New Zealand

So, just how does one celebrate the return of a prized possession when floating around in the South Pacific on a boat anchored off shore? Well, apart from doing high jumps off the third deck, there were other options. I could of course drink my face off, but that leaves one feeling a little under the weater, and since I had already decided to do a scuba dive the next morning, that was out of the question. However, a German and Italian fellow each had a great solution. We decided we should try to source some authentic Fijian Kava. For more info on this, I would implore you to do a Google search on it. There is quite a bit of history and lore to Kava, and I had to try it, and the only way is for a Fijian to prepare it for you. Read on for more about this exciting tale of narcotics on the high seas, complete with the stealthy delivery.

Well, after a slow start, things are truly humming along now on the Fijian Islands. Unfortunately for me, this leg of the journey is almost over, and it’s back to the mainland tomorrow night. However, that still leaves me almost 24 hours on one more island. Oh geez, I just realized that I haven’t written in a couple days though 🙂 So of course, I do have some additional strories to share with you all about my last couple days in the South Pacific. The weather has definitely done a complete about-face, now that Daman has left Fiji for good, with limited damage having been inflicted. I’ve realized that if I try to write about everfy last thing that happens to me while I’m away, you’ll probably all get very tired of reading my stories, so I may have to try to shorten up some of the adventure-log stories. However, much as I write for all my readers, I’m also writing for me, and this serves as my travel journal as much as anything else. That being said, read on if you’d like to catch up with ActiveSteve!

Well, another day has passed, and certainly not any less interesting than the past few for me. It seems that wherever I go, interesting things will follow me. When I last wrote, I was reporting from the Sunrise Lagoon Resort, where we had been storm stayed as a result of the cyclone that had just passed through. Well, not only were we stuck there, the boats travelling between the islands had actually been canelled as well, so even if I wanted to go somewhere, there was no way for me to move around anyway. Not only that, but my nagging illness wasn’t going away either, and it seems to follow me in waves, with hours of feeling okay, followed by hours of feeling totally crappy. Those crappy hours are increasingly annoying, and has resulted in people offering me all sorts of medications and remedies from their homelands. I’ve accepted a few, but none seem to actually be doing me any good yet. Besides that unfortunate stuff, read on for more tales of fun from Fiji with ActiveSteve!

Well, when I last wrote, I was telling you all about my first day in Fiji and the experiences that it held for me. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly for me, in spite of the fact that I had minimal sleep in the first 24 hours. Day two broke early for me, and I took a stroll around the hostel in the early morning light, after heavy evening showers. I felt pretty good, having finally gotten a night’s sleep, and was looking forward to hitting the Islands that were the main part of my Fiji adventure. On my stroll, I happened across the marine forecast to Fiji. Uh-oh. Cyclone warning. Cyclone Daman in particular, the first such storm hitting Fiji for the 07-08 storm season, which had just begun. The forecast called for rain for the next few days. However, as I would soon find out, that was just the beginning of my troubles for day 2. Read on for exciting news from days 2 and 3.

Wow! What an amazing day I’ve already had in Fiji, and with no sleep either. Our flight landed at 5am this morning, when I promptly found out I had no bike, and would have no way to track it over the next week while I was out in the Yasawa Islands. Oh well, what can you do, right? I went to the tourist counter to get my tour vouchers. Everything else was in order, which meant I could at least move on with my life for the next while. From here, the day got really awesome, read on friends…