Days 1,2, and 3 in FIJI

Hey Everyone,

Day 1
So when you think about Fiji, one usualy imagines walking out the back of their hotel onto a beautiful white beach and amazing blue green water on a sunny day. We walked into our hotel, out the back door, onto some dirt, followed by a wet clay type of sand and looked hopefully into some dark murkey water, only to get bitten by a crab. We walked back into the hotel and booked the next day at one of those islands you would imagine Fiji to be like. But we made the most of our first day. We started the morning off with a nice breakfast which we needed after those long flights. Then we got our day started and walked along the clay sand, had a balancing contest (which Dan won despite years of Ballet training), layed in a hammock (which almost flipped over) and caught up on some reading. All in all, it was a really nice day since falling asleep in a hammock is pretty sweet.

Day 2
We woke up early ( everyone in Fiji does) had breakfast, and then jumped on the 7:15 bus which would take us to the nearest port. We boarded the boat and were off by 9am to the South Sea Island. We arrived only a short half hour later and it was so amazing. This island is the smallest of the Fiji islands and consists of a white sandy beach covered with coral. The ocean was a blue/green and as clear as can be, it was such a cool place to go snorkling. It seemed like a picture perfect place and with all the mountains in the distance it made it seem like we were on a deserted island, which was really cool. There were tons of lounge chairs to relax with. We started our morning off by having a quick swim, and then headed to the chairs for some reading/ tanning. There was an open bar which was really nice and the Fiji stubbies (the local beer) is pretty good too. We then had lunch and more R&R, it felt like our own personal island which is what we had been looking for. We wanted to go snorkling after lunch, but when we looked out to the ocean the waves had really picked up and the tide moved out, but that didnt stop us! So we grabbed some snorkling gear and headed into the water, which turned out to be a bad idea. This island has a lot of coral, and coral is sharp and hurts when you swim in it. We got pretty beat up with some cuts and bruises. Since the waves were so strong we did not get to see that much in the water. But that did not bother us, we just went back to our seats and chilled a little more. Shortly after that we took a walk around the island and found a hammock, so we layed in that for a while, and then it started to get cold. Then it started to rain, then it was time to leave the island, and here is where the funny stuff happens. So... the way these islands work is there is one ship that makes a loop to all the islands three times a day, our island is the first to get dropped off in the morning and the last to be picked up at night. Also, you need two little boats to get the people from the big ship to the island and then back to the big ship. Well all 60 people got onto the two small boats and heading to the big boat, upon arrival the guy who helps you onto the big boat said it could only take 22 people! Dan and Farrell snapped into Bostonian mode and pushed our way onto that boat, there was no way we were heading back to the island with all the rain! As the small boat was departing with all the people Dan realized that our load seemed lighter, and then we realized that Farrell left our towels on the little boat, we got them right as the small boat was leaving, it was classic. We made our way back to the port and got onto the bus that was taking us home. It turned out that we had to actually wait for those people that went back to the island in the small boat but we got to sleep a little in the bus waiting for them. We went right home and straight to sleep since our next day was to start early and be challenging.

Day 3
WHITE WATER RAFTING IN THE FIJI RAINFOREST!!!!!

We woke up at 4am, (which isnt that bad considering we go to bed at 8pm every night) got in a van picked up some other people staying at different hotels and drove for 2 hours, only to be dropped off at the bottom of a mountain to get in another more off road van to drive another hour. We got in this off road van with 12 other people and went for a steep and slipper ride up the moutain. The locals who take us down the river were in the van with us as we went up. They were a funny group of guys and said that if the van were to get stuck in this mud that it was the Americans who would have to push (Dan made the comment that that was becuase Americans are so strong, hahah). So the pictures will show how crazy this drive up the mountain was but for now you will just have to take our word for it. When we finally got to where the van was letting us off, we packed the stuff that we were going to take into the raft into a water proof bag, got our helmets, life vests, and paddles. Then we were heading out on a 20 min trek through this muddy jungle to get to where we can get inside the boats. Here the tour guides did not come with us becuase they had to deliver the rafts to where we were going. Farrell was a champ as she conquered this trek and was the first to arrive at the site while everyone else trailed behind. She didnt even care about all the mud over her legs. She was rocking her bandana with spunk. So we get to the loading site and we have a safety lesson. Since Dan and Farrell had gone whitewater rafting in Maine they knew a lot of what was said but it was good to hear it Fijian style. So they stick us in a boat with two Swedish people, whose names where Andreas and Morion (but really we had no idea what to call them). They were much better than DS and potato stealer (to you nick and ray) but the entire time we just wished we had our team of Nick and Ray in our boat with us. The Swedish people are just not good at paddling. Our personal boat guide was Joe II and he was jacked which was good. He told us amazing stories about growing up in his village which was in this rainforest and how he would go wild boar hunting. Dan asked him a milion questions about this becuase it just seemed so crazy but Joe was not joking. He said it was very very important to run fast and be able to climb up trees. He also told us that guns are illegal in Fiji except for cops so they had to get the boars with just their machettes. We worked as a team with the Sweds and were a great boat. But the best part was just going down the river. It is realy hard to describe how amazng it was. As we went down the river on both sides of us where just giant rock walls with rainforest on top. It was out of control, like out of movie, whichi is funny cause it is where they filmed Anaconda 1 and 2. The waterfalls that just flowed from these high rock walls into the river were breath taking. We got some really good pictures and just had an amazing time tackling the rapids and taking in the beautiful rainforest. Halfway through we stopped and had a good lunch. We were all so hungry from all the paddling that we did the food just tasted so good and it was only turkey and ham sandwhiches. The rafting trip was just so cool. It was just such a once and a lifetime experience and something we will never forget.

The ride home however was not so beautiful. So we were so tired and just wanted to get back to our resort, have dinner, write on the blog and go to bed. However, we wish it was only that easy. Our driver had to pull over because it was getting dark and he realized that this van did not have workable headlights. So we pulled over and he tried to fix it. Well it turns out that he couldnt and he had to get his boss (who was indian) to come get us in a different van. Well it got longer and longer since this took quite awhile. But we finally get into this new van which was filled with his indian family. It seemed like we were stuffed into the back of a van that was about to jump the border. it turned out that we actually had too many people in the van and as we approached a fiji police check point the grandfather, wife, and son jumped out of the van. We drove through the checkpoint and then they jumped back in. it was really really funny.

we finally got home had dinner and are about to get to bed. We had such a great day and Fiji is awesome.

Lots of love,

Farrell and Dan!!!