Bula! And let me start by telling you that Australia is not hot; Fiji is. On the bright side, the customs people seem to take no interest in what you actually write on the forms when you enter, so there was no need to go sterilising boots etc.

Straight on to the new bus on the first morning here and off to the Nadi markets. It's funny how broadly people will smile if they think you're going to buy something! You can get a lot of good fruit for your tourist dollar. Quickly on to Natadola Beach for a bit if chilling in the sun with a bbq, and then later we visited a village where part of the bus fare goes to supporting community projects. We finished off the day with sand-boarding down the dunes at Singatoka, before heading to the night's resort for kava (a drink, made from dried, ground kava roots; roughly equivalent in taste and texture to drinking muddy water but alleged to have stacks of positive effects) and a beach bonfire at Mango Bay.

Day two was a little strenuous. Starting with a pretty impressive flat tyre and broken hub, we were a little late starting our trek in the Namosi Highlands and ended up doing it right in the midday sun. Great fun though, with the 'track' varying from red clay to deep forest to thigh-high streams. After the hard bit, the fun bit - tubing down the Navua River and swimming in waterfalls. Spent the night at Pacific Harbour.

A quick tour of Suva began the third day, where apparently there is some sort of military coup going on. Not that you'd notice. We travelled to Wailouta to visit a school (which is also supported by the tour company) and to be greeted in a kava ceremony by the chief of the village, for which I graciously stood in as our group's makeshift chief. All hail Ratutomasi! The chief gave us permission to raft on the village's river, and an evening bonfire completed the day in Volivoli.

Our final leg was a late start, so there was time to take out the kayaks and explore the ocean. Well, a bit of it, anyway. We headed to Ba town where we learnt how to make roti (a type of flat bread) to go with a curry lunch. As it is diwali this week we were treated to some a display of lights and dancing, as well as traditional Indo-Fijian sweets (sort of like mini-cakes and very nice indeed). Our final stop of the tour was at Sabeto Valley, for natural mud pools and hot pools. The mud is supposed to be very good for your skin.