Hi Everyone!

I hope all is going well back in the UK. Chris and I have just spent an amazing and literally perfect couple of weeks in Fiji. We started off with a few days relaxing in luxury in the Sofitel on the main island. With 4 restaurants, a host of shops and bars, the obligatory swimming pool and private beach and an adventure sports company attached, we found the facilities in the hotel were incredible! Every day there was a plethora of activities that you could get involved in from basket weaving, pool aerobics, waterskiing and beach volleyball to touch rugby. There was also a kids club keeping the other guests' children amused, and thus out of our way, which made us very happy! - My Mum humorously observed that we've travelled all this way to stay in a Butlins!

So after recharging and generally feeling the most relaxed we've been in all our travels, we hopped on a plane to catch a flight to a neighbouring island where we then joined a cruise yacht. Fiji comprises over 350 islands and what better way to discover them than on a luxury yacht complete with a staff of locals that were some of the most friendly and funny people we've met so far. First stop on our cruise was to an island called Savu Savu where we decided to do a bit of kayaking in the gorgeous crystal blue sea. Chris and I took a double kayak, to my delight as I was thinking, great, I can slack off a little on the paddling and Chris will power us around in his usual boundlessly energetic way. It turns out he had other ideas! I noticed after 15 minutes or so of exclaiming at the coral and the tropical fish that my paddling partner was not pulling his weight. In hindsight, I now know he was trying to pick the right moment to ask me to marry him! At the time though, I had no idea of this, and had a go at him for slacking off! We start to near a beautiful bay and I notice again I'm having to work extra hard as Chris isn't doing any paddling, but as I turn around to tell him to stop being so lazy, he's crawling his way over to my end of the kayak! We're precariously rocking from side to side and, now overloaded with weight on the front of the kayak, we're beginning to sink! Chris reaches over to give me a kiss and, not noticing the fact that he's on one knee, I'm thinking, well, that's really sweet, but not really the best time for a tender kissing moment! Only when Chris opens up a little jewellery box with a ring inside and starts to talk about how his life is now complete and how he wants to make me happy for the rest of his life, do I start to realise what's happening. Of course I say yes and we return to the boat rather emotional; our fellow guests thinking we're a little unstable until we explain what's just happened!

We had an exceptionally fabulous time on the Tui Tai yacht. The 9 other guests were an incredible bunch of people whom we became really good friends with and have exchanged emails and contact details. We had a big party to celebrate Chris and my engagement and two of the other ladies' 50th birthdays and we all got involved in the huge variety of activities on offer. Chris and I went scuba diving every day and saw manta rays, white-tip reef sharks, turtles and a huge array of tropical fish, eels and stunning coral. We experienced our first night dive, which was out of this world - quite literally! We saw sleeping fish, crabs, lobsters and turtles, and when we turned our torches off and floated in the pitch black ocean these tiny speckles of bright light shone out like little stars! They were "phosphorescent" thingys... we're not entirely sure, but totally in awe of them! We also went mountain-biking and hiked to the top of a dormant volcano with amazing views of the sea-filled crater and neighbouring islands. We also biked and hiked our way to the top of some waterfalls, where we dived off a ledge and through the actual waterfall curtain! Well, most people were running and jumping out, but I wanted to dive, and asked our guide if it was safe. He said "Of course!" so I went for it, and with some grace I would like to think! When I emerged on the water surface triumphant, I was a little surprised to see worried expressions fixated on me and our guide shouting over some flustered remarks. I turned round to see myself inches from large neck-breaking rocks!!! Our guide clearly hadn't realised I was going to DIVE dive, thinking I was asking if it was safe to jump in. Diving is apparently very safe, so long as you propel yourself a little further out. So, unperturbed, and not wanting to look nervy compared to his seemingly daredevil (but in reality, oblivious) fiancée, bearing the new advice in mind, Chris also goes for a dive... and scrapes an arm on a large rock at the bottom! Please check out the pics on our blog - you may see our guardian angel in the top right hand corner, looking out for us!

We also visited a number of native Fijian villages on different islands to see the locals and their way of life. They would welcome us with open arms, crowns and necklaces made of flowers, dancing, music and a traditional welcome drink called Kava. In return the Chief wanted us to speak to the children of the village to tell them our professions and where we have travelled from. We were an impressive collection of doctors, accountants, a writer, lawyers and even a psychiatrist, from across Europe and the US. The idea was to give the children career aspirations and an opportunity to practice their English.

Overall, it has been my absolute favourite 2 weeks of our travels yet and I couldn't feel happier!! I'm on cloud nine and I'm pretty sure Chris is feeling the same. His usual smiley demeanour has somehow managed to increase(!) and I even caught him giggling last night, apparently just because he saw me smiling to myself!

Next stop is Australia for a little more fun and scuba diving. We're missing you all and whilst we were on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it was incredible to manage to get a few texts to people to share our engagement news. Thank you so much for your lovely congratulatory words.

Lots of love and hope to speak to you soon. Emma (and Chris) xxxx