So much for the basics. Kava is the drug of choice in Figi. It's also the chief cash crop on Matangi. Less potent than narcotics or alcohol, kava is a cultural must have for Figians. They say it helps them relax at the end of a hard day. Sound familiar? Roots and branches of the plant are dried and beaten to a powder then 'brewed' like tea and drunk, in our case ceremonially. This is Sala, our kava break guide.

Bula! (hi) from Fiji, an ex-British colony that achieved independence only recently,in 1970. Fiji consists of over 300 islands in 14 provinces and is ruled by a dictator, benevolent so they say. And Yes, Figi sits astride the International Date Line, which means we are one day ahead of you guys back in the USA. We are staying on Matangi, a small, non-confrontational island in the northeast sector, and despite the fact that there are occasional rebellions on th...

We made it to Waikiki Beach just in time to get a shot of Albert with Diamond Head, a famous promontory on a famous surfing beach, in the background. Then it poured. We grabbed a bit to eat, bused it back to the hotel, and crashed.

We decided early on to break up our flight to the South Pacific with a layover in Hawaii and booked a room in an airport hotel with no expectation of leaving it until we flew out. But we got in early and thought maybe we could visit Pearl Harbor. Alas, we were not that early. Our next choice was Waikiki Beach; touristy, but what are we? After an 8 hr plane ride, we decided to hoof it, then realized it was 9 pm our time, so we caught a bus. That turned out to be...

Dallas-Fort worth is a far-flung paradigm of an airport sprawling across acreage the size of Manhattan. To get from the runway where we landed to the terminal is about a twenty minute commute crossing over two major highways, so when the pilot optimistically stated that we had arrived early, he had to correct himself at the gate - but that was easily forgotten when we exited into a snowman-shaped wonder-world. Yes, DFW bears the distinctive shape of a bisected,...