Eventually I made it to Fiji, but only after my flight got postponed due to Hurricane Tomas, a category 4 too! It was due to make landfall the day I was to fly into Nadi so I had to spend an extra night in Auckland. I had given my food bag away the night before I was due to fly as I thought I was leaving so had to eat out as I didnt have any of my own food!

I had a further delay after boarding the plane when the pilot announced that they had found a technical problem. We then sat on the runway for an hour while someone came out to fix it! Better that they'd found the problem than not though..

So eventually after one thing and another I arrived in Nadi airport a little later than planned. I met my pickup and was driven to a hostel I had booked for two nights to get organised before heading out to the smaller islands. The place I stayed at, Mama's Tropic of Capricorn in Nadi Bay was great. All the staff are really friendly and helpful and the food is very tasty. Mama who runs the place is a feisty Fijian woman who is very nice but I wouldnt want to get on the wrong side of her! ha ha

On my first night I stayed in a fan room and found it difficult to sleep as I'd been used to the cooler climate of New Zealand for the past month. The next day I went for a wander into Nadi town and got invited to a Kava ceremony by one of the locals. Kava is made from the root of a pepper plant which is ground up and is similar to a natural anaesthetic in terms of its effects. The ground up dust is mixed in a big bowl and then drank in half coconut shells. It looks and tastes a lot like dirty dishwater but it wasnt as bad as everyone had said. It is drank by the Fijians pretty much all the time except on Sundays. The ceremony involves three claps and moving your clasped hands around in a circle in front of you and then shouting 'Bula' (the Fijian word for life, hello and pretty much everything else as I would find out over the next 3 weeks) while the drinker drinks it. After a cup or two with the locals and after making excuses when they tried to sell me everything in the shop I went to the supermarket for supplies as I had originally planned before I got collared into drinking Kava! Trouble was the Kava had left me feeling a little subdued and dazed and I had trouble remembering what I had come shopping for.

That night I moved to an aircon room for a better nights sleep. As best as could be hoped for anyway as I spent the evening over the road at another hostel getting drunk on 58% rum with James who I had met in NZ and some others who were travelling with him. So after 4 hours sleep I was up and about and feeling very groggy when I caught the bus down to Port Denarau where I was to board the Yasawa flyer, the boat that hops between the islands. I bought a 14 day pass. If I had arrived in Fiji a week earlier I would have got stuck on the mainland due to the hurricane stopping the boats for quite a few days. Luckily the side of the main island I was on wasnt affected by the hurricane, there was just a lot of black clouds and bit of rain when I arrived, nothing that would ruin my day!

I took the flyer all the way up to the top of the Yasawa islands, north westerly of Nadi and about a 5 hour boat journey with all of the stops made at the earlier islands. It was a big mistake drinking so much the previous night as the motion of the boat on the water made me feel quite ill. I lay down in the aircon lounge and tried to sleep it off. By the time I arrived at the first place I was to stay at, Nabua Lodge on Nacula Island, I felt much better. The scenery did wonders for my hangover too! Crystal blue clear water all around the island with coconut trees fringing the shoreline. Our boat was met with the staff singing a welcome song from the beach as we approached.

Nabua Lodge was fairly basic in terms of accomodation and food. The staff cant do enough for you though, as with everywhere else I've stayed in Fiji. Hospitality is a big aspect of the Fijian culture, they love to make you feel at home. I stayed in a large Bure, which is a traditional Fijian hut with a straw roof. It was quite hot at night as to be expected but it was very comfortable once I was under my mosquito net! Because there are no shops on the Yasawas all of your food is included in the price of your bed for the night - bed and 3 square meals for $65. (roughly 20 quid) As I said the food wasnt the best but a lot healthier than I had eaten during my time in Oz and NZ. Plenty of veggies and rice but served up with fairly minging looking chicken on the bone. I had been told that as the power generators go off at night so do the fridges so as I was eating the chicken I was picturing the meat warming up in the heat and then being cooked for me. Thankfully though, I was fine.

I spent two nights at Nabua and spent most of the time snorkelling or reading and not doing a lot else. I invested in my own snorkel so I didnt have to pay to rent one every day, it saved me a bit of money. I snorkelled off a small reef near at Nabua and saw plenty of beautiful fish, starfish and sea slugs. I'd never snorkelled before so it was a bit of a novelty! The novelty wore off when I got back to shore and found that the rising tide had taken my flip flops out with it from the rock I had left them on! After a bit of scouting about and a painful walk on some sharp rocks I found them floating about in opposite directions.

In the evening the staff at Nabua put on some entertainment which involved them singing and playing guitar to us followed by the guests having to join in some dancing in the main room. I hate being forced to dance when I dont want to so I just kind of stood there and waved my arms around. That was the first and last time I danced! ha ha.. The next day myself, an American guy Steve and two German girls visited the local village where we had a look around, bought some souvenirs and met the chief of the village which was pretty cool. For some reason I was expecting him to walk in in ceremonial robes and a headdress so I was a bit surprised when he arrived in a flowery Fijian shirt and sporting a big moustache! So much for stereotypes.

After getting plenty of photos of the village visit we headed back and I had another bit of snorkelling before dinner. One of the guests, Manibu from Japan who had arrived the same day as myself and Steve had been lapping up the sun as he was only here for a weeks holiday. He didnt bother with any sunblock and just fell asleep every day in a hammock with his arms spread out. By the second day he was cooked!! Absolutely brown! We asked him if he wanted to use any sunblock but he said he didnt need it. I have never seen a Japanese person so tanned!

The next day, myself, Steve and a few others headed off on the boat and went south down to another resort, White Sandy Beach for two nights. The food there was quite similar in quality but a little tastier. In the evenings they put on entertainment, traditional Fijian dances in grass skirts and music. The beach that backs onto White Sandy Beach, Honeymoon beach was great for snorkelling and only a short climb over and down a small hill behind the resort. The small reef at Nabua was good enough for a beginner but the reef here was off the scale. I swam out so far over patches of coral and then all of a sudden it dropped away about 20 feet, exposing a massive reef that you can swim alongside. So many different fish! All shapes and colours. I spent a good bit of time in the water as it was just so mesmerising down there. I had originally planned to do a proper dive course in Fiji but decided that I was seeing so much with the snorkel that it would be better to just save my money for the US instead.

After 2 nights at WSB I headed down to Wayalailai resort, about an hour or so further south on the flyer. Very nice place but I only spent 1 night here and left pretty early the next morning to go back up north to another place so didnt get a chance to settle in. They had the usual entertainment on, only this time with a fireshow that involved a fair bit of petrol and some singed armpits.

My next stop was Manta Ray resort, one of the slightly more expensive resorts in the Yasawas. I paid a little extra for this place but had the option of choosing my meals from a list as opposed to eating what was given to me. All the food was cooked by an executive chef too, well worth paying the extra for! I hadnt been spending much in the evenings, a couple of quiet beers every night so had a bit extra left over to have a splurge with. There are plenty of activities to do in Fiji from island to island but the pace of life is so relaxed here that I just didnt feel like doing anything other than lazing in the sun and snorkelling. Every time I sat in a hammock to read a book I fell asleep! Everything happens on 'Fiji time' which basically means there is no rush! I wonder why they need clocks at all.

Manta Ray was awesome, a great place to stay. More entertainment was laid on that night by the 'Bula boys' and I bought drinks at the 'Bula bar'. I've never heard a single word repeated so many times as I have 'Bula'! My next night was spent at Octopus resort, even nicer and a touch pricer than Manta Ray. They had overbooked for the dorms and missed my booking so they upgraded me to a Bure with ensuite sharing with only 3 other people, result! Octopus had a pool too, right next to the beach. Dinner there consisted of a mixture of 3 tasty curries, spot on! I'd love to tell you what I did there but I didnt do a great deal other than sunning and snorkelling.

After Octopus I headed south to Beachcomber island in the Mamanuca island group which has the reputation for being the party island and is a lot lot smaller than most of the others I had been to. So small that you can walk around it in around 5 mins. The island wasnt very busy when I was there and I got the feeling that had they been fully booked the atmosphere would have been a lot livelier. All in all about 30 people were there the night I stayed. They had a live band on which looked like the Fijian equivalent of most pub bands back in England, ha ha. Again, the food was very nice, a buffet of noodles, stir frys, fish, chicken and rice along with plenty of other odds and ends. The island was fairly well equipped, they even had a jacuzzi over the other side which looked out to sea. I spent that evening drinking with Kim and Chantelle from Australia and Sarah and Vivi from Denmark who I had met on Manta Ray and had bumped into again as is often the case moving between different islands. The ice had been broken a few nights earlier when a bench I was sat on was tipped over when a third person sat down on my side causing it to tip in the sand, covering us all in beer. I would have laughed my arse off too if it was anyone else, ha ha

The next morning the island filled up with day trippers and Aussies on cruise ships, all of a sudden it went from quiet to heaving! I sat with some Aussies who very kindly took pity on me as a poor backpacker and bought me a few beers. Cheers eh! The as quick as they had arrived, they left and the island was quiet again. Later on, I took a 5 min journey over to an even smaller island, South Sea island also in the Mamanucas, which only has room for the resort and not a lot else!
In the evening I watched a different kind of entertainment - hermit crab racing!! $3 for a crab, mine was No 18 who lost miserably. All good fun though at the expense of some exploited crustaceans!

On the next day, I cant remember which it was for obvious reasons, the sun was out in full force. The hurricane had brought a lot of bad weather with it and a few lightning storms which looked pretty amazing from standing on the beach at night but on this particular day it was toasty hot! I managed about an hour in the morning sun before giving in and retreating to the pool. More daytrippers arrived and before long the chilled out vibe that I'd gotten used to was gone! It's funny how small an island can feel with only 60 odd people on it! Most of them left and some stayed including an Aussie couple, Phil and Teegan. I got chatting to them and Phil made regular runs to the bar. They had paid an all expenses price for their holiday so this meant unlimited drinks. Phil made sure he got me a beer every time he went to the bar so by about 4pm i felt quite merry! By this point Teegan was getting pretty fed up with his drunkenness which showed, he'd been on the sauce since 9am, ha ha

After they left I decided to go snorkelling to look for some reef sharks that I had been told swam in the shallows of the island, over the other side. I spotted them very easily, quite a few of them in fact. I couldnt get too close as when I did, they swam away. That evening I had an early night after too many afternoon beers.

The next morning I headed over to Mana island, a bit north west of South Sea island, about an hour on the boat. I spent 2 nights here which was more than enough as it wasnt quite as nice as some of the other places i'd visited. The room I took was pretty grim, I would have been more comfortable sleeping in a cave! The electrics were very dodgy, when I turned the ceiling fan on it shot sparks out and two light bulbs blew within seconds of me flicking the switch! I darednt charge my Ipod in case it blew it up! The bathroom was pretty grim too. The 'shower' was no more than a tap that let a trickle out from overhead, no shower head! The drain was blocked too so by the time I'd finished my shower I was up to my ankles in soapy water! I thought about asking for my money back and moving to a different hostel next door but changed my mind when I was told that a lot of people had been bitten all over by bed bugs there. I'll take darkness over bed bugs anyday! I was lucky enough to be the only person in the dorm where I stayed though (wonder why) so had the place to myself. Good job Olly bought me a head torch before I went away otherwise I would have been well stuck for seeing where I was going! Cheers Ol!

Anyway, I made the most of a bad situation and concentrated on enjoying myself instead. I read books for the first day I was there and on my second day I went to Modriki island, an uninhabited island where the Tom Hanks film Castaway was filmed. It was the only place that I was really intent on visiting whilst in Fiji as I love the movie. I took a small boat along with 6 or so people and went about 30 mins from Mana before arriving at Modriki. Luckily, Bosko, the guy who organised the boat, had a Wilson ball so we took it along for some photo opportunities! After getting some photos of the island we went snorkelling on the reefs there which were just as impressive as any of the others I'd seen so far in Fiji. I spent another hour or two on the island exploring and looking for the goats that inhabit it. They were too shy and couldnt be found. After circling the island on the boat and spotting the cave used in the movie (which we couldnt reach due to the high tide and rocks) we headed back to Mana.

I chilled for the rest of the day (what else am I going to do in Fji?) and had a couple of beers with dinner before heading back to my cave and going to sleep. I awoke covered in a good few mosquito bites from some that must have got in at some point, I hate the things!

I got the boat back to the mainland in the morning (a day earlier than planned as I had run out of money, no ATM's on the islands) and hopped in a cab back to Mamas place where I'm spending my last 5 nights in Fiji before I fly to LA. I was glad to get back to an aircon room and some good food! The weather hasnt been great since I've been back here but I'm hardly in a position to complain eh?

I dont plan on doing a lot else while I'm here so dont think i'll have much else to write about Fiji now! It's been great though, a really special place with a unique feel and way of life. I had originally planned 4 weeks here and am glad that I had decided on 3 instead as I wouldnt have wanted to be bored of sitting on a beach all day which I think I could have done if I had spent any longer here. It's a hard life eh?

I'm looking forward to getting busy again when I get to America and getting out there and seeing a bit. I've had enough time to relax, now I'm ready for a faster pace of things for the last 9 weeks of the trip!

Bula!