Fiji

25.07.16 - 05.07.16

Next up we visited Fiji for 12 nights. When we first arrived I was skeptical about Nadi, after driving through the town and surrounding area it did seem rather run down. However, when we arrived at our hostel and settled in I soon got to love the area. We stayed at Bamboo Backpackers, located in Nadi in a little section of hostels full of fellow backpackers. Our hostel was lovely, it had a bar, restaurant, pools and lounging areas right on the beach side. What we noticed and loved about Fiji is how friendly and genuinely nice the people are. They stop and say hi to you, which is Bula! in Fijian. It's not every place you go where people are alway happy and smiling. It was special! For the first few days we did a lot of chilling and all day tanning, which was nice and relaxing. We then decided to go island hopping for four nights and decided we would visit Mana and Bounty Island.

So we got a boat to Mana Island, an island just off the main coast of Nadi, about an half hour boat ride away. The island is very small, occupied by around 300-400 people. We checked into our room, a very basic room to say the least, with two beds and an old padlock on the door to keep our valuables safe. On our first day we went off snorkelling to an empty island, which took
about 30 seconds to walk around and you can walk across it in probably 15 seconds, it was that small! It was beautiful though! The sea around it however was very rough and not ideal for snorkelling and we only saw a few fish due to not wanting to be carried away by the current. Getting back in the boat in those conditions was an experience I'll say! Life on Mana was very relaxed, wake up, get breakfast, play some volleyball, go in the crystal clear sea and snorkel with the fish, sunbathe, have dinner (they fed us whilst we were there. Rice and pasta based, but pretty nice) and then evening activities. Whilst we were at Mana us girls got very involved with making handmade pendants out of coconuts for necklaces. So one of the Fijian men would cut out whatever pendent shape we wanted from a coconut, and then we would sand it down to make it smooth and then pierce a hole through the coconut so that it is able to be hung onto rope. This was super fun and occupied most of one torrential rain day we unfortunately had. Another activity we really enjoyed was snorkelling just of Mana Island, where we snorkelled for a bit and came across a baby shark. As soon as someone said there was a shark I was straight outta that water like there was no tomorrow hahaha, whilst everyone else stayed in and swam after it. I'm literally a baby when it comes to sharks, I can't cope! Nicola got some cool photos of it on her go pro though! Another highlight of Mana was going up onto the hills and watching the sunset with a great group of friends that we made there! Shoutout to my American girl Crystal, who we met in Mana :) In total we stayed 3 nights in Mana.

Mana

Next up we visited Bounty Island for one night only. This Island was a resort, so more expensive but much better quality. The food was a buffet which we were very glad to see after not eating too much on Mana Island, and our room was great having it to ourselves! We again went snorkelling and this was an experience! The man at the snorkel rental place told us the best place to go and gave us a water bottle full of bread so we can squirt it out in the water to attract the fish. Needless to say when we were out there and all these fish bombarded us I freaked out a little! Surrounded by 50-100 fish I was a little nervous and scared. The next morning we got up early and went out and did this again. This time I manned up and stayed out swimming around with all the fish and it was an awesome experience! I feel like I've accomplished something haha (no sharks thank god :)) There was also an awesome pool in Bounty, and a small little tank full of baby turtles which was the most adorable thing!! We loved Bounty.

Bounty

We then headed back to Nadi for one more night before our flight to New Zealand on the 5th. On our last day, myself, Nicola and Crystal went into Nadi town to have a wander around the markets. We found a gift market full of jewelery, bags and other bits. Us being girls found cute shell necklaces we wanted and got them for a good price after a barter or two. We also got our hair braided like little girls hahaha. If I was to give advice about where to go in Fiji I would definitely recommend Island hopping. It is a great way to see some of Fiji's beautiful 333 islands it has to offer. If you want an experience where you are living with the locals and seeing their culture then I would say visit Mana island, however one or two nights is enough. Bounty on the other hand was gorgeous, and I would say stay there maybe two nights as it is great but a little expensive. If I was to go again I would love to have visited Beachcomber Island which is more of a party scene, but also so beautiful with the waters crystal clear blue so perfect for snorkelling. There are many more islands heading South, but they get kinda expensive the further away you go from Nadi so it depends on the budget. All in all we loved Fiji!!

<3