‘A leap into the unknown' By David Canning Bula! This shouted greeting warmly welcomed me to Fiji. It is the universal greeting, whether sung aloud by flower-garlanded girls offering a welcoming drink with a straw in a coconut, or more stridently by stallholders wanting to sell colourful Fiji shirts or skirts. I visited this sparkling archipelago of more than 330 islands in the South Pacific, driven by my interest in the effects of climate change on island populations and, in particular, on their coral reefs. I had little idea of what to expect but was “blown away” by the experience of a four-day cruise aboard the modest Fiji-owned and crewed cruise ship, the M.V. Fiji Princess. We first sailed on a smaller catamaran ferry from Denarau – the main harbour on Nadi island. Skimming the shimmering blue ocean. we passed bracelets of green islands ringed by virginal white beaches. Some have steep cliffs with spectacular waterfalls plunging into the sea far below. Most islands also have protective barrier reefs which, like others around the globe, face severe environmental threats. A couple of curious reef sharks circled the small boat which transferred us from the catamaran to the Fiji Princess which was anchored close to a primordial beach. A brief welcoming drink was followed by a quick journey to the waiting lagoon beach. We were handed towels and snorkeling gear and ferried on motorboats to a beach which appeared to be ours alone. The transparent warm water was calm and clear. Applying sunscreen and donning masks and flippers we scrambled onto another tender which dropped us about 500 metres offshore. The challenge (for me) was to breathe properly through the air-pipe as I swam above an amazing bed of bright coral. Blue starfish winked at my initially feeble efforts but safety crew members, who swam with our group, quickly offered me a couple of noodles to assist with buoyancy. There were beds of coral of all shapes and colours feeding magnificent rainbow fish. We were strictly warned not to touch the coral with hands or flippers. Back aboard, the captain showed on a map that we were on the Yasawa Island archipelago. The entire trip was spent on these peerless islands. We travelled mostly at night, waking up to a fresh new paradise. We tied up to a coconut tree and swam to the beach. We dined on local fish and danced under the stars on the top deck. We walked over a hilly island on foot and learnt how to cook food wrapped in palm leaves underground. We canoed, kayaked, fished and did water aerobics in the warm shallows. Above all, we broke bread with friendly and hospitable islanders.. The trip included planned and unplanned highlights. The former was a visit to the actual set (a lagoon beach) of the movie Blue Lagoon starring Brook Shields. The latter included an excursion to one of the islands’ top-performing schools (one without windowpanes, since being hit by Cyclone Winston in 2016). The barefoot pupils and joy-filled staff spontaneously joined us in impromptu local songs and in line dances. An on-board session with a French-speaking marine biologist proved sobering as he outlined many challenges facing coral reefs. The reefs are threatened by reckless tourism, the harvesting of coral and illegal fishing on a massive scale. An overall rise in temperatures is causing widespread bleaching of the coral, especially on Australia’s Barrier Reef. Fiji has seen an increased frequency of tropical cyclones, leaving the island increasingly vulnerable. In addition, melting ice is boosting sea levels and threatening to flood low-lying islands, creating millions of climate change refugees around the world. However, this was timeless journey – the concept of “only four days” being a false notion when we finally pulled anchor. The ship, which caters for only 68 passengers in comfortable air-conditioned cabins, offered so many unique experiences that we could not put “time to them. As a tourist destination Fiji proved to be a place of contrasts and a microcosm of global challenges. It offers the best and worst aspects of eco-tourism but, above all, reflects a warm human spirit as the local people share their national pride in shouting a happy: Bula!