I arrived in Fiji after only a 3hour flight from Auckland which wasn't too bad. I got there late at night and had an airport pick-up for the hostel which was quite nice. Although the hostel didn't look much like a hostel and all felt a bit dodgy but I was leaving first thing in the morning so it didn't matter too much and I was only in the dorm with one other guy anyway. He had just come back from the same islands I was going to and had had a really good time so that made me feel better about it all. In the morning, I had to be picked up at 7.15am so it was another early start. Me and this other guy were taken by taxi to another hotel to be picked up. Then it was time for the boat. I headed up to the north islands first so I could gradually make my way down throughout the week. I met a couple of girls on the boat who had one island/resort recommended to them so I decided to head to that one. As you arrive on each island, the Fijian family sings a welcome song and you all have to shout 'Bula'. It was a nice feeling each time you arrived on the island. This one was particularly nice and the dorm wasn't too bad. It was called Coral View. I met a few people just before dinner and chatted to them a bit. We had to pair up and do a dance and then have a dance off. They seem to like embarrassing you! It was good fun but then we all got an early night after spending the day in the sun. I had also managed to get pretty burnt on the boat so I had some fashionable 'racoon eyes' as my 'dance partner' told me, ha!

I decided to stay at Coral View for 2 nights and went snorkelling at the blue lagoon in the morning. It was really nice and the water was really clear. I think i needed a break from the sun too! I saw Nemo and some really pretty fish so it was worth it. It only came to 5 pounds or something. The exchange rate for Fijian dollars works out really cheap.

In the afternoon I lay in a hammock and just chilled out, it was a bit how you'd imagine paradise, beautiful blue sea, sun and sand :) That evening I chatted to a few of the girls I met, met up with the girls from the boat too and then got an early night (there was a lot of this on the islands!).

The next day I just lay in the sun again and waited to get a boat to Sunrise Lagoon resort. This was much smaller and less commercial. The woman greeted us by saying 'Welcome Home'. Again, there was more lying in the sun, having dinner and then an early night. There were only 5 of us there so it was quite nice and a bit more Fijian! There were storms and constant rain all through the night and this continued the next day which was a bit of a shame so I just read my book till the boat to Wayalailai. It was a good (if a bit choppy) day to be on the boat anyway and I saw two of the girls I'd left behind previously who were going to the same island so that was nice.

Wayalailai was really nice and I met some nice people there. I did some more snorkelling there so that we could see reef sharks which was really cool! They were swimming really close to us. They weren't scary and quite small but it's another thing to have ticked off :) I had a couple of drinks that night and we did the limbo and some funny games which involved running with a potato between your legs and passing a plastic bottle between you. It was another early night though. The next night I met a few new people as everyone else had left. They were really nice and friendly and I just chilled in the hammock and in the sun. Then we watched the men do a Bula dance which was fun, a fire dance and then make us do some dancing, again very embarrassing but funny! This was another early night though.

The next day was my last day there so I chilled out on the beach with the girls and lay in the sea for a fair bit as it was so hot. Then I got the boat to Kuata. It was a really nice island but my dorm was horrible. I was stuck with 7 other guys who didn't seem to want to talk to me, we had no sink, just a toilet and shower (with no light) and when it came to sleeping, I had no pillow or sheet. Basically it wasn't a good night's sleep. But we did some more dancing, had some dinner and I met some nice people. The next day was more beach. Me and one other girl wanted to swim to one of the islands as it was really close by but it was too shallow and the coral hurt so we couldn't. Anyway, I said bye and got the boat back to the mainland. I had been recommended the hostel 'Drift In' by a couple of the girls so I went there. It was really nice and friendly, i actually had a hot shower and felt so much cleaner. The islands were nice but very basic. It was nice to have electricity again!

That night we went to one of the bars but kept it a tame one. The next day i walked to the beach and just chilled out there. Some random guys started talking to me (this seemed to happen a fair bit when I was on my own, annoying!) but I just had a sandwich and then went back to the hostel. We had dinner there and then just chilled out a bit before heading to the bar again. I saw a few of the same people from the night before were there, the random guys from the beach appeared too and there was abig group of us just chatting and having a few drinks which was fun. Then a bit later we headed on to a club and I didn't get home till 4.30am with my flight the next day, luckily not till the evening. I met some nice people anyway. I didn't get up till quite late the next day and then just went back with one of the girls to the hostel and saw a few of the faces from the night before. This was at 1pm and some of them hadn't gone to bed and kept drinking!

Anyway, we chilled out there, came back to the hostel, had some dinner and I left for the airport which is where I finally saw the couple I had seen everywhere else except Fiji and they were on my flight to LA so I had some company.