We arrived in Nadi (pronounced nandee) Fiji yesterday at around 3:00 AM and slept for a few hours at the airport before catching a 4 hour bus ride across the island to the capital city of Suva. We have been to Suva a few times on a previous trip and it is the largest city in the South Pacific. Some say it is the most cosmopolitan city in the region. To us it is large, noisy, polluted, and a city to pass through on your way somewhere else.

My cousin Alan and his wife Susan have been living here for the past year and a half. Alan was the Director of the Media Center at the University of the South Pacific. I say was because he is leaving here next Monday. The timing is not great for us, but circumstances required it.

I have not seen my cousin since a few weeks after my 16th birthday so you can imagine we've got a little catching up to do. Since he has lived here in Suva for some time, he knows the city quite well so we have a bit of a tour guide while we're here. Tonight we're having dinner at the 'Malthouse'. For all of our friends in Portland, you might assume that this is a brewery or brewpub, and strangely enough you are right! I hope they make something hoppy because I don't know if I can drink much more lager. We did drink Speights in Rarotonga which is about as hoppy a beer as we are likely to find in these parts, but I'm holding out hope they will surprise me tonight. Look for the next entry to find out how it went.

Until then, hoppy trails!

Eric