Robinson Crusoe Island

Boys with attitude!
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After spending the first 1.5 nights at The Nadi Bay Hotel near the airport, we spent the following 8 nights on Robinson Crusoe Island (Likuri Island) in the Fiji south Sea Isles where we had a fantastic time. The weather was great, blue sky and sunshine for 99% of the time and needless to say we soaked up the rays as much as possible. The island was small, only taking 45mins to walk all the way around it and the resort was the only thing on it. Our package there included our accommodation, all meals (which were great), all of the activities and entertainment and even a free massage! During our time we stayed in 3 different types of accommodation. We booked to stay in a beach hut but the grass reed roof was home to some lizards and spider so Meg couldn't sleep. After staying in a dorm for 2 nights we were up graded to a island lodge (wooden roof!) complete with ensuite. An ensuite is great at anytime but especially when it has a proper shower when all the others involved hoisting a cold bucket of water up and opening a valve for gravity to do the rest! When we weren't basking in the sun we: drank/ate coconuts straight from the trees, made coconut jewellery, went kyaking, did some hand line fishing where Meg caught a tiddler and Andy played beach volleyball everyday. Despite the idyllic location and weather it was actually the superb staff who made out stay so enjoyable. They were such a good laugh, constantly mucking about and keeping everyone smiling. The shows they put on were also brilliant. Every other night putting on a really good show of traditional dancing which included knife and fire dancing! On our last night they even got Andy up in a grass skirt to show off the moves he'd picked up whilst watching. One part of their hospitality we wish they'd not extended to us was the kava ceremony - a traditional ceremony performed to welcome people into Fijian villages/tribes. The ceremony was interesting but downing the drink of kava can only be likened to gulping muddy water, but if you drink enough/ too much of it you feel drunk and your tongue goes all numb - a very strange experience! The highlight of our stay was definately our visit to Batiri school on the mainland where we got to spend time going round each of the class rooms and talking with the children aged between 5-15 which was such a rewarding experience. At the end of our visit we were given flower garlands and had to sit at the front of the hall with all the staff and children facing us. The children then performed some traditional songs and dances, during which we partook in a kava ceremony and as Andy was the chief of our 'tribe' of international visitors, he had to stand and give a speech of thanks in front of the whole school. Not an easy task especially after downing countless coconut shells of kava!!