Of the 333 islands that make up Fiji, I've had the pleasure of visiting three (leaving the other 330 for my next trip!). You can reach several islands by catching a ferry from the main port in Denarau. When I first entered Denarau, I quickly saw how it caters towards tourists and is home to several high end resorts, there's even a Hard Rock Cafe there, no starbucks (yet).
Bounty Island
On January 14th, 2017 I headed off to Bounty Island with a few of the other volunteers. Bounty is about a 40 minute ferry ride from Denarau and is a very small island. Small as in, you can walk around the whole island in about 30 minutes. There is one place to stay on the island, and it's quipped with all the gear you need such as kayaks, stand up paddle boards and scuba gear, free of charge. As we stepped off our small transfer boat, we were welcomed by sweet ukulele tunes and told that Bounty Island has three happy hours at the bar, because you should always be happy in Fiji! Naturally being drawn to the ocean, I spent most of my time kayaking and using the stand up paddle to explore the island. In the wonders and depth of the ocean I got to see reef sharks, sea turtles and beautiful bright blue star fish! My friends and I also woke up at 5 a.m to watch the sunrise over the ocean, followed by a morning walk around the island and an endless breakfast buffet. Time slows down at a place like this, which is perfect because it allows you to soak in the extreme beauty all around you...
Yanuca Island
The weekend of January 22, I headed out a little resort called, Beachouse located on the coral coast. Beachouse is the perfect place for solo and group travelers, with a friendly atmosphere, amazing food and a variety of activities available (at cost). I managed to sign up for a day trip to Yanuca Island, about an hour boat ride from the coral coast. From what I was told, the island used to be a surfers paradise, however now it's primarily used for private small tours. There is only one small Fijian village inhabiting the island, opposite to where we docked. We arrived on the island for snorkeling, a swim and lunch. Sadly, the snorkel gear I borrowed from Beachouse was broken, so my experience wasn't the best, but with my solid lungs, I was able to dive and see some beautiful colourful fish. After swimming, our tour took us out to another part of the island for a hike. I was incredibly unprepared for this part, since I only had flip flops that turned out to be more of a burden while hiking up a steep mountain. So, I embraced the Fijian way, took off my flip flops, and climbed up the mountain with a rope and trekked through the forest. Several mosquito bites and scratches later, we reached the top with a beautiful view and saw the rip where surfers go out to. The long boat ride back was combined with a fishing trip. Admittedly, this delay really bugged me, since we missed our bus back to Nadi. However, I saw massive sting rays swimming just under our boat and nothing seemed to matter anymore, c'est la vie! Eventually, our tour guides caught a massive tuna, and we sailed back with the sunset. My friend and I got back to Nadi quite late from our weekend adventure, but it was worth it once we saw the sky fill with the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen...the pictures speak for themselves.
Motoriki Island
My final weekend in Fiji, was spent on a day trip to the famous island of Motoriki. This island is the set location of the movie Castaway (not to be confused with Castaway Island). Departing from Denararu, our day trip began with riding the ferry for about 45 minutes, followed by a trip on a sail boat. The island was filled with extremely warm ocean water and baby soft sand, two things you can never get enough of in Fiji. It was perfect for snorkeling, filled with lots of colourful fish and we managed to see a few baby reef sharks. Though reef sharks can't hurt you, but they still manage to freak me out a little bit. After a swim and eating fresh coconuts from the island, we hopped back on the sail boat to visit a little Fijian village for a Kava ceremony and a tour around the village. I have had Kava about four times since being in Fiji and never really enjoyed it, however, this bowl was much nicer, so I think the taste is growing on me. Regardless, the little village was beautiful, they also spoke to us about the impact of Climate Change on their island. Though every city experiences impacts of Climate Change, seeing it from a perspective of a small village made it very real, as the threat of homes being washed away grew within this little community.
