Western Hostel Nadi

Photos to come later

Just a quick note for anyone following. We are on a very short time limit on the internet here so I will probably NOT be able to upload any photos while in Fiji as I don't care to spend the money ...

... to our hotel and they found us rather quickly. Don’t know how. Guess we looked like people going to a mid range hotel on the other side of the island.

So today and tonight we are a bit tired but looking forward to tomorrow to see what a magical place this is. Everyone is so friendly. People on the street, people in the hotel, people at the pool, everyone is greeting and smiling. Going to be nice.

... They had some out everyday in the breakfast area at our hotel... it has so much flavor!

If you are good at bargaining, Fiji Handicraft Market is the place to go. I didn't think I'd be good at it, but I managed to pull off some pretty good deals... between pearl earrings, a black coral necklace I worked down from $60 to $20, and a jade necklace I worked down from $60 to $25. I managed to even get a deal where they aren't supposed to give any ...

... other though! I found that some of the older kids were actually a little nervous to get adjusted, but afterwards they were pretty happy that they received care. After we finished adjusting, some of them did Fijian dances for us. One dance almost looked like the Fijian way of doing the electric slide... haha. After we arrived back at the hotel, we set up our tables for the hotel again.

Dinner for ...

... we all got really close and it was most definitely the week of my life.

So next stop Auckland (i'm here now) not a lot has gone on yet apart from having an amazing roast in an Irish bar and listening to live music all evening another good start, The vibe is however totally different so we'll see how things go.

Missing you all back home, hope you're all keeping well and not getting upto too much mischief!

Stay tuned!!

Love you all

Jamie xxxxx

I arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) after a night flight with a child kicking my chair all night and was very grateful for my host, Diane, to allow me to sleep the day away and wake to a glorious cooked lunch.

The evening as great, getting to know my hosts and the 3 Australian CSers who arrived that afternoon and then the next morning going together for a ...

... to Fiji - she was stayong for a month and was very excited, I think the trip had been a long time in the planning, and within an hour on the bus she had already taken about 30 photos. Emily if you are reading this I hope you are having a wonderful time.

My 7 nights on Fiji were spent at Beach Cocomo, which I had picked form the internet before I left home and it was exactly as described, in fact it was even better. there are only 2 bungalows and a small ...

... they don't know why it is, but they often don't look people in the eye.  Not sure if this global across the culture, but it was something that we had difficulty with.  Fiji, on the otherhand, is all eye contact. We have grown used to the the friendly Bula welcomes from every person we pass with a big smile and eye contact.  Our boat passes several small islands, some not more than 50 yards long, others maybe a half mile to a mile long.  These are all resort ...

... to stay. This experience tainted my view on Fiji for a few days and made me wish I was back in Thailand.

We spent our first full day in our hotel just lying by the pool thinking how glad we were to have some sunshine again! As much as I loved New Zealand I needed to get out of the rain because it was a bit like being in Ireland! The next thing that happened has happened to me in every single country that I have been in since we started travelling, I got bitten by mosquitoes by ...

... difference that we quickly pick up on is the temperature change once again. Having acclimatised to NZ and its cool days and cold nights its now over 30oc and more humid than Singapore. This is going to take some getting used to and we only have 5 days before we are back in the cold again in America's springtime. We drop our stuff off, grab a shower and then head to Smugglers Cover which is the main backpacker in the area and the best place for food, booze and entertainment for ...