27/28 April. Cruising through the island world of Fiji

On Friday afternoon we boarded the 'Fiji Princess'. The ship is only 55 m long and can accommodate about 60 guests. This makes everything a bit more personal. The crew is extremely nice and they try to address all guests by their first name. Amazingly, this works. The cabin is small and functional. Most of the time you are outside anyway. The guests are mostly Australians and New Zealanders, but there is also a small group of Swiss and Germans.

On Friday we went to Modriki Island. This is where the film 'Cast Away' with Tom Hanks was once shot. If you wanted, you could swim a bit at sunset. The first evening ended with the Captain's Dinner and a gentle sea breeze.

Yesterday morning, for those brave enough, you could snorkel in a reef with sharks. Alternatively, the cowards could admire the animals from a glass bottom boat (like me).

In the afternoon, we visited a small village on one of the islands. According to local customs, we had to dress in a sarong for this. It's all very idyllic, but I wouldn't want to live here. Everything is very, very simple and poor, but the residents seemed happy.

A little swim in the late afternoon and then just relax with a sundowner...