A Week in the Yasawas

I had paid to travel on the Yasawa Flyer (a huge yellow catamaran) to get to Tavewa and Kuata in the Yasawa group of islands. However, it only left the mainland once a day, at 9am. This meant that I had to spend another night in Nadi. Learning from my previous experience, I went straight to bed (with no supper and no bedtime story!) and charged my batteries for the impending 4 hour journey on the catamaran.

The courtesy bus picked me up at 8am and it whisked me off to Denarau Marina. I was beginning to regret my decision to leave the Beachouse as everyone on the bus seemed to be the sort of people I had tried to avoid on my travels. You know............ assholes. When I boarded the Yasawa Flyer it wasn't all that bad but there were a lot of trendy young people looking for some action and I didn't feel that I fitted in at all.

Tavewa was my destination and, as the catamaran cruised through the clear blue waters past the tiny party islands of the Mamanaca Group we quickly reached teh Yasawas which were huge and mountainous in comparison.

The time flew by and most of the people were on package holidays that didn't include Tavewa in their itinerary which was a relief. I was the only person leaving the catamaran to go to David's Place Resort on the island.

As we approached, I saw some people waving at me and shouting n the beach and it was the Chaos Family (the Smiths) and they had caught the float plane there a few days before me. Isaac was happy because now he had his volleyball teacher back and he'd been practising a lot since I had seen him last and I was amazed at how quickly he learnt things (this includes making excuses when it goes wrong and swear words).

There werea total of 16 people staying at the resort and the dorm was virtually empty. All meals were included which were quite nice but not the best food I've had recently. The first thing I did at Tavewa was play volleyball with the locals and the one of the guests that was staying there (Dave) accidentally headbutted a breezeblock that was hanging from a rope (to keep the net tense) in true cartoon fashion - I'm surprised he didn't knock himself out!

The evening were bizarre as Ben, the manager of the resort, would introduce new people and say farewell to people leaving. However, he had a serious problem with communication and this could go on for as long as 30 minutes! Some people even tried escaping the lecture right after dinner time but it was difficult to leave in the middle of his spiel.

The next day, the Chaos family and I decided to have a planned shipwreck on the island - They dropped us off on a beach around the headland and, as it was deserted, we would set up a shelter, go snorkelling and catch some fish with Nigels spear gu and, when we wanted to go back, we would find our own way through the jungle. Well..... that was the plan anyway. We made our shelter out of palm fronds and driftwood and it was pretty effective - Biz and Pip were out of the sun and the breeze and the boys (Nigel, Isaac and me) went for a wander on the shore looking for wildlife and exploring the cliffs and caves nearby.

The snorkelling was off the cards as the tide was too low and we would have been impaled on the coral if we tried. So, we walked in the shallow water to the next two coves.The walk was teeming with wildlife: baby starfish, fish, crabs, and I even nearly trod on a whitebandedsea snake! (talk about shit yourself!).

The coves were great to explore and it was pikey heaven as there were all manners of interesting shells and stuff washed up on the shores. We made our way back to our "private beach" and, as a lot of the wood was hollow, we had an impromptu musical interlude banging the drum like logs and sticks - I even made some maracas out of a coconut and some small shells!

It was threatening to rain and the jungle was very dense so we walked around the shoreline to find our way back. Just as it started to rain we were in the bar with a beer in our hands of the neighbouring resort to David's Place! Not exactly roughing it but at least we tried the castaway lifestyle for a short while!

Despite it being quite cloudy while I was on Tavewa, I suffered from a bit of heatstroke and I had pulled a nerve in my shoulder from too much volleyball which put me out of action for a few days. I just read my books and did a bit of hiking around the island which was good fun too - the only map of the island that was available was like a treasure map but without the "X" marking the spot for the buried treasure (Aaarrrr - jim lad!).

Before I knew it, I was saying goodbye again and I was on my way to Kuata which is the southernmost island in the Yasawas. On the boat, I bumped into The Bristols again and this time they had an entourage - Jo and Gemma from London. They were all going to Kuata too.

Whilst I was trying to avoid lairy behaviour in Fiji, I wasn't that bothered by being back in "Club Rep" territory and a few drinks loosened me up a bit. There were a few tossers there but they didn't hang around me much because I didn't have boobs. Mind you, I must admit - I will miss the bikinis when I get back home - surely it'd be too cold for me to wear them in winter!

The views from Kuata were spectacular and the food was even better - it was real traditional cuisine and one night they even said that cutlery wasn't allowed to be used. I loved shoving my fingers into my food but most people didn't know what to do with themselves! (The soup was quite difficult though.)

I spent my last few days recouperating from my bad shoulder and read my books - the island was over run with Mana birds which have peculiar bird calls - they almost sounded like some one impersonating a bird or many different birds even! I t reminded me of Three Amigos every time I heard them!

On my last night, I decided to let my hair down a bit and started the drinking games with Gemma, Jo and a New Zealander called Adam who was quite loopy - he would have 3 conversations with himself at the same time and he'd have finished all of them by the time someone else got a word in edgeways! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we all got very drunk, we changed clothes and danced around, and ended up on the beach attempting to do handstands and sing songs from TV musicals. Bit sad really but I suppose you had to be there!

My last day in Fiji was nearly uneventful: I got back on the catamaran to go back to the mainland and then was taken straight to the airport (no stopping in Nadi this time, thank God!). However, in the airport, I was wandering around waiting to check in my bags and I bumped into Kelsie, my ex-girlfriend! I was shocked! It was good to see her (and damn, she looked good!) - she has been travelling with her boyfriend around Asia, Australia and New Zealand (basically the same trip as me) and I didn't even know she was out here. We chatted for a while but I never got to meet her new boyfriend - oh well! It was the biggest surprise I've had on my trip though and thankfully a pleasant one.