Through Fiji to Canada

After a two-hour delay I climbed down the little airplane-stairs to set foot on tropical Fijian ground. After the cold New Zealand climate I was welcomed by a familiar warm humid breeze which made me regret wearing my sheepskin hoodie. Soon I realized that I wasn't in a Western country anymore when after half an hour there was still no sign of my pick-up. A taxi took me to the hostel for my first night in Nadi and the next morning I sailed to the resort of 'it's all in a name' Bounty Island. The Islands are absolutely beautiful, no doubt about that. Maldivian scenery with bright green palm trees, white sandy beaches surrounded by turquoise water would be mine for the next 2 nights.
When I arrived there were locals singing for me at the dock, which made me feel a little over important as I was the only one in the boat.. I later realized they had to do that about a dozen times a day, but every time they sang with the same enthusiasm!
Everything looked amazing, but the moment I installed myself at the pool with a drink and a view over the ocean I couldn't help thinking: 'Now what?' and I have to say I found it difficult to enjoy it fully. I spend my 2 days and 2 nights on the Island, but I'm not made for doing nothing and although I love to sleep, you can only sleep so much during the day. I did go snorkeling, which was quite exciting as I hadn't been in the water since my eardrum-adventure. All went well and I can't wait to get back in properly!
But then the real exciting stuff happened, I found myself on yet another plane to visit my grandparents in Canada!

The 12-hour journey to Vancouver was interrupted by a two-hour line-up for customs in Honolulu, Hawaii. Even though the only reason to stop was to put some extra juice in our airplane, America wants every passenger to go through customs so they can treat them as a meant-to-be criminal, taking your photo and fingerprints. Luckily the people were extremely helpful, shouting at me why I wasn't carrying any luggage (No I don't have explosives on my body, I'm in TRANSIT) and rolling eyes when I put my boarding pass on the X-Ray belt as they told me to put everything on (even shoes, belts, jackets, it would be easier to just strip naked). Just to mention; if you can avoid going through customs in the great US of A, please do. The good thing was that this tired me out so much that I slept the next 6 hours straight as I had 3 seats to myself, lucky me.
The last hurdle was getting from Vancouver to Victoria, Vancouver Island. Only 25 minutes from my arrival point I had an extra hour delay.. But then, 18 hours after departure it was so good to see my grandfather again! As it was already late in the evening we drove home and although it was pitch black when we arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it smelled the exact same way I remembered, even though we were now on the other side of the Island.

I have been here now for two weeks and it's the perfect ending of my trip. It's absolutely beautiful here, the ocean is just on the other side of the road, providing mussels at low tide and the perfect kayak-spot when it's calm. Don't go when there are many white caps, we've tried and turned around really quickly! Dancer is the most funny dog ever, as a Russian Woulfhound she has a tiny face and a really big ass, although I'm careful not to mention that to her, she might get offended. The cats are great too, Sacha and Lara are Mother and Son and that's how they behave; sharing a tiny basket one time and fighting the other.
There are so many things here I remember from when I was little; the big square cushion with cow skin we played on, the picture with the horse through the window, the dozens of owls my grandfather exclaims 'not to collect!' and the painting of my grandmother. We went to see Frans And Linda one day, good friends of my grandparents and lovely people who tried to teach me archery when I was little. They didn't age a thing and were great as ever.

In a second Marcie is taking me to a place where a baby lama has been born 2 weeks ago, but first we have to chase a deer out of the garden as they are eating all the flowers..
See you in a week!