Yes, I am alive:) You might have wished you got rid of me by now, but here I am again! I really do not know what to write about my Fiji experience...It has been so unreal, so magical, so weird, so unexpected. A place of dreams, a place of nightmares? First of all, I never thought I could live without internet and phone for such a long time - basically 2 weeks with no internet access, and 10 days with a dead phone. Let me start from the beginning - Fiji airport is probably the first airport with wooden stairs and corridors - got off the place and thought "How weird is this place..." It got even more weird when I came up to the passport control and the saw those local guys playing guitar and singing just next to the immigration officer checking my passport. It's then that I realised that I was in a different world. A couple of words about Fiji - it is composed of 2 main islands (Viti Levu and something else) where the capital city Nadi and the airport are located. Then, there are some 340 small islands spread around the mainland and going up to the north. Basically, what I figured out only later, the mainland is a kind-of civilised place (there even is one McDonald in there - if it can be perceived as a sign of western-style civilisation) and the further from the mainland you get, the less civilised it becomes...Basically, many toursits stay on the mainland and the areas surrounding it, but I quickly realised that my package holiday is much more adventurous as I was to spend all my time on the island away from mainland (at my most distant island I was 5 hours by cruise ship from the port city)...I was to spend 12 days on 5 different islands: South Sea Island, Kuata, Matacawalevu, Nanuya Lailai, Wanna Taki and Manta Ray plus 2 nights on a boat somewhere betweeen the upper islands...Now it requires clarification that those names meant as much to me as they mean to you now, with no idea about their size, location and of course, living conditions. At the airport, there were at least 30 Fijan people who came up to me offering their help, everyone screaming at me the magical word: 'Bula!' - soon to be the most frequently used word I would hear - it has diverse meanings in Fijan languages - it stands for Hello, Life, Health, Thanks...whatever. The radio in Fiji is called Bula FM:) I took a bus to the port villages and embarked on the ship cruise - there is one ship that leaves the mainland daily and it goes up to all of the islands coming back in the evening - what it means effectively is that you may board, get off wherever you booked your accommodation and then change your location only 24 hours later, when the next boat comes in. Look at the picture within this journal entry - this is not a picture of my island but it looked precisely the same: South Sea Island. I could not belive I was to spend 2 nights there - you could walk around the island in 3-4 minutes, round around it in less than a minutes, 20 seconds from sunset to sunrise viewpoints...A reception and a dorm in the wooden building in the middle of the island, some trees, hammocks and kayaks lying round. Unreal. Naturally, way too hot for what I am used to....Actually, unbearably hot. I took out a beer, got introduced to some people - the people who run the dorms are all local - they speak English as this is the official language in Fiji (former British colony) - they re all big and have the loudest and most funny laughter I have ever heard in my life. There seating on the beach two guys in their 30s - I got introduced by the staff to them - they are diving instructors, there is NOT enough job for the two but one being on the sick leave the other is covering for him. They come from northern England, are a good laugh and we quickly became drink buddies. Withing 1 hour of my arrival I have discovered their story and found it quite incredible - living on the Fiji islands for almost a year now, arrived here as tourists, loved it, got a job, stayed....when asked 'so when do u think u get back to the uk' both answer 'Never'. They hate life back in Europe, hate taxes, working for living, hate people's attitude...dumped by their girlfriends they start life over again in Fiji...New Address: Paul, South Sea Island, Fiji:) I loved their story - thought it could only exist in books or movies but they were permanently resident in Paradise. And they never hurried, Paul would always say, 'It's Fiji time, don't rush':) My first activity on Fiji - snorkeling. As Paul was on the leave (drinking beer and chatting up girls all day), Fordy offered taking me out snorkeling as he knows the best places- I took out my mask and flippers, splashed some of the sun cream on my body and here I go. The most beautful coral reef I have ever seen, couldn't belive my eyes, again it was surreal. Half an hour in the water, back for a beer, chatting away and then I hear a laugh behing my back - the beginning of a new game 'Guess, where Max did not put his sun cream on' - Paul was almost dying laughing... Right, you know when you are hurried putting your sun scream and you just splash it a bit on your back (essentially only at the places you can reach out too - I was not confident enough with anyone to ask them to put sun cream on my back) ...and then i was thinking half an hour in the water won't kill me - well it did badly. I had this bra-shaped red-as-a-lobster tan on my back - obviously looked as if I was wearing a bra - so for the next 2 days I would be taken piss off, all the new guests kindly asked the question 'Guess where Max has not put his sun cream on?' And yes, everyone can guess:) Amazing people, amazing coral reef, most beautiful sunset of my life, my Ipod used as a source of music for Paul's huge ipod speakers - evenings passed listening to Oasis, The Streets, old Elton John and Queen - the very British music....My definining moments - my favourite Fiji island - I even extended my stay there to 3 nights instead of two at the expense of the next island - a good choice. Having left South Sea Island I did not realise that it was going to get much more adventurous from then on... I lost my phone reception soon on the boat and went up to yet a different world... very primitive Fijan villages, a school located in the forests, hours by ship to a television set, a phone, a civilisation. Most beautiful scenery I could have ever immagined, most weird insects and animals, including mosquitos, huge moths, geckos, lizards...even a tree rat.... All defined a completely different life - life that was determined by sunrise and sunset, boat arriving times and meal times only. Wakinng up short after the sunset (6 am), going to sleep not to long after the sunrise (max at 10pm), deciding on what to do during the whole day - should I read a book? sleep in a hammock? get a drink and chat away about nothing? Naturally my daily sun exposure was limited to some 30 min a day after my South Sea Island experience (was suffering 2 days after that sunburn) so I could not spend a day in the sea...it got to the point when my island hopping became very boring - you meet people, ask them ' So what did u do today'? and everyone would just say ' Nothing...'. Fiji life, Fiji time, belive me you get tired of doing nothing for 12 days:) Local people would sing sings to welcome you and say goodbye - they were extremely warm and willing to chat with you whenever they had an occassion. When it comes to tourists, more than 50% were British, amazing how many British people travel into Fiji - all people on their round-the-world trips before the university of after the graduation, away for 10-12 months, with huge baggage of experiences, coming from different angeles in the world, goint into yet different ones...You get really tired of asking the same questions all over again - where are u coming from and where are you heading? and then you see them leave the day after. Just weird. On Matacawalevu island there were 3 of us - very long beautiful beach, absolutely NOTHING to do (too shallow to swim - hundreds of meteres of up-to-your knees warm ocean water, too hot to lay on the beach), you could only kill away your time in a coconut tree dorm reading a book - i was going crazy:) yes, the houses there are mostly made of coconut trees... I would go for a long sunset walk with my ipod and there were 2 dogs that would join me straighaway...they were as bored as me - and would walk with me every step, would sit down for a moment of reflection watching the sun go down with me, go into the water as i walked in and accompany me to my dorm...They were my friends for 2 days... No possibility to contact the outside word, no news, just here and now, somwhere in the Pacific I wouldn;t even know. Scarse electricity (only during a day) - no light in the night - but the most beautiful night sky I have ever seen: stars-laden and a perfect clear Milky Way - I would sit there with my torch in the pitch-dark night. Another defining moment. All the islands were amazing - all that changed were food and accommodation - sometimes better, sometimes really primitive... I went up on a sailing boat and we did a bit of sailing along the islands - we arrived at the Cast Away island (yes, the one where the movie with Tom Hanks was made) - it really is in the middle of nowhere, I would walk up on that piece of land, a couple of rocks, a lot of coconuts and you just stay there for few seconds thining how could you surivive if you really were left there, just as in this movie. Depressing. Amazing. Surreal. I met Paul and Fordy on my last island again - and there was no excuse this time (I could no longer say that if anything touched my back I would go screaming...) So I had to go for a introductory diving session (apparently it is the cheapest as it gets anywhere in the world in Fiji...) I seriously have some issues with water and I consider myself more of an air-person (I would prefer to skydive than scubadive) but they convinced me to try. Well, the moment I put the bloody HEAVY oxygen bottle and all the inhalators, belts and various things on me and Paul went on explaining what I should do if my inhalator drops out of my mouth and if my mask fills up with water in the deep bloody ocean...well I did have second thoughts but decided not to chicken out. Having joked with the guys all the time before and having drunk with them before including the previous evening, and also considering that people going diving first time normally have some intro sessions in the swimming pool first - I thought it may not be that clever to put my life in their hands...So bang straight into the deep water, a little panick at first, bubbles through my mouth but I made it. Incredible, fantastic 40min swimming with fish, exploring coral, touching starfish -it was totally out-of-place, totally unreal. I explored a different world that I never thought of exploring before...Went to some 7-8 meters deep and loved it even though felt really unsecure at times! A couple of scares over my body remind me of the sharp coral... I could never forget Fiji - it's a place I will always come back to with my thought and ponder on how unreal it was...I already miss it even though I hated the bloody heat at times. But it was truly amazing. And so it was amazing to see your emails and messages on this site's message board - there were moments i thought i could die there without an anyone realise and care:) But you did. Huge Thanks!@!!!!