South Sea Island

Day 1: Our afternoon Ferry transfer took us to South Sea Island, which is one of the closest to the mainland. Whilst on the boat, we ran into Niko - a German guy we had met on Nacula. Also on-board was Tamir, who had decided to tag along with myself and Kathrin.

We arrived late afternoon and I´m pretty sure everyone´s first thought was: ´´This is more like it´´. South Sea is a beautiful island, which was more what I´d been expecting from Fiji. It´s absolutely tiny - you can walk from one side to the other in about 30 seconds and there wasn´t a Fly in sight. Before we had even checked in, I think we were disappointed we weren´t going to have more than one night here.

After checking in and meeting the really friendly locals (this has been consistent throughout Fiji to be fair), we had a few hours to relax before dinner. Unlike Naviti, we had nothing to worry about on this front either as we were served our best meal in the country to date.

That evening, we settled down with the locals for several cups of Fiji´s national drink - Kava. It´s a non-alcoholic drink that is made using the roots of Pepper plants and it´s supposedly very good for you. Whilst it is non-alcoholic, the locals did tell us that drinking enough of it could leave us feeling a bit pissed. However, they assured us that no hangover would result. We shall see.

Before accepting the drink, we individually had to clap our hands once and say ´´BULA´´ before downing it in one and finishing the routine with 3 more claps. In keeping with Fijian traditional, that sequence had to be repeated for every drink consumed.

There was quite a group of us drinking (about 12 in total) and we had an enjoyable evening hanging out with the locals and sharing out bowl after bowl of Kava. By the end. I´d had about 15 cups of the stuff and I quite liked it. It´s pretty enjoyable once you get used to the initial strong peppery taste. No drunkeness either - I wondered how I would feel in the morning though!

Day 2: No Hangover, a nice breakfast and then unfortunately, it was already time for us to leave South Sea Island. Just a short visit but the locals had been unbelievably welcoming and had made our stay really enjoyable. The island is amazing too and will definately be on the agenda for longer should I ever return to Fiji.

The reason for our prompt departure was because myself and Kathrin had booked onto a day Sailing trip around the Mamanuca Islands.

The boat picked us up from South Sea and we were instantly welcomed on before being treated to all the food and drink we wanted. The boat staff were excellent - really friendly and honestly couldn´t do enough for us. Four of them even had their own little band as well and sang us along as we headed for our first stop of the day.

This stop was one I´d been looking forward to ever since touching down in Fiji -  the island that was used in the Tom Hanks film ´´Castaway´´. Before we had even made our way over to it, I could tell it was going to be the nicest one yet and I could instantly see why they had chosen it. So nice.

We got the boat transfer over to the island and were then free to explore as much as we wanted. Being a big fan of the film, I could instantly recognise areas that were used for particular scenes. There was even a massive ´´HELP ME´´ sign that had been made out of Coconuts on the beach. A nice touch

After a while spent exploring, we went out for some more Snorkelling in the clearest water I´ve ever seen. Whilst the quality of Snorkelling wasn´t as good as off Naviti, the water clarity is just staggering off Castaway Island. Connect that with the warm temperature of the water there and it´s pretty much paradise. This was my favourite island without a doubt.

Once we had spent a while there, it was back on the boat for the journey to our next stop - a local Fijian Village. Once we had arrived on the island, we had to select a group leader, who represented us in meeting the local tribe and experiencing a traditional Kava ceremony with them. Following this, we had a chance to walk through the Village, which was pretty cool.

It was then back on the boat for an incredible lunch before more of a tour around the Mamanuca Islands. It was a stunning day too so we got to see them in all their glory. More of the crew´s singing added to the journey as well.

All-in-all, a throughly enjoyable day and probably my favourite one in the whole week in Fiji. The boat and crew were fantastic and we visited some awesome sites, with Castaway Island being the highlight.

Once the trip had finished, we were transferred back to the mainland and back to Nadi for the night. Kathrin was staying somewhere different to me so we said goodbye after having a really fun week together. A really nice girl and yet another to add to the list of friendly German people that I´ve met.

As for Fiji itself, with the exception of Naviti Island, I´ve only got good things to say about the place. The other islands are paradise personified, the waters are crystal clear and the locals are probably the nicest and most welcoming I´ve come across of the whole trip. I probably mixed with them more here than everywhere else and it definately had a positive impact on the experience for me. It always makes a difference when they seem genuinely happy to have you there.

I would highly recommend Fiji and it´s somewhere I´d definately like to come back to one day to explore more of the islands. I won´t be returning to Naviti though!

One more night in Nadi before a flight back to Sydney the following morning. From there, it´s onto South America.