So the next stop was Fiji for a week.

I was looking forward to a bit of sun to top up the fading tan, but was met with quite a bit of rain. Right now Fiji is just coming towards the end of its rainy season, but incredibly it hadn't seen much, (if any at all) for December and January. The week prior to my arrival saw it rain pretty much constantly, which continued for a couple of days causing concern. Nadi, which is the town/city you fly into, was severely flooded past waste height and my bus trip around the main island had to be put back a day or more depending on when the rain stopped.





To see info on the flood, check out the link below....

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=56950


Luckily the water level somehow managed to recede and my trip began for the 4 day tour of the island, but many homes and businesses were damaged causing millions of dollars worth of damage. Fijians are not the type to have insurance either so it was quite serious.

The 1st day of the trip we had a BBQ on a beach, although most of us stayed and ate it on the coach as the weather was still quite bad. We then moved onto a local village to see an interesting example of how many Fijians live from day to day.

The picture below is of where we stayed the first night...




There was a great little bar on the first night which we took advantage of, although I must admit I didn't do the Tequila 'Suicide' like the other lads. This is a slight adjustment of the Tequila 'Slammer'. The 'Slammer' is where you lick salt off you hand, do the shot then bite the lemon.

The 'Suicide' is where you snort the salt through a straw, do the shot, then squeeze the lemon or in this case, lime, in your eye. See picture below for more detail...





On the 2nd day we did a 3 hour trek through rain forest to arrive at a lake. It took me 4 hours as I helped a 78 year old lady do the walk. Her name was Barbara and she was a good stick - she bought myself and a couple others a beer for our troubles. To be getting involved at her age was excellent and she didn't stop there.

At the end of the walk we arrived at a river and tubed down it in similar fashion to the time in Laos. The picture below is from this:





The river level was quite high which made it all the more interesting, but we didn't do it for long before being stopped. We had to get out of the river to go and jump off a waterfall, which was pretty darned good, although most people chickened out.

One random thing I'll say about Fiji is that if you don't get bitten by mossies etc, you're one lucky guy/girl - the picture below if of my precious leg...




On the 3rd day, we again visited a Fijian village and joined them for a traditional meeting in what is effectively their community hall. We brought gifts including a root, which was ground down to make a muddy water styled drink called Kava. This is actually a narcotic and makes your tongue go numb, but when in Rome.....

We all had one drink each and then the ladies were taken off to make bracelets. It was then the job of us men to finish off the bowl. After 7-8 rounds, I was finding it quite difficult not to pull a natural face of disgust, brought on by the fowl taste. This we were told, would not go down well, so I had to try hard to suppress those feelings. Imagine not pulling a face after sucking on a lemon and you get the picture.

The place we stayed at on the 3rd night was really quite lovely and it was a shame I couldn't spend an extra day there. It's well known in Fiji for excellent sunsets and the picture below perhaps indicates why:




On the 4th day we visited a hot mud pool and got...muddy >: )


The picture blow is quite clearly from this:





Next to the mud pool was a lovely hot pool of water, which was like a bath that I nearly couldn't go in due to the heat - this is where we cleaned up.


I had another night in Nadi after doing a full circle and then caught a boat the following day to an island known as Beachcomber. This little island took 10 minutes to walk around and had the best snorkeling I've ever experienced. The water was incredibly clear and the tropical fish plentiful.




The voucher to go to the island included all meals, which were excellent although the meat gave most of us diarrhea. Once again, thank you Imodium!

There were about 10 of us who'd made friends during the tour around the island and we all had a rather large night celebrating the birthday of a guy called Scott. He was 21 and being American, needed to make the most of legally being able to drink; this he did quite well although he remembers very little.

I had most of the next day to chill out on the island before catching a boat back to the mainland and then hoping on a bus to the airport.

Next stop Hawaii.....