Hey everyone, am now in Fiji, the penultimate stop in my tour around the 'world'!  After leaving Gizo I headed off for two days in Honiara to chill and wait for my connecting flight to Fiji.  Had to stay at the Honiara Hotel (as the delightful Kiwi House was full!), which not only cost me a small fortune, but was also on 'high alert' as a target from the rioters - oh dear.  Tried to save money by cooking with Yaz and Carrie in the evenings while there, but managed to be lured by the beautiful wooden carvings and other souvenirs - so have probably spent the same amount anyway!  Arrived in Fiji on Tuesday night to a huge 'reverse culture shock' - there are...well...roads here!  There are petrol stations and coffee houses.  I had a HOT shower, and the humidity doesn't turn my hair into a bad version of one of Diana Ross and the Supremes!  Bit weird really... so I havve compiled the following:

5 reasons why I shouldn't have left Gizo

1.  I had my camera pick-pocketed in Honiara.  Managed to lose lots of my Gizo photos...very sad.  Didn't realise it was gone until my arrival in Fiji and spent the whole of yesterday with a quivvering bottom lip.  Managed to completely annoy the girls with my incessant rantings and dissection of my last movements in Honiara and who could have taken it and when.  Very sad.

2.  I got a cold (a cold???!!) on arrival in Honiara.  Making me feel even more sorry for myself.

3.  It's raining in Fiji.  'The worst weather they've had in years'; 'I'm sure it'll be better tomorrow' is all we're hearing at the moment.  So much for my relaxing beach holiday at the end of my elective.

4.  One of my sand fly bites on my leg has got infected badly since leaving Gizo.  I blame it on the lack of antiseptic properties of the sea!  And Flucloxicillin is the ONLY antibiotic I didn't bring!

5.  No where in the world is as beautiful.

What I have learnt from this experience:

1.  Make friends with the British High Commission in the Solomons.  Ray Davidson (legend) has gone as far as to go to the Honiara Market in his lunchbreak to try and find my camera and ask around.  Hopefully from here he'll get me a letter from the police so I can claim on insurance.

2.  Upload all of your photos onto a laptop or a CD as you go along in case this happens.  Luckily I did this about a week before leaving Gizo, so I just have a week of photos to recuperate.

3.  Make lots of friends on your elective that you can steal photos from on your return!

4.  Bring a crappy Boots medical kit with you.  Didn't need it for my actual elective, but it has come in very handy in the last couple of days.  The girls and I decided we could carry out our very own 'incision and debridement' of my leg would in our poky room at the Nadi Skylodge hostel!

5.  Put some money aside for Fiji, it's expensive as they don't cater for Butlins-esque indoors activities when it's raining!

So all is (kind of) well at the moment.  There is a tiny bit of blue sky this morning which keeps threatening to let the sun shine through.  Planning on a trip to the Coral Coast to see what Fiji has to offer in the way of beaches.  Not sure how long it'll last until the rain comes though! Jim and Stef arrive this evening, so have big curry night planned (Fiji has a 50% Indian population and the curry, i'm told, is fantastic!). 

Will keep you posted on weather and escapades over this coming week in Fiji... hope everyone is well.

Love me xxxx