Massages, boat cruises and allergic reactions...

BULA!!! (Hi & Goodbye in Fiji)

I have just returned back from my getaway vacation to the island of Fiji!! I woke up at 4:30 am and headed to Fiji last Friday morning. We arrived in the early evening and as we walked off the plane, court and myself were greeted with men singing and playing guitars as well as having a seashell lei put around our necks!! After coordinating our stay when getting there, without the vouchers we forgot and needed to get into our hotels and boat cruise, we headed to the hostel we would stay in that night!! When arriving at our hostel, instantly they asked us if we had our reservation voucher, and of course since we forgot it, we didn't!! So already we had encountered a problem. I then had to buy a phone card to call Kina back in Australia since, problem #2, our cell phones weren't working and asked her to run to the travel office and have them fax our information to Fiji, hah. SAVIOR!! Then after checking we headed to our room and went straight down to the bar after that long day of traveling!!! LUCKY US....there were "schoolies" in our hostel and so Courtney and myself thought it would be a great/funny idea to be "toolies" and join in on the fun!!
Schoolies=kids who have just finished year 12 and are on holiday
Toolies=kids who are "too old" to hang with the schoolies, hahah.
It ended up working out well, because we got ourselves bought a couple drinks and then went to bed!

Castaway Island

The next morning we woke up at 6 am to grab the bus to Port Denaru. When checking in to our boat cruise, I guess the boat cruise we originally were on, was filled up so they "had to" bump us up to a better one, THANKS! We then headed out to the island of Mana and hopped on to the smaller boat we would be spending the rest of the day on. The boat was filled with kids the same age as us and free booze was provided, so we took advantage of that!!! The first island we stopped at was the Castaway Island. As you can probably get from the name, it was the island where the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks in it was filmed. This island is an uninhabited island and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The water was so blue, it was better than snorkeling in Cairns at the Great Barrier Reef. After walking around the island and taking a much needed photo shoot, haha, with any cool thing we saw, we laid on the beach and soaked in the HOOT sun. We then boarded the boat again and we were served with lunch and more drinks, yay!!! We then headed to another island where a village of Fijian people lived. The people who live on this island are so poor and literally have nothing. The way they acquire their money, is from the tourists and they work by making jewelry and other items for tourists to buy. While we were there, we attended a Kava ceremony. Kava is this root that grows in the ground and the Fijians smash it up, add water and drink it. Everyone afterwards tried this drink, but NOT ME, I didn't wanna drink dirty ground water, that had been smashed up by other peoples' hands and then shared communally for drinking, haha, I'll pass. We then walked around the markets, bought some souvenirs and headed back to the boat! On the way back, court and I met some awesome people and were talking with them the whole way home. It was then time to head back Nadi and we were picked up and taken to our resort on the Coral Coast.
When arriving at our resort, we were so excited, because it was such a change from the hostels that we have been staying at. The resort was amazing and we were guided to our own Bure!! We walked inside and it was huge, with an amazing bathroom with an indoor shower as well as an outdoor shower connecting to the bathroom that which you could shower under the stars or palms trees, ha! We then headed to dinner. Well....at dinner I thought it would be an amazing idea to go all out and get something nice to eat for a change. So, I decided, what the hell...I am going to get the lobster. Well after about 20 minutes had gone by after eating it I had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction to it. Not just a little one, but my heart started racing, my body was shaking and I felt extremely light-headed....GREAT..just what I needed. Two hours later and a $40 phone call to my mom back in the states at 4 am, I had finally fallen asleep and was glad to wake up without dying!!!

Horseback riding

After waking up, court and myself headed to get breaky and pretty much do nothing ALL DAY!! Well actually we did have a pretty busy day, after tanning for a good two hours, we decided to participate in the water aerobics class in the pool and play a little pool volleyball....which I dominated at!!! After tanning for another 2 hours, we had to get up and do a SUN DANCE, haha. Every day the Fijians do a sun dance with all of their guests and sing along to a song and dance for the sun to return everyday, haha, I have never laughed so hard, it was HILARIOUS! We then got lunch (I decided to stay away from anything that lives in the sea), and after waiting a good 25 minutes, just to order, because everyone is EXTREMELY SLOW in Fiji, hah, we then went to our massages!! The massage was so amazing and much needed from all the stress I have been encountering at school!!! That night we had dinner (I had chicken, of course) and there was live entertainment at our resort as well, polynesian dancing!! It was amazing, I have never seen girls shake their hips so fast and the two boys twirled batons that were lit on fire, it was so amazing. I was in LOVE with Fiji. Every person is so incredible happy, friendly and nice. It was so incredible to see how content and happy these people were, when they live in such a run-down, poor country.
The next morning, we woke up especially early, so we could get in a few good hours of tanning before we had to leave for the airport. Before that, we walked along the beach, Courtney went snorkeling as I watched and picked up hermit crabs on the sand, haha, and then she took a horseback ride, as I yet again watched!! The horse used for horseback rides looked so worn down and frail, that I wasn't sure how much longer it was going to make it, haha, but Court make it back in one piece and so did the horse, hha.
We then laid out a little longer and it finally came to an end. We had to say BULA to our beautiful resort
and the beautiful island of Fiji! This was such a great way to end all of my traveling here in Australia and I definitely will be heading back to Fiji in the future.
We then arrived at the airport at hit up the DUTY FREE...oh ya, finally cheap alcohol...NO MORE GOON, at least not for a while, haha!!

Look forward to much more to come.....BULA!!!

Boats, Snorkeling and finding Nemo!!

Aye Aye Maties!!

Our boat-Powerplay

Sorry for taking so long with posting another blog, but I am finally back from my most recent trip to the Whitsunday Islands!!! This past weekend, 10 girls along with myself heading to the Whitsunday Islands for a weekend on the waters!! We arrived to the strong winds, heavy rain and were told the Whitsunday Islands hadn't received this much rain in 75 years.....GREAT, thats just why I came here!! After taking our coach and being told by the driver, that if the rain persists the roads may flood and we would most likely be stuck here, we finally made it to our hostel that we would be spending the night in. When entering my room, I realized that I was right above the bar and it pretty much sounded like I had my own, private concert in my room, because the music was so loud, haa. After finally falling asleep, we all headed to the marina where we would then get onto our boat, Powerplay it was called, and live there for the next to days and nights. We first met the crew, Mikey (Dive instructor), Dunan (the skipper/so cute) and Natalie (the "boat mum"). We then headed out to sea and were ready for a great adventure ahead of us!! We first sailed to a couple different places and were able to go snorkeling and diving. The reef and the underwater life was absolutely amazing, I had never seen anything like it before, even though I had been to Cairns, this was different, it was so amazing the coral was so colorful and vibrant. When snorkeling, all the fish would follow me and my snorkel buddies (Meggers, Jenners and Tim) all around. They would swim right up to our masks and I even touched a few of them. It seemed as though they weren't afraid at all and were so intrigued by what was in their water!! After a day of relaxing, eating, swimming and snorkeling we all got ready for the evening. When I mean get ready for the evening, I mean taking showers that consisted of ONE MINUTE, where the shower was in the same place as the toilet and sink and we had to use the extendable hose connected to the faucet. It was pretty much the smallest/grossest thing ever, so that day I decided I could live without a shower for 2 days and let the ocean be my shower, EWW!!!  That night, we had a barbie and watched a movie in the lounge (oh, which also happened to be my bedroom as well as 7 other peoples' bedroom).
SIDE NOTE: We watched this movie called "Shark Waters" and it was an incredibly informative and emotional documentary that showed the defining of sharks that are cut off them and sold in the market to Asian countries for the use of their "shark soup." The population of sharks has decreased by 90% in the past couple years and it will continue to decrease if people continue to kill sharks for their fins. It was WAY crazy and sad to learn about that.

snorkel buddies

Well the next day I woke up around 6:45am with a sore neck and to find that I was wet because the window in the ceiling had leaked and was dripping on me all night!! GREAT! We then sailed for a couple hours and went snorkeling again!! This time, I saw so many fish that were so beautiful and I FINALLY FOUND NEMO, and his mom, dad and maybe a couple cousins, hah. I was waiting for this day to come!! When we swam over to the anemone we saw all of them swimming around it and poking their heads in and out of it, it was so amazing!! I also saw rainbow fish, parrot fish, a stupid fish (which thinks that you can't see it but you really can) and a HUGE fish with BIG Angelina Jolie type lips, hah!! After we were all done snorkeling and our hands and feet were wrinkly, Duncan sailed us over to one of the top ranked beaches and the most "eco-friendly" beach in the world called White Haven Beach. This beach has NO SAND. White Haven beach is made up of silica which is formed from tectonic plates grinding together and it felt amazing to walk on. When we arrived, the water was turquoise and we saw 10-15 sting rays and little baby sharks, AHH!! We took hundreds on funny pictures (which you will soon see on facebook) and then headed back out to sea for one last and final night :(

SUN!!

That evening, Mikey thought it would be a good idea for all of us to participate in a game on the boat and the game was to pick up a box on the floor with your mouth without using and hands and you couldn't go down on your knees (well here goes nothing). I ended up being one of the last people remaining (along with Court, Cath and Emily) to pick up a flat piece of white paper on the floor of the boat (pretty unsanitary if you think about it, haa) and it was really fun. We then had a "sausage sizzle" and ate dinner! We were all SO tired from the massive day we had earlier that we tried to watch a movie but none of us could stay awake.
It was finally the morning of of the day we had to leave and we woke up around 7 am, went snorkeling again (in the rain) and then headed back to the shore. The sun FINALLY came out for a couple hours and the whole group including myself laid out on the front  of the catamaran and tanned.
We finally arrived back at the marina, said our goodbyes to the awesome crew and 5 others including myself headed back home that night.....where I finally got a decent shower,  and I am pretty sure I looked like a bum with a rats nest of hair, who smelled like wet dog by the end of that weekend, but I didn't care it was so amazing and can't wait to return to the Whitsundays again!!!

STAY tuned.....FIJI on Friday!!! Can't wait.
xx

YUM....Halloween & Sydney

Its about that time...

So this past weekend, I was in Sydney and arrived on Thursday evening. Kina and I were lucky enough to stay in her friend, Kendall's house in Sydney for free and the house was great!! The night we arrived, we threw our stuff down, got ready and headed out. We ended up going to a Emo/ "I like to slit my wrist" type of bar to sing Karaoke, haha. The bar ended up to be a really good time and we finished the night by singing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey and having people walk out of the bar with their ears plugged. I don't know why they would be doing that, because we are pretty much AMAZING singers, hah.  The night had come to an end and I needed to "hit the hay" for a big day tomorrow. 

After accidentally sleeping in and getting an amazing breakfast from a cafe around the corner, the girls and myself heading out to see the Opera House as well as the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was great seeing both of these things, because I had seen them my whole life on TV and movies, but I never thought that I would actually end up standing right in front of them. The opera house was beautiful and it over looked the harbor and a wonderful park right behind it. It was beautiful outside and Kina, Kendall and myself spent the day walking around Sydney ,to find an amazing food market where we had samples and bought our lunch and sat right near the markets. We then headed back to the house to get ready for a "risky" night of business, ha, get it?? 

We then dressed up for the Halloween boat cruise that we took on the Sydney harbor and headed down there around 7:00 pm. I was dressed up as risky business, Kina was a ballerina, Kendal was a bunny and some of the other girls were a Devil, Koala and a cat!! We then met up with some more of the american kids who were going on the cruise and spent half of the night on the boat with free drinks provided all night and an amazing view, with fireworks finishing off the night. After getting off the boat we went into this bar car Cargo Bar which was right on the water and it was so much fun! 

Saturday rolled around and we got up went to the Gleeb Markets, where they sold, jewelry, clothing, art, food and much more. We then had an amazing breakfast and headed to the famous Bondi Beach. When headed to the beach, I didn't realize how long it would take, but after taking a train, to the bus station, then waiting for that bus for about 35 minutes, I was pretty sure I would be tanning in the dark!!! After the bus FINALLY came, we arrived at the beach to see that there was pretty much no remaining space on the beach because it was so crowded. Bondi Beach was absolutely beautiful and the water was crystal blue. Cliffs surrounded the beach and there was beautiful houses built on the cliffs overlooking the water. After getting onto the beach, the first thing that welcomed me was a woman in a thong swimsuit!! Awesome what a welcoming, haha! We then spent the rest of the afternoon into the early evening at the beach and where we watched people surf incredibly large waves and we threw around a football!  The night then rolled around and we got ready to have a girls night out and we headed to a BYO (Bring Your Own) Italian restaurant which each of our own bottles of wine!! After we all ate so much that we felt like we each had our own "food babies" we headed to George St., a great place to go out at night in Sydney. After watching a live band at a bar and seeing all the people dressed up in halloween costumes we decided it was time to head back to the house!!! Sydney was so amazing and I realized how much I missed the feel of a big city. It was definitely a place that I would like to return to soon and see what more it has to offer!! 

Next weekend....Whit Sundays!! Keep looking forward to more stories!!

YUM...xx

PS. Katie Dodge!!