James & Tracey World Tour

June 22
We were picked up from the hotel at 7.30am and headed for the Denarau port. We caught the Yasawa flyer along with a few other hundred passengers. We were on the boat/ferry for around 4 hours before reaching our destination of Nacula Island. We caught a small boat to the Island to Oarsman's Bay Resort. When we arrived and went to the welcome meeting we were told how much things would cost on the island - the small boat trip from the ferry to the island was $10.50 each way per person (for a 2 minute ride, bit late now to say we would swim!) the water was not drinkable on the island but you could buy the bottled water for $3, activites were extra, and lunch today was not included so had to pay $10, but welcome to the island - Over a barrell comes to mind.
Once dumping our bags in our Bure by the beach we headed staright into the crystal clear water for a snorkel - WOW! The reef was amazing and we saw so many fish - Bat fish and 2 Lion fish.
To settle things down we layed on the beach for a while.
We went to the Happy hour at the bar, although it wasn't very happy as only got 80cents off the beer (around 26p). We watched a traditional Fijian night and Trace got dragged up to dance. James managed to escape this as he went to the bar! We had a traditional Fijian meal and sat with some Americans who complained that their food didn't have enough salt on it, so added loads of it to their food - what do they expect the food was cooked underground!

June 23
We were up for the breakfast drums at 8am. Shortly after we were in the water checking out the breakfast for the fish, taking a few more photos.
The rest of the morning was rather relaxed as we sunbathed and read until lunch at midday.
The afternoon was spent on the beach until the Caves trip was announced. We went on a half hour boat ride, got the key to the gate from a village by the beach and then to the gate on another small island. We walked up some steps and down into the darkness. We were met with very dark water as there wasn't much light. We put on our snorkel gear and got in the water, it was really salty. The guide swam under the water with a big torch and we were told to follow the light one by one. When we got to the other side it was pitch black, quite an eery feeling. The guides turned off the torch and made lots of noise and splashed a lot - I think they were trying to scare us but didn't work. We swam about for a while, the guide told us that part of the caves were used for the film 'The Blue Lagoon', but none of us had seen it so weren't that impressed.
When we got to the main part again, the guides climbed up the walls of the cave and jumped off into the water. James had a go at climbing but where the first guy went he left a water trail that was quite slippery, he got to the second or third hand grip (about 2 metres above the water), lost his grip and fell into the water. Luckily he saw sense and didn't try it again - Phew!
We watched the sunset from the beach and got a photo!

Sunset between us

We got back to the island for dinner and a few drinks. James joined in on Poker, betting with pieces of shell and scrabble letters.

June 24
James got up at 5.30am and walked up the hill behind the Bures for Sunrise. He walked in the dark with a torch to the top of the hill and got there too early so took photos of himself. It was a little cloudy but spectacular views of the Island.
We packed our stuff and went for a last snorkel and sunbathe on the beach. We got told off as we were meant to check out at 10am, it now being 11.30 they weren't too happy. We showered and headed to the office to pay. We had lunch, said our farewells and went on the little boat (now paid for) to the Ferry.

It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the next islnd we were staying at and Manta Ray Resort. It is an eco-friendly resort with non-flush toilets (decomposing) and water to drink that is filtered sea water. We had our intro meeting and free drinks, then chilled out in our tree-top Bure.
Dinner was a buffet and we had Happy hour drinks. Trace had a Cocktail called Lollipop (Vodka, Malibu, Lime liquer, blue curaco and lemonade) - Yummy!

June 25
We headed out early for a snorkel to check out the reef. It was a bit different to the other reef, still lots to see and loads of Blue Sea Stars. Back to the beach for a bit of sunbathing, then had a little siesta as all this relaxing is so tiresome.
In the afternoon session on the beach we heard the Drums so ran towards the sound - This was the Manta Ray drum. We were taked just round the corner on a boat to a channel between 2 islands and got in the water quick as the guide said there was a Manta Ray close. Once in the water heads down looking a Huge Manta Ray appeared out of the blue - about 3 1/2 metres wide. It was so surprising as we didn't expect them to be so big, even a little scary. We spent the next half hour or so swimming round following various Manta Ray, none as big as the first but still impressive.

Manta Ray

After the afternoons photo activity we tried to upload some of the photos and write them to disc but the computers at the resort were rubbish and wouldn't let us so we had to edit them a lot.

June 26
We packed our stuff yet again and placed our bags in the check out area. This morning we went diving, to a place called Coral Awegasm. The water was pretty cloudy with loads of fish eggs so the coral looked average. We did get to swim through a couple of tunnels though which was pretty cool. James kept trying to blow air rings under the water and take photos of them. His first attempt was good and we managed to get an ok photo but the efforts after weren't as good, maybe next time.
Once back on land we had lunch and James chilled out on a hammock whilst waiting for the ferry to arrive.
We were sung the farewell song and waved off on the little boat towards the ferry.

Another hour spent on the Ferry before arriving at Waya Island and Kuata Resort. We had our own Bure with views of the sea, and chilled out for the afternoon.
The evenings entertainment was a Fijian night. We joined in the Kava ceremony and got to drink the Kava (made from the root of a plant of some description) It tasted warm and a bit like dish water and left your tongue a little numb. The Fijian dinner was eaten with our hands. We were then all told to get up and dance the Bula dance and various other dances, including one where you had to swap partners, not very nice as the Fijian men had their tops off and were very sweaty - gross!

June 27
Breakfast was at 7.30am. We then headed for the beach and tried to snorkel but the tide was in and water level too low to swim over the coral, so we settled for sunbathing instead. After lunch and a bit of a siesta the tide was up and we were able to swim out to look at the coral, hundreds of fish were eating the coral and being attacked by other fish defending their homes, all quite exciting.
We tried to take photos of the sunset but it was too cloudy. Dinner was Veggie Curry and rice, we chatted to an Irish couple and they were shocked when we told them we hadn't seen the news or read a newspaper since we left home and had no idea about what is going on in anything.
We were playing cards when the bar tender, Nathan, asked James if he knew anything about cocktails. James told him he's a bar designer, so know a little bit. He then got a paper and pen and asked James to write down a cocktail for him - the only one he knows is a Harvey Wallbanger, so he wrote that down (hoping he got it correct as he thinks the barman will be practising it a lot) Not sure how impressed he was by this so we soon left!

June 28
We woke up early for breakfast again - Stodgy pancakes and a piece of watermelon. We packed our stuff and headed for the beach for the last bit of sunbathing before leaving. After cooking ourselves we rested on the hammock until lunchtime. Lunch was rice served with spaghetti, unusual combination and just about edible.
The wind had picked up a bit so we had to walk to the other side of the island to get in the boats to take us to the ferry. We reached the ferry in one piece, our bags however were soaked as they were on the bottom of the pile in the boat and the waves came over the sides - Great!
We arrived at the port and headed to the Sanctuary of the Tanoa hotel where we had Steak for dinner!

June 29 (1st)
The first task of the day was to start the washing as it seemed that every single piece of James' clothing had been soaked with a mixture of sea water and beer from the boat - nice!
Jong offered us his apartment so we could use his internet and also write a couple of CDs for free so we spent most of the day doing that as internet was still slow.
After sorting more washing out we headed to the bar for a well deserved drink. Trace had a cocktail called Body Heat (banana liquer, Malibu, Orange and Pineapple juice and grenadine - just the job).
We got a taxi to the restaurtant Jong had recommended - the Lazy Cactus, except it was closed for refurbishment. Instead we went to Mamas Pizza, nice one.

June 30 (1st)
We got up and packed our bags, still a little damp from the boat. We checked out, finding that Jong had only charged us $45 per night (thats about 15 quid!).
We waited around the airport for a while and caught the flight to Rarotonga. All good except Trace had to sit next to quite a smelly man for the whole 3 hours and 15 mins and James wouldn't swap seats with her!

written by

James & Tracey on June 22, 2007 from Nandi, Fiji

from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour

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July 3
We got the bus to Vara's and headed up the hill to our new home (only for 3 nights then we have to move to a double room). Its more like a house, it has a kitchen, bathroom, TV, DVD player - All very nice and brand new!
We headed back into town on the bus as now we had food shopping to do - sounds very easy except the shops here aren't quite like they are at home and don't seem to sell the things you want! We also got a couple of DVDs to watch for the evening - Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Next.

July 4
The weather was a bit cloudy today so we decided to chill out in the house and catch up with internet stuff, all very boring!
We went to the DVD shop again and took them up to the house. We watched Shooter and Die Hard 4 (with German subtitles when they spoke in another language!)

July 5
Today was pretty much the same as yesterday, except it was raining today.
We ventured out in the afternoon once the rain had settled and walked along the beach. On the way back James went one way and Trace the other saying they'd meet up at the DVD shop. Trace waited for 1/2 hour thinking James had got lost. James had walked round the block twice as he thought Trace had got lost - All turned out ok in the end. We got a couple more pirate DVDs from the proper DVD shop and walked back in the rain to the house to really make use our own TV and DVD player
We watched The Invisible then Fantastic 4, but had to stop watching it as it was a rubbish copy and kept skipping bits out.

July 6
We packed our bags again and headed only next door to another room in a house up the hill. We introduced ourselves to the other guys in the house only to realise a couple that were moving out the next day had been on Kuata island in Fiji at the same time as us. We went down to the beach, we swam across to the little island on the other side of the lagoon. The water here is gorgeous, its like a big swimming pool with tropical fish in it. trace can stand up anywhere in the lagoon - perfect! (this is definately what Paul and Jon had described to us - Paradise) We walked around the whole of the island about 1/4 mile, so didn't take us very long, then swam back to shore the long way! We must have done over 1/2 mile swim by the time we got back. We decided to hire another scooter from Vara's. We then headed to Black rock Lagoon, had a swim and watched the sunset.
We went back to the house washed up and went out on the Bike into town to Salsa. We both had really good pizzas. James was going to have the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake, but again this week they didn't have any - Gutted!

July 7
We got up reasonably early and headed into town for the local market. We had a good look around and bought a couple of things. Hundreds of tropical flowery shirts for sale - James managed to resist them though.
We went to the supermarket to stock up on food supplies and headed back to the house. On the way back James started to slow down, when asked what he was doing he said "I think we are breaking down again". Luckily when Trace stuck her thumb up the couple from Fiji were just going past in their car so gave Trace a lift back to Vara's. James started to push the bike back and after about 40mins in the hot midday sun, decided he had sweated enough and stopped for the best can of coke he'd had in a long time. The calvary then arrived and gave him a lift back. We got changed pretty quick then went straight to the beach and waded across to the island, carrying our bags on our head. We enjoyed the afternoon sunshine and stayed on the beach until the sun disappeared over the hills. When we got to the other side James stood on something on the waters edge that got stuck in his little toe - a thorn from some kind of marine animal - Trace got it out for him but it was beginning to sting by then so we drove back up the hill to try and investigate it. There was nothing else in there but didn't stop hurting until the following morning.
We stayed in for the evening and watched another DVD.

July 8
We had a bit of a lazy morning chilling out by the house, reading and doing Sudoku.
After lunch we got picked up and went to the dive shop to get kitted out. They took us into town to their boat and we went about 200m from shore to the first dive location - Edna's Anchor. We went to 26m, there wasn't a great deal to see there, except an anchor. The anchor was from a boat years ago that had to cut it loose in bad weather, the boat then proceeded to go to another island for shelter but couldn't drop anchor as it had been cut off, therefore it sank! So the anchor is here and the wreck is on another island. Saw a porcupine puffer fish just before we went up, Trace got a picture of him!
We had our surface interval back on shore and were served with Hot Chocolate and ginger nut biscuits. The next dive we went to the site Paradise. We went to around 14m. Here we were followed by the local Triggerfish called Tommy, he followed us for the whole dive as a local usually feeds him a sea urchin each dive and think he was expecting something from us too. There were loads of different fish, most of which come really close to your mask. We saw a green Turtle eating some coral.
We then went back to the dive shop to clean up.
In the evening we went into town to Trader Jacks and had fish for dinner. It had started to rain so we had to get back on the scooter and get a little wet.

July 9
We got up early and went to the beach with the good snorkelling. It was still windy there and the sun wasn't out but we still went in. trace got out a bit early as she was freezin! We walked along the beach for a bit, the sun still didn't come out so we went back to the house had a hot shower and headed into town to pick up a few food supplies. After lunch the sun still wasn't out so we read and chilled out outside by the house, until it got a bit chiully and we had to put our jumpers on - This is meant to be the tropics?
In the evening we drove to the Flying boat for fish and chips by the sea. The restaurant is made out of an old boat. We sat by the sea and ate delicious fish and chips from a basket.
When we got back we sat with the others from the house and watched a couple of DVDs.

July 10
In the morning we had to give our scooter back, so walking from now on. We walked to the island opposite Vara's through the lagoon to get a bit of the sunshine that seems to stay on the island all day. Whilst snorkelling James found a huge fish (think it was a tuna, unfortunately didn't have time to catch it though as it swam off!) We walked back through the water for a spot of lunch then back out again. This time the tide had come in a bit so the water was a bit deeper, Well for Trace anyway! Once the sun went behind the trees we decided we had had enough of the sun and walked back to our room up the hill. In all of the sunshine today Trace had got Panda eyes - nice! We watched another DVD and noticed that the Geckos on the wall made really wierd screeching noises.

July 11
We had to get up and pack our bags this morning and walk down the hill to put them in storage for the day as our flight isn't until this evening! We were going to go to the beach and have a swim as it is our last day in paradise but the weather decided otherwise as it was intermittent rain and sometimes huge downfalls (just trying to make you guys feel a bit better in the UK it rains here too!) Spent the afternoon chatting to a couple of English girls whilst they sat at the dinner table sticking in a million different tickets and flyers into their scrapbooks.
In the evening we went to the local Italian for fresh pasta and a few drinks.
Got taken to the airport and waited for ages. James got called back to check his baggage as there was a lighter in his bag. He had no idea where it was because he put i tin there when he left England just incase we needed fire and hadn't seen it since. They re-scanned the bag and said it was in the middle, then in the side pocket, then in the other side pocket, then finally at the top. So after unpacking his whole bag they finally found it and discarded it. We left Rarotonga on time but they told us they didn't have enough fuel for the plane so would have to make a detour.

written by

James & Tracey on July 3, 2007 from Avarua, Cook Islands

from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour

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