The Kit Kat Review.

Among the many things we learned in Fiji we learned that chocolate is way better. Upon arrival I was immediately introduced to: The Boost and Kit Kat Chunky. Boost... not my favorite but Kit Kats...

yum.

In the states I am not a big candy person and could count on one hand the candy I will eat. Kit Kats is one of them. But lately I have found that American chocolate, particularly Hershey's is gross. So when I arrived to Fiji and the house raved about the chocolate I knew I had to try it.

One bite and I was hooked. I managed to keep the amount I ate countable on both hands which is saying a lot seeing as how most of my housemates probably couldn't count on both hands and feet. These things were eaten by the dozen by us Americans and I am pretty sure that the market next to our house only kept them in stalk for us. We probably made up half their revenue on a weekly basis.

So why are they so different? I wondered the same thing. So upon arrival to America I decided to investigate.

Let's look at my findings.

1. Location. The America ones are made in America. The Fiji ones are made in Australia. Both by Hershey!

2. Size. The American one is significantly smaller.

3. Color. You could tell right away that the Fiji ones were creamier just by the milkier color. 

4. Ingredients. This is it people the big difference. Both start with sugar. Obviously. But the second ingredient in American is wheat flour whereas the second ingredient in Fiji is full cream milk. 

Winner winner chicken dinner. Fiji WINS! 

Then the family had a taste test and Fiji came out on top by far. Besides look how much more chocolate the Fiji one has!

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My Last Morning

After getting off the boat Emma, Liz, and I started talking and I learned Elisabeth's flight left at 2 and mine 3. We came up with a plan to have one last fun morning and boy was it amazing! 

We started by going to the garden of the giant. 

It was a garden with tons of orchids. I've never seen orchids growing and it was beautiful!

What a fun walk we had!

Then it was off to the mud pools! We arrived and started by smearing mud all over our bodies. 

Then we were supposed to get into the murky water to rinse off. I was okay with that until I realized the bottom was covered in sea grass and a foot of mud. NO THANK YOU!

After our rinse we got to sit in the hot spring. Our bodies felt so smooth! Amazing how mud made us the cleanest we have been while in Fiji.

Then our guide man schedules is massages. What a way to leave! Covered in coconut oil and relaxed!

Finally we headed to a bakery and got cream buns!

Best ever! And of course I got a kit kat. 

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Aquarius: Night Six

This morning I went on a trip to the caves. It. Was. Spectacular. The boat ride out there was pretty bad and rough but so worth it. When we arrived we saw these steps:

Which led to this:

And then down to this:

And then we jumped in. The water was a little dark and freaky at first but it was so pretty! Such a beautiful thing to see!

After a quick swim we were told to come to the side. we were going to swim underneath through a tunnel and pop up into another cave behind the wall. Not going to lie I was scared.

You couldn't see the opening and I knew the caves inside were going to be pitch black. I also knew I had to do it. Everyone else went in and then it was me. He counted to three and under I went. Luckily the guide swam with me and pushed me down the whole time until the other guide pulled me up on the other side.

There were seven of us and one torch. Aka flashlight. To my surprise and enjoyment it was not just one cave back there but a whole series of caves and tunnels. I wish you could have been there. I can't describe it's pure awe.

As we swam through them they made the scariest noises that echoed and bounced off the walls. It was like being in a creepy movie scene.

I wish I could take you all there so you could experience it with me. That's the only part I don't like about traveling solo. Yes, I met a ton of people and they got to be there but they don't come home with me and it's different than experiencing it with someone you know well. Nonetheless it was divine. One more thing off my bucket list. 

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Coral View: Night 5

This morning I set an alarm, made sure to get up in time for breakfast and be ready for my 8am cave trip. This cave trip is the reason I came to this island. I made sure to call ahead and email to guarantee a spot Tuesday morning. Well I noticed no one else was really awake therefore I headed to reception to inquire. My response: there is no cave on Tuesday. What do you mean there is no cave? You wrote my name down right infront of me yesterday. Oh. My. Gosh. Stupid ppl I tell you. I was pissed and reason why is I had booked a shark dive for Wednesday morning bc the caves were Tuesday. When I tried to switch it bc of their screw up the shark dive was sold out this morning. So I completely missed it and can't go tomorrow bc I have the caves. So unhappy this morning. Whatever. So we all hung out on the beach and read books which was nice. After lunch we went to the Blue Lagoon where the movie was filmed for some snorkeling.

It was incredible! So many fish and we saw and octopus.

The water was crystal clear and so colorful.

Then when we got back it started to POUR! If my caves get canceled tomorrow... So help me... 

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Coral View: Night 4

This morning I woke up and braved the freezing cold shower. Then headed to breakfast with Taylor. After we had to check out and pack up. On a good note the dogs, only two, at this resort are actually pets and are treated so nicely! Made me so happy! And there are no animals on the island I am on which is awesome too. Okay so the boat came and I got on to head to my next stop which was the furthest island North. It was about two hours on the boat and the sea was pretty rough.

We got on a little boat and rode to our island where we were greeted by the welcome song. On our last resort they sang us the farewell song. Everyone is just so nice and all the workers knew my name and called me Jess haha. Okay focus. So we arrived had a briefing and then lunch. I got to talking with the girls who were on the boat. Two from the states and two from England. After we checked in I made sure to book my cave trip, blue lagoon snorkel- I need to see that movie and wait... A shark dive! So Wednesday morning I may get to do it as long as two more ppl sign up.

After this we went on a tour around the island by boat. It was beautiful. 

Then we hung out during tea time and watched some rugby.

Oh and it's cold.

Had to pull out and wear my airplane outfit since I gave away all the rest of my clothing. Now it's off to dinner.

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Mantaray Night 3

The reason I came to this island was for the manataray snorkel. This was my big thing and I made sure to call ahead and figure out how it works. Problem is the way it works is they see the manataray and then ring a bell and then you run to the boat. So I asked around a lot to find out more. They hadn't seen them for six days but they did the morning we got there around 7am. So I set an alarm to make sure I was awake and of course had a hard time sleeping all night bc I was worried I would not hear the bell. Well at 7:50 we heard drums but they have the same drums for breakfast and breakfast is at 8. So everyone is asking around is it Mantaray or breakfast. I put on my bathing suit as fast as I could and got to the dive shop ASAP. It was both. So we got snorkel gear and got on a little boat and away we went. We get out there and see all these ppl swimming hard following one man so we jump in. And we all start swimming hard... It was not calm water. Then we see two of them! 

They were probably 8-12 ft across. Then we swam for while and kept looking. Next time we saw them they were deep and swimming up with their mouths wide open but of course I don't have my camera but it was incredible.

We got in the boat and then we saw them again and everyone jumped off but this time I stayed in the boat with two others and the resort man. Lucky me! He found one and I got to jump in and wait for it to come to me... Just me and the Mantaray! 

I also got to see schools of fish, the coral,   And an eel. 

Back in the boat and the four of us found two more and traveled by them on the boat.

The mantarays were amazing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach, weaving bracelets, sanding coconut bracelets, and watching the sunset.

Oh and we did some more kayaks 

Then we got into some card games and some intense spoons. I also enjoyed watching volleyball. There was some beautiful people to look at. ;) and even better we had dinner with those beautiful people and made even more friends. Al from Ireland, Michael, Paul, and Ido not remember the rest. 

We played some interesting games with them all night. Oh and then we had crab races. I was too freaked to touch my crab so Al handled him.

There they are, our crabs. So Solo asks us to all sit in a circle around the Arena and he has all the crabs in a bucket with a plate on top. He flips it over and tells us to count down from 3. Then he pulls up the bucket and I see something move fast and it's huge. Everyone starts screaming and coming rights at me is this huge crab with long creepy legs. It results in me flying up onto the couch ontop of a couple all whole screaming and holding my camera which happens to be on video mode. Hahahaha. It wasn't funny though. It was a mean joke. 

Fun day though! 

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Mantaray: Solo Night 2

Okay so I think I talked about the teacher from the Netherlands. Well when she got off the boat I had about another two hous. Then my disembarkment announcement came. I got on the boat and something spurred conversation with the girls infront and bam a group was formed. Taylor from Chicago, Annie and Laura from England, aga from Poland, George from Europe, Lea from Germany and dan, the blonde one George, and Alex from Canada. 

Upon arrival we hS orientation and then went to our dorm. Which has no screens but nets on the bed. Then lunch. Wow. Talk about amazing lunch. Best food I've had in months. Which makes sense for 89 a day . But they have big menu that you get to choose from and it's presented beautifully. It reminds me of being on a cruise. After lunch we went to a fish feeding and coconut demonstration. 

For fish feeding you grab a piece a bread and hold it to the edge of the water and tons of fish come and start eating it. They make the funniest noise. Then solo took us to a coconut tree and he climbed to the top. Once up there he knocked down a bunch of coconuts and then we learned how to shuck them and open them. 

Fun stuff! We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach enjoying life. That night I got a dizzy spell and had to lay down. Spent the nigh talking with the Canadian men who were having a drinking party on the top deck. 

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Aquarius: Solo Night 1

Okay so obviously I survived the bus. Although there were two close calls. 1. We tried to pass between three cars. A bus was coming at us full speed. There was no room for us but we had to move over. Needless to say the person next to is did not enjoy the fact that we were sharing their lane. Two lane road. Three  cars wide. Yikes. 

2. Cow. Yup, a cow decided to cross the highway. 

Let's continue. The bus stops and leaves me. Not sure why. Everyone else stayed on but whatever. As I stood there on the side of the road alone I started to freak. Why did I travel on my own? Why did I not stay in the comfort of the little yellow house with the girls? But in life we gave our challenge and sometimes we have to be uncomfortable. Okay so I finally found a taxi and got to Aquarius. 

Cute place. Right on the beach. Checked in to a six person dorm that was full but no one was there. Now what? Walk on the beach. 

Great idea. I walked up and down the beach gazing at the hundreds of shells that littered the beach. 

Found a few treasures including that spikey thing. Well at this point I was feeling a bit awkward. I decided to sit in the hammock and watch the sunset. Seems easy enough right? Wrong. I notice the hammock is all tied together by strings but I'm going to get in it by golly. Well I go to sit and seriously this hammock is so tight. I realize the problem right away and try to frantically keep myself from spilling out which results into me flipping into this hammock like a fish out of water. It was so awkward. But I made it. Then I hear good job I totally thought you were going to eat it. I have no idea who is talking to me and am to freaked of falling out of the thing by trying to turn around and see. I respond to my stranger and we have a quick conversation. Later the stranger walks by and says oh I'm glad you are back I thought you were going to miss it. 

Referring to the sunset. 

Anyway then he says something about being American and we get to talking. His name is luke and of course the first thing that comes out of my mouth is oh that's my dogs name. Not sure that was the best way to greet this stranger. Oh wells. Turns out he spends his summers in LA and teaches biology in Jersey. He is here on a volunteer thing and just arrived in the morning. Anyway he takes me to meet his group. There are three Germans, a teacher from England, a volunteer from Australia and us. It was so fun! We shared our travel adventures then went to dinner together and watched island dancers and fire dancers.

Then we ended up on he edge of the pool learning a dance ourselves and a cat decided to try my dinner. What an adventure. Turns out James was my bunk mate. He slept above me and def asked me if it was okay that his chonies were all over the bed rails. Lol. 

So night one = success!

This morning I woke up and got on the big bus to the port that houses the yasawa flyer ship. Anyway it was me and one other lady. We got to talking and she is from the Netherlands and teaches first grade. She was on the boat with me but only had a thirty minute journey whereas mine is three hours. So now I am here. On the boat. 

Once again nervous to be alone but excited for what is in store. 

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