The Boat Trip

It's sadly time to head back to port now. In some ways it will be good to get back to the real world as we all have a lot waiting for us, and I for one haven't been home for quite a while. However, as I sit chatting to Captain Charlie's son and permanent companion aboard, Paul, I really question what is so urgent that I must leave from this place. All the time at sea has given this twenty one year old an incredible sense of maturity and vision. He has been able to take a distant perspective of his homeland and the people therein, and explains to me how in awe he is of their general outlook and way of life.

Seeing the stressed tourists get on and off his boat, he realizes how natural and untouched the Fijian way of life really is and how lucky they are to have it that way. They follow nature rather than the fast pace of the human rat race and it is something of which I am very envious. However we have little choice as to whether we can leave or not and reluctantly pack up and offload our stuff from the boat. Sitting back, relaxing with a beer in hand in the local restaurant/bar, we have difficulties adjusting to our newly found land legs - it is strange not watching the horizon going up and down outside and feeling the perpetual motion under our feet! However, all good things must come to an end at

some point, otherwise you stop appreciating them after a while, and quite frankly, that's just the way life is.

An early morning surf mission is the objective on our last day in Fiji as we race up the coast at the crack of dawn in search of conditions. We stumble across an amazing set up, but unfortunately the swell is a little small for it to function properly. The hotel that looks over the wave however provides us with the most amazing breakfast, certainly the best I have had in a long time, as we sit back and watch the sun come up. Fuelled and raring to go we are still not about to give up, we must be able to get on the water somewhere. Scott tells about a river mouth that could be sailable just up the road and suggests we go and check it out. Little do we know what such an expedition would entail?!

Picture the poor photographer wading across an excessively muddy river with his expensive camera gear, his lifeline balanced upon his head! When I say muddy, I mean really muddy. Our footsteps sink a good two feet down into the soft, sludgy substance! What's more, stories of murky river mouths and sharks don't make us feel any better as we begin to get out of our depth! Still we keep telling ourselves that it will all be alright in the end. Fortunately it is, as we get a last sailing session in slightly onshore conditions and sloppy waves. It's not quite like what we have been sailing all week, but nonetheless pretty fun and we even manage to get a couple of jumps. However, I do feel a little

uneasy when Scott tells me about the shark he saw swimming around where the waves were breaking. Still, alls well that ends well and we are extremely relieved to make it back to the beach in one piece!

Tired and satisfied we reluctantly pack up the lorry that is to take us to the airport and jump aboard. As I take my last few snap shots of Fiji and the beauty that is all around us, I can't help feeling sad to leave such a magnificent place. I don't know when I'll be able to return and relive such an adventure, but I damn well hope that it is soon.

Trips like this allow you so many wonderful experiences and memories and can teach you a number of important lessons. Two weeks on a boat living with what nature alone provides, make you contemplate what is important in life,

reassess your priorities and needs and allow you to discover a great deal more about yourself and indeed the friends you are traveling with. These are special moments and ones that I am not about to forget in a hurry. Indeed the whole experience makes me surer of my theory that life is just one big journey of discovery. I hope to see you along the way…