September 2018 – Baking With Bumble

Bula!!

At the end of my last post Ryan and I had jumped back on the Yasawa Flyer boat to make our way to our next stop in Fiji: Naviti Island.

We stayed at Botaira Resort which was very small and personal; there weren’t many people staying at the resort and at dinner times we would all be seated together so it was really easy to get to know the other visitors. The other people staying were mainly older couples; from New Zealand, France, Germany and Hawaii.. but there was also some volunteers on the island too!

We were meant to be staying in a large dorm room but the resort had a young volunteer group staying so we were moved into a room with an older volunteer named Tyrion (yes, like Game of Thrones!)

Tyrion (T for short) was a lovely girl from Wales who was helping to build/install water tanks at the local village. We got on really well with T, it probably had something to do with the fact that she’s from Wales and I am literally obsessed with Gavin and Stacey!

‘How’s it goin’ alrigh’ – if you know, you know!

On the previous island we were lucky enough to swim with reef sharks which was insane! And on this island we snorkelled with manta rays which was equally as amazing!

There’s a specific snorkel spot that a small boat wizzed us to which is known as the manta ray channel. We were lucky and got to the snorkel spot first – as soon as we got in the water it was like we were surrounded by the manta rays – there were loads of them and they were so close to us! I felt way out of my comfort zone being so close so I didn’t spend very much time in the water. (Ryan was, of course, the last out of the water.)

The longer we were at the spot the more and more boats from other islands arrived with snorkelers all trying to catch a glimpse at the beautiful rays. I think we got lucky being first on the scene as we saw so many rays all together and then as soon as the other boats started to arrive they weren’t as easy to spot.

Ry and I also went to Soso village with some of the other couples staying on the island. Soso village was on the other side of Naviti Island – we walked with one of the resort staff called Solo (short for Soloman) who was very friendly.

Our walk to the village was relatively tiring; we walked up and over a hill from one side of the island to the other then along the beach to get to the village.

One thing we noticed (and have noticed a lot in many different places on our travels) is the amount of rubbish on the beach and in the ocean. Mainly plastics and especially plastic straws. Something Ryan and I have both really appreciated when visiting restaurants and bars is when they use re-usable or recyclable straws. We’re both going to make a conscious effort to try and not use/buy any plastic straws in the future. #savetheturtles

Once at Soso village we visited a small school where a group of children sang some nursery rhymes to us – they were adorable!

We then met some older children who were learning English; going away has shown us how lucky we are to be from England and for the majority of the world to have to learn/speak our language! I do still feel slightly uneducated when we meet other travellers from all over the world who reel off a long list of languages they speak though and I’m just there like ‘Hi I’m English, and speak English’

We took a look around the class room and the playground outside. There was a climbing frame donated by a charity and a rugby pitch with homemade rugby goals.

After that we took a quick trip to their church and saw some of the village locals trying to sell souvenirs before making our way back to Botaira Resort.

An afternoon on the island was spent sunbathing, snorkelling and jumping off a 25+ft floating diving board; well Ryan jumped, I watched.

We then walked to the top peak on the island to take in the view at the top which was beautiful – we only just got back to the resort before the sun went down – I did not fancy taking the trek down in the dark!

The next morning we caught the Yasawa Flyer to our next stop; Nacula Island.

We jumped off the boat and checked in to Oarsman’s Bay Lodge.

Again this resort was small and personal and unfortunately was next door to Blue Lagoon Resort which we had heard was amazing!

Blue Lagoon resort did seem a hell of a lot busier than ours; our resort was very quiet with very few guests but the people (and the food!) were brilliant!

On the island we booked a trip to visit the Sawa-I-Lau caves.

The boat ride over was HORRENDOUS! I thought we were going to capsize, luckily we didn’t and the boat ride back to our resort was a breeze!

The caves themselves were beautiful – one large cave was lit up by the sunlight filtering through a hole in the ceiling and a secondary cave could be reached buy an underwater tunnel. I was too scared to go under water and be greeted with darkness the other side so we stayed in the large cave with a group of other people who shared my fear!

There were two Fijians who where completely fearless though; climbing the cave walls and jumping into the water below from the highest points – I had my heart in my mouth the whole time but you could tell they did that kind of thing all the time!

Once back at the resort Ryan and I were taking a romantic stroll along the beach when the owner of the resort came to find us to ask if he could move us from our dorm room into a private lodge – I mean, YES?!

After a good nights sleep in our little lodge we checked out of our room, and jumped back on the Yasawa Flyer to take us back to Port Denarau, Nadi.

Once back on the mainland we had a couple of days to kill before our departure flight.

We spent one day (and our 5th year anniversary!) on Cloud 9 – as recommended by another couple we met travelling; Katie and Ellis.

Cloud 9 was brilliant! It’s a floating platform in the middle of the Fijian sea! HOW SICK!

It’s got daybeds, sun loungers, a bar, pizza oven and surround sound system throughout. Soaking up the sun, eating pizza and sipping cocktails – it was the perfect way to spend our anniversary!

Another day was spent at Malamala Beach Club – the worlds first island beach club!

Again we LOVED our time at Malamala! It was everything you would want in a beach club; daybeds, gorgeous food and drinks, white sand beach, an infinity pool – I could go on but you get what I’m saying, well worth a visit!