if i am to be burned, let me burn evenly (fiji, pt. 1)

it’s night by the time we make our descent into fiji and as i look out the window i notice bright orange veins erupting with smoke. i had no idea that fiji was volcanic or that the people would live as they do, tucked between the thin streams of lava that pop up here and there. it would be the first time i have seen active flowing magma and i was psyched.

it was until later, getting a lift to my hostel, that i realized it wasn’t lava at all but a system of contained burning in the sugarcane fields. gutted. what a cruel trick you play on your arriving guests fiji. hopefully this was to be the first and only disappointment fiji had in store for me these next seven days.

it was late, already 8pm, when i rolled up to my first nights accommodation and i could barely tell that it was situated right on the beach. i used the semi-urban opportunity to log online and browse my particulars while eating dinner, probably my last chance to do so over the coming week. following this first night on the mainland i would be embarking on a series of island hops to a few of fiji’s hundreds (300+) of islands for what, if all goes well, should be a relaxing, yet fun respite before going home.

first night was pretty much wrapped up with dinner and i called it early to read in bed. i had, rather prudently, downloaded four books to my kindle and i may be just as excited to make my way through them as i am to lay on the beach. at times this feels like a vacation by proximity. i don’t know that i would be here if it wasn’t more or less on the way home. it is an obligation (to fiji? to myself?) to visit the south pacific being so close to it – when would i get another opportunity? i’m not sure what my ambivalence stems from, perhaps the slow fade of australia and the sad reality of saying goodbye to all the good people i had met, but here’s hoping i get over it quick enough to enjoy my short stay in this island nation.

no photos this time, suckas.