Nananu man!

boat to the island
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Hello people,

So.... we left the dodgy bungalows and returned to nadi bay for 1 night and the next morning came to Nananu-i-ra which is just off the north of the main island. I had checked this place out online and heard some good things about it from people we met in nadi so we decided to book for 7 nights. After the 3 hr roller coaster bus ride with many near death experiences, the driver AKA: nigel mansell, dropped us at the boat pick up. We were picked up in 2 small boats - one for the luggage and the other for the passengers.

After about 8 your tongue is fuzzy

jenny and boat!
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On the journey we became friendly with 4 scottish guys who are basically doing the same trip as us. Geoff, Zoe, Andy and Kev - all really cool and all scared by the driver as well!!

We walked up the beach and through a sort of courtyard with a volleyball pitch and tables chairs, scuba shack and some huts etc... and it was a little strange. if any of you have seen 'The Beach' when they first arrive at the beach place and they are walking through the living area on their way to meet the leader and people are looking at them and staring at the new arrivers! It was kind of like that! Quite funny! when we had got chatting to some people we found out that its the type of place people come for a couple of days and basically end up staying for weeks... so their is like this little community that is cut off from the main land and now and again people come and go! i met some guy who came for a week 10 months ago!! and another who was 'like totally blown away with the awesomeness' (hehe)! so we were intrigued how our stay was going to pan out!

island up ahead
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jen and I had booked a double room which was pretty basic. It had a double bed and about 1 meter of room around the edge and that was about it. I had actually been expecting a bit more, as the website had made it look slightly more equipped, but it had a great view that looked through some trees onto the beach and as you all know... i can rough it no worries!

The island is 800 acres and the lodge where we stayed owned 550 of them. it is a fair size and ours to explore as much as we liked. first thing we did was walk up the track behind our room and see where it went. At the top is an awesome view. One way is the main land and the 'front beach' bay, the other side is pure ocean which the sun sinks into at about 6.00pm. I got a lot of pics of sunsets... (trying to get the ultimate screen saver you see) but have only put up a couple!

view from our room
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Over the seven nights we stayed there we got to know the scottish guys pretty well and i reckon its safe to say we became friends!! we will probably meet up with them as we travel along. they left few days before us so at the moment are about 3 days ahead of us in new zealand (where i am writing this from) but we shall catch them at some point! We played a lot of cards, indulged in the 'happy hour' a few times at the bar, snorkeled, bathed and basically had a swell time!

There was something put on for us each night. These were film night, pub quiz, beach party and a cava ceremony. Cava is a drink that the native fijians have been drinking for years. it is an important part of their culture and enjoy welcoming people by including them in the ceremony. First we had a show put on for us with traditional dancing and chanting which told a story about fighting a big snake. Eventually everyone was dancing in a conga type line bouncing about and shaking the booty! All good fun!

view of our room
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Cava is basically the root of a sort of pepper plant grown for at least 5 years and then beaten and dried until it is a dusty powder. They then soak this in water and it becomes a brown, muddy looking drink which is put into a big cava bowl. After the dancing we all gathered and we welcomed officially onto the island and were offered a coconut of cava! MMMMMM!! it tastes pretty much like it sounds.... Muddy.... pretty dirty to be honest, but its rude not to drink it and i am a gent so down the hatch it went! After about 8 your tongue is fuzzy and you feel a little drowsy... and i can assume that having lots more can make you pretty damn chilled man!! which is what the fijians do... they kind of get spaced out on it... and they drink it all night!

jenny and the beach
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it was a cool experience.

so that is pretty much my experience of nananu-i-ra island lodge. We explored the island, had beaches to our selves met some nice people, did some fun things, saw some cool sun sets and enjoyed it all. Oh... apart form cooking in the kitchen... as i said the place is basic, so you had to fight for the 1 or sometimes 2 hobs that were working and then forget that the stuff you were using was probably not washed properly and then fight the flies (lunch only) and then serve up some yummy noodles which you ate with the only 2 forks on the island!!! oh and also another grim part was the showers... all cold as there was not hot water on the island, they were half salt water and half rain water so you never really got clean and the lights never worked!!..... but hey... i aint complaining much!! looking back now it seams tiny!!

at the top of the island - looking out onto the front beach bay
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so... cool place to go...

Catch you later... xxx