We have been back in the United States for over 2 weeks and I am just now getting around to completing this post for the last stop on our trip around the world. I think the reason it took so long to sit down and write this is that it brings a finality to our adventure. It means that we will no longer wake up each day exploring a new land and culture. We realize that it couldn't go on forever, but it was sure great while it lasted.
Fiji was added to our itinerary when Airtreks, the company that booked our around the world flights told us that it would be cheaper to fly home from Australia if we had a layover in Fiji. That was all it took to spend the last 4 days of our trip on the island of Viti Levu. There are over 300 islands that make up Fiji, but the population of the entire country is less than 1 million. Language was not a barrier as English is the official language even though most people speak Fijian when talking to each other. The only Fijian word that we really needed to know was bula! For Fijians, bula means hello, welcome, cheers, and great to see you. There is also a wonderful requirement that you smile widely when saying bula!
We happened upon a great hostel called Uprising Resort, which offered bures on the beach for a reasonable price. A bure (booray) must mean house on a beach because we had a house and it was right on the beach. Jennifer wanted to take the last 4 days to "unpack". This "unpacking" took the full four days as she never left the resort. She spent much of her time thinking, looking out at the ocean, thinking, reading, writing, and then thinking some more.
Not being so good at this "unpacking" concept due to being male and having a touch of A.D.D., I joined Noah for kayaking, hiking, playing catch on the beach and seeing how much food we could eat. Noah even had the opportunity to ride a jet ski. The highlight of our activities was kayaking in the ocean and up a river in the jungle. We didn't see any crocodiles on the river, 
but it sure looked like a place that they would like to hang out.
Whether we were at the resort, walking through the town, or kayaking up the river, the local people greeted us with hardy bulas and a smile. Fiji turned out to be a nice, friendly relaxing place to close out our 7 month adventure. We will soon follow up this post with one last post summarizing our trip, including thoughts about being home. To view our slide show of Fiji, click on the following link ==> Fiji Slide Show
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