Suva to Levuka

At a high-speed internet cafe in Suva, Fiji's capital hub. Contrasts between the farm in Korokoro or Navala village couldn't be more stark. Large, well-lit shops selling fashionable garb, noisy cell phone shrines, even a shiny, 3-story mall with a Morris Hedstrom's supermarket that out-glosses the best of Australia's mega-food stores. I'm staying at a bed & breakfast straight out of a John Irving novel in the 'Toorak' section of Suva. It's land given to Australians by Fiji's first ruling president in 1870 when Aussies were in search of their next big score. They named it after what was then -- and remains today -- one of Melbourne's swankiest suburbs. It hasn't aged well. The cat there follows me around and rubs my face, like Oscar back in Melbourne.

I'm taking a bus in a few hours to Natovi, where I'll hop on a ferry to Ovalau Island and then probably a lorry to Levuka, Fiji's original capital. Will stay a few days before taking a small boat to tiny Caqalai Island to snorkel for the first time since arriving in Fiji 2 weeks ago. Will most likely take another ferry to Vanua Levu, a long bus ride to Labasa, and then another bus ride to Savusavu. Then another ferry to Taveuni.

Or maybe something entirely different.