"There are loads of tall spindly palm trees that look like one push and they're be over. There's the banana trees with small green bananas growing on them. The mango trees have bunches of unripe green mangos and there's the pineapple plant with the little pineapple growing up. The pineapple is sweet & juicy, so juicy that the liquid rolls down your face and it costs less than a tin at home! The pineapple is a whole fresh pineapple, fresh, sweet & juicy.

The sea is blue - light blue near the shore but a dark blue where the reef drops away. The sky is blue and cloudless, only punctuated by the tops of the coconut palms. Black volcanic soils mix with white coral beaches. It is pretty quiet apart from the buzzing flies & giant hornets, the sea crashing and the occasional sounds of kids playing. The bush is still - it's at night it comes alive to the rhythm of the circada. A bird tweets now & again, a car drives past, someone talks. Most people are in the shade out of the hot afternoon sun.

It's hot & humid. The sweat trickles off you, though after two weeks we're just starting to get used to it. The gentle breeze or feel of cool water on your skin as you slide into the swimming pool or sea is refreshing. It's hot. Too hot to sleep at night. You toss & turn, bathed in a cloak of sweat that is never-ending. You have a shower but all too soon your skin glistens again. It's hot. I think I mentioned this already, but its such an important point that I thought I'd mention it again. It's hot. So hot, it's stiffling, but it's great here. Better than scraping frost off windscreens, waking up to a freezing cold house and the wintery delights of frost, rain, cold, wet and more cold. This beats that hands down!" (06/12/98)

Viti Lavu | Other Islands | Extract of Journal