I’ve been wanting to visit Fiji ever since 1982 when my plane stopped there to refuel on my way to Auckland, New Zealand. I wished then I could hop off and check it out, but that wasn’t allowed then.

Most ex-pats like me sooner or later need to do a visa run. That is when your visa expires, you need to leave the country you’re in and go somewhere else, usually for a very short time. Then when you show up at the border again, they renew your visa for another stay.

So when it was time for my first visa run from Australia, I’m so glad I picked Fiji. It was cheap (A$500 rt) to get there from Brisbane, and it’s a relatively cheap destination to visit.