We checked out of our LA hotel at 11am the other day and had to wait until 11.30pm for our flight to Fiji. There isn't a huge amount to do to kill time in Inglewood so we just had a loooong lunch in the diner across the road before doing some laundry. Exciting stuff.

The flight to Fiji took almost 11 hours but we somehow completely lost the 10th August whilst we were in the air; the day just didn't happen for us. Something to do with the time zones. We're now 12 hours ahead of the UK rather than trailing behind by several hours, which feels rather nice although I'm not sure why it should make any difference.

As soon as we got off the plane we were mobbed by smiling Fijians trying to sell us tours. We firmly no-thank-youd them all and made our way to our hotel in Downtown Nadi, where the hotel owner promptly tried to sell us tours, telling us there was nothing to do in the surrounding area and we should get out of his hotel and on a tour to one of the islands pronto. We thought this was an exaggeration but it looks like he's right; we 'did' downtown Nadi, including the multicoloured Sikh temple, in about 2 hours. This included 45 minutes for lunch (scrummy curry since you asked). We've now booked boat transfers to the Mamanuca Islands, where we will be spending the next 11 nights. The pictures look idyllic - white sands, clear seas, hammocks...perfection. Absolutely cannot wait.

Bit nervous though about the fact that the tour guide actually laughed in Jak's face when he asked if there would be hot showers, internet or ATMs. And the huge potential for creepy crawly things considering our current room, in a modern, concrete building, is infested with ants. It's a bit disconcerting to catch a line of red ants marching merrily across your pillow when you awake from a slumber. I think this may be the first time we will have to rough it. Wish us luck!