Our final destination in Fiji was Nadi (pronounced Nandi). It was different to say the least. We got shown to our dorm room which resembled a prison cell, well it was actually smaller than a prison cell and more cramped. We immediately asked for a double room, I could no longer cope with dorms and needed some space. We were going to get one the following day as there were none free. That night we had to endure banging doors and people getting up really early spending an hour in the shower and packing their case before leaving after making a racket from 4am...surely they could have done this the night before. Hey, that's stinking dorms for you! We got into our double room the next day and it was fantastic. I had my own bathroom with a decent shower, I no longer had to sleep in a bunk bed and we had room to swing one or two cats! Excellent.

The weather in Nadi was not as good as on the islands and this was reflected in the personalities of the local people. Gone were the smiles and the willingness to help you and teach you about their culture and anything else you wanted to know and here were the personalities that we are oh so accustomed to in the UK, people who just don't care. At this stage I wanted to go back to the islands. We went shopping into Nadi town for some souvenirs and a walk around and we got hassled and hussled and ripped off and it was nasty. We wished that instead of having these last three days on mainland that we had spent a little more to stay on the islands longer. Never mind.

On our last evening we walked along the beach and watched the sun set on our last day in Fiji. It was actually quite emotional and it was one of the most beautiful sunsets. We met up with Denize and Nikki who we had been on a couple of islands with and watched some Polynesian dancing. It was brilliant night and the dancers were great. It then got to the audience participation time and I refused to get up this time. Instead they took Barry and Nikki and Denize and i stayed put to take photos. That was until Barry called out my name when they asked for more people and they started shouting out "CHARLOTTE, who is Charlotte" into the microphone...Denize pointed at me and then that was it, I literally had no choice, one minute I was telling the guy no and the next I was flying through the air in his arms as he carried me to the front!! WHY?!! We then did the Bula dance again and the snake dance and it was all very fun and amusing. It was a good way to finish off our time in Fiji.

Whilst in Fiji I did a lot of things that I would never have dreamed about doing before, swimming through underwater caves and snorkelling with sharks being a couple of things. Again with all of the other countries there have been high points and low points. With the lows mainly consiting of hunger and the highs mainly consisting of being in the sun and meeting the Fijian people. It is a truely amazing country. The Yasawa Islands are just absolutely incredible. They are amoung the most beautiful places that I have ever seen, with white sandy beaches and crystal clear seas, I constantly felt like I was in a postcard. The Fijian people are the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. They are so relaxed, everything runs on Fji time. They are spiritual, warm, friendly and fun...everywhere we went was filled with the constant sounds of laughter and singing. They have so much passion for everything they do and the culture is fascinating. I will never forget the night that I spent with on Kuata drinking Kava and learning about Fijian culture and traditions.

On a majority of the Yasawa islands, I no longer felt like a traveller or a tourist, I was welcomed and felt like a member of the family. I feel so lucky to have experienced this and look forward to returning in the future.