We were both utterly fed up of Mango Bay and both suffering with upset stomachs so were glad when we finally came to leave. We got on a comfortable coach for the trip to Suva, the capital of Fiji. It took about 90 minutes and was a nice, leisurely pace unlike the break-neck white-knuckle taxi from Nadi.

It was nice to see a bit more of Fiji's main island Viti Levu, which has many simple houses are constructed from corrugated metal and painted in colours to make them look like they've been sponsored by Skittles. Jobs here seem to be hard to come by and many families have to be self-sufficient, growing enough to be able to sell flowers, vegetables, coconuts and other fruit at little ramshackle stalls by the roadside, often manned by a group of waving children. There were many men fishing on small boats along the tidal rivers. Saturday was laundry day and many houses had hung their clothes on the line in size order. All the bedding, carpets, mattresses and even teddy bears were brought out into the hot sun to air. As the bus was a tourist coach we were waved at by smiling people all along the way. It's a bit bemusing at first (if people did that in the UK you'd think them very odd, but most people here are genuinely pleased to see tourists, it's good for their country and economy).

As we got nearer Suva the houses began to get bigger, there were more boats and people and we passed schools, churches, warehouses, a grim looking prison and the building site for the new prison. The central bus station was awash with people at the adjoining Saturday market. We carried on a little further to our stop outside the Holiday Inn.

Off the bus, a taxi driver quickly made us his fare having guessed where we were staying (there aren't many backpacker places in Suva). He offered a fixed price (more than the guidebook advised) so based on our KL experience of this we asked to go on the meter. After a slightly 'round the houses / here's a brief tour of the city' trip which ended up costing more than he'd originally offered (naturally) we got to our accommodation slightly inland of the city in on the edge of a forest park. If only all cabbies were like the ones in Singapore!

Once we were shown to our peaceful double room we both promptly fell asleep, exhausted from the illness and stress of staying at Mango Bay. We'd opted for a bit of luxury and got a private room as it was ridiculously cheap. We'd a nice view over a large pond with lots of huge pink and white lotus flowers dotted around and plenty of greenery which was home to plenty of birdlife. The staff were instantly more friendly and we managed to eat a bit of dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lake feeling more relaxed.

The following day, still feeling wobbly and drained from illness we had a relaxed morning followed by a walk to the forest park in the afternoon. Although billed as one of Suva's main attractions the hostel map, and our guidebook gave warnings about leaving valuables behind and sticking as a group. Although the forest was lovely and we saw a nice waterfall we both felt uncomfortable and jumpy about being there so retreated to the hostel. We ordered pizza for dinner from the restaurant but it didn't really go down well for either of us.

The next day we caught the local bus into Suva itself. The bus was a rickety open-window affair but was cheap and offered a good view of the city suburbs (and it went the route it was supposed to unlike taxis). We were pleased to find town a little quieter than the day we passed through. We had a look in a couple of department stores, booked our coach tickets to Uprising and headed for the museum.

The museum was also listed as a 'must-see' in the guidebook and, bless them, they've tried. The first hall has a large hand-carved twin hull canoe and several smaller canoes. It also housed the remnants of the keel of the Bounty, a mutinied ship that had some run in with island folk (although it wasn't that clear why they had it in the museum). Other exhibits showed native weaponry, gruesome cannibal tools and a printing press used by the missionaries (those that weren't eaten anyway) to print bibles. Whilst it was an interesting array of items some were not particularly well explained and there wasn't much flow between the exhibits. We had a brief look in the gift shop full of Chinese-made 'authentic' wooden carvings, coconut oil toiletries, cannibal forks and tacky Hawaiian shirts.

Feeling tired we bought some bland food from the supermarket and headed back to the hostel to a dinner of cup-a-soup, Ritz crackers, Pringles and ginger biscuits. We passed the evening playing pool on the world's most uneven pool table.