Day 3 in Fiji

The morning of day 3 was pent worrying about our lost friend, but when he (to everyone's noticeble relief) arrived we went to a local village for yet another traditional Kava ceremony. We spent much of the day in the village drinking Kava and exploring the way the village lived. The village was completely slef sufficient - they built their own houses, grew their own food and whatever they had to buy was bought using their crops as either exchange or sold to get the money for the goods. Once again the idea of television and other western comforts was non-existent barring a cinema type TV for the entire village. Their way of life was to work on the crops and making things during the day then playing sport (Rugby mainly) and drinking Kava and singing in the evenings. The village was right next to a cave that went for miles and was actually where many tribal meetings had been conducted over the years as well as many executions and even used as a crypt at some point. We went inside the cave (only the entrance) and there was an eerie feeling to it especially with the bats flying past your ears!

After saying farewell to the village we had a go at billibilli rafting, this is rafting on bamboo tied together to make a raft. The weather was really bad but this seemed to make it even more fun as we each had a turn at directing the raft with a bamboo pole much like rowing a Gondola.

After getting drenched we arrived at our detsination for the night and was greeted by a guy called Papu who was the entertainer at the lodge.

http://www.volivoli.com/

Another typically crazy Fijian guy who like to party and enjoyed his Kava strong! The night (as usual) began with a Kava ceremony followed by dinner and a night of dancing and games conducted by Papu. A quick note to tell you about was the giant beetle that landed on our table during dinner, we were all sitting on a large bench eating our dinner when all of a sudden there was a loud thud on the table as if someone had banged the table with their fist, as we all looked to see what it was we realised that it was in fact a giant bug that looked kinda like a stag beetle but about 30 times bigger. The thing was about the size of a small rat! Later that evening another landed on my mates back, he screamed and got ribbed about it for the rest of the night.

After the games, dancing and more Kava we went to the beach (which was connected to the resort - the bar was just an extension of the beach) where they had laid on a bonfire for us. It was a great night chilling, watching the stars, drinking games and finally a dip at the end of the evening. This was a night everyone enjoyed, so much so in fact that many people were unable to get up the next morning to go on their dive they had already paid for!