FijiBure

from the Auckland airport en route to Christchurch... Stayed up all night with friends on the 2nd, bus left thehotel at 4am... not so fun. and i was feeling pretty sick and stupidly popped some benedryls so was basically incoherent in my goodbyes. sad times indeed :( but emily and i made it to Fiji. we were met by Simon who was our homestay host. he drove us back to his family's place in Namatakula. His wife Judith met us out front and they almost immediately had us inside eating the most delicious meal i have had in a LONG, LONG time! fish cooked between plantains, octopus cooked in soy sauce, a plate of sliced tapioca, taro, and sweet potato, and meat in taro leaves. definitely slept well and woke up to a cloudy but not raining day. one of the sons, izo, walked us around the village - had to put on a sarong to be culturally acceptable. then the 2 other guests headed off to nearby Beqa island and we rode with them to the ferry to see the mountains. verdent is definitely the word. mountainous rainforests that run right up to the ocean along the coral coast. back and a huge, delicious lunch. Then Tema took us out walking on the reef during low tide and taught us to catch octopus! find it hiding in a hole, pull it out, then turn the head inside out and rip off the ink bags. we found 5... then tried some raw sea urchin.. back home we sat around in the kitchen with the women chatting for a bit. then had a kava ceremony with some of the guys from the clan. interesting root like taste for sure. not that bad though. makes your mouth go numb but didnt really have any cool effect on me or emily. huge dinner of parrot fish, eggplant, and chicken with noodles. then back to hanging out with the guys and impressing them with our drinking abilities. they all seemed to get drunk off the stuff but we didnt really feel anything different. left this morning fromt the Nadi airport and am now almost to Christchurch - just another 3 hr plane ride!