimed yet another victim. And on chuffin BBQ night too. Luckily Dani kept reminding me how good it had tasted. Which was nice.
Our last stop took us to Bounty Resort, a small 48 acre island just off the mainland. It took 30 minutes to walk around the island on it's golden, sandy beach... wading through it's clear, pristine waters. Getting the gist?
Fiji is chuffin fantastic. Go visit. Now.
The home of kava does not disappoint, with a genuine warm and friendly welcome. And lets not forget Fiji time... a slow, meandering pace of life that is hard to ignore... which explains the delay in publishing this blog. In fact we became experts, as each day started with a hammock and ended with a cocktail. But it wasn't all R&R. We had some serious snorkelling to do. Snorkel, snorkel, snorkel. Sharks, sea-snakes, stingrays, octopus, lionfish, cuttlefish, pufferfish... to name but a few. Oh, and we found Nemo. 435 times.
We were staying in the Yasawas, a bunch of tropical islands to the northwest of Suva. First stop the island of Waya, and the Octopus Resort. Would Dani move there? Yup. From the staff and the accommodation to the beach and reef... everything was perfect. In fact we ended up booking a further 2 nights on our way back south at the end of the trip.
Besides the managers, scuba-guide and a couple of mainlanders, the majority of the staff came from the small village Nalauwaki on the other side of the hill. The resort also helps fund the small pre-school in the village, as well as many other projects, and the villagers were happy to show us around. Dani even managed to scare school kids on the other side of the world. And a bunch of dads, lads and myself went out deep sea fishing and came back with an Indo-Pacific sailfish of all things. Yup, that's right a fully fledged Istiophorus platypterus with sword and all. Tasted bloody marvellous. Yup Brad... you just missed out.
Anyhow, sadly we soon left Waya, and headed north to the Tavewa group, and the back to basic accommodation of Otto & Fanny's. We'd been spoilt back in Octopus. Fighting cockroaches the size of your face is not what we had in mind... but luckily we were not alone as we joined forces in this battle with a small group of other hardy-ish travellers. And the surrounding view helped as well. The men reading this may remember a certain film called 'The Blue Lagoon' with a scantily clad Brooke Shields... well a small island opposite our abode set the backdrop to this classic film. It's hard to describe the setting so you'll have to either look at our pictures or come and see for yourself. Oh, and a few encounters with a deadly sea-krait added to the excitement.
Anyhow it appeared that a nasty little critter in the water supply left Dani and some of our travelling buddies not too well, and so The Eder had to stay in bed for our next stop on Mantaray island. Although obviously upset the view from our bure put a smile on her pasty face. As per chuffin usual the manta rays that are renowned around this island had been on the animal grapevine and buggered off as soon I stepped near the island. But not to worry as some of the best snorkelling and diving sites in the region awaited me... just a pity I don't dive. Yet.
During our stay back at Octopus I managed somehow to complete a trek to one of the highest points on Waya. I say managed as as soon as I'd reached our hammock then the dreaded bug I'd avoided claimed yet another victim. And on chuffin BBQ night too. Luckily Dani kept reminding me how good it had tasted. Which was nice.
Our last stop took us to Bounty Resort, a small 48 acre island just off the mainland. It took 30 minutes to walk around the island on it's golden, sandy beach... wading through it's clear, pristine waters. Getting the gist?
1 comment:
Wow - Amazing Phil you haven't forgotten how to write!!!
xx
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