Day Three ~ Monday 16th January

Sega na Lega ~ No Worries (this will become a tattoo!)

Another night of not so great sleep and had to get up early to go to summer school in a village on another island, one GVI had not yet been to. It took about ten minutes to get there by boat, then we walked to the village hall to meet the chiefs and say 'bula!' We had to wear our sulus (sarongs) and GVI tops. All the kids came and shook our hands individually and then sang a Fijian song which was really sweet. We then went to the school and started setting up and suddenly loads of kids appeared from nowhere. Me, Emily and Nat were in charge of facepainting and head-bands and the other group did masks and drawing. I have never done so much face-painting on so many sweaty faces! Loads of kids were running around with bunny ears and whiskers.. so cute! We then put some pop music on which I hadn't heard in ages, was weird to hear in such a contrasting location. We had lunch and then had to say goodbye! All the kids cling on and its hard to go. We had to jump off the boat back at base and got soaked, such an unusual way to get to work every day. We had ages when we got back so we made lots of crowns and masks for tomorrow. The cooking team made noodles and veg, delicious!

Amelia making a crown!

Mask making

Drawing and colouring :)

Day Two ~ Sunday 15th January

Bula! ~ Hello!

Planned the holiday school today and decided to take face paint, coloured card, tissue paper and glitter. Couldn't sleep at all for the first night, due to the huge amount of mosquitoes and the heat, although my bed is next to the window. My mosquito net is far too small so I got slightly eaten alive. The dorms are very basic. I share with ten other volunteers with two shared showers and toilets. Luckily, we have one solar light but sometimes it doesn't work and the water can be off for a day. Later in the evening, the generator broke and there was no water for showers or washing. The other dorm found a Huntsman spider, the size of a dinner plate ~ thank god it wasn't in ours! Had curry and rice for dinner, yum! The base is in an amazing location by the sea, it has a well and a shared kitchen. We have cooking teams and shared chores ~ mine is compost and recycling! There's two dogs on base, Matty and Junior and they belong to the three in-house families. There are so many adorable kids running round, impossible to remember names!

Matty?

The kids having fun in the tree

Angela and Matty

Day One ~ Saturday 14th January

Had to catch up with these blog posts as unfortunately I didn't get the chance to write out there and then came back early cos I got ill :(

The Journey Begins!

Got up really early (6am!) to catch the boat over to our Yasawas base. Met other GVI volunteers at breakfast but also shared a dorm with a few girl volunteers. Haven't met anyone yet who is doing the childcare project for 3 months (like me!) Met a lovely Australian girl called Emily but she's only doing Childcare for 2 weeks ~ she lives so close! Shared a dorm at Aquarius with Sanna from Melbourne, doing the Expedition project, Kristina from the Gold Coast, doing the Marine project and Lydia from Switzerland, also Marine. Everyone's really friendly but people will come and go so will be a big mix. :) The boat journey takes four and a half hours to the base and we spent the time on the deck, island watching. There is no internet on the islands so took the opportunity to email before leaving (there was as I found out later but minimal access). Also bought a Fijian sim card for cheap texts and calls but may not be much phone signal! Nadi town, on the mainland, reminds me of India, loads of little shops and markets selling everything under the sun. We got into town on a rickety old bus with a bicycle bell attached to string which had to be pulled if you wanted to get off! Everything was ridiculously cheap, apart from sarongs ~ strange as everyone wears them. Resorts are expensive too, especially as its tourist season. The islands should be much cheaper. There are many places I would love to go to at the weekends that we have free but it takes so long to get anywhere by boat. It takes 18 hours to get to Taveuni, one of the best islands for exploring and hiking.

Ready for an adventure!

The beautiful islands ~ from the deck of the Yasawa Flyer

Farewell England!!

The next time I write I will be in the paradise that is Fiji..

Goodbye England! See you in three months and ten days..

As I will be residing on a remote island I may not get to the internet as often as usual, therefore expect updates every week or every other week (should get to a computer most weekends!).

I go on Tuesday!!

Can't believe I'm off on Tuesday and in less than a week I will be soaking up the Fijian sun.. don't get me wrong though, this is not a holiday!!
Been shopping today as I'm working my way through the extensive kit list.. will literally have to sit on my bag to squash it in..

So far I have a pile that consists of:

2 pairs of baggy shorts
Flip-flops
Hat
4 Sarongs
Chinos
2 pairs of Sunglasses
Waterproof
Towel
Sun cream
Head torch
Normal torch
Cutlery
Mosquito Net
Insect Repellent
Batteries
Detergent
Dry Shampoo
Shampoo
Dry Bag
Rash top
Notebook
Money Belt
Times table book
Paracetamol
Travel tablets
Plasters

Have yet to pack many things such as, long sleeved tops, tees, cossies, school resources, adaptor, water shoes, camera, mug, toiletries, pjs, more light trousers and shorts, more first aid necessities

And the obvious ~ flight tickets, passport, accommodation reservation, insurance deets, etc, etc

Work, Work, Work!!

I'm now working at Debenhams, Weymouth on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day to get as much Fiji cash as I can!!

On Boxing Day I start at 7am.. ouch!

Can't believe how soon it is now.. 20 days!! Finish work on January 2nd and fly out on the 10th!! Sooo excited :D

Christmas Carols for Fiji?

I have had a new idea to fundraise for Fiji - carol singing door-to-door and sell mince pies/brownies. A lot of people don't appreciate carol singers so the mince pies is kind of a backup plan..
If I do this I will have to get my singing up to scratch.. and my knowledge of carols.. good idea?
Please comment :)

Sold some more jam to volunteers and youth workers at Dorset Youth Association, the total is now over £120! Thanks guys :)

Nearly at the £3000 mark now, yay!