‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land,Not a sound could be heard, except the waves on the sand….

Anyway, our first nights sleep at Blue lagoon beach resort was unsurprisingly a very good one, after our two previous nights at ‘Never-go-a village’ (Navotua) The bed was huge, there was plenty of room, there was even bath products to go with our HOT shower, yes you heard right!!

We made our way to our winners breakfast and met the rest of our team mates, a nice family from California originally from Sheffield and Ayr and another British couple who had been travelling the world for over 4 years now. 
It was delicious, loads of fruit, eggs of all kinds, bacon, sausage, beans and even a selection of cakes! So Evie was covered!
After our delightful breakfast, we made our way to the beach, a short walk from the restaurant of about 10 paces. It was slightly overcast, but warm enough to relax and enjoy the views of the turquoise waters. 

We did some reading and then went out to explore the reef. It was very nice, thousands of fish, beautiful coral all at a stones throw from the beach. There was also a pontoon a bit further out which I had swam to the previous evening, so we relaxed out there for a while, frolicking in the sea, happy as Larry (who’s Larry?)
Lunch time came soon enough. The special of the day was a tuna Niçoise salad, which we both went for, having seen the 2 huge yellowfin tuna a fisherman had caught a couple hours earlier. We chose correctly, amazing fresh tuna, unlike any I’ve ever tasted before. 
The weather had turned slightly damp and windy, so taking advantage of this, we went on a hike to the summit of the island. Not as high as the one we had been up at Naqalia lodge, but still a fair old climb.

We went on our own and followed the trail up into the hills, the wind and rain getting stronger the higher we got. We sang Christmas songs the whole way as we got wetter and wetter in the now horizontal rain.
2 small birds had decided to use us to help them catch their dinner. As we disturbed the grass at our feet, huge crickets would pop up and get swept away by the wind and straight into the mouths of our new birdy friends. We named them Rudolph and Blitzen and they followed us until their bellies were full. 

It only took 40 minutes to reach the top, by which time the rain was dying off but the wind persisted. It took the same amount of time to get down because of the steep gradient. Evie held onto my shoulders at the steepest parts and I taught her how to get the best grip.

‘It’s all about balls’ I said, as in the balls of your feet of course ‘put all your weight through the balls of your feet and you won’t slip backwards, just like skiing’.
With only one small ankle injury we were back down at our lodge and ready for a g&t. We had a couple while we got ready for dinner and Santas arrival. 
Again we went for tuna for dinner, tuna steak this time, again delicious with brownie and cheesecake for dessert. 

There was some fire dancing and a bonfire after dinner. Soon after, it time for bed and we left the youngsters playing their silly drinking games whilst we wandered along the beach back to our room. 
Christmas Day – 
Santa must have stopped in the South Pacific late, we heard him drop our gifts off at the door around 6:30am. We excitedly opened them and he’d given us a carved turtle each, just what we had always wanted!!!

We had a couple of cards to open too, but it wasn’t the same as being at home around the tree with the family. 
The sun had decided to make a Christmas appearance too which was great. After a few days of rain what more could we ask for.
We were advised to have a small breakfast to save our stomachs for Christmas lunch so we did as we were told and kept it light. Today pretty much was going to revolve around food. 

We took a couple of kayaks to explore the reef a bit further out. I jumped in and Evie looked after the boats. Pretty soon though we were being dragged toward some pretty big crashing waves, so I jumped back in and we made a hasty escape. 
It was harder going back, into the wind and against the current, but good fun all the same and a few calories burned before lunch. 

Lunch was served on 2 huge communal tables. We sat with some Germans and had a cocktail whilst the very happy and friendly staff brought round all sorts of delicious canapés. There was a champagne toast before lunch was served and I got to drink the yoga instructors because she didn’t like it, result.

Lunch was incredible, there was some kind of huge fish, a honey glazed ham, lamb, rare beef and of course turkey with all the trimmings. No pigs in blankets however and of course still not as good as yours Nan! But not half bad!!! 

Edit
As predicted we were suitably stuffed and adjourned to the poolside for a beer, where there was a game of pool volleyball going on. Only the kids had managed to participate as all the adults seemed to be in the same food coma as us.
Scuba Santa made an appearance, arriving on his paddle board. He must be a cousin of the real Santa due to the dreadlocks. He came bearing sweets and had photos with everyone. 

There was a photo booth which we made the most of and we spent some time on the beach taking photos of where we were on Christmas Day. 
We dressed up for Christmas dinner and sat down with a nice Aussie couple who explained to us the art of fish flipping. We never did try it!

There were crackers at dinner, Evie got a ring in hers… not that type of ring!!! She also turned down the main course, opting for the starter and dessert, a wise choice as I ploughed through, ending up in the same state as earlier. 
After dinner there was a movie under the stars. We watched ‘The Grinch’ with Kevin, the American guy from Sheffield, who turned out to be a hypnotise and promised to hypnotise Evie for her new fear of flying before we left. 
We spoke to our family’s before we went to bed, being 13 hours ahead they were just having breakfast and opening presents. We miss them all very much, especially at this time of year. 
The full moon over the blue lagoon was amazing, our nightly walk along the beach before bed was very nice indeed. 
Boxing Day –
First duty of the day was to call the family again as they would now be tucking into their Christmas dinners and it also gave is the opportunity to show off our amazing view in the Daytime. 
After breakfast we did some more snorkelling and the took out a couple of stand up paddle boards, both of us taking to it like a duck to water! Well at least until it was time to turn back and into the wind and current, just like the kayaks, just twice as hard. Many struggles later and making sure not to stop or you’d soon end up back where you started, we were back in the safety of the resort. 

I’d had enough by this point, but Evie insisted we had another go, so we paddled around a bit closer to shore, got to the pontoon and then had a race home. I gave Evie a head start and just pipped her to the line after a dramatic dive for the beach, forgetting that i was tethered to the back of the board and ending up flat on my face in the sand. It was worth it for the win though.

As promised, Kevin sought out Evie on the beach and hypnotised her to get over her fear of flying. It was very interesting to watch and she came out feeling very relaxed, the proof, as they say, will be in the pudding, which will be on our next flight in a small propeller plane to Samoa. Very kind of him though and his very deep voice even relaxed me. 
Another delicious lunch, more relaxing on the beach, a beer by the pool, a g&t in our room, a couple games of cards and it was dinner time again. It’s all very monotonous here. 

Curry night tonight and we enjoyed it with a German and an Irish lady, both of whom lived in West Byfleet, small world. One of them was on an 8 month diving tour of the South Pacific islands, alright for some eh! 
We went to bed quite early and I proceeded to beat Evie 10-3 at cards, I’m sure she won’t mind the world knowing. Our time in the Blue lagoon came to an end too quickly again, thank god we decided to spend that extra night here at the start of our stay. We’re off to a tiny island called Beachcomber now, a small sandbar not far from the mainland. A party island so we’re told. We’re meeting Emma and Liam here, who we met at Naqalia, time to polish off that 1.75 litre bottle of gin we’ve nursed around the Yasawas!