We are now in Fiji but are doing alot of travelling around so will write a long one tomorrow!!! MORE PHOTOS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!!! HHOORRAAHHH!! PLEASE HAVE A LOOK!! MY BIRTHDAY PICKS TOO!!!!! 

Well Fiji on arrival was quite a forlorn sight.. It's easy to forget that Fiji is a third world country and is very very poor and I think that was more noticable certainly more so than the first time I was here..Squalor sems to be abundant on every cornor.. the Fijians however are South Pacific Islanders and this is clearly revered in their ability to smile smile smile.. even when the b*****s are trying to con you..

Our first day in the capital was stinking hot .. we were wandering down the road and this very friendly Fijian man hastened to come up and give us a very informative lowdown on the capital Nadi(pronunced Nandi for those interested) and the quota of Indian Fijian's to South Pacific Islander Fijian's hastening to add that he was of the latter(almost half half).. he then invited us to a welcome ceremony in his 'shop'which we should have known better at that  time that he was on the dark side but there's little ole us (with a friend Ad) trotting off behind him with our tails between our legs off to get shafted.. When on the shop we did have lovely welcomings 'Kava'session.. "kava"being a type of drink form a root of a plant which holds some lets put it like this some relaxant qualities.. It is perfectly legal in Fiji as in some other countries but I believe it was banned from being sold in Europe quite some time ago! That was the start of the shaft.. You have a choice of a low tide, a medium tide, a high tide and a Tsunami this will then tell the cheif of ceremony how high you want your coconut shell to be filled with Kava before drinking.. Low tides all the way for me but John had a go at a high tide and maybe a Tsunami at some points in our intrepid journeys throughout Fiji! back to the shop... we finished the kava ceremony and then were welcomed to Fiji.. They showed us pictures of thier village and then invited us to stay with them in the mountains.. agian a BIG no no which we weren't going to fall for! I could already see Fijian dollar signs in their eyes and then came the pece de la resistance( sorry about the spelling Jean) .. now you HAVE TO buy something from us or we are not going to let you out of shop.. We actually got stung for $100 which is about 30 pounds.. For a sharks tooth necklace and a shell necklace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SHAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nevermind we all learn from these experiences...

At the hostel we stayed in the capital we became very friendly with Ase, a lady working there on tours and so on! She is our new buddy and gave us a right good telling off for even considering going into a strange mans shop!! EVER!! She then sorted out our bookings for the Yasawa and the Mamanuca Islands and there the fun began.. We have another story to tell about her nearer the end of this entry

On the morning of the 7th Feb we started out on our journey to the Yasawas a group of islands North West of the main island. When last visited I took a very small boat which took all night but those days are gone there is now a very modern.. super aircon...Catamaran named the Yasawa Flyer which everyone hops off and on between the islands.. Each resort has a little motor boat that comes out to meet you at the big boat which you then have to jump into from the big boat and they then take you to the beach.. It's all good fun.. Some easier to get into than others!! Luckily they help you with your backpack which is fantastic as they are deadly when so heavy!! I have to admit.. We have binned some stuff so our backpacks now weigh less and are alot easier to shut.. FANTASTIC!! 

The first island we arrived at was Nabula and stayed in Nabua Lodge. The most Northern Island that you can stay on .. See pictures for a little shot of our house we stayed in. On all the islands you stay in Bure which are the traditional houses made from coconut leaves and palms.. Very cosy!! LOTS OF ANTS AND BUGS!!! LOVELY!!!!  We then went across to Tavewa and stayed at Davids Place and they RECOGNISED me!! Yippeee.. they were sure that I had stayed there before but of course I couldn't remeber !! Will need to check the old journals on my return home. After Davids Place we stayed on an Island where the film The Blue Lagoon with Brook Shields was filmed!! Very nice and felt very priveliged to have been able to go there twice as it is a very special place and stunningly beautiful.. What an adverb there!! We stayed at a real dump here!! A place called Sunrise!! Don't stay there any of our fellow travellers reading this .. You are better off staying at David's Place and just getting a taxi boat over there for a day!! $ 10 well spent for taxi!! from sunrise we then went to our favourite island Naviti and stayed on a beautiful beach called (funnily enough) 'White Sandy Beach' ! We had alot of fun there and one evening raced hermit crabs and I also managed to win a stick dancing competition although after both John and myself thought I was going to have a heart attack..  After White Sandy we were originally supposed to be going to a place called Sunset Waya.. an island I was most looking forward to but cut a long story short didn't go so went strainght to the infamous Bounty Island where the first Celebrity Love Island was filmed.. We were fairly disapointed here as it was certainly overpriced.. We payed 100 pounds for one night and didn't even know it at the time.. After this we were done !! having spent almost 2 weeks out in the moddle of nowhere it was time to get back to a little bit of hot water!! and spuds