Living Life Island Style!

Gap 360's Melissa and Becky recently travelled to Fiji after a stint in Australia and shared their experience with us. Here's what they had to say...

We arrived in Nadi and were instantly overwhelmed by Fijian hospitality. We got picked up and taken to our hostel and within an hour we had booked our trip to the Yasawa Islands. That night we got to watch (but not experience, well not yet anyway) the joy of kava and meet a group of people who were just finishing their trip, so they told us all the insights that the islands had to offer.

After a couple of days to acclimatise in Nadi, we were off! We got the ferry to Coral View, a resort right at the top of the Yasawas. The ferry took around 4 hours, but there's a bar and wifi to keep you entertained, not to mention the beautiful views!

The boats are waiting for you when you get off the ferry to take you to the islands. Don't be shocked at the way they throw your bags around, they've done it many times before and rarely drop them!

We were greeted by the whole staff singing to welcome us to the island and a lovely lunch. After, we got shown to our room and went straight to sun tan beach for some sun tanning and snorkeling and getting to know the other guests on the island.

That night was Kava night, the traditional drink of Fiji. It's made from the powdered root of a pepper plant and makes your whole mouth go numb and after a few bowls, you get very sleepy! You'll have the best nights sleep after kava, with some kava dreams thrown in there.

Saturday night was the weekly entertainment night. We took a cultural dance class in the day and then got to watch the pros show us how it's done! They were amazing. There was traditional dancing, fire and knife shows! We were forced to go and perform with them, but Fijian people are so lovely, it was never going to be a no!

We stayed at Coral View for 6 days in total so we got to know the staff pretty well and had a few wild nights! We learned some pretty cool drinking games as well as how far everyone was prepared to go to win!

Island style of living is just amazing! Our days consisted of a routine of hammock, sun bed, lunch, trip out, afternoon tea, volleyball (staff vs guests), dinner and drinks. What more could you ask for! We were desperate to stay, especially with the lunch time show on our last day, but with 333 islands to explore, we had to love them and leave them.

We were off back on the ferry to Beachcomber island for a few days, Fiji's famous party island!