I went into Nadi on my first day, it was a little overwhelming with people shouting at you to come into their shop and TAXI! at you, but you switched off to it after a while ( you had to or it would of driven you nuts). It was a little crazy town but everyone was polite and friendly. The same for where I was staying, all the staff remembered your name and personally said hi to you ! We made friends with one of the lady's at reception called Belissia who took us to a service at her church, 4 of us from the hostel attended. It was nice to see people off the beaten track a bit. For a place that wasn't anywhere close to modern technologythey had a PA system in the church! But that contrasted to an old skool over head projector, similar to the we used at school. So when the songs came up someone had printed them on to clear A4 and then they moved it up as we got to each verse. It was lovely and even though we stuck out like a sore thumb everyone was very friendly.

Back at the hostel, the plan was set, 4 days at Mana island and 4 days Mololo island which left me 3 days at the main land - so Ithought - but after checking my dates again I had a further 3 days so I booked a 3rd island Robinson Crusoe.

If Id had the money I would have gone to Octopus and Manataray Island especially that the Mantarays were breeding ! But off to Mana Island - it was just over an hour on the boat. When we arrived there was a group of islanders singing their welcome song which was excellent and we were given flowers to put in our hair. Such a lovely welcome. We were then taken through the village and to our accommodation which was a very basic shack with 12 bunk beds, electricity only ran in the evenings and the showers were cold ones! It took a few deep breathes to get under them to be fair - even though its so hot and the cold was refreshing, freezing cold water is hard to walk under! The 4 days at Mana were very chilled, mostly sunbathing, reading, and walking around the island and being followed by one of the 100 dogs that seemed to be there. However the evenings were a lot of fun and we played drinking games and had general antics to the early hours! And did suffer an extreme hangover one of the days, which I think was from the paint stripper cheap vodka.

Mololo the 2nd island was very small, we stayed at a small resort called Walu Beach resort but we had hot water! Yay! There really wasn't much to do there as you couldn't walk around the island or walk to another resort as it was all bays cut off of by forest. However it was lovely to chill and read and have banter around the pool. I was getting used to Fiji time and relaxing! The first 3 weeks had been quite busy so it was nice to chill !

Back on the main land for one day before Robinson Crusoe and Id seen some horses on the beach. The guy who owned them hired them out so it was ace - I rode his race horse (the smallest race horse I've seen) but in true Fiji H&S style off I went down the beach no hat and no shoes, dodgy bridle and bit and went galloping away! It was pretty cool and did think 'would my insurance cover me for this but what the hell!'

3rd Island - Robinson Crusoe, the island is off the South West of Fiji so it was an hours drive to the river then a boat down the river to the sea. I turned up to hear a story of a sea snake (very deadly) had been right by the shore ! Argh! Unfortunately there was also one found on the boat the next day so that was me out of the water! As much as we'd been told they were passive and wouldn't attack you I just know what my reaction would be to see one and therefore would cause the snake to panic and attack! So my risk reduction strategy was to not swim at sea! J

At every island we'd been entertained by traditional dance, fire dancing and songs but the dancing and fire dancing at Robinson Crusoe was amazing! The best I've ever seen! I was there for 4 days and there was a great group of people and staff were so friendly! Again we welcomed that evening with the traditional Kava ceremony, something I haven't explained, it's a root of a tree, dried and ground into powder then you add it to water and drink it from a coconut cup. It supposed to be a relaxant and if you drink a lot of it you're supposed to see things - which I think is where Fiji Time comes from! However it tastes like dirt water but it did make me have a good nights deep sleep!

On day 3 I struck down with tropical flu which I caught from Sid; Tim and Tom also caught it later on but I ended up being really poorly which sucked, being in a dorm in bed feeling like death wasn't fun! I left the island early to go back to Nadi to get some medicine and somehow someone was looking down on me, when I returned to Smugglers Cove they had messed up my booking and had over booked - so they gave me my own room!! Just what I needed when I feeling so ill!

It was my last day in Fiji and still poorly but you have no choice but to crack on! The flight will not wait for you! lol

Fiji was fantastic Id recommend it to anyone! So friendly, basic, happy lifestyle just wears off on you and I don't think I've ever felt so relaxed!

I'm so enjoying my travels, learning things about myself - e.g. you don't have to have a to list every day! Lol and becoming very chilled out!

NZ next, excited but not looking forward to the cold! Argh! I'm loving the heat!

Hope everyone is well and loving the Summer Sun! J