FIJI - October, 20th, 2016 BULA! At 5am I caught a flight with one layover in Sydney to country number 8....Fiji. Located in the South Pacific this country has over 300 islands consisting of palm-lined beaches, coral reef, clear lagoons, and truly the bluest of blue ocean. I flew into Nadi and shortly after going through customs all the passengers were greeted by a Fijian welcoming band. Actually each island you visit you're greeted by some guitar playing Fijians, singing songs and clapping hands. I met up with a driver who brought me to my accommodation and he was quite an encyclopedia of Fijian information, 'twas awesome! I stayed one night at Smugglers Beach Cove where I caught a connecting bus to the Port the very next day. Right away I met a medley of backpackers from all over where we started our journey together on South Sea Island. South Sea Island is one of Fiji's smallest islands, so small you can walk around the entire island in no more than 2 minutes. The island being so tiny is one reason my new fellow backpackers and I got along so well. We almost immediately piled into a submarine that cruised over top of a brightly coloured reef where we saw a shark, loads of starfish and really got to know each other. After eating lunch we went on a guided snorkel tour off the island and spent the better part of the afternoon laughing and comparing cultures. That evening the 7 of us went down to the beach to watch the magnificent sunset. Later that led into gazing at the billions of twinkling stars that filled the Southern Hemisphere, so compact that even the Milky Way was visible. The following morning the group of us decided to do this boat cruise called, Sea Spray. After hopping on and off of 4 different boats we eventually made it to an enormous sail boat that fit us and maybe 20 other travellers on it. We sailed on this all you can drink vessel to Cast Away Island where the movie Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, was filmed. You can even find the words " HELP ME!" in the sand if you follow 1 of the 2 white sandy beaches that fringe the island connecting to a peninsula. I spent a while snorkelling in the extremely blue water surrounding the island, the reef and the visibility there is quite good. The group of us eventually got back to the boat where we were treated to a BBQ buffet as we headed to the next island. We made it to Yanuya Island, home to a small village with a population of 6-700 people. After being greeted by villagers with song we were brought into the main hut off of the beach where we participated in a welcoming ceremony. Three villagers dressed in traditional Fijian ceremonial attire sat cross-legged in the front of the hut and prayed. The rest of us, including the boat crew, sat cross-legged as well and we all joined in. A child walked around the room with a coconut shell filled with cava and offered 1,2, or 3 rounds of the sacred Fijian drink as a welcome offering to the village. Cava is mainly the root of a plant that is dried out, ground and mixed with water. It looks and tastes like muddy water but it really isn't to bad...I had a few rounds of this natural sedative. What's strange about it is that just a cup full will numb your mouth but more and more of it makes you feel a little high. After taking a walk around the village, visiting the school and meeting some of the local children I left questioning the general quality of the lifestyles that we live, the same as I did when visiting villages throughout South East Asia. Their quality of living is simple but so much richer than most people's today. Families come together and share their love and time with each other on a daily basis. That time spent and that communication is so real compared to the majority of other families today. We've become such a generation of lazy technologically ran species in a fast pace society that are always consuming. I mean even the food in this village is home grown, steroid and hormone free. They know what they're eating and I think that's a better way of living! Anyway! enough of cava for me.... After jumping 3 boats back to South Sea island we all had our last dinner together before we all headed to different islands. Early the next morning we all hopped onto yet another boat that dropped each of us off at our accommodations on separate Islands. I'm yet again on my own at a very popular island in Fiji called, Nanuya Balavu island or MantaRay Island. MantaRay is slightly more expensive on account of the quality of the accommodation compared to most other islands in Fiji. It felt like quite a couples destination but that didn't stop me! I weaselled my way in between some those honeymooners and we all had the best of times. In fact many couples I befriended ended up all getting along and we became one big gang, I must say I've never been an 9th wheel before. I spent 2 days on this island mostly drinking, eating, and snorkelling over the gorgeous reef right off of the beach. The first evening a group of couples and I did sunset tubing where a boat took us out to the middle the sea, we all jumped in a tube, watched the sunset as the boat brought us rounds of drinks. That evening we played dirty drinking games with balloons and racing hermit crabs. After a late night out I had an early morning and went diving the next day. Of course being named Manta-Ray resort the place is known for its high population of Mantas that soar gracefully through the sea in front of the island. However I unfortunately missed that season, but one was spotted the day before I got there..just my luck! The next best option for diving is a reef called Shark Point where the chance of seeing different sharks is much greater. We reached about 18 meters deep before spotting clown fish, a green turtle, parrot fish, lobsters, and many types of coral. We went through a cave full of fan coral and when we got through to the other side we saw 6 big black-tip reef sharks and 1 white-tip. We found our neutral buoyancy and just watched them for a good 15 minutes as they swam back and forth looking for food. I spent that evening with everyone at the beach bar, stargazing and I saw three shooting stars. After checkout the following day I hopped on a boat where I was reunited with all my friends I met on the first island. We all swapped our previous island experiences and headed north to Naviti island where i stayed at Korovou Eco Resort. Korovou is a much more quiet and basic accommodation, I wouldn't call it a resort but definitely one that's well on its way to becoming a resort. After being greeted by locals we all got settled in and spent the entire day snorkelling and just relaxing on the beach. We got acquainted with the locals running the establishment and even greeted piglets and wild pups on the island. After spending the evening around an enormous beach bonfire with everyone a group of us organized a visit to another small village a half hour from Naviti. This small village has a population of 150 people and the very kind villagers were just as friendly and inviting as the last village I visited on Yanuya. I visited the only school in the village where I got to sit in on a class of year 8's. The kids put a performance on for the few us and eventually they taught us the dance and we had to partake in the performance as well. All the young girls would laugh when another gent and myself had to shake our hips during the dance. I donated some money to the village to go toward the many homes that have been affected from recent cyclones. Later back on Korovou I participated in a cooking class lead by Big L, the island's Chef. We made a simple Fijian dish called Kokoda, consisting of Spanish mackerel, minced veggies, coconut shavings, handmade coconut milk and lime. That evening before dinner I got a team of friends together and we joined a huge group of locals playing volleyball, Fijians are super athletic! The next day, before heading even more north, some of us were guided by an awesome local named Joe who brought us on a steep and treacherous hike. We climbed to the very top of a mountain on Naviti to an enormous mango tree that you can spot from way down on the beach. 'Twas such an intense hike one of the girls almost chundered!! From there I continued north to one more island called, Nacula island where I stayed at Nabua Lodge. A few of us continued north together and met a few new travellers on Nacula island. After getting settled in I organized for a few of us to go on a hike where we were breath taken by the phenomenal costal views. Three fellow backpackers and myself climbed up and down the steep, grassy hillsides of the island, it almost resembled Waiheke island in New Zealand. Headed back we got a little lost and ended up in a local village where a gentleman came out from his hut and directed us back toward our accommodation. That evening everyone staying at Nabua Lodge had dinner together followed by some drinking games. The next morning a group of us piled into a small boat that took us 45 minutes through some seriously rough ocean. We were all completely soaked as we hurdled over waves headed towards some cave "excursion". After signing a waver in case of death or dismemberment we climbed down into a large cave, these under water caves were rather frightening yet wonderfully picturesque. It was like something out of a movie scene, we were lead by a local through these connecting cave chambers. Constantly treading water we had to dive down into complete darkness and come up out of the other side into another large dark cave. Light would peer through the ceiling of these cave chambers just enough to see some of the harmless fish and black eels swimming below us. After that exciting adventure we headed back to the lodge for lunch before heading by boat to Blue Lagoon where the 1980's drama The Blue Lagoon was filmed, staring Brooke Shields. Off the shore of this marvellous island we went snorkelling with some seriously brave fish that would swim right up to your face, you could even feel them lightly graze you as they'd swiftly swim by. We got back to the lodge and finished off our last night on the Yasawa islands with dinner, drinks, more drinks and even a nude swim that whole group took part in. After spending 9 awesome days island hopping we took a 5 hour boat ride back to Nadi. 9 days felt more like 4 weeks of cold showers, constant boat hopping and meal portions getting less and less the further north we travelled. Finally arriving to the mainland some of those who I met at the very beginning of this "survivor voyage" reunited and headed back to smugglers hostel. That evening after a hot shower we all got together for dinner, shared stories and ordered almost everything off of the menu that had cheese as an ingredient. After an early night, the next day was spent just relaxing with friends by the beach eating and drinking literally all day before saying our goodbyes. I met some really awesome people in Fiji who will never be forgotten and I plan to reconnect with certain people when I visit Fiji again in the near future. I travelled back to Australia, back to Cairns where I was welcomed by Andy ✈️❤️. Feels good to be back, Feels kind of like home