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After a good last night saying goodbye to the people of Queenstown and New Zealand who I had become to know so well since being there for so long I was ready to start the next stage of my trip. After two and a half hours sleep I got the bus to Queenstown airport not quite full of confidence for what lay ahead but looking forward to it. A slight blip early on was my name being announced again to an entire airport this time because I had left my plane ticket at luggage drop off. That out of the way I made it to Christchurch airport where I had my flight to Nadi, Fiji. With time to kill I would have liked to get out of the airport to go and see what was left of Christchurch but was told the airport was so isolated that there was no point unless I had the day to spend there. So I hunted for my first book as I didn't bring any music, the worst error I've made by a long way on this trip. I didn't have to wait long for my first taste of Fiji as I was seated next to a Fijian woman three times the size of me with her baby who in a year will most likely be the same size as me. Looking out of the window as the plane took off I saw my last of New Zealand, a very strange feeling saying goodbye to what's been my home for two months. Two very claustrophobic planes later I arrived in a stupidly humid Nadi, Fiji and eventually found the bus to my hostel. Looking forward to gaining knowledge from the people of the hostel and getting to know a few people before I depart to the islands I couldn't have been more wrong. The hostel currently has ten people living here, me and ten Chinese guests who I haven't even bothered trying to talk to. A little bit of a shock to the system having been in busy New Zealand to arriving in a very isolated and remote area.So only one thing for it I headed to the bar where I was greeted by a very large local Fijian who claimed he recognised me from the airport. Sceptical at first I had my guard up only to be pleasantly surprised as the lad turned out to be genuine. We headed into the town which I wouldn't have dared do on my own especially at night as I looked very out of place. Walking along with this local I must have been seen to have been kidnapped. The positive was I wasn't hassled by anyone trying to sell me anything or anyone so I stuck with it and soon settled in with more of the locals. Known now as 'Vanilla David Beckham' I enjoyed several beers with these boys before heading back eventually to my hostel, not before I was offered the company of a lovely Fijian girl for the night which I politely declined.
Deciding that I am going to have to take this place day by day as I really don't know what to expect, I settled down for a quiet morning read in the sun on my second day in Fiji. I had arranged to meet James, the local from last night as he said he would take me to the main town and Denarau Port, the hub for all departures to the islands. Huddled together on a small public bus on awful roads I thought I was in a movie set in some third world country. Still, holding my own just about I carried on and after chatting to a few more of the locals on the bus who seemed fascinated I was all the way out here on my own we got to the port. Here was where I was given my shark tooth band, the reason being I have signed up to go on the bull and tiger shark feeding scuba dive. A moment of insanity but I'm going to go through with it, I just won't think about it until the day. Next surprise I was given was the weather as we were suddenly hit with a huge tropical storm which actually made the whole place even more humid. Sweating in another bus with around 40 school children sticking out like a sore thumb I was quietly impressed with how I was coping and what I was getting up to as I would never have done this without tour guide James who's payment came in the form of one slice of pizza and two beers in exchange for him taking me around Nadi. The day had been a success but I decided it was time to part with James and Nadi when he started offering me more girls, 'medicine' to take with me to the islands (I'm sure you can figure out what he meant by that) and travel products. Now as I sit writing this I am mentally preparing myself for god knows what lies ahead. I've managed to scramble together a few photos of my first encounters but a lot of the time I didn't think it too wise to be flashing my camera … enjoy!
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