THE TRIBEWANTED EXPERIENCE

I woke up early and got in the smallest plane ever, to fly to Labasa. This little 8 seater was a really cool ride and the scenery was amazing. I was met at the airport by Dan (the island Activities Manager) and a girl called Lucy who had just spent a month on Vorovoro and seemed really upset to leave. We bought some provisions in town and set out on a boat for the remote island of Vorovoro. In fact it wasn't that remote, but it also wasn't on any maps that I checked. The boat ride took about 45 minutes, and I was getting more and more excited all the way. When we pulled into the village beach it looked awesome - I wasn't really sure what to expect but was very impressed with what had been achieved in just 2 months. In fact I was impressed overall with the whole setup. I'd originally thought it would just be a bunch of backpackers building a couple of crappy huts, but the guys have poured a lot of money into building well engineered structures. All of the building work was carried out using local craftsmen to make sure that all money generated by the project stays in the local community. I thought it would just be foreigners on the island, but in reality there is a small local village next to the one being built. It was very refreshing, and with only a few other people on the island when I got there it felt like I was joining a small family for a week. Everyone seemed cool, not the hippies I had been fearing, just like minded travellers looking for something different.

As my week progressed I got more into the lifestyle, visiting local villages and meeting real Fijians. We attended a few "grog" sessions as well, where a root called cava is pounded with water to make a drink, supposedly if you drink enough it can give you a mild high but I couldn't handle sitting around cross legged long enough for the effects to take place. I did tons of work around the place, myself and Kimbo (a helper on the island) spent ages hacking a path through the island with machetes to a proposed jetty site, and the whole island helped to build a large chicken coup (or pen). Thursday involved running through the forest at high speeds trying to catch wild chickens which proved to be amusing. We went to the local school which was cool, the kids were incredibly eager to learn about us and our culture, remaining so optimistic despite the obvious poverty they were surrrounded with. I also went on a run around the island, and for an early morning fish where I caught a 4kg Barracuda for dinner.

I had such an amazing time on Vorovoro that I decided to skip the west coast of America which was next on my itinerary, and do another week on the island. Basically I figured that LA and San Francisco will be around forever, this opportunity might not. Also there was a film crew on the island making a documentary for BBC2 so it gave me a better chance of getting my 10 seconds of fame...so that's that. I would really recommend for any of you guys to head out.

My second week of Tribewanted was just as good as the first, and I have to admit it was quite sad leaving. We went back to the school where I showed some of the kids a few more rugby skills, did tons more work, had a really good night on the bounty rum, and drank gallons of kava. In the end I made some solid friends who I'm definately going to keep in touch with, and the send off I received on the morning I left was quite special. I don't want to sound too emotional so I'll leave it at that.

• Reponsible Travel

• Geotourism