Fiji Day One:

Ok, so I have been bad about updating, but in my defense I have been super busy and it sucks. :( Too much work in this pretty place. Anyways, I have a little break so I will take this time to update you on my travels in Fiji...I will try and make it semi short. :)

My adventure started bright and early taking the train from South Bank to the airport for my 11:45 flight. It was Easter Sunday the day my friends and I flew out and to our surprise the Easter bunny was at the airport! He gave us little chocolate eggs...so that was a good start to a terrific day! We boarded our flight (Air Pacific...which has to be my new favorite airline) and to our surprise we were fed a full meal for a 4 hour flight! It was really good too...my favorite part was the chocolate cake YUM! We were also privileged to watch my new favorite movie....Alvin and the Chipmunks...juuuuust kidding! So the flight was nice and we landed around dinner time. We got pick up from the airport and got dropped off at our hostel for the night, The Nadi (pronounced naandee) Bay Resort. It was really nice there we had a nice dinner and I had my first tropical drink...a mai thai. After that, we got situated in our room, showered, covered ourselves in bug spray and then headed down for movie night at the hostel. The movie that night was Avatar. I LOVED IT! It was so good, I totally got sucked into it and now I understand what all the fuss was about. Good, good movie!

Ok, so the next morning after a light breakfast we got picked up by the FeeJee Experience bus and started our journey. Our first stop was to the Nandi Town Markets, that are usually buzzing, however, it was Easter monday and being a relatively religious country, most shops were closed. We did get to walk around into a few shops though. I bought a sulu or sarong as it is commonly known for all the village visits we would make. It is white with blue flowers on it. We also walked around a grocery store where I bought Fiji brand water (you know the water with the pretty bottle) for $2.20 Fijian Dollars...that is $1USD. AMAZING! I also got some pringles.

So, once we hopped back on the bus we headed off to Natondola beach, which many locals say is the most beautiful beach on Viti Levu (the biggest Fijian island where I was)...it is also included as one of the top 25 beaches in the world! It really was beautiful. The water was sooo blue and you could see sections of reef. I laid out for a while, hung out in the water for a little bit and then our tour guide and driver cooked us up a bbq lunch. I had some chicken, cucumber salad and bean salad. It was really good. There was also a family selling bracelets so I bought one from a 12 year old boy...its leather and has a shark tooth on it.

After that fun filled adventure we drove to a village, where I first experienced the poverty this country lives with. It was really humbling and honestly sad to see the living conditions. The houses looked so broken down, most were just one large room with a mattress in the corner. Roofs were broken and siding was cracked. The church window panels were breaking off the structure. However, as disheveled as the village may have looked, the people were so content and happy with what they had. It really made me think about my life and everyone I know at home. How we have so much, yet we are all still unhappy and are always wanting more. These people have nothing and are some of the nicest, most friendly, joyful people I have ever met.

Enough of being cheeeeeesy hah, so after getting a tour of the village, we entered into a house where we learned about the tradition of Kava ceremonies. Kava is a root that is ground up and mixed with water in order to make a drink that takes the place of alcohol, since alcohol is banned in villages. The Kava has a numbing effect though, and after one cup, your tongue goes numb for a few minutes, its a very interesting experience. Some of the kids that lived in the village followed us around and OH MY GOSH were they cuuuuute! So happy and giggly.

Right after we left the village we took a two hour drive to the sand dunes where we went sand boarding! That was really fun! The dune was so steep, the pictures dont do it justice. It was really scary going head first on a boogie board down a giant sand dune but I was able to slow down by digging my feet in the sand...its all about the technique.


Finally the day was over and we headed to our first hostel, Mango Bay Resort.We hung out a little that night with all the new people we had met on our bus and then went to sleep in our bunks. As you can see, day one was VERY busy but sooo much fun!

Stay tuned for the next entry with day two, three and maybe four? I dunno we will seeeeee.


BULA! (fijian for hello, healthy, bless you, basically everything!),
Melissa

PS DONT FORGET TO LOOK AT MY PICS ON: http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi
AND DONT FORGET TO COMMENT!

I am lazy.

Hello readers,

So, technically I am still on Easter break and I just can't bring myself to update my blog yet (or do any work for that matter)...there is just so much to write about Fiji and well...I am lazy. SOOOO don't you worry, I will update about my trip soon but to tide you over until then here are some of my pictures that I took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi


Love,
Melissa

A Video!

Here is a video of everything I have seen and done so far in Oz!





To see a larger version of this vid follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sePxaENR2aI&feature=player_embedded

Well, be back in 5 days! FIJI TOMORROW!!!

-Melissa

"I'm an Alasaurous my name is Keith..."

So it's been a while. For the past five days I was on a field trip on Fraser Island...the biggest sand island in the world. It was so much fun! During the day we did field work on the dunes, sclorophyll forests and rainforests. The field work was somewhat fun, but there were so many mozzies (mosquitos) that everyone just felt rushed to get their work done so you wouldn't be eaten alive. So therefore, I have soooo many mozzie bites all over :( they have stopped itching for the most part but still...whomp.

Being a sand Island, the only way to get around is in 4WD cars, which is a real crazy experience. It is so bumpy! Imagine riding in a wooden roller coaster everywhere you went. yeah. hah. but its FUN! We had a couple close calls but all is well haha. We also frequently saw Dingos, the native wild dog...ever heard "the dingo ate my baby?" yup I saw those cuties.

Anyways, in the afternoons, all of our tutors took us on mini adventures to different freshwater lakes throughout the island. We went to Lake Mackenzie , which is completely crystal clear...its like bath water. We went to Eli Creek, which was like a mini lazy river, Lake Wabby and Lake Boomajin. Everything was so beautiful, restine and undisturbed...it was a really great experience.
I also saw a ship wreck one day that has been on the beach for decades (it was a Japanese trade ship I believe). One day we also went to a huge sand dune where we went sand dune jumping. If you are asking yourself what is that? Just watch this:



So now I am back in Brisbane and I have only a couple days to relax until FIJI! I leave Sunday and come back on Thursday! I am so so so so so so soooooo excited! never in my life would I have thought I would be going there of all places! Hopefully it will be an amazing experience and i will get lots of cool gifts :) (our money is worth double there!)

This is a pretty short entry but I am tired so I think it's time for a nap.

Happy Passover to all my jews!

Later,
Melis