'Here on the West of Fiji, we don't care about the coup!' Well if they don't why should we?! We compromised on the whole 'could get shot' issue and reduced our stay from two weeks to one...we didn't see any trouble at all apart from the odd roadblock with laidback soldiers who gave us a smile and a wave.

We were greeted at the airport by a band of merry men with a guitar and flowers in their hair singing happily...at 5am! Dedication. Shortly after this we sat and waited at the baggage claim for about 2 hours until a kind hearted baggage handler came and told us that there was no point waiting any more, our bags weren't coming (about 40 unclaimed bags were still circling hopefully however). They gave us permission to spend 100 Fiji dollars each (about 30 pound) on essntials, so a small shopping spree ensued in the blistering heat, both of us dressed for chilly LA evening weather. Flip flops, bikinis, shorts...the hawkers had a field day! A couple in front of us in the baggage queue had had some jewellery taken from a guitar case - we later found out it was an engagement ring the guy Joe had planned to surprise his girlfriend Carol with when proposing in a romantic Fijian sunset. He told her it was just jewellery for her birthday. Gutted. They joined us in our little minibus and boat trek to the island and we got to know them a bit over the next few days. Joe told his predicament to one of the staff members, another guy called Joe who took it upon himself to help out. He secretly spent a whole day making a perfectly formed, perfectly sized ring out of coconut shell for Carol, it even had a little heart carved on it. Joe was really pleased with it and proposed at sunset in the sea one night - she said yes! So romantic (lucky for some eh). Another day a girl had a birthday so the staff went all out and made a fantastic cake for her in between having to cook for hundreds of people. They really went the extra mile.

When we reached the river jetty in the middle of African-looking countryside a few hours later, ready to get the boat down the river and into the sea to the island, we were chatting away when suddenly Matt noticed something familiar - our bags! There they were sitting on a bench in the middle of nowhere. They must have been found at the airport and delivered straight away. Oh the joy of reunion

The island was lovely, small but pretty, the turquoise blue water round it was clear warm and shallow, like a lagoon - perfect for kayaking, swimming and snorkelling! It was a little cloudy and windy at times but generally really nice and sunny, just right for sunbathing! The staff were hilarious and very funny, spicing up their tourist spiel with taking the mick out of each other constantly - 'oi buffhead, you rubbish!' We particularly enjoyed spending time with Joe, Tuks, and Ziggy and felt like friends by the end (noone else stayed as long as a week!). We became old hands at the traditional welcome Kava ceremony, which involved sitting in a circle and drinking from a coconut shell filled with kava, a mildly narcotic drink made from a root that looks very much like muddy water and tastes fairly similar too! Matt even went so far as to join the staff in the evenings, drinking it for pleasure!

We went on lots of boat trips (with or without booze!), a fish drive which involved shushing fish into a net in knee high water - rather unsucessfully- did some snorkelling and kayaking, went swimming, sang at sunset beach bonfires...and even learnt to make jewellery and kava bowls out of coconuts shells. The immensely talented staff climbed coconut trees with alarming agility and fearlessness, danced traditional dances, threw around fire sticks and machete type knives in a sort of war dance, walked over hot coals and generally endangered themselves greatly all for the sake of entertaining the tourists! When chatting to some of them we learnt there was a lot more to it than just practice and bravery...the firewalking for instance can only be done by those who have inherited the gift from their fathers and are called into it by local priests. Apparently there are rules (such as keep away from your wife for 4 days before a firewalk) which if broken mean extremely burnt feet for the walker. Certain women have the complementary gift of healing and can heal burnt feet with a touch of the hand, so they told us. Interesting stuff from a spiritual point of view.

The food (all inclusive) was incredibly good, and even more so because of our pasta potato diet before hand! Lots of fish and coconut, interspersed with awesome British type food - like bangers and mash and even a roast beef dinner one night. Mmm. On the days when daytrippers would visit, the staff would dig a lovo pit - like a Maori hangi- where a fire is built in a pit, then once it's burnt down to just embers, food is wrapped and placed on the hot coals, covered over with sacks, leaves, a tarpaulin and sand and left to steam for a few hours. The huge freshly caught fish are sooo nice cooked that way. We might even try it when we get home - barbecue with a difference!

The showers were quite cool as well and involved a bucket on a rope with a shower head attached. You had to fill up your bucket, winch it up to a decent height and open the little tap. Quite a challenge to get all the salt and sand out of your hair with just one bucketful!

In the nights we raved it up in the Pirates Nightclub (in between kava bowls!) - a platform with a thatched roof and a disco mirror ball - Matt and I discovered a talent for being the first on the dance floor, giving up some moves to Fijian reggae type classics like 'kiss me honey honey kiss me!'.

Apparently the island was normally quite a party hotspot for young backpackers, but the coup meant that a lot of people didn't travel so it was quite quiet (we didn't mind, it meant the dance floor was all ours!).

All in all a fantastic week... we felt a little abandoned when the staff changed shift, and realised a week was probably too long to stay, but it was a good one. Just sorry we can't show you the lovely photos we took!