Destination Leleuvia

Saturday 17th September

We arose at 5 am, had a shower and had another now famous breakfast. We reached the wharf at 7 am and climbed aboard our teeny tiny little boat. It was big enough for about 8 people. The trip took about 45 mins over mostly smooth coral reefed waters. It was fun!. When we arrived at Leleuvia we couldn't believe our eyes, our very own paradise island (apart from the 6 people that ran it and 2 dogs!) We were greeted by Lena and offered a bure (traditional fijian hut) but decided to give our tent it's maiden voyage. After finding a suitable spot and pitching up we had a walk around the isand which took all of 20 minutes before lunch. To stay on Leleuvia costs $25 a night including 3 meals a day... about 8 quid, another bargain! Lunch was a fresh tuna sarnie and a fresh coconut which the guys had shimmied up the tree to get....mmmm....we like fresh coconut :-) A bit more walking around the island and chatting to the guys that worked there, Gody and Dabs and it was time for dinner. All meals are annouced by blowing into a large shell....cool!! Dinner was fish in coconut cream with rice, cassava (a local root vegetable) and veg. It was by far the best meal ever, all ingredients were fresh that day....treats! In the evening it was so peaceful, only the lapping of the ocean and some unfamilar wildlife. We sat on the beach for Kava after dinner. Our second time so we knew what to expect. Everybody joined in and much Kava was consumed. It's a muddy brown liquid that tastes as it looks. But it's not as unpleasant as it sounds though. Everybody sits around the Kava bowl and it is served to each person in turn in a coconut shell. Either high tide (full) or low tide (half full). When you are passed it you clap once and say bula (hello, cheers and many other things!) You drink it in one and everybody claps 3 times then you clap 3 times... this all gets a bit confusing though the more you drink!! It instantly makes your mouth go numb, like a mild aneasthetic. Then it's passed to the next person. During this, 3 of the guys are playing guitars and singing traditional fijian songs. These are strong masculine men but they have the most gentle harmonious voices, really nice! The fijian are great hosts and we chat about this and that. They have a good sense of humour too which is a good job seeing as Rich let out a loud involutary fart during a quiet moment!!! Oh how we laughed at his red face!! One of the ladies demostrated a fijian dance with Freddy (a german guy who looks like robinson crusoe that's staying there for 4 months!!). Rich was then invited to dance with her....oh how we laughed at his red face!!. Later on in the evening we witnessed a moonbow! The moon was really bright and when the clouds passed over it, rings of colours formed all around it like a rainbow....it was cool. Lena invited us to go to church with us the next day on the village on a neighboring island, of course we said yes! Bedtime was around 10.30 pm which has been the norm since we've been in Fiji.

We'll have to continue this another day as I've been typing for ages and this internet cafe is quite expensive!!!

RAIN!

Friday 16th September

We woke this morning to the sound of torrental rain, and this wasn't comparable to anything that we have ever experienced in England. Think of the heaviest rainstorm that you have ever winessed in England and treble it then you may be getting somewhere close.
Anyway, woke up at 05.00 and got up at 06.00 feeling fully refreshed and ready for whatever the day threw at us. We sat around for a hour or so after having the now obligatory cold shower and then came breakfast. Omlette with baked beans, round after round of toasted sandwiches and a never ending supply of pancakes with jam. Breakfast of kings and all for only $15 a night (thats a fiver to you!) Bargain. Rich then walked to where we were supposed to get the truck up to Bobo's farm (our reason for coming to Levuka) to see if they'd come get us from the hostel. But when he returned it turned out that we weren't booked to go there till the following day! So, much discussion was had with Amanda, Randy and Debby about what to do for the rest of the day when another girl at the hostel, Bex, who used to live in Fiji told us about an island called Caqelai (pronounced Thangarli). Apparently it was a paradise island that took 15 minutes to walk around and the pace of life was easy, also it is renowned for it's excellent reef snorkling. So we set off down the local dive shop to find out more details.
When we returned we spoke with Liala (the lady that ran Mary's Lodge) and told her of our plans, she told us that Caqelai was nice but we should go to the neighbouring island of Leluvia as it was a little larger (20 minutes to walk around), had a sandy beach all around it, the snorkling was just as good, the food was genuine Fijian and most of all it's cheaper! Sold, we'll take it, sod Bobo's, so Liala gave them a ring and the 5 of us, Rich, Kaz, Amanda, Randy and Debby were booked in to picked up from the wharf at 0700 the following morning.

So, after that was all sorted, we decided to take a walk and we were told of the 199 steps at the far end of town that was a nice route to take over the top of town. So off we set and when we reached the top of the steps we realised the walk wasn't going to be long enough and so we asked some locals to point us in the direction of a route up to the top of the islands highest hill, he pointed us in the direction of a village settlement and suggested we ask them for further directions. So off we went, and after about 45 minutes of walking / stumbling we reached the settlement and a young man there said we wouldnt' get to the top and back before dark but suggested we check out the waterfall which was at the top end of their village. En route, we came accross some kids bathing and playing in a part of the stream and they happlily took us to the waterfall! They all dashed up the rocks in their barefeet while we stumbled in our hiking boots! The waterfall was fantastic and soon we were all jumping off rocks and enjoying swimming in the pool. After, the oldest girl Mary walked us back through the village saying that some of the village boys might give us some trouble. We were disappointed to discover that after 15 minutes walking we were right next to our accommodation and so needn't have trawled through the 'jungle' after all! But hey, it was a nice walk. In the evening we were invited to a local dance by Milli in the dive shop. It was a good laugh and plenty of dancing was done by all. We left at 10 though as it was a very early start in the morning. When moving to the next destination, an half and hour needs to be added to allow for the packing of the rucksacks!

Bula from Fiji

Hi All,

We're finally here, hurrah.

After setting off from Newbury at 12:00 Monday afternoon we finally arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 03:00 Wednesday morning. The flight to the US was all in daylight and we got to see some fantastic views over Greenland and Canada on the way (I'll put some pictures on later).
The whole flight from LA was in the dark and it's confussed the hell out of our bodies, not sure if we should run around like idiots or collapse from exhaustion!
Fiji is beautiful, like a picture postcard paradise. We've met a few other travellers and decided to hook up with a girl called Debbie and go across the main island to the east coast and then travel to an island called Ovalau and spend a couple of days on a Fijian farm with a guy called Bobo doing fishing with spears and the like:-) But this is all down to whether or not the airline get my bag back to me in time as they decided that it would be nice to send it to New Zealand! Never mind, Kaz's pants sort of fit;-)
All for now,

Rich (the smelly) and Kaz

Leaving Drinks in Nottingham

All,

Here's a few pictures of the night out in Notts on Saturday, thanks to all those that came to wave us off and thanks to Steve for making our ears bleed, if you ever get the chance to see Steve's band go and have a listen for yourself as they rock hard (I'm sure if you are interested, Steve will let you all know where they are playing). Thanks to Dave for getting us mind numbingly drunk with his questionable sized measures;-) Sorry there's no piccies after about 11 o'clock but the battery died!

Last night in Newbs

A couple of piccies from our last night in joy old Newbs.

Other ways to contact us

All,

We've set up a couple of accounts that allow us to make cheap calls from our mobiles while we are away. As a result you can leave us voice mail messages by calling 08000289653 and entering account numbers 2066518233 for Rich and 2012538828 for Kaz.
Look forward to hearing your insults and heart felt messages,

Rich and Kaz

Leaving Drinks in Newbury

Hi all,

We'd just like to thank everyone that came down to the Cross Keys on Friday night and gave us a great send off. Here's a couple of pictures of the night: