Aussie McBlog

Brisy

The cool kids call it "Brisy" or even "Bris Vegas", but yous probably know it as Brisbane. I arrived yesterday afternoon, after parting ways with Karana. We flew together from Fiji to Auckland, but then she continued on to Sydney.

Fiji was lovely. I honestly think that I would have gone stir-crazy if we had stayed any longer, because there is only so much lounging around that I can do before I start to go crazy. Or maybe I go less crazy, which is the problem? Whatever.

After two days in Nadi, we were off to one of the Yasawa Islands (where Castaway was filmed), Kuata, for 3 days. Then we returned for one more night in Nadi before we took off again.

Highlights:
- The Bula Dance
The key here, as Moses so clearly informed us, is to "shake it, don't break it". I felt like I was at summer camp again.

- Manly men wearing skirts with flowers tucked behind their ears
Seriously though. If I were a guy, I would probably want to wear a skirt as well.

- Kayaking through crystal clear waters
Except for the part where Jami and I hit coral and I hopped out to push it and cut my feet up.

- Lying in a hammock with a good crime novel for hours
I've always been a fan of hammocks; I have one in my room. Nothing quite compares to watching the sunrise from the beach though, while swinging gently.

- Getting ridiculously sunburned
Wait, that's not a highlight. I still can't sleep properly cuz it hurts so bad. Karana assures me it looks more like a tan than a burn now, but I think my skin is displeased with me.

- Village trip and traditional dinner
Amazing, beautiful, friendly kids who wanted to know everything about us all and demanded we take pictures of them with our digital cameras. Little hams. I can't wait to post pictures of them posing! It was interesting not only because we got to see village life, but also because the guide quite frankly informed us that our tourist dollars had built the entire village. Very interesting indeed.

- The guy in my hostel room who tried to convert me to Christianity
He was listening, but not really listening, when I told him several times that I had already accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour. I left his pamphlet on the bed next to mine.

- Dinner with my dad's cousin and his wife and her son
Diego might just be the cutest kid in the entire universe. He insisted to Carola, his Mom, that since I was Greg's cousin, I was HIS cousin too. Sounds good to me! Karana and Diego and I spent most of the meal discussing Spongebob.

I could write so much more, I know I could. And I took heaps of pictures. To be honest though, I'm not in the mood. I'm safe and I'm content, and even though it's Friday night in Brisbane, I don't feel like going out. I feel like existing for the evening before getting ready to head out for a few weeks of travelling up the coast.

I hope everyone is well... I am starting to miss home (and by "home" I mean friends and family) more and more.

posted by Sara @ 8:01 PM