Fiji Time
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2011
1
132
289
Trip End
Sep 06, 2012
Where I stayed
Safe Landings Resort
Nacula Island, Western, Fiji
Friday, March 2, 2012
We checked our bags in and then picked up our passes. The boat which was taking us to the islands was the Yasawa Flyer, a big yellow catamaran. It was pretty full and had a mix of all ages, which was a good sign. We left the port at around 8.30 am and headed off towards the Mamanucas and Yasawa's islands. The first island we stopped at was South Sea island. I now definitely felt that I was in paradise. This island literally has a hut and palm trees and nothing else. It would take about 5 minutes to walk around. Absolutely amazing.
The island I had chosen was Nacula Island which was the furthest island away, which I thought made sense as I could see each island as we went past and I could then decide where I wanted to stay on the way back. It was going to take around 4 1/2 hours all round. Stuart got off at the 3rd island, Beachcomber, which is renowned as the party island. This is my final stop for 2 nights before I get back to the mainland.
I felt quite emotional travelling up through the islands as I never in a million years ever thought I would spend time in paradise, and this definitely is paradise.
The weather was pretty cloudy but you could feel the sun burning through the clouds. I think I got a bit wind burnt as my face felt a little tight and my lips are pretty dry. Got to my stop at around 1 pm and I was picked up by a little boat to take me ashore. I was the only one who got off the boat for this resort. I started to think to myself, what's wrong with this place, as everyone was getting off for the Blue Lagoon Resort (cost a lot more to stay there). When we arrived at the island, I was greeted by two girls, one playing a guitar and the other signing and they suddenly shouted out Bula! This means hello or welcome in Fijian. I was given a glass of juice and welcomed onto the island.
I am so sorry but I am going to keep saying paradise, over and over again. This resort consisted of around 7 bures (double and single rooms) and one dorm room which has 24 beds. I am the only person in the dorm, and there is one other person staying here, an older lady called Jacky from Australia.
Nacula is the 3rd largest island in the Yasawa's and is a hilly, volcanic island. There are several villages on the island which you are not allowed to enter unless you have been invited by the chief or accompanied by a local to meet the chief. There is nothing to do here apart from relax and go on Fiji time which means whenever. No one uses watches or clocks here. It will happen when it happens.
All my food is included in the price of the ticket and when I got here, lunch was served immediately. It was vegetable fried rice. If this is the standard of food I am going to receive for the next two weeks, I'm gonna be a very happy girl!
The rest of the afternoon was spent led on the beach. You have the choice of two beaches here, one of them is pretty rocky and the one which is right out the front of my dorm is sandy and has a lovely breeze so that's where i'm going to spend most of my time. After a few hours on the beach, I decided to climb into one of the many hammocks around the grounds and fell asleep there for about an hour. I think this is going to be the theme for the next 2 weeks.
Dinner was served around 7 pm and I ate with Jacky and the owners mum, Colleen, who is also from Australia. I've got a feeling that by the end of this trip, I am going to be so laid back and relaxed, i'll be horizontal!
Oh, one thing I have to explain is that the only power here is by generator so it's switched on around 9 am until 1 pm and then around 6 pm until 10pm. After this, lights out!! Also, no hot showers, only cold. That's not a bad thing though as it's so hot here, it's nice to have a cold shower. Not allowed to use hairdryers either.
3rd March 12
Not much to report today, as my day was mainly spent sunbathing and swinging in the hammock. I did go for a walk along the beach to the other resort first thing in the morning as I am going to have to do some sort of exercise, otherwise I’m going to gain weight as we get served pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast!!!
One thing I did participate in though was Pual showing me a coconut demonstration. He told me all about the Palm Tree and how everything is used, i.e. the roots are used for medicine (used on cuts and also bad stomachs), the bark for building material, the leaves for weaving and the coconuts for obvious reasons, the flesh and the juice. Pual also got me to taste the difference between a young coconuts flesh and juice to the mature one. The juice of the young one is amazing but the flesh isn't so good. It's tastes pretty nutty. The flesh of the mature one tasted devine (I don't like coconut) and the juice tastes more milky, just like the coconut cream you get in the shops. Pual also showed me how to cut and husk a coconut with a machete. As you can imagine, I didn't try. I would have probably lost a finger or hand!
Went for a swim in the sea, which is crystal clear and so warm, it felt like you were in the bath. I have definitely got my colour back now as Jacky said to me I look like one of the locals. Yeah, and it's only my second day.
I had a chilled night having a beer and food with the owner and Jacky. Leaving this island tomorrow and heading for Coral View Resort on Tavewa island.
I had one distraction in my dorm tonight. As you can imagine there are lots of flies, mosquito’s and other things that fly around or make noises in the night, along with the little geckos. I was led in bed and could hear a scurrying sort of noise and thought that there might be a mouse in the room. This was before 10 pm as the lights were still on, but quite dim in my room. I put my head torch on and flashed it around the room, when suddenly, something caught my eye. I could see something moving over to the right hand side of the room and I thought it was a mouse. I shone my torch onto it, thinking it would run away, however, it stayed still. Then it started moving again, so I got out of bed to look at what it was and it was a flippin crab! How on earth did it get in here. It was probably about the size of the palm of my hand and there was no way I was going near it. Ever since I was little I have always been frightened of crabs, as mum rightly knows. When I was little, we used to go looking through the rock pools in St Ives and she would pick them up and try and give them to me and I would run away!
I had to go and get Colleen and ask her if she was any good with wildlife. She didn’t like crabs either, so together this was going to be fun. It had wedged itself into the side of a wood panel, but there was enough of the body out to try and remove him. The only thing we had to use was a straw and a plastic bin which had holes in the side! This crab did not want to leave the room and kept launching out with his pincers. We were both laughing our heads off as the poor crab was probably more frightened of us, but he was putting up a good fight! Eventually, Colleen managed to scoop him into the bin whilst I held it. All of a sudden he started climbing up the side of the bin so Colleen launched the bin and luckily enough, the crab hit the door, which was open) and he scurried off outside. Thank god for that. There was no way I could have slept in that room knowing a crab could have climbed onto my bed to bite me!!
Comments
That's more like it. What a wonderful place xx