First few days

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Bula! I am in an internet cafe in Suva, Fiji and thought I would update you on what I have been up to for the last few days...

Despite taking off from London at about 3.30pm, it was daylight for the whole journey from Heathrow to LA as we were chasing the sun from east to west. It was a really comfortable flight with good food, plenty of leg room and a row of 4 seats all to myself. We flew in an arc - northwest past Iceland, over Greenland and then southwest over Canada and central USA. The skies were clear and I had a facinating view of frozen seas and the hundreds of miles of frozen willderness of northern Canada including Hudson Bay which was covered in a layer of ice and the Hudson River which was frozen solid. As our bearing moved more towards south than west, the sun started to set just as we flew over the Grand Canyon. By the time we were over Las Vegas, darkness had come and the city was lit up and an hour later we landed in LA. I slept for all of the flight from LA to Nadi.

I landed in Nadi at about 6am, jumped on a bus to Suva - about a 5 hour journey - and got a taxi to the Colonial Lodge where I had a room saved for me. The Lodge is amazing. It's run by Suzie who lives there with her father and two sons who are aged 14 and 11. There are three other British people staying here, very friendly, a lot of fun and I feel at home. Suzie cooks us breakfast and dinner which is delicious. I had pancakes with homemade guava jam this morning and we'll have marlin curry tonight.

The mornings are very comfortable with about an hour of heavy rain early and then a few hours of cloudy skies. I've spent them exploring town and the local fish market, I then pick up some food and take it back to the Lodge to cook lunch. Mid day is hot and I'll relax in the shade, reading or helping the boys catch the fish in their neighbours pond.

I am heading to Gau on Thursday to start my research post, we have chartered a boat for the 6 hour journey as we are taking the camps supply of food and equipment for the next 3 months. So the next few days will be a bit busier for me, buying lots of rice from the market and trying to get hold of other provisions and loading them onto the boat.

I will post another update when I can. Until next time...

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Comments

[soph]

Fatty! Such an awesome first blog! It sounds completely amazing! And really good that you're able to meet the locals - fishing in the pond sounds pretty cool! All well here. Sending lots of love x