Seashell Cove Resort Nadi

... he even gave me a biscuit! Eventually I was let off the island at 5!! I was told the police would be waiting for me at the hostel- the receptionist hadn't even been told about it! So I waited for 2 hours for them as when they rang they said they were on their way. I rang back and thy said it was the wrong department- tehy didnt deal with tourists!! Why tell me they were on their way?! Eventually a man turned up and took my statement but gave me no crime number- and I still havnt heard from ...

... and yams. They also fish a bit and use the river for everything, washing, cooking, drinking, transportation although there is a road now to the villages.

Children are supposed to go to school and primary school costs around $30 to the family so most kids can go but secondary school is more expensive and not all families can afford it. Some get sponsored by foreigners and others just return home after ...

... people. Then our lady just left and said her supervisor would come and check us in but in the meantime, could we continue to stand to one side and wait while they checked in more people. Finally our passports come back and we are given our boarding passes and are able to go to the departure lounge. We have been checked out with our visa but we still had to go through a process with immigration and get a ...

... worried at first because it seemed too resort-like when our intention had been to seek out the true backpacker accomadations, meet the local people and spend time with fellow travelers. Turns out that loads of backpackers stay there; we met some amazing people (yay, Del and Lisa!) who have truly become great friends of ours in the short while since we met.

After Walu, we took the boat the Waya Lai Lai, another beautiful resort that ...

... and that we just made them feel the best they have ever felt in their entire life and that we were angels from God. Words cannot describe the feeling of gratitude these people had for something so simple as giving a chiropractic adjustment. They even sang us a song before we left and still thanked us as we were pulling out of the village. It was an experience of a lifetime that I will cherish forever.
-Paul

... middle of the Grand Bure. We are then served some from a Bilo (a half coconut shell). The amount you got served depended on whether the Fijians wanted to "punish" you or not!! There was also a bilo called the ‘hospital bus’ which was twice as big as the normal bilo so was given as an extra big punishment! At the Lovo all the tribemembers were grogged out by about 11pm but the Fijians drank and sand songs right through the night! We ...

... At least til I broke the stick.

We also took part in Kava ceromonies. Kava or Grog is a tradional drink here made from the root of a plant. It has the effect of making your lips and mouth go numb and is a traditional welcome gift fijians give. There was a lot more stuff including crab racing etc. and it was some of the busiest 5 days of my trip so far but also some of the best. Next a few of us are planning to head around the mainland a bit before we head to Hawaii.

... been reading about military coups and presidents electing themselves this is predominantly concentrated in the capital, Suva, which is on (thankfully) on the other side of the mainland. Fiji has presented me with my biggest culture change to date, not a shock but it's definitely very different from the first world destinations I've visited so far. Aside from that the ill advised timing of my visitations across the world continue (I have ...

... get 15 minutes there) so we opted for the more accessible veterans cemetery in the Punchbowl crater. Unlike the European cemeteries, at first sight it appears empty; the grave markers are all flat to the ground. Only then does the scale of the place become apparent. Hawaii's first astronaut, Ellison Onizuka, who was killed on the Challenger shuttle in 1986, is buried here, and there is also an impressive memorial to the thousands missing in action ...