Barefoot Manta #Day3

We woke up this morning just before 7am to the locals shouting 'Manta, Manta, Manta!' This means there was a Mantaray sighting. We quickly leaped out of bed, put our bikinis on and ran down to the boats. The boats took us out to the channel where the Mantas migrate trough. They were absolutely incredible. We got to get so close where you could really tell just how huge these creatures are. They did backflips through the water again and again. It was the most amazing experience. We came in an hour later in time for breakfast absolutely ecstatic. 

Laura alongside the mantarays, you can see just how big they are!

We grabbed our snorkel gear and headed to the reef right off the beach. I couldn't believe my eyes. The coral was so colourful and there were soooo many beautiful fish. Everywhere I looked I saw a kind of fish I hadn't seen before. Unfortunately sea lice/tiny jellyfish were being pushed in by the current and we got stung so much that we had to come in. We are now covered in lots of little red dots. 

For the rest of the day we swam & sunbaked. We went out to the reef again and were much better off this time and even saw a reef shark! Its apparently quite rare to see them here so lucky us! 

Went on a Sunset Cruze where the little tiny floats slowly around while one of the locals serenaded us with his guitar. 

We had dinner at this beautiful area by the beach with a fire and music playing. We ate an Indian buffet under the fairylights! We sat with our roomies Jackie from Germany and Georgia from England. 

I tried to have a shower but a gecko stared me right and the eyes so I'm going to bed sandy. 

Nadi #Day2

We got up at 6:30am to catch our shuttle bus to Port Denarau at 7:15. We arrived at the port at 8, checked in and had 20 minutes before boarding our ferry. We grabbed some banana cake and coconut rolls from a bakery for breaky! 

It was a 3hour journey from the mainland out to our first destination, Barefoot Manta. It was beautiful scenery seeing all the other islands along the way. We payed a little extra to stay in the Captains Lounge which was so worth it because we got to sit in an air-conditioned comfy room with free food and wine! 

On arriving at Barefoot Manta we were greeted by Fijians singing and dancing! We had a small tour of the island and checked in to our cute little 4 dorm hut! 

We went for a swim and had a sunbake. Then we went for dinner and cocktails. As I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth in the outside sink, I saw a clear gecko with bludging black eyes and I promptly headed to bed and placed my bug net tightly around me and called it a night. 

Flying to Fiji! #Day1

Bula! (Hello) 
Flying Melbourne to Nadi, Fiji. 
12:10 flight. The flight left 5minutes early and was only a 4 and a half hour journey. 

We collected our bags within 5 minutes and walked out of security to find our driver waiting for us. It was a quick 15 minute journey from the airport to our hotel, Smugglers Cove. 
Smugglers Cove is in an area where lots of other resorts are so heres wasn't much to explore. We had dinner at our hotel and went to bed!

Flying Home

Sunday the 18th 
Flying home 

We left the hotel at 10am for our 2:30pm flight. Our first flight is a domestic flight to Guangzhou in the South of China. It is a 3 hour and 30 minute journey. We have a 3 hour stop over in Guangzhou. 
Our flight home to Melbourne is 9 hours and 30 minutes. We land at 9:45am on Monday the 19th. 

Across this trip I have learnt that Chinese people are very hard working and highly value education. They also have an awesome sense of humor and are very friendly! 
I have loved this trip, we have had some amazing experience and met some lovely people. The tour is amazing value for money and we got to see so much. The highlight would have to be the Great Wall! I've also gotten really great at using chop sticks woohoo! 

Now to come home to 29 degrees, full of far too many dumplings and noodles!

Beijing #Day6

Day 6: Saturday the 17th 

Beijing 

Our last day of sight seeing. 
With a 8:30 departure, we got a sleep in! 
We set off for Tianannen Square and the Forbidden city. Because our hotel is out in the country we have to travel a long time on the bus to get anywhere. 
Today is our first time in the city of Beijing.

Dam our legs are so saw from all the steps yesterday! 

Mary told us that this year the Chinese government announced that Chinese students who study overseas are not aloud to come back to China and work in a government job. This will stop a lot of Chinese students coming to Australia to study and improve their English. 

Tiananmen Square- on June the 4th 1989 many students died protesting. Our tour guide Mary left 2 days before the killings. It was emotional to stand in the square knowing what took place here.  

Tian=sky 
An=peacful 
Men=door 

From here we entered the gates of the Forbidden city. The Forbidden city took 16 years to build. 
The last emperor left the Forbidden city in 1911. From here it is open to the public as a public palace. 
Every 40/45 years they re-paint the buildings. The Forbidden city is so vast complex full of lanes, courtyards and huge palaces. 

There are so many cameras around and recording devices that can interpret any language within 10 seconds. 

9 symbolizes the highest number/power. You can see 9 bolts on all the doors. 

From here we could choose to do optional activities. Many people chose to do more shopping but we went to the old town of Hutong. We had a bike drawn carriage transportation that took us around the great alleyways. We got the opportunity to have lunch at a traditional home where the home owner cooked beautiful food for us. After lunch she played a traditional Chinese instrument called a Guzheng.

Next we opted to go to the Temple of Heven. There was only 4 of us that went which was lovely to be in a small group. In the gardens of the temple we did a Taichi class. We weren't very good but it was a peaceful experience although holding in some giggles while people stopped to take photos of us. 

Throughout the gardens, the older generations meet to play cards and gamble! Casinos are illegal in China so this is their opportunity to catch up and gamble. It felt like an odd location for it. 

The Temple of Heven is a beautifully detailed temple that is circular. It was built in the 1400's! We arrived at sunset which was a calming spiritual experience. 

After we headed back out to the country to our hotel. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant with our friends Mark and Sarah who shouted us dinner. We tried some Frog chilli soup! The frog tasted like chicken. We of course had plenty of dumplings too. Was a great way to spend our last night. 

We had another hotspring spa before bed. I'll be sad to leave in the morning.