Fiji

The journey continues…

Even though I’m home for 3 weeks now, the journey continues…my personal journey to be exact. But I’m still reminiscing about my travels. Friends & family ask me the following question all the time: “What’s the most beautiful you have seen/done on this trip around the world?”

Honestly…I still don’t know. I loved being on my own in San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and exploring the city by (cable) car. I also loved walking through Hollywood and visiting the Walk of Fame. Fiji was another, I hope a once in a lifetime, experience. Due cyclone Winston I wasn’t able to enjoy the islands to the max. After one night I got stuck on the mainland… So I was relieved when I could go to Sydney after a week of, well…doing nothing. I enjoyed the good weather and the great city. Japan was so beautiful in its own way. The culture, the food, the people! Also I enjoyed my short trip to Shanghai. I was impressed by the skyline. Sri Lanka…no words can describe that adventure. I got the chance to live with my family for almost 2 months and experienced daily life in Sri Lanka. I think that’s worth the most. I learned a lot about myself and the Sri Lankan life.

I can share one experience with you…it’s about what I find a beautiful gesture! It left me speechless…So I stayed with family and their neighbors had several cows. One day one of them died. Then all the men from the neighborhood gathered together and started digging a giant grave to bury the cow. Just think about that for a moment…

So now that I’m back in the Netherlands I have to make up my mind. What do I want in life? Being alone and on my own gave me the chance to think a lot. I had so many ideas when I was away. Travelling opens up your mind…I started to dream again, something I wasn’t able to for a long time. I have to keep that state of mind and start to act on it. I’m already busy with that and it’s a lot of soul-searching and thinking about what I want for myself in the future. I think listening to my heart is going to be very important…

Effects of cyclone Winston

I feel so lucky that I was safe during and after cyclone Winston hit Fiji. Only the past few days I got to learn what has been destroyed. Thousands of people lost their home, especially the eastern part of the island Viti Levu got affected. The number of people that has been killed is still unsure.

Still, the eastern part and the city Suva, are not that far from Nadi where I stayed last week. To realise that it could have turned out way worse is just…

I haven’t really searched for any footage of the cylone. I’ll do that when I’m back home and have easy access to the internet. For now I feel sorry for the people who got affected…

Cyclone Winston

My first night at the Barefoot Kuata Island was actually my last. Unfortunately all people had to be evacuated from the Fiji islands back to Nadi due to cyclone Winston the next day. The ferry would probably be out of order untill Tuesday. I really wanted to continue my vacation in Fiji the way I was supposed to, but well safety first…

Winston was a category 5 cyclone and was heading straight towards Fiji. That’s why we all were evacuated to Nadi. Things went fast then. We had to find accommodation right away and there was no time to be picky. I also emailed the travel agency and insurance company to inform them about the situation. From now on it was just go with the flow.

That night everyone was waiting for cyclone Winston to hit. I haven’t really seen much, I just witnessed the first signs. I went to bed early because there was nothing to do. Also the power was cut off by Winston.

The next days I hopped from hostel to hostel and made the reservations when wifi was available. Since the power was down, daily life got messed up. Stores were closed, ATM’s are still out of order and the nights are very dark! And due to Winston flights were cancelled. I wanted to leave Fiji 3 days earlier but all flights were completed booked and probably no chance I can finish my travels as planned…

Fiji

My journey to Fiji was a very long one. I had to travel by bus, plane and boat. I don’t know how many hours it took to get here, cause I crossed the date line so I kind of lost track of time, data, days and hours.

I’m island hopping and the first island I stay on is Barefoot Kuata Island. It’s a beautiful island with a small beach, a lot of palm trees and big rocks. I wanted to fight the jetlag and got very active after my arrival. I went snorkling and saw really colourful fish.

It really is in the middle of nowhere. You can’t get off the island, only by boat which stops twice a day to drop off or pick up people. There’s no store, no nothing. I’m completely dependent and I’m not used to that!