FIJI (20 July - 28 July) Fiji, what an amazing place, beautiful islands, fabulous beaches and great people. I loved my eight days here. I flew into Nadi, the capital on 20 July from Auckland and spent the first night in a hotel in nadi bay. The first thing that struck me about Fiji was it was like being back in south east asia again. It was a bit of a culture shock being back in a poor country after spending the last 3 months in OZ and NZ. After the first night in Nadi we were picked up from the hotel for the transfer to the boat. The bus was on its last legs and didnt appear to have a suspension and our tour guide pulled out a deckchair to sit on next to the driver but this is Fiji. My boat departed at 9am and was about a 25 minute trip over to Beachcomber Island Resort. I checked into bed 76 of the 130 bed dorm and then set about trying to find my mate Adam who I had met In NZ. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach, with a bit of crazy golf thrown in. I also went for a walk around the island which took less than 10 mins. That night we sat watching the sunset over the pacific ocean with a few beers then hit the island bar. The Fijian bamnd kept everybidy dancing till about 1am with fiji style remixes of "summer of 69" and "sweet home alabama". The next day was almost the same, me, adam, John adam, Yogi and Craig David chilled on the beach then hit the bar for a bit of partying and some Cava. Cava is a speciality fiji drink made from the root of a plant, although it tastes like muddy water. The Fiji band provided another fantastic nights entertainment. The next day it was time for me to leave beachcomber, I was very dissappointed to be leaving I loved it here. But at 9am the giant yellow awesome adventures shipped pulled in and it was time to board. A 4 hour cruise through the Yasawas islands and I arrived at Nanunya lei lei resort. A tiny little rowing boat with an engine on the back pulled up alongside and about 15 of us crammed inside. Another 30 minutes bouncing over the waves and we arrived at Sunrise Resort. I checked into my beach hut dorm and went to dinner. The Nanunya Lei Lei island was absolutely beautiful. That evening we had a bingo night fiji style. In the morning our rowing boat pulled into shore again, this time they rammed about 20 of us in and we set off to visit an ancient fijian cave. On the way to the cave other boats from other islands pulled up alongside and we had a race, very safe. At the cave we were taken to a very sacred part where the first fijian ancestors were said to have lived. There was no natural light in the cave so we relyed on the two torches the guides brought for the 100 plus group of people. All part of the experience though. After another race back to the our resort, we had lunch then went for a walk around the island visiting coves and bays almost untouched from any human influence at all.