December 23, 2007- "The Grande Finale"

Today marks my final full day at Mango Bay Resort and I am definitely feeling a little bit down in the dumps about moving on. I know I should be excited about my upcoming stays in both Vanuatu & Sydney, but I have a hard time believing that there is another place out there that could even come close to being as comfortable as Fiji.

Last night was a big night at Mango Bay. By "big" I mean that there were new arrivals from both the Fiji Experience tour and other, and there were more than the usual 50 people on site. My previously empty dorm saw the addition of two English backpackers. The night began with dinner and drinks, or rather pitchers because the Norwegian girls and two Canadian guys that I`ve been hanging around with came to discover that pitchers are significantly more bang for your buck than single drinks. After dinner, we enjoyed a traditional Fijian dance performed by local Fijians (the same group that performed last Saturday). Once the dancing was finished, the crowd made their way over to the Sports bure for some more Kava. Finally, after a few more drinks in the bar, we gathered around another bon fire to listen to Jack (the Mango Bay music man) on his guitar. It was a rowdier night than usual and so it was probably a good thing that a sudden rain storm swept through the beach, taking down trees, causing coconuts to fall, anything and everything to be swept away by its force, and the crowd to seek refuge in their dorms. It was in this chaos that I found myself frantically searching for my sandals in the utter darkness.

I awoke this morning to learn that the ferocity of the storm had yet to let up and I was therefore confined to my dorm room while awaiting its passing. It was not too disappointing, as I had some English company, and got a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Tomorrow I plan to get in a few hours of tanning on the beach (provided that it is a nice day). Sometime in the afternoon, I will make my way toward the main road to flag down a local bus to take me into Nadi where I have the same hotel that I stayed at 10 nights ago booked. Then, I will board another plane in the early next morning for Vanuatu.