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!!!