The resort was called Sunrise and it really was rustic. The accommodation was a very drafty bure(straw hut) which Sal just didn't enjoy staying in for fear of inscets. With spiders the size of my hands I felt her pain. The showers were cold and one set didn't even have heads so it was just a slow trickle from a pipe in the roof.
But this was all part of the charm of the place and it was great to know you weren't in some serille touristy resort. We were actually living with and like the Fijians.
The food was interesting but the portions were tiny. Put it this way no food was left on anyone's plates by the end of a meal. If you didn't like something someone else ate it. I ate a Danish girls whole lunch one day because she felt sick. Waste not want not and all that.
But apart from this, which wasn't really a problem because we all could do with loosing a bit of weight, the welcome we got here was amazing. We were literally welcomed into their family. The Sunrise people where the most friendly of all the islanders we meet. Dutchy was the main man, who could remember everyones name where they came from which was no mean feet.
Because Sunrise is so remote and we were all part of one big (starving) family we got to know some great people most of them just starting their Fiji experience too and what happened was we ended up traveling down the islands towards the mainland together which was great craic.We'd meet people from Sunrise on the ferry and on every other island we stayed on.
About 20mins from Sunrise is the Blue Lagoon beach where the film of the same name with Brooke Shields was shot. It has to be the nicest beach we saw. Just amazing white sandy beach fringed with palms and the deepest blue water.
Apart from Blue Lagoon there wasn't much else to see or do but the Fijian lads kept us entertained with coconut tree climbing, crab racing, fishing, Fiji lesson and of course Kava drinking.
Kava is what the Fijians like to drink and by all accounts drink it every night. Its made from a plant root and is added to water in a big tea bag and hand squeezed. Its looks like muddy water and tastes pretty bad. Its doesn't get you drunk more numbs the body but a have enough of it and you'll sleep like a baby.
We were lucky enough to join the Sunrise Kava drinking ceremony one night. Which was immense, this wasn't any show put on for tourists this was just what the do at the end of the day. While the Kava was dished out they just sang, practicing the Bula (Welcome) song and other Mecka (a dance) songs. It was really cool thing to experience. Sal and Claire kept wetting themselves because its kind of rude to say no when offered Kava but the guy giving them the bowl had his big dirty green nail in it.
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