Nacula Island - Nabua Lodge

From Long Beach, we travelled on the yellow Yasawa flyer for only about half an hour. From here we got onto the mini speed boat sent from Nabua Lodge, and got to know everyone on board. There were a lot of people our age, and it seemed like our time on Nacula Island would be a bit more lively, compared to the laid back time we'd had on Long Beach.

We arrived on a beach to a group of women who shouted "Bula!" as we got off the boat, we were helped with our bags, and welcomed into the dining area which was a bright red deck that looked out onto the  beach and across the ocean.

We ate some delicious food, a light curry as well as a tasty dessert. We were greeted by the events organiser here, and told about the evening set up. There would be dinner, and shortly followed by that, we would have 'Bula time', which consisted of a few games, with alcoholic prizes to win. We were then told about the activities we could do on the island, and both of our ears pricked up when we heard about the blue lagoon, a trip that took you to a wide area of reef teaming with fish! We decided we would do that the following day, and spend the rest of the day getting to know the island.

After this, we were shown to our room. a cute little self contained cabin that again, looked over the ocean, and we also had a deck area to sit and look over it.

We relaxed on the beach all afternoon, and hired out some snorkels as the workers at the resort said the snorkeling was good here. We swam out as far as we could, and saw really colourful coral and a few fish too! There were no stingray to look out for here, so we could swim feeling a bit more relaxed.

That evening we joined the group again and had dinner. We got talking to a couple of German girls, as well as an English couple, a german guy and some French Canadian friends. We ate our food, and were summoned for Bula time. We learnt a dance, and played some games, including one where we had to dance creatively with a big stick. We also played suck and blow the card game. For those of you who don't know the game, you have to place a card between two peoples mouths whilst one sucks in air to hold it there, and the other blows to force it onto the other person. You have to pass it round a circle in this fashion so if it slips you end up having a smooch with someone. Considering we only met these people that day, it was a bit awkward, and Steph ended up having a little moment with a Norweigan girl who was there with her boyfriend. Funnily enough, the workers hadn't played any games up until this point, and they conveniently nestled themselves in between a few of the girls in the group! We did all this with the women who worked in the resort, so it was nice to get everyone involved!

The next morning was the morning of the blue lagoon. Ourselves, along with a few others, got up early and were ready to leave for 9am. We went on the speed boat and went to another beach about 10 minutes away. Tom accidentally sat on the drivers sandwich, and felt a little bad about leaving a bum print in his lunch. We were relieved when we found out the bread was for the fish and not the driver! We stopped just of the shore of a beach where the water was azure blue. We broke up the bread and threw it in the water, and the sea was suddenly alive with movement.

Zebra striped fish came out from nowhere and started a feeding frenzy. Whilst they were busy munching away, the driver told us to jump in the water and start swimming around.

There were fish every way you looked, and they wern't too bothered if you swam amongst their schoal. They would swim right up to your face, and the coral was bright and vibrant. The current was really strong so you'd have to swim against the current for about 5 minutes and then relax and glide over the fish.

Once we'd had enough, we went up on to the beach to dry off and warm up again. Steph was lying there peacefully when a sloppy kiss was planted on her. She woke up to the shock of a dog licking her face, and was a little startled as the beach had been deserted before. This was the second kiss from a stranger she'd had at Nabua Lodge!

The water was beautiful and we sat on the beach and took it all in, before getting the speed boat back to the resort.

That afternoon we lazed on the beach again until the sun started to set. We had been told there was a tea room just up a ten minute walk from the beach, so we decided with the two German girls we spoke to the night before, we would go up and explore.

We wandered up the beach, and happened to stumble across the tea room, which was lucky as we were looking for an actual building. In fact, it was an open aired seating area with a bamboo roof and not much else.

The woman working was a really lovely lady, and she was also selling hand made jewellry, complete with shells and shark teeth! She was also selling pure coconut oil which Steph eyed up instantly! As you may know, Steph has a love for natural products, and coconut oil is rather expensive in its pure kind. The lady had prepared it all herself and was selling it for so cheap, so Steph snapped it up, and has done a review of it over on her beauty blog if you want to read it here!

After making our purchase, we sat down and had fresh lemonade and chocolate cake. It was so tasty and we wanted to have another bit! We relaxed with our snacks and enjoyed the beautiful view.

That evening at dinner we sat down with the English couple, Lauren and Steve, and they're adopted German travel buddy, Seb. They hadn't been travelling together, but had met in Fiji and been inseparable ever since! They had all been to New Zealand though, so that evening we brought out a map and they told us all the places in New Zealand they had loved which was really kind and helpful of them!

After dinner we played more games, and Steph and Seb managed to win a couple and earn a free beer each! We were delighted to discover that the five of us were all going to the same resort the following day, so they could tell us more of their New Zealand recommendations, and also have some more laughs with them.

The next day, along with Steve, Seb and Lauren and the two french Canadian girls, Claudine and Caroline,  we decided to spend our last morning on a fishing trip, in an attempt to catch our own lunch and eat it before we had to leave for the next island.

We got onto the boat, and made our way to a desolate island where we would need to catch the bait to fish. Our driver said the best bait for the bigger fish, was crab. We anchored about a 3 minute walk from the shore, where the water was murky and full of seaweed. The man told us to follow his steps exactly so we didn't step on sting rays! This freaked a few of us, and it made for a very screechy journey to the shore! 

Once there, it was time to catch the crabs. The man dove straight in and started raking out sand from the ground with his bare hands, unafraid of being nipped by any crabs. He would move onto to another spot, and all of sudden, the crabs would pop out, and run away. Some of them were really big, and the man would just pick them up, and rip of their claws and legs. It was a little brutal, so the girls tended to be on the look out whilst the boys did the savage deed. This was time for Tom to get his own back on the crab that pinched him in Illha Grande in Brazil, and filled with rage, he and the boys went on a mad crab rampage. Steve even got so excited, he hit one with a stick and it exploded leaving a gooey orange mess on the beach.

After this traumatic but neccessary step, we were finally ready to fish. Cautiously making our way back to the boat still on edge about Sting rays, we headed out to some open water. On our way there, Seb took a few pictures, and we noticed a little toy in a waterproof case was the main feature in his picture. We asked Seb what he was doing, and he explained that his girlfriend was unable to join him on this part of travels, so she bought him the toy as a little substitute. This toys name was Kwasi, and he would feature in all of the fun parts of Seb's trip, so we made sure he featured in our fishing expedition.

From left to right: Lauren, Claudine, Caroline, Kwasi, Seb and Steve

We got to a good spot for fishing, and the man broke up the crabs and set up our lines which were just pieces of string on what looked like crabbing equipment.

Then came the long wait, for one of us to get a bite...

We could feel them taking the bait, but by the time we reeled up, the fish had got away.

We waited and waited, and we were on a tight schedule as most of us were leaving the island for Bare foot manta that afternoon.

We had nothing, and it looked as though we were going to have to turn back. 

Until suddenly!

Claudine let out a squeal as she reeled in a colourful looking fish, and we all started shouting for her to get it in the boat!

The fish came in safely, and the driver prepared it there and then, descaling it so it was ready to be eaten, as we had to speed off back to Nabua lodge for our lunch

We got back just as they were setting up for lunch, and after a quick packing session, we were ready for food. The chefs cooked up Claudine's fish specially for her, but unfortunately after all of our waiting it didn't actually taste too good! The girls were going to a different island that afternoon, so we said goodbye to them, and then got on board the speed boat to head to our third and final Fiji destination.