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Bula (hello in Fijian),
I will start by apologising for the lack of updates but i will explain why. We have now left Fiji after two weeks of pure chill out. It was the most amasing and beautiful place i could have ever imagined and maybe the most beautiful i ll ever go. We arrived in Nadi about 6am on December 4th (it was a ten hour flight but spanded over 2 days - crossed over the date line apparently). Anyway we headed to our "Hotel"! It was a shambles. The pool water was green and our room was infested with insects, lizards and ants. Joe even found a toe nail in his bed. We only lasted the night there funny enough - but we had booked to go to one of the many islands anyhow. After our shock start to fijian life we headed up the high street to check out main town Nadi. We were greeted by a local who insisted we go in his shop and have a Kava Ceremony. A Kava cermony is a tradional way for Fijians to socialise and welcome their guests. It was brilliant. We had been in Fiji about 2 hours and there we were with some true Fijians clapping away and drinking the local ale. Kava is a mixture of power and water and is mixed through a muslin cloth - look it up on the internet to see how it looks - its worth it. Anyway we would sit there clapping - once before you drank (whilst you drink everyone claps 3 times) and 3 more times when the person has finished. The whole experience lasted about 15 minutes. The Kava is mixed in a Tanoa and we drank from a Bilo (half a coconut shell). I can honestly say the Kava tasted like bark from a tree but in a liquid form. Anyway after the ceremony we were almost intimidated into buying some gifts from the shop - its a shame because the intimidation they tried using almost over shodowed the ceremony. Anyway we headed up the street and as you would imagine, we were singled out as western travellers and local shop owners tried pulling us from every post to piler to get us in their shops. You had to execpt the very low wage and the importance of tourism to these people and countries. We got a bit of time on the net (where i think i did my last post) and headed for an afternoon of cards in hotel bar (we needed the beer to numb the thought of our night ahead).
Next morning came and we had a taxi waiting bright and early to take us to the boat port - were we would cruise to an exotic and secluded beach! This is why i have not been able to keep an up to date journal. The island we were heading for was called Nacula (part of the Yasawa group of islands).
I ll do another entry for the islands in Fiji as there is a lot more talking to come
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