Barefoot Resort, Drawaqa Island

Barefoot Island was our next stop as we headed north up The Yasawas chain. It was bigger, more of a resort and felt professionally run compared to our previous stay at Kuata. There was a laid back and relaxed atmosphere, as there usually is in Fiji and we spent most of the day on the beach, reading in a hammock or merely enjoying the wonderful view. 

We were extremely lucky to be staying in our own private bure (hut) on the sunset side of the island, a mere 30 seconds from the beach. We did however get given a double bed confirming our thoughts this was becoming more like a honeymoon. If only one of us was a man, we would be the perfect couple! It was lovely to have our own space for three nights and no bunk beds in sight! 

After lying around in the sun and relaxing in a giant rubber ring in the sea it was time to explore. There are three beaches at Barefoot Island Resort; Sunrise, Sunset and Mantaray Cove to the North of the island. It took maybe 3 minutes to saunter from the sunset side of the island to the sunrise side as it was quite small. 

Mantaray beach named after the Mantarays which can be spotted in the sea just of the island in the right season.  

The outside bathroom was a treat. We brushed our teeth each evening at these sinks under the starry night sky. 

Bure on the sunrise side of the island.

Our evening started by watching the glorious sunset on the sunset deck with a happy hour rum and coke. It was absolutely beautiful to watch the sky slowly change colour and then be treated to a delicious dinner. We met Elsa and Yanetta, two Finnish girls who we immediately bonded with over our love of food, Fiji, travelling and (because it's so hard lying in the sun all day) early bed times. Dinner was followed by the entertainment for the evening, the staff singing Sunday songs normally heard at church for us. 

Monday dawned and after our breakfast we headed to the Sunrise Beach to make the most of the sunshine. Here we lay on the perfect white sandy beach reading, listening to music or in my case occasionally exercising my brain by doing sudokus, only the easy ones though! We went snorkelling to explore the beautiful reef close to the shore and all the underwater life it sustains. Unfortunately there were many tiny, almost invisible, jelly fish meaning we got a fair few stings along the way. 

After lunch we followed the path of the sun and migrated to the Sunset Beach to continue our idyllic day. The high afternoon tide allowed for some more snorkelling on this side of the island before once again spending our evening watching the sunset with our customary rum and coke. One of the other guests on the island had managed to catch a huge fish during that days trip and it fed all of the guests for a delightful fresh dinner.

Hermit Crab racing was the entertainment for the evening. We were split up into teams by country and there were around twelve different crabs racing. A large circle is drawn and the crabs are released in the middle. Quite simply, it is the crab that reaches the edge of the circle first that wins. England won the first heat but unfortunately our speedy little crab was overtaken by Argentina in the final race. 

It was an extremely amusing evening activity especially because the Finnish crab, which Elsa chose because it was at least twice the size of the others, refused to move earning it the nickname Fatty from Finland. 

I was determined to watch a sunrise on Barefoot Island, an extraordinary feat for me as almost anyone who knows me can testify how terrible I am at early rising. Somehow, I made it out of bed and across the island where I plopped into a hammock to watch as the orange hue spread across the sky. It was magical, extremely beautiful and I enjoyed it immensely from my hammock which was swinging in the early morning breeze. 

Rather than heading straight to the beach after breakfast we joined in the morning activity which was making jewellery out of coconut shells. We were handed a slice of shell with which we could make a bracelet. First we used sandpaper to take off the hair on the outside of the shell and to then smooth both the inside and outside of the bracelet. 

After we had shaped it we used smooth sandpaper on the shell to take away any rough edges. Following this we used coconut flesh to polish the bracelet with the oil released from the fruit. Our finished bracelets turned out quite well and joined our growing Fijian jewellery collection. 

There were a couple volunteering on the island who had a two year old daughter Jade. She looked like a female version of Mowgli from the jungle book and sounded like a minion from Despicable Me. It was an adorable combination and I spent some of my afternoon playing with her in the sea and finding 'baby doggy'. It was during this expedition that I met some of the locals who work on the island and they very kindly gave me one of the coconuts to drink, swinging at it with a machete to slice it open and popping a natural straw in it. Although very sweet it was delicious and it amused Lou greatly when I returned from the jungle in my bright outfit with a child in one arm and a coconut in the other. 

After dinner we had a lesson about Fiji and it's history. The country is made up from 333 Islands, the furthest taking 5 days to reach by boat! The languages spoken are Fijian and Emglish which is compulsory at school. However, the dialects vary so much across the islands that Fijians cannot always understand each other talking their own language. The population is a tiny 800,000 people slowly making it's way to 1 million. The national sport is rugby 7s, a great source of pride for Fiji as they hold the World Cup in this sport. 

Once the history lesson was concluded it was time to make our way back to our lovely beach hut for one last night at Barefoot Resort. Wednesday morning was spent in a hammock reading before making our way North to a new island. 

Barefoot, it was incredible. 

Until next time.

A x

Kuata Nature Resort, Kuata

Our Bula Pass enabled us eleven nights stay, in dorms, on The Yasawas at about ten different resorts. Instead of trying to see all the islands we picked four that appealed to us most meaning we could spend longer on them and avoid travelling each day. 

The first island we decided to stay at for two nights was called Kuata. It took around two hours to reach from the mainland by the catamaran and was definitely worth the journey. Fiji was a country Louise and I were extremely excited to visit having read and heard so many things about its white sandy beaches, crystal clear sea, amazing nature and most importantly the easy going lifestyle and cheerful people. 

It did not disappoint and even exceeded our expectations. Needless to say I fell in love and it's for life. 

We spent our afternoon lying on the beach listening to the waves and occasionally dipping in the exquisite water, the temperature just right. When the tide starting lapping at our feet it was time to get ready for dinner. Our dorm, the one in the photo above, was a two minute stroll from the beach, if that. The shower was a pipe from the ceiling with no form of shower head and no temperature control but I liked it this way. 

After taking some photos of the beach in the early evening light it was time for dinner. Our Bula Pass meant that every meal was provided for and so we just joined other guests in the communal dining room. The food was delicious, enhanced by the fact that we did not have to cook it ourselves! 

Once we were finished eating the locals who worked on the resort treated us to some evening entertainment. They showed us the Bula Dance (bula meaning welcome), which varies across islands somewhat, and then got us involved in learning the dance. As expected I was terrible but it has led to some funny photos. 

Upon mastering the Bula Dance we were taught some other dancing games. One involved standing in a large circle, in pairs, with one person in the middle of the circle holding a stick. The music would play and everyone had to dance around the circle with their partner. The person in the middle would drop the stick whenever they had had enough of dancing with it at which point the partners on the inside of the circle all had to switch, but not with the ones directly infront or behind. It sounds confusing, possibly my terrible explanation, and was chaotic. The other dances followed a similar vein and the evening was extremely enjoyable but left us needing a second shower because it was so hot. 

The following day, Saturday, we decided to go Reef Shark snorkelling, one of the activities offered by the resort. Before that I took a few more photos of our dorm and the view from it which was gorgeous. Trying to limit my photographs for these blogs has been hard because everywhere wa absolutely stunning. 

There were about ten of us going snorkelling prompting a search for enough flippers, goggles and snorkels. Kuata is a quiet resort and ten was quite a large number for one activity. We all piled into one of the wooden boats and were taken to a reef about 20 minutes away. The snorkelling was fantastic. The water was clear and the reef was beautiful and full of colours. Fish swarmed around us as we idly swum and floated in the sea. Reef Sharks appeared and surveyed us curiously, drawn by the fish caught by our guide. It was amazing watching these creatures swim around us, getting so close you could touch them. 

I wish I had a 'go-pro' or an underwater camera so that I could share the incredible scenes we saw. Eventually I did away with my leaking snorkel and held my breath diving under the surface to be closer to the reef, fish and the magnificent 'friendly' sharks. 

We returned to the island and spent the rest of the morning sunbathing and swimming before lunch. After we tried our hand at jewellery making. Firstly, we did some weaving or rather Louise did and the woman who was helping me insisted on doing the whole thing, probably because I looked incapable. Then we strung some shells along fishing line to create anklets. The afternoon was relaxed like the morning, spent on the beach and snorkelling when the tide was high enough.

Our evening was delightful, spent with the locals drinking Kava, the Fijian drink. It is not alcoholic as I thought it would be but was a drink made of ground up pepper roots mixed with water. It is a traditional drink and in past years was only drunk by men, it is becoming more acceptable for women to drink it although many do not like it. Kava has numbing affects making for a very good nights sleep after a few bowls. 

The Kava is served in coconut bowls which are not allowed to be placed on the floor. It is customary to clap once before receiving your bowl of Kava, drink it in one gulp, smile (or at least try to after the peppery taste) and then clap three times after giving your bowl back. When not drinking Kava we sat chatting to each other about anything and everything. 

Following a wonderful nights sleep where it felt like I'd been knocked unconscious for 8 hours it was time to leave the beautiful Kuata. The people here were lovely and welcoming making it extremely difficult to leave. 

Until next time. 

A x 

Fiji!

On Thursday 10th April we finally arrived in Fiji, a destination that Louise and I were more than excited about because it looks like paradise. We had decided to spend two weeks here allowing us to see a few islands and relax from the hard life of travelling. 

Upon arrival at the airport we were collected by a shuttle to take us to our hostel, Smugglers Cove. It was a nice hostel and hotel with a 34 bed dorm for backpackers. There was a small pool at the back of the hostel along with a restaurant deck which opened out onto the beach. We wandered down a couple of doors to a different restaurant and sat with a rum and coke watching the sunset. 

After a delicious dinner it was bed time as we hadn't managed much sleep on the 12 hour bus from Wellington to Auckland. We were heading to the Yasawas, an archipelago of Islands, the next day for 11 nights. Our 'Bula Pass' was a pre-paid ticket allowing for accommodation and meals on a selected list of islands and including transport between them all. We headed to bed eagerly anticipating the next morning. 

Until next time. 

A x 

A (short) Tale of Two Cities

On Tuesday we moved to the infinitely better Nomads hostel where we paid less and were upgraded to a four bed dorm rather than the ten bed dorm we booked because they had the space and are incredibly nice like that. The rain kept pouring down all day and it wasn't pleasant walking between hostels with our rucksacks on. 

The rain made us want to curl up inside and do absolutely nothing. Many of the sights we had planned to see relied on good weather which we didn't have. Instead we trudged to the Vietnamese embassy to collect our passports and visas before returning to the hostel, after a short wander. Our beautiful anoraks definitely came in handy. 

That evening we met some other travellers who were just chilling in the lounge area and we decided to visit the Te Papa museum together the following day. The museum is a mish mash of exhibitions including: the natural world, Maori history and culture and New Zealand history. 

There are some interesting finds at the museum including the large fossil in the photo above and the colossal squid (below) the largest ever found which has been preserved. It was absolutely huge! 

My favourite part of the museum was all to do with the natural world and the forces of the Earth such as plate tectonics. There's as a large section dedicated to earthquakes including an interactive display complete with a shaking house. The power of the Earth is absolutely fascinating and I enjoyed roaming around this section taking my time to read the information. 

The last exhibition we visited was the Maori one and we admired the beautiful, impressive carvings on the long boat and looked at the replica meeting halls and store houses. 

We had a relaxed afternoon at the hostel before making our way to the bus stop for the bus to Auckland. It was an 11 hour overnight journey and quite possibly one of my worst ideas ever. It meant we could save money on accommodation but we also arrived in Auckland around 7am and had to go to the airport and wait around until our flight to Fiji at midday. We ended up kipping on some of the airport benches as we were so exhausted! 

And so there we have it, a tale of two cities, admittedly probably not as engrossing as the book, and heavily based on Wellington but never mind. I have absolutely loved my time in New Zealand, a country dominated by impressive scenery and many millions of sheep. It is a shame we travelled so quickly round it but that is all the more reason to come back. NZ, I'll be seeing you.

Until next time. 

A x