Headed out to the islands, got a nice suprise

Our plan was going out to the islands again...But we got a BIG suprise?! That kinda forced us back to the main island a bit earlier then expected..

Located in the Wasaya islands, Waya is the island called where the resort is located. We decided to pamper ourselfs for 10 days, going to different islands and chill HARDCORE! So Octopus was our first choice. We have our own Bure next to the beach, our own hammock and sunschairs,
It was truly paradise. The staff was so kind, the scenery was amazing, The food was AWESOME. Nothing to complain about, ***** Five stars.

what have we been doing? Mostly taking it easy (Big suprise there?). The second day i decided to outside the resort and do some trecking by myself, followed a path thru the jungle and then found a private property, so i headed back and on the way home i just stopped and said to myself, " by god RICHARD YOU ARE GONNA GET A COCONUT FROM THAT PALMTREE" (Try it yourself, its actually hard) Tried to climb it, Didnt go so good.. So i took another old coconut and started throwing it up trying to hit the other coconuts.. didnt go so well

either. Then after awhile some locals came and just looked at me and laughed a bit and asked "Do you need some help?" So they helped me, got them down, prepared them so i could drink from them. Great success! Time to mix the coconut with my precious rum! :D

Later me and Miranda started trecking, climbing up the mountain a bit and then we stumbled upon a villager, 25 year old guy that called himself "Ben" We talked a bit and i said to him that i want to climb up the mountain to the highest point. He said that the octopus resort arranges hicking trips. But i wanted to do it alone with M. So he said, "Come down to my village tomorrow, and ask for my name, and i will take u up to the mountain" So we got our own private tourguide! Kickass! So we thought we would have a awesome day tomorrow, but we got something else
in store for us...

Day three at Octopus resort.
We were hoping for good weather so we could climb the mountain, but instead it started to get VERY windy, We climbed up a bit and checked it out and it was blowing like hell! never had experienced this strong wind in Sweden.. (And this was just the beginning..) We took some pictures and then went down to the resort.

Later that night the manager of the resort gaves us the news that an Cyclone is coming this way, they call it "Cyclone Mic", and when they give a Cyclone a name i guess its a huge thing... But he also said that we shouldnt be worried cause it would just be a small one, (Category 1?)

Day four at Octopus resort.
We wake up several times during the night cause the wind is hitting our bure so hard, even sand comes thru the wall. We go outside and see that its getting worse. We go quickly and eat some breakfast, and then go back to our bure and chill there. After about 1 hour someone nocks on the door " Hey! You guys need to move to to the restaurang, it's not safe to be here!!" So we quickly packed our stuff and put it in the closet just in case. And i took with me my laptop and diary, Im not about to loose all my pictures on the laptop and my diary. We quickly run to the restaurang and i see all the people there. The wind just keeps on getting stronger and stronger, and its raining like CRAZY. People start to get a bit more worried. Suddently Trees starts to fall down
and time to time the wind just gets so strong that.. Shit i can't even explain. It was just unreal.

Recorded as much as possible. And then my camera died, When i recorded the wind wasnt even at its highest strenght... Some people started crying, You saw Branches, other stuff flying pass you. And then the manager says "It's not safe here, we need to go to a safer location, the dorm room" So people started panicing a bit more. As soon as we were there the hurricane was peaking, it just smashed the roof of outside the dorm, so we heard a big bang. So the manager said "Might be a shance that the roof of this building might fly of so we need to go to a even more secure location, the toilets and showers, small concrete building" So when the wind didnt blow so hard we all ran quickly to the other building. and then stood there for a couple of hours Almost no space at all, Talked with the manager and he said, "If we are unlucky the storm can continue like this for 12 hours) If we would get in the middle of the storm it would get all blue sky, and the wind would drop down to zero. And then after 30 min it would hit again, as hard as before. Then after awhile we decided to all run back to the dorm house cause it was just to crowded and apperantly the dorm was still intact. So we came in there, put up the beds against the windows, and locked us in there for awhile.

After about one hour it started to blow less. People started going out, and we found out that the worst part was over. Apperantly we got lucky and didnt get hit directly, and the mountain above us gave us some shelter. We all started helping out, carrying all the palmtrees, branches that was laying EVERYWHERE. The whole place was destroyed, some buildings got also destroyed, This resort that was an paradise wasn't looking so very attractive now...

Apperantly the hurricane that struck ut was a "Stage 2" hurricane, it blow at most 175km/hour here at our place. We had the most luck at our resort, some other resorts on the other island got completely smashed, and on the main island some people died. And today the weather was perfect, clearblue sky. But the resort is shutting down for 1-2 weeks we all had to take the boat back to the mainland. Didn't really work out as planned. But now i got to experiance a hurricane in the pacific! Cool in twisted kind of way i guess!

Random day at Smugglers Hotel

This is how a normal day could look like at Smugglers Cove, Yet to be the best hostel

ive stayed at during my first month traveling.



"have u ever been to fiji islands, where the girls are hot and the boys are hard to get" haha

I really need to start learning how to playan instrument and learn tunes like this!

Thoughts

Just some thoughts running thru my mind.

It's been over a month now, exacly 1 month and 5 days. And it's just the beginning of my trip. Atleast 11 months to go. Feels a bit wacko. Im use to having a vacation for a month, thats it.

I thought i would feel lonely traveling alone. But i noticed that you are hardly never alone. Everywhere you go you bump into another person that is also traveling solo. You find each other so easily.

Tho i have to admit that i miss my m8t's, especially when im having a really good time, it just hits me, "shit.. would be so fun to experiance this with my friends" But that time will come i guess!

Christmas is coming up soon and i guess this is the only day i will really feel homesick. Cause im spending Christmas alone on Fiji. Christmas for me is about beeing with my family, and it's kinda
hard to be with em when they are on the other side of the globe. Hopefully ill find some other homesick people at this hostel that night and get drunken, and celebrate together :)

One other thing i noticed. I have this "10 year diary" that i brought with me, been writing in it for 1 year now. And everyday i put a "+" or "-" + stands for an awesome day ofcourse, and - for a terrible day.

From Jan up until October before flying to Sydney i had HEAPS of "-" Questions that popped up in my head so often, "i hate my job", " what should i do with my life"."What's life about!?" etc. I think i was lost. And i just felt like something was missing in my life.

And now when i look at my book i only have +++++++++, (One - for a REALLY bad hangover) This kind of traveling makes me feel alive and happy to the fullest, not having a destination, not having a "travelplan", not having a fly ticket booked back home. Knowing that u could continue traveling for as long as possible. knowing that you could be in Asia, America, or Africa, or even back in Europe the next day if i desire so. Im not stressed, i can take it easy a whole day and not feel bad about it. If i didn't do anything productive after work back home i would feel like the day was a waste. Now that feeling is gone. I feel free as a bird!

So right now my Euforical state is peaking at it's highest. Lets see how long this lasts!?

Fiji Time!

"Fiji Time". I love this meaning. This country is the most relaxed country i ever been to before! Ive forgotten what day it is, never look at the time. The people here are so relaxed aswell, The thing u will hear most from the Fijian people is this "Relax, it's Fiji Time", they don't stress AT ALL. So ive been slowely coming in to this lifestyle.. and i feel so... good.

My biggest worries during the day has been...

* Trying to find the perfect spot for the sunbench im laying on so i dont get any sun on me?

(Julian, this place would suit you perfect ^^ )

So whats been happening? This last Thursday Nathan (the Aussie m8) left the hostel (Smuggles cove) To bad he left cause he was one really cool dude, Me, Adam and him getting coconuts all the time, mixing it with Fiji Rum. Good memories. But before he left i got a nice suprise! Miranda suddently showed up! The girl i met back in Sydney in the hostel. I never actually met a person that i have SO much in common with. So we had dinner and a really nice time. And the next i went to Mana island and she came along :)

Mana Island then!

What a wonderful place. Not the smallest islands. But still so amazing. Mixed with hostels and locals. This island has also very fancy resorts (Tom Hanks stayed there while casting Castaway) It has a airstrip for small planes and helicopters. The water is crystalblue which for me was amazing (Never seen it before) just standing there in the water looking at all the fishes approaching me.. wow.

The accomodation there was good enough. Did only pay 50FJ dollars per nights. 3 meals per day were also included. This was the cheapest island for a backpacker to hang out in. So might actually return there before i go back to Sydney. And always when a group arrives they all stand there,both the travelers and the people who work there, singing a welcome song in Fiji. Very nice :)

I love "chillin" But when i was in that island, i chilled hardcore. Really doing nothing. Waking up early to have breakfast. Then walking away from the hostel to a nice beach with a sunbench and hammocks. Laying there, falling asleep, jumping into the water, and then reading "the alchemist" which i really like! Then walking back, having dinner. Very relaxing!

Now im back here in the main island, Smugglers Cove, which kinda feels like my home now. What's my plan for the last 23 days. Nothing! It's Fiji time. No worries, etc. :)