Fiji Time

Next stop after NZ was a week of chilling out in Fiji. Just what the doctor ordered - sun, sand and surfing.

Yep as imagined Fiji is just as beautiful and just what you expect from the movies. Photo above is testament to this. On arrival we realised we maybe were a bit quick on cutting our two week visit here to only one week.

We did however spend 6 lovely days on the coral coast - about two hours away from Nadi on the main island of Fiji. We would have loved to have more time to explore other islands but as it was we decided just to base ourselves at the one spot. What a spot though. The home of celebrity love island 2006 - yes that's right the place where Sophie Anderton had a melt down, Abbie Titmuss flirted with Callum Best and Paul Danan got up to no good in the toilets. We had arrived (don't think Mike didn't spend ample time trying to find out where they had filmed the Love Shack - he did).

Regardless of the resort's stella background and the fact that is the home of Beauty and the Geek UK 2013 (yes they begin filming on 1st April) I will try and condense our other favourite things into 3, but it will be hard.

Favourite activity No. 1 - Water sports

When in Fiji, it would be a crime to not continue in our surfing schooling especially as we were staying at a resort where the top two Fijian surfers actually worked.

So we did just that.

Mike went out everyday, whereas I only went out once ( but did manage to stand at last!). We both also tried paddle boarding. - which I loved - a great workout and I got to surf a wave in the paddle board as well. Less said about getting caught in a rip and having to paddle board surf out of it the better.

Apart from the surfing and paddle boarding we also did a spot of swimming and snorkeling in the pristine waters - watching out for the reef and sharks of course .

Favourite activity No. 2 - Island trip with Pauly.

One of the activities on offer at our hotel, Fiji beach house is a trip to a small nearby island.

We headed out on the boat with Pauly (a big character and key member of staff at the beach house) on the boat.

We stopped along the way to catch some waves, and with Pauly's assistance I actually caught a few - well he does represent Fiji after all. He failed to tell me we were surfing amidst the Tiger and Bull shark area until we got back on the boat - thanks Pauly.

After the short surf we headed to the island where we chilled out with sandwiches and drinks, snorkeled and swam for a few hours.

We were greeted by the locals with Kava (a traditional Fijian drink - unfortunately not of the sparkling wine variety :( ) and proceeded to drink a lot of that.

Basically it is an extract from a local plant mixed with water and sieved through a cloth, which is traditionally drank at special occasions by all the family and friends.

It tastes a bit like dirty water. It was fun though. This is us enjoying the Kava ceremony.

On the way back we weathered a very bumpy ride across stormy waters which was a bit nerve racking but worth it for the sunset.

Favourite activity No.3 - hanging out with the staff and guests at Beach house

Being a fairly cheap (comparatively) hotel in Fiji with good surf and facilities the Beach House is always busy and a melting pot of nationalities, personalities and interests.

We really enjoyed meeting and spending time with so many different people, of varying ages and cultures over beer and taki (another Fijian drink - basically a lot of shots of bounty rum and coke).

We can't talk about are experience in Fiji without mentioning Pauly and Semi, staff at the hotel who chill with the guests and are great fun. Semi is the guy to see if you want to go paddle boarding and Pauly for surfing and pretty much everything else.

I also got to try Yoga for the first time which surprisingly I loved. Much thanks to go to Malka Lew for instructing Mike and I in the art. No jokes boys Mike got involved too (and it is bloody hard - we can both testament to how much we sweat and hurt afterwards).

We met a load of great guys and girls, mainly surfers and body boarders who put our feeble attempts to shame. We also met a couple of English guys, Eddie and Gus from Devon who were travelling before starting uni and had a good laugh with them every night over games of pool (I am getting good), beer and taki. Funniest moment of my trip to date has to be Eddie doing Yoga alongside me on my last day in Fiji. That alone was worth meeting them for and hopefully we will catch up with them again in Asia. Finally we can't forget Lucy the resort dog who enjoyed sitting in the sea with us everyday to cool down.