A Tale Down Under : Fiji Adventure

I had the extremely fortunate opportunity to go to Fiji for my mid semester break last week. It was by far one of my favorite places I have ever been both by sheer beauty and my overall experience. I was there for 9 days: Friday to next Saturday. I arrived on the main land in the city of Nadi (Pronounced Nandi) and then traveled to the Yasawa islands which are to the left of the main land. Below is a map to reference where I traveled.

Friday 9/13/13

5:30 am- Picked up by airport shuttle at my appartment
9:30 am- Flight
3:00 pm- Arrived in Nadi (Fiji time zone is 2 hours later than Sunshine Coast, Australia)
Went to our hostel: Smugglers cove
Walked the beach
Had drinks and dinner with the girls
Showered
Tried to stay up and failed, went to bed at 10:30 pm

Saturday 9/14/13

7:00 am- Woke up
Ater breakfast overlooking the beach
Left for Port Denarau
3 hours on the Yasawa Flyer (ferry) to Mantaray Bay (Nanuya Balavu Island #10 on the map)

We passed South Sea Island which is so small you can walk around the whole island in 5 minutes

Transported to a small boat owned by the resort
Arrived and greeted by a Bula Welcome song and coconut water

Bula by the way means 'life' but is used as a greeting like hello

Checked in and was off to my 40 person dorm. There were 2 bunks per cubical and each bed had their own mosquito net which helped it feel a little more personal.
Laid out on the beach all day
Swam in the Koolaid colored water (The whole time i was there i could not get over the color of the ocean. It looks like God dropped food coloring into the water)
Went on a sunset cruse where we grabbed some beers, went out into the middle of the ocean, sat in inner tubes and watched the sunset
Ate dinner with the friends I made on the tube cruse
Showered in the outdoor shower (p.s. all of the showers i took in Fiji were cold. It wasn't too bad though considering how hot it was)
Went to the bar and had a great night with my new friends

Sunday 9/15/13

Woke up and had Breakfast

All of my meals were amazing in Fiji, consisting of fish, potatoes, peppers, bok choy, soup, and more. Breakfast was disappointing everywhere for me since I'm such a breakfast person. It was usually just fruit and toast.

Nap in the hammock
Found out from my friend Brittany that we could get certified to be open water divers despite being at the resort for such a short time
Lunch
Signed my life away to go diving
Got ready
Learned tank deconstruction/construction skills
Went diving

(See separate post about diving)

Showered
Watched the Sunset
Had Dinner
Exhausted from diving, I went to bed at 8:00 pm

This is Jack. The Resort's 3 month old goat. He is pretty ornery but so freakin' cute!

Monday 9/16/13

Woke/breakfast/checked out
Two dives
Goodbye Fiji Song (Sung by all the resorts) left to the Yasawa Flyer for a half hour ride to Korovou Eco-Tour Resort (Naviti Island #13 on the map)
Greeted with Mango Nectar YUM!
Checked into a 20 bed dorm, each person had a singular twin bed
Lunch
Fijin cooking lesson (a type of ceviche called Kokoda: brine raw fish in lemon juice, make coconut cream by scraping the coconut meat and wringing it out with water, cut peppers and onions, add and eat)
Read and worked on my Scuba diving handbook/workbook
Watched the sunset
Dinner
Took the worst shower of my life (the water consisted of one stream the size of a toothpick! I am not exaggerating)
Joined everyone at the bar and make some more new friends while we played Limbo and danced
Went to bed at 12:00

Tuesday 9/17/13

Woke/Breakfast
Waited for a boat to take Brittany and I back to Mantaray to finish our last two dives
Got Scuba Gear and went out with 11 other divers, who were split into two groups
Went back to Mantaray for Lunch (Yay! They had the best food by far)
Took our concept test and passed with 88%
Went back to Korovou
Napped on the beach and watched the sunset
Showered (I showered in a different shower and this time it was much better. I could actually rinse the soap off of my body!)
Dinner
Kava Adventure

Kava is a Fijan cultural drink that tastes more or less like dirt water. As wikipedia states it, "The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia. Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones." We had to sneak away from the resort because they are not allowed to serve it there and we walked into the jungle to the local's hut where we ground, strained and drank Kava whilst listening and singing to songs on the guitar. I didn't feel any effect although I stopped after three drinks because the taste was upsetting my stomach.

Wednesday 9/17/13

Woke/Packed/Breakfast
Snorkeled with the Mantarays

The one we saw was about 5 feet in diameter but I have been told that they can get up to 15 feet!!!

Went on the Yasawa Flyer for 2 hours to Safe Landing Resort (Nacula Island #26 on the map)
Split from the rest of my friends as they went to Coralview resort but I made friends with a couple from New Zealand named Chloe and Jeff and a German named Jan (pronounced Yan)
Went snorkeling and to Blue Lagoon (Where they filmed the movie Blue Lagoon with Brooke Sheilds) I saw the entire cast of finding Nemo including the clown fish in their sea anemone homes, and Gill and Dory!

I also saw a long, skinny, white sea horse that blended with the coral
A long, skinny, gray fish with a long nose that I think was a Trumpetfish

Swam on the Blue Lagoon beach
Watched the Sunset
Had Dinner
Showered
Hung out with friends and played Trivia
Went to bed

The mattresses there didn't have springs in them and were basically like big pillows. Even layering two on top of each other, my but sank into to the bottom of the bunk bed with my legs and torso in the air. I looked like one of those commercials for the electric, movable, tempurpedic beds but to the extreme.

Thursday 9/18/13

Woke/Breakfrast
Laid Out
Cave Trip

Took a 45 min. boat ride on rough water to the Sawa-I-Lau Caves. One of the caves was open to the light and the next one which, was accessed by a 4 second underwater swim, was completely dark. It was short and sweet but cool to experience.

When we arrived back we had to walk about a quarter mile back to shore because the tide was so low. There were a lot of sandy sink holes so I had to watch out!
Lunch
Read on the hammock
Fijian cooking lesson- fried fish in coconut cream with tomatoes and onions (This was amazing and I will definitely be making it again)
Tea and Cake and the local tea house (more of a hut)
Hike up the mountains for sunset
Dinner/Shower
After dinner activities: sing national anthem of your country (me and a family of Americans rocked it), ball sack hit-the-can game, musical potato and hermit crab racing
I talked to the American family which consisted of a couple in their late 20s and the guys parents. The couple are the most well traveled people I have ever met. They have already been a million places but are currently 6 months into their 15 month traveling expedition. They are continuing across the Asia Pacific and are going a million more places.

Friday 9/19/13

Woke/Breakfast
Laid out
Played with one of the Fijian children living at the resort.
Had a massage
Hammock
Goodbye Song
Yasawa Flyer back to Nadi for 5 and 1/2 hours
Said goodbye to Chloe, Jeff and Jan
Went to smugglers
Ate/Showered/Got ready
Went out clubbing for my friend Paige's 21st Birthday (needless to say it was a crazy night)