So it was going from rest and relaxation in the sun in Syndey to...rest and relaxation in the sun, in Fiji. It was coming towards the end of the rainy season when we arrived, so we were getting breif downpours every now and again each day, but trust me they were a welcome respite from the heat and humidity and constant sweating my b******s off. Haha as if this thing doesn't even let me say boll-ocks! Plus it's indescribable how many times I got bitten by mosquitos. My entire body was plastered in bites and I spent the whole time wishing I could dive into a giant meat cleaver to itch them. To top it all off, after 5 days I got bloody tonsillitis! My tonsils swelled up to the size of f***ing melons and I couldn't swallow or even speak at one point. Typical. Having said all that, Fiji was pretty damn sweet haha believe it or not. We spent the first 5 days on an organised package tour which took us to a couple of Islands in the Yasawas, North off the coast of the mainland. The first Island was Beachcomber which literally cannot have been more than 200m in diameter. I mean it would have taken less than half an hour to walk round the thing it was f***ing tiny and the resort was the only thing on the Island. It's meant to be the no.1 party Island but there was hardly anyone there when we were there unfortunately. But we still had a fair few bevies and met some cool people in the evenings, having stuffed our faces at the all you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets included in the package. During the day we just chilled on the beach and went snorkelling a lot because the trips and gear were free. There was some amazing reef really close to the island which was cool and we also saw a baby shark and a sting ray! I also managed to cut both my arms on some sharp reef whilst not paying attention to where I was going, which swelled quite badly because reef has poison in, and now they're scarring. Great! Anyway after Beachcomber it was Manta Ray Resort on one of the bigger islands further North that I can't remember the name of. It was basically a massive tropical rainforest with a resort hidden in near the beach which was cool but again there were tons of mosquitos. Little f***ers. Again we chilled at the beach a lot of the time in the hammocks and went snorkelling, this time diving right next to a much bigger shark about a metre and half long which was cool. Ben did some scuba diving one morning so me and Rich went fishing. We used octopus as bait, which is meant to be the best, and I caught a decent sized snapper and Rich unfortunately lost a huge one that 2 people struggled to drag up. Anyway I was well chuffed with myself feasting on my catch for lunch the next day. So the last day at Manta Ray my tonsils got infected and I felt pretty s***ty all the way back to the mainland. And as soon as we got there we had prearranged to pick up a rental car and drive South which was the last thing I wanted to do but we didn't really have much choice having panicked booked it at the airport as soon as we had got into Fiji. So we picked up this piece of s*** with a 2000 dollar excess if we damaged it and proceeded to drive for 4 hours in the dark towards the South on the only road in Fiji which was littered with potholes and speed bumps with no warnings signs. Oh yeah we were feeling pretty f***ing smart right then. Anyway after flying over a speed bumb at 80kmh and getting lost on a dirt track, we managed to reach our destination Pacific Harbour without any damage done. We went there so that Ben could do a world famous shark dive, so the next day when he went off to do that, me and Rich drove further East to the capital Suva to find me a doctor. The consultation and the prescription of penicilin was all surprisingly cheap and hassle free so that was a bonus. So we cruised around Suva for a bit, I mean it was pretty small, and then headed back to the hostel to meet Ben and spend the afternoon chilling out at the pool. There weren't that many people at the hostel even though it was massive, like an army barracks except with wierd monster and erotic art on the walls, so we just chilled that evening with a zombie movie.The next day we cruised down the Coral Coast (which we had originally flown past in the dark coming the other way) which was nice and tropical and stayed at a place called Korolevu where we got some more trademark sunset shots and again chilled out at the beach and in the pool. On the way back to Nadi I reversed the car into a ditch and some of the bumber ripped off which we bent back into place and we went across a rock-filled dirt track and rickety bridge trying to find supposedly the best beach of the mainland. We found it, it was s***, so we left, back up the obstacle course trying our best to land ourselves the big fat excess. Idiots. The last night we stayed in a little town North of Nadi to see a bit more of the mainland and make sure we never needed to come back to Fiji when we were older haha. When we gave the car back the next day we were absolutely bricking it because as soon as we pulled up, the car was swarmed with accusing eyes scrutinising every inch of it. When they guy went over to the bit of the bumber we (I) had damaged, the look on our faces should have told him there was something wrong but the dumbass didn't notice and as soon as I got my credit card back we bolted out of there pretty damn quick. L-u-c-k-y. Anyway all in all for a beach holiday Fiji is exactly what you want and it was pretty cool cruising around in the car and seeing all the little villages embedded in the tropical surroundings. And the Fijian people are really friendly and always want to make sure you're having a good time, always with a ukelele in hand and wearing a big ol smile. But if I get bitten by one more mosquito I'm going to go insane. Enough relaxation now anyway, bring on New Zealand!