Well, it has been a loooooooooong jurney, and everything went well. It was a little bit sad to say goodbye at the airport though, and I keep wondering what on earth I have put into motion.

After days (and nights) of getting everything ready before leaving, I was quite tired when I left at 7PM from my apartment 10. august - I wasn't in Fiji before 8 in the afternoon on the 12. Crazy! I travelled Stavanger - Oslo - London - Los Angeles - Nadi.

I had some hours to kill in LA, and even though I went out of the airport to walk on the pavement, I can't relly say I've been to LA. I met a man from Futuna who lives in Fiji, and we had a good talk. He had been to Canada for a conventioan, and in Febuary would be finished training as a Cathoolic priest, he will work in Japan. He said hello to me because he thought I was Australian!? We talked about how the Fijians used to be cannibals (among other things), and he asked me about my ancestors - were they cannibals? The vikings were not, but they did use the blood from animals in certain rituals. This totally discusted him... But cannibalism was a way for a person to gain the power from the spirit of the person they ate (yes I now I go on about this, and that I am a vegetarian, but there you are...), so apparently they only ate the people they had conquered in war. All the craftshops and museums are filled with the instruments they used...

Fiji is a group of over 300 islands, and some of them are only inhabited by small villages, where there is no post, bank, shop, doctor and so on. With this in mind, accompanied by a vivid imagination about the people of old, when we landed in Fiji at 5 in the morning - and I could see NOTHING apart from a few lights here and there, it was quite exciting - it felt so deserted and a bit spooky.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by airport staff in shirts and sarongs. The Fijians are tall and quite big, with relaxed and open demeanor and perfect white smiles. They really look like they are members of the Olympic team in spear throwing or something.

After staying in a shabby hotel, I took a bemo to Nadi town. Bemos are vans that people can use much like a private bus. On the way back I took a proper bus, and it was great to see the view and feel the warm, fresh air on my face - the bus had no glass in the windows. I have just found my next accomodation, and because it is low season, I am here by myself. Got a private room for the price of a dorm room. (Gullhår i rauå).