rendletrek

After the fire the place around the old dorm building looked like a building site...but we had one week left and decided to stick with it.
Life went on, dive club went on, friends left and new people came to stay, some new friends made. Whenever friends left the island on the big boat, dive club used to give them a good send off, diving off the jetty as the big catamaran pulled away. Dives ranged from 3-5 metres depending on tide and usually about 3-5 people diving in all at once.
Games and activites that developed on Mana were powerhour...running up the hill, sit ups, push ups...but limited members for that...as it was so hot some days and we couldn't be bothered! "Mana Ball" was passed on...a small bouncy ball in a square with four sections...abit like table tennis but without the table or bats..used your hand to hit it instead.
Opened coconuts to drink and eat, I often helped in the bar, serving or collecting empties. Sometimes helped with unloading provisions fromt he boat. Often dragged in to sing the farewell and welcome song to guests and Paulie played his guitar loads..the human duke box, when the electric was off or in the evenings.

Our last night was epic. It was Fiji night, so Paul and myself were invited to be chief and chiefess again and our friend Ed was chief spokesman and Lesley helped in the Kava making ceremony. We all wore costume that night and makeup.
After the Kava ceremony came the dancing and I decided to dance two dances with Latu and Andy, with my grass skirt on. Really loved it!
The staff bought out plenty of beer for "taki" and we partied on.
The next morning we all packed and really didn't want to go..it was so sad. Just before we got on the boat all the friends (staff) gathered around on the decking and sang their Fiji fairwell song to us. Everybody cried...who knows if we'd ever go back again and even if we did people come and go and it wouldn't be the same. They had all become such good friends and made the place what it is. A very special two months for us...

We left the island and stayed in Nadi for two nights at a nice hotel with three swimming pools, two restaurants and hot water! Went out to a club with some of the staff who had come over for their days off, met more of their relatives and friends.

Finally said farewell to Ed and flew to Auckland, NZ.

It was about 4pm, walking back from a cup of tea at the bar. Noticed smoke coming from the top of the building. Ran over to see the flames and smoke billowing out the building.
The whole of the upstairs was on fire. Paul, our friend Ed and some of the locals were running in and out of the building pulling peoples packs and matresses out. We managed to salvage our rucksacks and a few other bits, until the upstairs wasan inferno and it was decided it was too dangerous to risk it. The whole village turned out to watch and some of the backpackers lost everything (those on 2nd floor), Manager Mark and Rashma lost everything too.
We and some others had our passports, cash, tickets in the reception safe.
The fire soon spread to the lower floor and the whole building burnt to the ground. Locals hosed down nearby hut roofs as the heat was so intense and things were exploding...It was a real shock and quite scary, but no one was hurt.
The staff immediately moved out of their dorms and allowed us to move in. Electric was out in other buildings, so we all had dinner while it was light then gathered in the bar, in candlelight for a couple of hours until cables were joined and we had light again.

Made friends with a couple of Kiwi builders who frequented the bar...Tyson & Steve.
They were contracted to build a house by "Sunset Beach". We went up there a couple of times with Pauls' guitar, some beers and they had a BBQ. Paul cooked Pasties up there one day and they were great (first time for Paul).
After a few weeks on Mana we felt island life was for us, so we extended our stay several times. Made friends with all the staff.
Stayed in a dorm for 2 weeks then tryed camping, but after two nights got invaded by little red ants. The manager felt for us and agreed we could move into a private room with a fan for 8 pounds a day, to include 3 meals. We got on well with the Manager Mark and his girlfriend Rashma.
After 5 weeks I did a trip to the mainland with some leaving friends. The island had been quite isolating and the internet was expensive, so no contact with home and not much news coming in. Short of provisions too. It was a shock coming back to civilisation...traffic, noise, so many people. Stayed for two nights, not intentionally, but our arranged lift left us behind. (Moses, the resident artist and fisherman had been payed to take us back to Mana but decided he couldn't wait). Had some treats on the mainland, hot showers, Pizza, curry and shopping! (Toiletries, snacks, alcohol)
After a week back on the island we watched our dormitories burn down!

We had BBQ lunch on island hopping and white wine from the island bar. Also went snorkelling around another island.
In the hostel there were a couple of resident doggies, and you know what we're like about dogs.
Loads of wild dogs on the island. People often gave scrpas to the dogs around the hostel.
"Lazy" was the main hostel mascot.. Famous for her bandy front legs, which made her walk like a crocodile...she appeared in the hostel quiz questions and we invented a dance after her. She was also very pregnant as were all the females on the island at this time. Another was "Ginger" who reminded us of Santas little helper...she was the first to have puppies, under the decking. We all fed her under the decking while the puppies fed and we nurtured the puppies as they grew bigger and bigger and ofcourse named them all. Then Lazy had hers under the other end of the decking, but far out of reach. A couple of her pups died.
Then further tradegy stuck one evening. The resort had put poison down to kill any stray dogs. Unfortunately Ginger had eaten some and died on the beach. The next morning all her puppies were taken to the mainland by the hostel manager and luckily found homes.
Then a few days later the same happened to Lazy, but her puppies were too young, so they were burried with her. It was so heartbreaking..so sad. We missed them both terribly.
Andy was the other hostel dog and her puppies came after, so we started feeding her and keeping check on the puppies. The father of many of these pups was a stray dog we named "Demon" He loved to play and bite playfully. Did get kicked a few times by the locals too. anyway, enough about dogs...

Other nights consisted of hermit crab racing (betting on a crab to win and win a prize), drag night competition when all the girls would lend their clothes and our large food bowls were used on a regular basis for big boobs. (Paul won the Miss Mana title twice - he was a pretty girl, with the big boobies), quiz night, traditional "Kava" drinking sessions, games and limbo comps...
Fijian night always involved a traditional "Kava" (drink made with water and squeezed Kava Root vegetable), it looked like muddy water and didn't taste much better. Two guests would be chosen to be Chief and his Wife and dress in traditional costume and sit at the head of the seated guests...everyone sat on a woven palm leaf mat. The Kava made your lips abit tingly and numb though. You drank it out of a half coconut shell. We did have our own Kava night when we bought some over from the mainland. After quite a few it did make you feel abit soporiphic.
On Fijian night they served food that had been cooked in a "lovo" (an underground oven with fire and hot rocks). The meal consisted of chicken, fish, spinach in coconut, Kasava & Taro(both root vegetables)and sausage. A really tasy meal although we always said we preferred fried or roasted Kasava, as the roots tasted very bland and fibrous.
Other meals consisted of lots of rice, sausages, veggie curries, stir fry veg, fruit, bread (tasted sweet). Breakfast was fruit (papau, melon, mango,banana), cake (banana, currant, chocolate), either cornflakes, weetbix, porridge, on occasions pancakes or doughnuts. After many weeks they amazed us with fish and chips and burger and chips.
After 4 weeks on an island with lots of rice we did start to crave certain food, so this was great. Boiled Kasava was often on the menu too...yuk!
We went island hopping twice, which allowed us to buy a few treats at one of the islands supermarkets (e.g. cheese and biscuits with piccalli)...On island hopping we went to some really nice resorts, had a cocktail and swam in some nice swimming pools and had a hot shower. OUr showers on Mana were cold.