Frontier Fiji diaries

Op de site van Frontier worden maandelijks berichten achtergelaten door vrijwilligers die aan het einde van hun 4, 6, 8 of 10 weken op het eilands zijn gekomen. Check de Fiji diaries op www.frontier.ac.uk. Hieronder alvast een voorproefje:

Fun and games in a Fijian paradise
Fiji Marine - 8th August 2008

Ok, so camp routine is fully established now and everyone's day is jam packed. All dive training is well underway and it's amazing. Well party night on the 19th was truly awesome; the theme was ‘Under the sea'. Everyone rummaged together all scrap material and some inventive costumes were put together including sea slugs (obviously the best), Poseidon, boxfish, mermaids and sharks. It was a fantastic night especially when the fun and games were underway.

Schedules were hectic on camp and still BTEC investigations are progressing successfully and all studies are relevant and will definitely make a positive impact on the reef biodiversity and the local Fijian population. When not dive training or diving we are constantly in the water participating in point out snorkels which are so useful and provide a visual revision aid for learning fish species, coral, algae and invertebrates. So it won't be long until we are all Einsteins of the ocean (slight exaggeration). Practising baseline surveys throughout the week has become essential training, just to ensure our data is accurate when required. But it always involves the over competitive volunteers turning swimming back to shore into an Olympic event. The certified divers went on a boat dive to Nukuweyni where the visibility was fantastic. Coral was in high abundance and sightings of large manta rays and green turtles made this breathtaking.

Midweek, we decided to participate in beach Olympics. Unbelievable efforts from all were witnessed in events such as the triple jump, the wheelbarrow, shot-put and many more. Stars of the show included Ian the Irish King of the Triple jump and of course his team forged into first place after winning tug of war. It was a fully loaded day and a good night's sleep was fully deserved. Some of the most amazing camp experiences include camping out on the dive deck and watching the shooting stars and hearing the roaring waves beneath you – it's a real must do – it's magical that is until a freak downpour occurs and then there is chaos until everyone finds a sheltered area.

Sundays are chillout days and included a two hour trek up the hill which is so worth it as the view is out of this world. Communal washing with our biodegradable soap is hilarious to watch; us girlies form a chain and scrub the dirt out of each other's hair. This is time consuming process and has lasted up to two hours before until we were forced out of the water by a shoal of grunters just gagging to bite through our bikinis! The boys on the other hand wash on a weekly basis!

Overall it is coming to the end for us 4 weekers and we envy the 10 weekers who will have more adventures to experience. There have been highs and lows on camp but we have all pulled through as a big family. The friendships and memories that we take away with us we will have forever. To conclude – this place is paradise! Come join the fun!