What can I say?! Brighton seems a thousand miles away but then it is. I have started missing hot water, quality toilet paper and PG Tips but then when the air temperature is a minimum of 28'C and the sea temp isnt far off that then you dont miss it too much.
I spent the first 10 days or 2 weeks in a chilled resort south of Nadi (pron. Nandi) in a place near Mobi Bay (pron. Mombi) called Seashell Surf and Dive (pron. Seashell). After two days trying to adjust my brain to the searing heat and being 12 hours out in my body clock, I moved into a dorm and started an Open Water PADI course.
I seemed to take to it well and I didnt suffer from the Bends, Nitrogen Narcosis, vertigo, claustrophobia or plain insanity. The diving is fantastic and I've seen a huge variety of clown fish, trigger fish, anemonefish, plus exciting stuff like turtles, black and white tipped reef sharks, sea snakes, nurse sharks, jellyfish large and small, morey eels, and a huge range of hard coral, which is particularly good around Fiji. Might try and see if I can work in a surf shop in Oz when I get there, but after the last dive, my eyes got screwed when I hadnt equalised the pressure in my mask. My head was equalised, but my eyes turned a nasty colour. Serves me right for getting too into the turtle I had seen.
I have become mildly addicted to Kava, the local brew, which is a mixture of a ground root vegetable and water, and it has its own special ceremonial drinking ritual attached. The effects are generally sedative, with the main active ingredients being novocaine and other analgesics/anathetics. It tastes like shit though.
I have absorbed a huge amount of surfer slang as there are a lot of surfers here and they do love to talk about the sets they caught on the reef breaks here, which are particularly good when the swell is cool and the wind isnt making the waves crumble. The Quiksilver worldchamps were held just off the coast so most of the dooods here are pretty stoked with seeing some top rides. w...ers.
The local girls are ridiculously flirtatious and I have had a couple of uncles inviting me round to meet their daughters. If you dont hear from me again, then come to Fiji and bust me out of an arranged marriage.
I moved on from the surf doods, and went to the capital Suva; a messy sweaty humid hole of a place with clubs, widescreen TV and beggers. I'll try and watch the Denmark England game tonight in, of course, an Irish bar.
Big up to the people I have met so far. Rob looking for 'any danger', Kris flying the Finnish flag on his board dood (whaaats happenning), Sam (stop looking so smug), Lucy (see you in Oz), Susan (back to your bacterial cultures my dear) and Nancy (ebonics? whatever). I hope Paul finds peace and himself somewhere in the world. And I wont tell you about Sweetlips Laru, Bond has yet to complete the mission.
Im off to Rarotonga next, and no, I have no idea where it is. I heard from Anja that Big Trev and Maria have set up a veggie cafe in NZ, so guess where Im heading after.
In the meantime, my urgent stomach is telling me that I will be spending time in a darkened room, so moce (mothey) everybody. Pass me the toilet paper.
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