Fiji - A week of island hopping

I booked a trip to Australia for a year and decided to take a week in Fiji on my way home. The travel agency was really trying to push stop overs in Fiji so I went with it. I'm not sure why they were but it sounded like an awesome idea. I would fly in to Nadi and have 7 days and 6 nights to hang out. I was going alone so I went with a backpacker travel company called Awesome Adventures.  

I chose to visit 4 islands over 7 days. A huge yellow boat comes and picks you up and goes for hours before arriving at the Yasawa Islands. You exit the boat in the morning after breakfast at the island you choose for that day. This is usually an interesting process since the huge yellow boat can't get close to the island since they are so remote. You are put on a tiny boat and then have to walk through the water a bit to get to land.

The local play a welcome song on each Island...

Each island has only a few people staying there, anywhere from 10 to 30 for each given night. When you arrive, they stand at the edge of the beach and sing a welcome to you. You stay in small huts and sleep on bunks like at camp. The locals make you all three meals and they definately aren't the best meals but each island makes something different and it's local food. They also offer simple activities during the day like bracelet making from the local women. Each island is staffed my Fijian families who have lived there for years.

View on hike to the Blue Lagoon

Most of the days are spent sitting on the beach, lying in a hammock, snorkelling and just hanging out. Each island as something different. One of them has a long hike over the island and you end up at the stop where they shot the movie, The Blue Lagoon. On the hike back, we ran into one of the locals who had climbed a tree to get a coconut. He cut it open with a machete and we enjoyed some fresh coconut. We did the hike back at midnight and we saw the most amazing sunset from the middle of the island on a huge hill.

Beach-side massage. Yes please.

My favourite island was called South Sea Island (in title pic). The entire island was the size of a baseball diamond. (Just let that sink in...) It had one large hut that everyone slept in. There was also an outdoor eating area and a pool in the middle of the island. There was sand all around it and you could snorkel all around and see amazing fish. They had a great fresh outdoor buffet and the staff sang and played guitar as you ate. They had a small bar inside and play music at night as well. There were amazing sunsets and the best thing was the beach side massages.

Click here for more Fiji photos (worth the click!)

Halaekala Sunrise (Maui, Hawaii)

Viewing the sunrise from above the clouds is a once in a lifetime type of thing... I highly recommend this if you are in Maui.

Halaekala is an old volcano that is 10,000 ft  high. You can drive all the way to the top and watch the sunrise there. It is recommended that you get there 2 hour before sunrise so you see all the crazy colours from above the clouds. It's a good idea to bring an SLR camera, lots of battery and memory card space!

The drive up is very crazy. It will be dark and the road curls up around the crater, tons of turns and very small road. Make sure you have a driver that is alert and not sleepy. It is very cold at the top. You can borrow blankets from hotel front desk. It was 1.5 hrs from our hotel so we left around 3:30am. Generally people are apprehensive to get up this early. Have two alarm clocks set in case your boyfriend turns one off and threatens to break up with you if you make him get up at this hour. You can stop at the 24 grocery store and get snacks before the trip there.

On the way down the volcano, check out the spots below...

Kula Lodge - This is a great place to get breakfast after driving for 2 hours and standing in the cold for an hour. I think it opens around 7am and breakfast is sooo good. Try the traditional eggs/bacon/potatoes and also the pancakes with coconut syrup. Delicious. The views are incredible and the staff is great. Keep your sweater on, still very cold.

View from Kula Lodge

Surfing Goat Dairy - Little goat farm with surfboards everywhere, free tours and sampling. All the local restaurants in Maui use their goat cheese, Mmmm. If you're lucky, you might even be there when one of the goats gets onto the surfboard. Best. Moment. Ever.

Full album of Maui pics: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjpHPUid