Bula (hello). So we managed to lose a whole day as soon as we boarded our Fiji bound flight due to time zone differences. But we made it to 'basic but everything you need, beautiful Fiji', with its 333 islands, who'd have known! The main island is a mix of South East Indians, invited in the late 1800's to farm sugar cane, and of course the smiley natives. We really kicked off our shoes here, stopped and did practically nothing...

So lets start with the 'basic but everything you need'...

We don't usually harp on about accommodation but thought this one was worth a mention!

We based ourselves on Wailoaloa beach in Nadi at Mamas Tropic of Capricorn resort. Reviews painted a glorious picture of a resort with not a manager but a Mama that treated you as her own, likened to a home away from home, nothing too much trouble. Wow, we decided to have us a bit of that. Mama was in NZ (she probably fled knowing we were coming!) visiting her grandchildren. Everything was a bit too much trouble for staff, including cooking meals. The reason why we ate next door (at another backpacker resort)! We thought the lax atmosphere was due to Mama's absence, how wrong were we! We discovered a feisty Mama on her return. A force not to be reckoned with, as we witnessed her talking to the builders and rowing with her husband, we even overheard her calling two of her guests 'a******s' (hopefully not talking about us!). In fact, she appeared the most pleasant to us, as we left!

Another lush place visited, Mango bay, a resort on the Coral Coast, although the 'shower' left a lot to be desired (you had to wrestle the wall for the drip) staff and amenities (including the mosquito nets around the beds) were lovely, and yes basic. A total switch off, do nothing place (as we haven't had enough of them to date!).

As mentioned there are just a few Islands that can be visited! We chose to visit Castaway, one of the Mamanuca group. Everything you expect from an island, sun, sea, snorkel, rest and relaxation. So we won't have any of that thank you very much! Nooooo, we'll walk around the island, which according to the tour lady should only take 20 mins! Errrr, clambering over rough rocks, clattering crabs, pebble dashed beach stretches, no human in sight... 40 mins later.... 60 mins later.... 90 mins later.... We made it back to the start in relief! The tour lady apologised as she thought we'd asked how long it would have taken to walk a particular stretch of beach! We'd do the walk again for sure, just a little more prepared! Equipped with water and sunblock maybe! We certainly had an insight as to how Tom Hanks must have felt when filming Castaway (if it was in fact filmed here)!

So we did not need for anything, a huggie from an expectant warm Mama may have been nice, and a more prepared walk around Castaway!

That leaves the 'beautiful'....

Fiji is full of culture, colourful, relaxed, raw, earthy, real, wholesome.... The myriad of temples from Hindu, Sikh, Muslim to Christian worship makes this place diverse. All these things collectively make it gorgeously beautiful, in our opinion.

Last but not least, food... S and k tried mahi mahi and wahoo, both white fish, resembling cod. The Indian thalis weren't bad either.

This travelling lark is pretty humbling, makes one realise their worth, we are but a grain of sand in the grand scale of things. Albeit all precious grains!