We were up early and took a local bus from the road outside out hotel.  It’s hard to describe how basic the roads are here compared to the UK, but there’s pretty much just one main road that loops the whole way round Viti Levu and it’s about the width of old Valley Drive!

This local bus was an epic and insanely cheap way of seeing the Fijian countryside.

It think it actually cost us more dollars to get a taxi from our hotel into town than it did to take this local bus halfway around the country!  And it was kool mixing it with the locals, the driver just pulls up outside everyone’s gaff as they jump on and off along the journey.

Half way to our target destination we hopped off ourselves to check out the Singatuko Sand Dunes.  Now this was the third helping of dunes i’d had in the last 6 months, so my cup was well and truly full!  But emma was a dunes newbe so i couldn’t exactly deprive the girl.

To our shock and horror there were no boards for dunes sliding here, but they did offer a mighty cross-trail trek!  Which turned out pretty good and was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

I actually can’t get enough of sand dunes!!

Right, if you can’t see emma…

…you best get yourself off down specsavers!

Once back at the park hut we stocked back up on water and had half a pack of biscuits each for lunch!

We were waiting for the bus onwards to Korolevu, which just didn’t seem to ever come.  So we tried a bit of hitchhiking and stole a lift with local dude on his way down to Suva.  Nice guy, bad driver!

Having a birthday in Fiji sure beats sitting at work like most other years, though it would have been nice if all my mates could have flown out on the lash with!  Still, at least the girl was here!  It was a very different birthday.

In theory the hotel we were staying at here on the mainland should have had far higher standards than most of the shacks we’d been sleeping in out on the islands.  But it was here emma decided to get devoured by bed bugs!  It was the first time since i’d been away that i’d really experienced a problem with them, in fact i still didn’t have much to complain about (must not be interested in ginger blood).  But emma was covered in the bites!

The next day we went for a mission into town for em to buy a new pair of flip floppers.  She’d been walking around on the islands for the last 2 weeks with feet of filth!  Our experience of Nadi second time around was a lot improved, the sun was shining, we’d had time to acclimatize to Fiji and the city seemed actually a nice place.

I think it helped that we were a lot more tanned than our previous visit straight off of the plane, we didn’t get half as much hassle walking through the streets… obviously no longer had that ‘fresh meat’ look!

Back at the hotel we had a lazy afternoon lazing around the pool and catching up with things online, even here though internet prices are ridiculous in Fiji!

That evening we went out for a birthday curry a day late!  It was good to have some proper restaurant food for a change, not a bad ruby from the other side of the world!

As we were setting up our gear the instructors sunk a wheelie bin full of frozen fish to the bottom.  The conditions were really choppy for this last dive, so as soon as we were in the water we started diving to get to calmer water.  There was a rope tied to the boat and an anchor at the bottom of the reef, so we used that to find our way down and avoid being caught in any currents.

By the time we got to the bottom the boat just a small rectangle of white smashing around on the surface.  You wouldn’t want it to leave without you.

We set up at the bottom about 2 meters from the bin and the feeding area, then the instructor started things off.  At first it was just a fish show, but tons of them going mental.  Some of these fish were absolutely huge, you wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of these chaps let alone the sharks!

After a while the sharks got wind of things and started nosing around.  I think they were mostly all reef sharks, a few black tips and a few white tips.  Some of them were about as long as me, but none that wouldn’t have been able to take in a fight if i needed to.

We were happily watching the feeding frenzy when all of a sudden we were attacked by a Moray eel!  By attacked i mean some of the others had taken some fish food over to it and were enticing it out of the side of the reef.  But it caught us by surprise, i’ve never seen anything like it.  I haven’t got a photo this was too deep for our camera, but he was this guy’s twin:

Evil looking thing.

Our air was just starting to get low and we were about to head for the surface when a Lemon Shark showed up.  We had been told that there was a possibility of one appearing at some stage, but i hadn’t paid much attention as it would be pathetic!  ‘Lemon’ shark, doesn’t sound like much at all…. -  It was absolutely massive!  At least 4 meters long, that’s huge!  Before he appeared all the other sharks and fish disappeared out of the feeding area, they knew what was coming, which left just us lunatics when this beast showed up.  It demolished the rest of the frozen fish about 2 meters from where we were standing, what a wicked experience.

Once the Lemon had had enough it really was time to surface, in fact it was past that time i had to cut my safety stop short.

And that was us qualified divers!  Another expensive hobby that we’re now both hooked on!

At the dive shop we were proficient in setting up our own gear now, and each diver’s regulator has two air sources  so i knew if i messed mine up i could always just nick some of emma’s air anyway!

This time we weren’t diving at the blue Lagoon we were off to Tom’s Thumb, a huge coral reef in the middle of the sea somewhere that sticks out of the sea-bed like a big pyramid.

This was deeper and marginally more challenging because the wall of coral has huge overhangs that you can get up and underneath.

Again i think me an Em loved every minute we had under the surface, it was good getting in a more confined space.  Big pressure not to smash into anything though because some of the coral structures take decades to develop.

Rob had us ticking the technical skills off of the list too, we were strapped up with compasses and leading a bit of navigating at the bottom.  It was all coming together, 1 more dive and we’d be certified scubaras!

We went through all the technical stuff again, but this time 15m down so there’s less room for messing up.  Once that was out of the way we had a much longer open water dive, and spent more time exploring this mental planet under sea.  We’d spent some time working on how to control your buoyancy, so this was even more effortless than the first dive.  Really good fun.

Proper island paradise:

This specific beach is the best beach i’ve ever been to.

That wouldn’t have been saying much this time a year ago – because between Blackpool, Gravesend Prom and tourist swamped holidays in Spain there wouldn’t have been much competition.  But over the last 7 months i’ve been seriously spoilt!  I’ve got a terrible feeling that everything from here on out is going to be pure disappointment!

We spent the afternoon alternating between lazing around on this virtually deserted stretch of perfection and snorkeling with out new underwater disposable.

Your going to have to trust me that there were actually a lot more fish than this, but catching them was a nightmare!  First of all how does anyone swim holding a camera!?  And then the fish themselves are right little buggars!  They know exactly what a camera looks like i’m sure of it.  When the camera was on the beach the fish would mingle about like you’re weren’t even there, but as soon as you try and line a view finder up they’re gone mate!

Anyway, who cares if you find any fish – as long as you find this one:

Good work ems!

But seriously this crappy camera does not do the snorkeling in Fiji justice, the water was so clear the fish that you don’t belive exist were amazing.

On the way back to the beach i saw an octopus as well, incredible.  I thought i was seeing things at first because he had some good camouflage and disappeared into some coral as soon as he clocked me.  But i waited for about a minute or two (the old snorkel tube coming into good effect) and as soon as he thought the coast was clear he crawled his way back out again and then swam off to another hiding place.  About the size of a football, completely made my day it did.

Already told you about Coral View, but i’ve finally got the photos developed from the all Scuba Diving and Snorkeling we did so i’ll tell ya about that!

Fiji’s one of the cheapest and best dive locations in the world, apparently, so it would be crazy not to do our Padi Open Water certificates here.  We signed up with a geeza called Rob, and got straight into the class room for our first lesson.  It was a bit of a false start though, instead of being let loose straight into the underworld we were sent away with a mountain of homework to do!

So we got back to the dorm and set up office in the garden.  We had dive manuals the size of bibles to get through, but it was funny studying together.  Em’s a bit more used to it than me – coming straight from finishing uni to out here in paradise… but she’s not used to working in this heat so i was in for a chance at glory.

A whole day later and we were about as educated as we were sunburnt.

Back at the Dive Shop we passed our tests with ease, i can’t remember who got the top score… but i’m fairly certain it would have been me.

We geared for our first dive and took a boat to the Blue Lagoon dive site.

This is emma and our instructor Rob, legend.

We were both really excited, couldn’t wait to get down with the fishes!  But then we saw where we would be diving….. stunning!

Most britons learn to dive in a cold murky puddle, this was incredible!  Felt seriously lucky.

We were literally straight in at the deep end, tank strapped to my back, mask on, regulator in my gob and then rolled off the boat dragged by the cylinder toppling backwards!… fully expecting to sink to the bottom swallowing half the sea.

But funnily enough it works!  For a second you don’t know which way is up, there’s just enough time to take a first underwater breath and then your buoyancy jacket plants you firmly back on the surface.  All that weight that made it near impossible to stand up on the boat has disappeared, and when you kick your legs you accelerate towards the shore like a human seal.

The first lesson was in shallow water practicing the skills that we’d spent the previous day reading about.  All the stuff that you need to know how to do so that if something goes wrong at the bottom down you don’t die.  It was surprisingly easy, the hardest part was staying in a close group when everyone kept floating away!  Amazing how easy breathing underwater actually feels though, and how all the techniques in the manual just work.  Even ‘sipping air underwater’ would seem impossible, it’s like drinking out of a water fountain but the opposite way round.  It doesn’t sound like you could open your mouth underwater and do that, but you literally sip the bubbles out of the sea!

Once the technical stuff was out-of-the-way we went for a real swim!  We followed the gradient of the seabed down to about 10m and were instantly in a different world.  The visibility was excellent and thousands of fish didn’t bat an eyelid (do fish have eyelids?) as we mingled with them and their reef.  Peaceful, beautiful, and incredibly good fun.  The only problem was how quickly time goes underwater, and it felt like only a few minutes before our tanks were close to empty.  We’d been underwater for half an hour, back at the surface we were buzzing and 10x more excited for day 2.

It was also the only resort that had a swimming pool and Em loved that:

It was raining the night we arrived, and i used a poncho that i’ve been carrying around in my pack since i left England, the first time i’ve used it!  Actually it wasn’t a poncho, this whole time i’ve thought it was a poncho when actually it was one of those metallic emergency blankets they hand out at athletics competitions or races.  Still worked though, me and emma looked like nutters sprinting around in the rain!

By morning our rain shield was no longer needed.  Things were back to being to hot for comfort!

and i was back to working on the tan! I’m determined to defy nature and become the brownest ginger ever!

Later we borrowed a double Kayak and paddled off to do a lap of the island.  I’m not used to exercise here… it was hard work!  Emma drove me like a slave!  – except she was doing half of the paddling (and by ‘half’ i mean ‘most’).

In the afternoon there was a palm weaving class that first needs fresh palm leaves.  The local guy stepped up and put every other man on the island to shame by shooting up and down a huge tree carrying with him a machete that i could hardly lift!

In an attempt to recover form this and impose my male dominance once more, i challenged Em to a sporting contest.

Then lost!  Even once i’d started trying properly, she still smashed me!

The snorkeling around Bounty Island was some of the best yet, it still amazes me everytime we go for a swim.  So many fish!  There was this one huge one that was attacking the coral, it had some massive teeth and it was smashing rocks to pieces.

Our last day on Bounty Island and our last day before heading back to the mainland was my Birthday!  What a beautiful place to start my 22nd year of life!  It was similar to most other days here, so excellent then.  I lazed about and were was waited on for breakfast and lunch!

Mixed feelings about leaving the island life behind, i don’t think i’ve ever been anywhere as close to paradise as it is here.  But after 2 weeks i think i was ready for a change, ready to go back to civilization!

On the boat we were gifted with a Birthday Sunset!

All the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157621600952991/

It was proper basic, the dining room didn’t even have a solid floor it was just sand.  It was a bit dark and dingy in there during the day, but a night the place had atmosphere.

In the evening after food everyone mixed up their own spirits and we played kids games.

I’d completely forgotten how much fun musical chairs is!

The next day was stupidly windy, which kinda took the fun out of laying on the beach.  A load of us had a game of touch rugby with the locals, and i realised how unfit i am after 7 months of minimal exercise.

The next night we had a Kava session and a bonfire.  This bloke here:

‘Seeme’…  was an absolute legend and it was him and Moses that made the place.

Rob our dive instructor took everyone back out to the ferry, the amazing colour of the water here just doesn’t get old:

We were getting used to the routine by now, the small boats from all the resorts load up and get out to see in good time.  Then you sit waiting in the middle of nowhere until the ferry comes over the horizon.

As soon as the ferry is spotted there’s a race towards it and then chaos as everyone is herded from the small boats to the big boat, or vice versa.

If you lose sight of your bag you’ve had it… it’s on its way back to Nadi!

Te arrived at Manta Ray and had the usual welcoming party of staff on the beach.  It’s a relatively new resort and you could tell as we explored around it.

The meals here were amazing, like something you’d expect in a michelin star restaurant.  Could not fault the food at all.  But apart from that we weren’t quite sure what we were paying the extra money for.  Manta Ray was nice, but not significantly better than anywhere else and i think we had a better time at Coral View.

The main attraction at Manta Ray Resort is that it’s the best place to swim with manta rays.  The beach forms a passage that at certain times of the day the mantas pass through and you can swim with these huge creatures that span up to 5 metres wide.  What we didn’t realise before we got here is how expensive it is to do that, we assumed we could just dive in the sea with them but apparently you have to pay for a guide and on top that hiring snorkeling gear was extortionate.  The whole thing is a rip off and after the extra money we’d spent just staying here, there was no way we could afford it.

So we only stayed here 2 nights, and were pretty disappointed with the place.

We still managed to find a beach to ourselves:

And the hammocks were the same as at the other 2 resorts, so joint best in the whole damn world!

We went for a walk round here:

And all of a sudden it kinda looked like whole rocks were moving.  Then we realised it was just hundreds of black crabs!   I’ve never seen soon many in my life!  Far to quick for me and my camera, but crazy watching them all launching themselves into the sea as they caught sight of us and made a dash for it.

More book reading and then we were off again to the next island!